I think the recommended was lower, from the last time I remember talking to a nearby r/e company, but some factors could bump it higher, like overall debt to income. PITI, DTI, it’s a PITA.

I have close to 15% down saved up already for a ~$500K prop, inching closer to the 20% down mark which reduces the overall mortgage amount. I’d hate to pay PMI when I’m reasonably close to not having to!

Yeah the school situation is affecting my coworker too. He lives in Culver City in a great area, but still LAUSD zoning which would assign to a really poor performing school; he’s thinking about renting out his prop once their daughter is older, so they can move to an area with a better school district. Freaking…

Ah yeah the Westside’s prices have been high. In the Culver/Playa area? I’m in the South Bay it’s similar here, albeit some high profile businesses like Toyota and Kubota moving to Texas is going to place downward economic pressure. The damned thing about that magic 20% downpayment is having it at the right time to…

Yup, Angeleno here too, South Bay. This area has weathered the housing downturn fairly well, where most of the houses have recovered to pre-recession levels. Sorry to hear that your property has yet to recover.

My FICO is 800+ but the mortgage would still be an unacceptable % of my sole income, something like 40%, rather than the suggested 30% and below. Even though my transportation costs are near zero (car paid off, work 2 miles away from home) and I save money in a lot of other ways, I would still need an additional…

So much this. The median home prices where I live are around $550,000. While I could afford a decent sized mortgage, which would actually be a bit less than what I’ve paid in rent for the last four years ($2300/month), the underwriting requirements are so steep that I can’t get approved for a mortgage unless I get…

I investigate, litigate, and enforce judgments on debtors for a living. I do this for non profit credit unions, which are operated differently from a regular for-profit bank. A lot of people see my profession as dirty, predatory, and a soul draining career performed by wholly terrible people who like kicking puppies.…

I think some people’s tastes are different, where the subtle dimensions of good EVOO aren’t as apparent, which is why infused oils for dipping (bread) are so popular in the US. I think the whole bread dipping thing started here in Cali. It’s not traditional, but love it, with just a dash of sea salt and cracked pepper…

Yeah $12 a pop is about the going rate for them in SoCal too, but they are so good. I’ve made a few converts as well, using the anchovy for a bagna cauda drizzle that I put on everything, from boiled eggs to Costco pizza. Gotta convert more!

Totally. It’s worth it to spend more on quality anchovies. I’ve tried some of the cheaper brands and the lack of quality really stands out, where a tin will have more oil than anchovy, and the anchovy isn’t so much of a filet so much as it is a kind of mush.

If I could go back in time to 4:00am this past Saturday...

Ginger peel + microplaned orange peel + honey + cayenne pepper = sickness symptom cureall

This is probably what I’ve been getting wrong with my pho. I can get the taste down, but never that magical crystal clear broth; my broth usually has a touch of cloudiness. I’m usually starting with a quick parboil to flash boil off some scum from the bones, but that initial temperature spike is releasing too much…

“Go eat your kale salad, casual”

Wut. Pacific Rim defied the odds and did respectably well, thanks to international box office sales. Del Toro has better luck pushing risky big budget ideas with the movie industry than he does with the gaming industry. Del Toro won’t have any trouble finding work.

Happy belated bday! I’m turning 36 in a few months and will be looking at my 30’s in the rearview mirror. I very much agree with getting older being a process of learning to- excuse the language- chill the fuck out! hah!

Thanks! It looks like Kinja resized it, but in the fullsize, you could see little bits of Los Angeles peeking out of the cloud cover. Smartphone would have definitely missed that detail and it would have gotten lost in the noise.

Point and shoot camera. (Sony RX100 MK2)

Mind blown. Sad days when cilantro gets slimy or wilts.