Anyone noticed how much housing has gone up the past two years? Here is my situation:
In my area homes have doubled in value over the past two years or so.
I have worked my tale off in college for the past four years to secure a great job so I could have a decent place to live, etc. Recently I signed a contract for $50,000/year. My wife and I are having a child and she will be going back to school to finish up her degree, so my income is all we will have.
Right now we're trying to find a home (around $130,000) to live in and everything that is in a decent area is way over our price range (around $200,000+). All the homes we can afford are in areas where my I DO NOT want my children to grow up, and they are areas where people will steal anything (pretty much inner city).
I can't rent an apartment b/c all the apartments around here with rent under $1000 per month have income limits. I make too much to meet this criteria. So what the heck am I supposed to do? Gas prices are going up, our grocery bill is going up, everything seems to be getting more expensive.
Two years ago, we could have afforded a house easily - even at the interest rates back then. Now homes have doubled in value in our area. What's going on?
Sorry for the long post but this is pissing me off pretty bad. We also live in the Norfolk, VA Beach area. Any suggestions are appreciated.
Join the rest of us.
You are not alone. Hardworking Americans are being priced/taxed right out of existence. This all has to do with the wealthy wanting to separate themselves from the middle class. The middle class in America is slowly dying. Soon we will be a third world country (filthy rich, filthy poor, and just plain filthy).
Isn"™t a global economy wonderful?
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There's no such thing as truth, only perception
There is a lot of people in the same boat.SUCKS my wife and I bought our house 3 years ago so we are not in to bad of shape.But with the good old usa sending as much wood as they can to help some outher place is making it way harder for people to live here.The good old goverment helps out the ritch and the poor,the middle class will allways take it in the back side :}
I hope you and wife find something you can get with out giving up the kid for it :{
I don't know much about Norfolk's housing market, but it sounds about the same as Northern Virginia's. My wife and I bought a house four years ago, and it's value has increased more than two-fold since then. Demand is much higher than supply, for one thing.
A lot of housing forecasters are calling for the current real estate bubble to pop rather soon. We'll have to wait and see.
Sorry I can't be of more help, but I hope you and your family find what you're looking for.
As a matter of fact, I made an offer on Monday and am awaiting news hopefully today, that I got my house.
I searched and searched and what I found was this - brand new homes that seemed overpriced, or really older homes that definetly were.
The home I made an offer on is a $180,000 - $200,000 home IMO ...... but its a foreclosure and my offer was $148,600. Look for foreclosed homes, for sale by owner - things like that to give you an edge in getting a "deal"
On this home, the VA will get $139,000 and the two realtors will split the other almost $10,000 ! Commisson is unreal, not to mention the colosing costs.
But right ow is a buyers market - homes are going for premiums because of the low intrest rates. Remember two things - these intrest rates WILL NOT LAST and the price of lumber will continue to go UP. By a home now - its as good and safe as investment as you can make !
Jackalope I wish I could help you out, I have no idea what to tell you except to bite the bullet and commute, I moved from Fairfax to Fredericksburg to where we could afford a decent home, we contracted for a little over $210,000 and by the time they were finished I asked the builder how much the same place would contract for then, he told me it would go for $250,000 without the brick front I have!!! My place if I wanted to sell it would go for more then $300,000 now and would only be on the market for a day or two!
The housing market has gone through the roof anywhere there are decent jobs within 50-60 miles, I drive 48 miles one way to work. One suggestion I would give is to go out aways and commute other then that I don't know what to tell you except good luck.
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The Tazman aka Martin Price
Proud father of a Devil Dog
What kind of job do you have where you signed a contract? Just curious. Evidently this contract obligates you, otherwise you could pull up stakes and move to a less expensive region of the country. What are the consequences of breaking the contract?
It is the case that there are dramatic cost differences among otherwise equal houses around the country. New York City area, San Francisco area, San Jose area, Boston area, Chicago area, etc., are very expensive. If you set some parameters like (1) 30 minute commute from your job, (2) four bedroom house with 2000 square feet and a backyard, (3) schools that are "quality" (I don't know what metric to use to characterize a school as quality) you start to have an idea of just how much difference exists. It isn't enough to talk about median cost houses, because the properties are not constant: a median price home in the San Jose area isn't going to be as big in square feet as a median price home in the Dallas area.
Personally, my job is just a means to make money to provide a good life for my family and me. It is not a religion or a way of life or a mission. That being the case, I have moved to a place where I believe there is an advantageous relationship between costs of living and local wage rates: the Dallas area. Of course, salaries are higher in Boston, but they aren't enough higher to enable an equivalent standard of living. Of course, salaries are higher in San Jose, but they aren't enough higher to enable an equivalent standard of living. This may be what you wish to think about in the future, finding a place where the salary you can expect in the local job marker gives you the most bang in terms of standard of living. I'm not saying Dallas is the only place or even the best, just better than San Jose and some others. It may depend upon what you do for a living. Anyway, this analysis approach should work whatever your profession, and probably would have kept you out of your present inoperable situation.
Buy yourself a home in one of those parts of town where you don't want to raise your kids (as long as it isn't TOO bad). Do a little work on it and the yard, and move and sell for a nice profit when your kid gets about 3-4 years old (as you have noticed, all homes are going up in price, not just the nice ones). At that age you can still keep the kids in the house or in your yard under supervision. Also by then hopefully your wife will have a job and/or you will decide if you want to stay at your current employers.
Don't buy your dream home as your first, it will cost you too much in payments to do other things you love to do (hunt). My wife and I maxed out on our home of about 200,000 because she loved it so much. In retrospect we both could have been just as happy at one of the 150K homes and not be strapped for cash now that we need to replace our car, however now that she has the house, she doesn't want to give it up.
Handles that is good advice if the surrounding neighborhood stays the same or improves, but if the neighborhood becomes a hood it could prove to be a costly mistake.
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The Tazman aka Martin Price
Proud father of a Devil Dog
Anyone noticed how much housing has gone up the past two years?
It's quite a situation. Seeing how I bought 5 years ago, I'm enjoying the boom. Paid $109,900. The same model house on my street just sold for $145,000.
That's about 6.4 % per year! Plus, I used some of the equity to consolidate some "bad debt," and turn it into "good debt."
Anyone try to buy a house recently?
