Comments on: If I Were to Buy a House Today…

By: Nancy

Nancy — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:01:48 +0000

It’s funny that I should come across this entry today, as I just looked at two properties that are “accessible” for my budget: $269,900 and $296,000. What killed me was that in both cases, the new owner would be better off demolishing the existing house and starting all over again with new construction.

I live in a small mountain resort town where the housing crunch obviously hasn’t hit as hard as some other places. People still believe that they can ask ANYTHING and someone will buy. And unfortunately, I think they’re right.

Both of the houses are in “good” locations: one close to the downtown area so it’s considered a “walkable” place, and the other is a good solid neighborhood. The one close to downtown was 917 sf, with a questionable roof, electric, and SMELLY! The second had HUGE cracks in the walls, with one crack that ran the length of the house, like it was going to break in two.

I’ve decided that if these are the properties that I can afford, I can’t afford a house. I’ll stay put in my condo for a while more, hoping that I can eventually own four walls.

By: Escape Brooklyn

Escape Brooklyn — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:34:01 +0000

I wonder the same thing about people (with and without kids) buying insanely expensive apartments in Brooklyn. Many of my neighbors don’t seem to work and take frequent fancy vacations, so my only guess is that they have serious family money.

Feeling stuck in my apartment is the main reason I’m cashing out and moving out of the NYC area altogether. Even though my apartment value has increased nicely, it’s still not enough to upgrade to anything better! So frustrating. I feel your pain.

By: Mikka

Mikka — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:33:28 +0000

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By: Beachgirl

Beachgirl — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:36:49 +0000

You’ve been nominated for an award here:

http://beachgirlsbudgetblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/blog-award.html

By: Dean J

Dean J — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 02:58:40 +0000

White-collar workers in Washington, DC don’t have kids. It’s one of the things that indicates a sustainable lifestyle, and that’s not DC, IMO.

By: Twiggers

Twiggers — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:58:02 +0000

It sounds like financially you’re probably better to ride out the downturn in the housing market….keep your head down and sock away money into savings! My area has been relatively unaffected by the housing downturn (3 houses in my subdivision just sold in less than 6 weeks on the market), but it is going to get tougher to find buyers with the 20% down thing!

By: mapgirl

mapgirl — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:48:48 +0000

J. Lasser – Oh I’m aware that I can’t get a loan now with less than 20% down. I’m also aware that that I haven’t received a credit card offer in the mail in 2 years. I got just two and I wonder how the heck that happened.

Many condo projects in DC area are converting to apartments as well. Some commercial construction has flat out stopped in DC and there are low occupancy rates for some buildings that were just finished. “They” aren’t coming.

I’m still unclear on being underwater on my condo as many units on the market aren’t selling. Therefore, the market isn’t being dragged down until a sale gets recorded someplace and everything recalculates. (Arlington looks at all units sold in the previous year to do their annual assessments for taxes. If nothing sells with the new lower market price, then the assessment doesn’t get dragged down.)

Strangely in the high rent neighborhood, condo units are still going for $600K, but I don’t think anyone is buying luxury units these days. So the buildings are half empty. Makes me laugh, and yet makes me cry.

By: J. Lasser

J. Lasser — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:25:48 +0000

Not to be even more of a downer, but I’m told that it’s extremely difficult to get loans for any condo these days, as banks are terrified that virtually all condos will soon be worth less than what they are now, enough so that people will simply walk away. (Many condo projects in Seattle are becoming apartment projects because of this and other related issues.)

Further, it’s my impression that loans with less than 20% down just aren’t being made right now.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:19:53 +0000

It’s a frustrating but not impossible situation. At least the big assessment you are looking at is not that bad in the grand scheme of things (relative to your income, savings, debt, etc) — I have friends who just had to cough up a $40,000 assessment on a condo they just purchased last year. (Another HCOL area, not unlike DC, but not a $500k mega-condo, either.) They purchased the condo with the knowledge that a large assessment had already been paid by the previous owner (~$15k?), so they thought they were safe on assessments for a while. It turned out that the first project revealed a more expensive problem that also needed to be fixed.

To me, involvement in the HOA sounds like a big pain in the rear, but it seems like it would be worth of it.