News from Prince William County (h/t Sarah):
"Mike Klepac was supposed to move into his three-story townhouse the day before Thanksgiving 2006. But construction did not start until two months later. Before he could unpack a box three months after that, houses were going for nearly $100,000 less than what he paid.Mr. Klepac is also concerned about his job moving before he can. Calculated Risk today links to the NY Times article Home-Not-so-Sweet-Home, which brings up the disadvantages to homeownership such as Mr. Klepac is experiencing: financial risk, less labor mobility, and the cost of commuting.
Even though the value of his home has dropped, his tax bill will go up an estimated 21 percent this year.
. . .
'We're stuck,' Klepac said. 'I don't think I would have moved to Prince William County. I felt I was getting into a brand-new community with all these luxuries. They haven't delivered.'
He and other residents complain about living in a construction zone with bulldozers and mounds of dirt, and they are angry about unstaffed gatehouses and non-functioning streetlights. The county has limited ability to force developers to deliver projects on time, with the exception of public roads and infrastructure".
10 comments:
I recall once upon a time visiting that neighborhood and talking to a creepy old guy pushing some cheaply built buy M/I Homes after visitng the equally horrible Dr horton condotownhome thingies with the fire hazard mini porches. My inlaws have a big home in triangle so we pass this community alot.
Something just wasn't right about these two communities... something about the ryan/khov single family homes up the street being close in price to the townhomes didn't equate.
Anyway I walk around this treeless souless community and not the sheer number of townhomes and i look at these super small entrances and exits... then i note the number of homes in relation to the fitness center.
I immediately see a traffic, congestion and possibly future crime problem similar to the older town home communities in this area.
So this creepy guy shows us these homes with space missing under the walls and frayed carpets. I notice the workers who make these homes in a matter of days... and I immediately realize the titanic has hit an iceberg and they aren't telling anyone.
We had originally came to talk 2 ryan about some townhomecondothingies in alexandria..
Regardless... the crash happened. And im not suprised at this article. A check of frankly mls and you will see the amount of people trying to scramble out of this debt trap.
Take into account also that there are cheaper detached single fam homes now available and it becomes apparent the quandry the purchasers are in.
ex: Brookfield cramer ridge is selling singlefamily detached brand new in the 280's... in the same area.
Flippers and specs got stuck. Those that are in it for the long run will manage.. i mean they got wegmans now so it cant be that bad.
I just hope it doesn't turn into PORT-O-DUMFRIES 10-15 years from now...
Anyways... we elected to rent inside the beltway... while saving and putting ourselves through a masters proggie. now that gas is slated to go up im pretty happy with my choice.
That place really needs some trees.... and wider roads.. playgrounds....
Oh yeah and I wonder if the powerlines running next to it are a health risk. oh wells
The "buy at all costs" mentality is finally being exposed for what it truly was; a push to generate REIC commisions at any cost. Too many people bought beyound the old sensible 'rules of thumb.' Yes, people who bought 6+ years ago are find and will remain fine (as long as they didn't MEW).
They say one's standard of living is determined more by when you buy during the real estate cycle than anything else. It looks like that old advice was sage advice. :)
I know of thousands of good jobs going begging for two reasons:
1) People cannot afford to move at this point (underwater or too close to it).
2) The jobs are in high cost areas where the wages are not attractive relative to the cost of living.
The later is easy to fix. Move the jobs. I'm still shocked at how many jobs my company has been able to move this year without a single press release or MSM story. To think its obvious that one of our competitors is moving a greater fraction of their workforce and that's been silent too. How many have they moved? I'm not sure. We're at about 5k for calender 2008.
Only about 800 out of DC though. Although they were from our fastest growing division. 3,700 from LA without a peep. :)
How is the rental situation in DC? Availability of prime beach access apartments/condos/homes for rent (or sale) in LA is amazing. What's even more amazing is 1/3rd to 1/2 are not ending up in the MLS. What's the "shadow inventory" in DC looking like?
Got Popcorn?
Neil
The Article could've easy been titled, bitter in Fairfax too.
A Neighbor bought a SFH on Golf Course in Oct 06 for 750 k . Same model down the street just sold for 650 k. This is not a PW only issue.
Also I've heard reports that over 2000 houses have sold or are under contract in PWC in the last month.
By Elisa Glushefski
Published: June 16, 2008
It was another month of declining foreclosure numbers and increasing home sales for Prince William County.
And to date, the number of total units sold in the county has surpassed last year’s figures, according to the Prince William Association of Realtors.
Through May 31, 2,379 units were sold compared with 2,203 at the same time last year. Of those sold this year, 567 were last month — second to April in which 660 units were sold, according to statistics provided by the Realtor’s association.
same steve in the WaPo comments? quit picking on my county- the lil' county that couldnt
gt??
I live in PWC too. Also I don't post on WaPO. I believe all my comments have been fairly positive on PWC.
It was a very bad past year, hopefully leveling off now, future looks bright in 5+ years
Found that PW housing data for May 08
GRAND TOTALS
1724
Total Sold Dollar Volume
$ 825,229,804
VA
95
Median Sold Price
$ 405,000
Assumption
44
Average Sold Price
$ 478,672
Cash
107
Total No of NEW listings taken for the month
3623
Seller Finance
0
Total No of NEW pendings for the month (CONTRACTS+CONTINGENTS)
2166
Other
19
Total Number of Properties marked Contract for the month:
1214
Total Number of Properties marked Contingent for the month:
952
Total
1724
Source: Metropolitan Regional Information Systems
You forgot to add the last 2 paragraphs of the article with these Speculators:
Brandi Walker hid her property assessment from her husband, Justin, for a month because she knew he would flip when he found out they lost $78,000 on their place. "I feel like I got took," she said.
Walker, 30, who has a 5-month-old daughter, now wishes she had moved farther south to Fauquier County. "We figured we would be here for a little while. I'm not feeling that now," she said.
Crowded commuter lots in prince william.... just the beginning?...
ooooh nooooeeess
http://video.nbc4.com/player/?id=268095
Wow, that was a waste of journalistic non-talent.
Yes, the Horner road lot fills up by 0730 every morning, except Fridays. It's been like that for 5 years. Before that it was worse. That's when they added extra capacity more than doubling the space.
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