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Monday, October 4, 2010
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25 comments:
This Isn’t ‘Entourage’: Hollywood’s Talented, Ambitious and Broke
"Prepping for his quixotic tour, he has accepted as his duty the need to address the culprits of our economic malaise in his material. For example, he’s driven to speak of credit card debt and the threats of collection agents. “When the social contract is broken by rich and powerful people, the rest of us should reciprocate. Banks are pulling scams with the law behind them, so morally there’s nothing wrong with not paying debts. Now, that will be disguised in layers of humor, or you’re just preaching.”
A truly interesting observation on a generation...
I normally ignore 90% of what patrick.net sends out, but this article seemed relevant and isn't from some crazy blogger. If Congress hadn't extended the 729k conforming limit it definitely would have affected what we could pay and I think would have removed many other buyers in the 700k and higher price ranges. Now it is extended to the end of 2011, but is this something people should think about when buying a home? Buyers in the future may have to pay jumbo rates to buy their home when it comes time to sell - and most jumbo (non-conforming) loans require 30% down these days, right?
Texas Native,
I would hardly call a struggling comedian the voice of a generation.
My $0.02
Blogger mytwocents said...
Texas Native,
I would hardly call a struggling comedian the voice of a generation.
My $0.02
Heartily agree. I was thinking of his audience...
Jeremy-
That is interesting and I think it would impact houses in the 500K plus range not just 700+. My guess is that they will end up getting rid of the limit to claim they are making progress on reducing the governments role in the housing market. It will likely be a big problem if you plan on selling in 2012 or sometime around then. If you plan on selling the house a decade from now its probably a smaller issue. My guess is that overtime people get back to putting down significant downpayments.
Wow: Aerial Footage: Portrait of a Housing Bust
Washington Examiner: Whites are moving into Northern Virginia's close-in communities
Recent Census Bureau figures show...whites increased...to more than 63 percent of Alexandria residents and more than 70 percent in Arlington.
...
The percentage of foreign-born residents in every jurisdiction except the core -- the District, Arlington and Alexandria -- increased from 2000...
housebuyer said...
It will likely be a big problem if you plan on selling in 2012 or sometime around then.
So then by that logic I should wait until 2012 to buy when it is a big problem for sellers. By then we would have enough saved that the old 625k conforming loan limit would be enough to get us what we want.
http://franklymls.com/DC7399166
assessed at 441K, sells at 352K,
super clean, $210/SF
Decent enough transition zone.
Basically what I'm saying is we can currently get the "best" interest rate with 10% down on up to the $729k loan limit. So we can buy up to about $810k
810k - .10*810k = 729k
If the higher limit expires even with 20% down our limit will now be $625k + 20% = $775k. I can't imagine we are the only potential buyers that will fall into that situation.
Texas Native,
If he's struggling, he's not really connecting with his audience.
Just say'n...
My $0.02
Interesting article MM.
"D.C. and places closer in to the core have seen a lot of new housing that is in the higher end, which may be a draw to younger, more mobile and higher-income people, including whites," said Audrey Singer, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "Looking back, this will be a moment of significant change."
It looks like the "new paradigm" that CRT advanced (and hardly anyone here wanted to believe) were true afterall.
Jeremy-
I am not convinced that as a buyer you will be able to get a great deal in 2012. In the 800K housing range most people have the option of delaying a housing sale. So what I would expect is that the home owners continue to think that their houses are worth ~800K, but buyers think they should fall in price. Because the parties disagree on the sale price the house just sits on the market.
On the other hand if you tried to sell in 2012, you might find buyers less willing to pay up. If this happened and you really truly had to sell you would get a bad price. So you can imagine a scenario where it is not worth waiting as a buyer, but it would be bad for sellers...
The Anonymous,
which came first, the bubble or the new paradigm?
take a guess of the Dec 02 sold price of this 2/2 (1 fb in lower level) Cape Cod in the heart of Lyon Village.
i'm curious if it surprises you at all (it surprised me).
then, guess its current listing price and the contract $ if you so desire...
Jeremy,
If you want to put your life on "hold" for a possibility of a "better deal" down the road, then go for it. My residence is not an investment, it's home. I did buy it at the Courthouse steps (but, that is what I do).
For the "average joe", just relax and enjoy life. It's hard to believe anyone spending 800K is relying on their home for retirement. Jeez, if people obsess over a house price....well, I think that there are many other ways to make money.
VA_Investor,
I read a study once that indicated there generally 2 types of buyers, those that belabor the decision and are hesitant because they are always on guard for the best possible deal, and those that simply jump. Mind you this is a spectrum but people tend to fall into one camp or another. It also has nothing to do with responsibility, buying what you can/can't afford etc, it has to do with the mental state of being comfortable with a decision. Those who simply make a decision and roll forward with the outcome tend to be happier people according to the study.
I tend to be the former camp and it can really slow down the decision to buy something. For me, to get past it, when I notice myself doing it, I give myself 3 options, and I pick. I can make another decision later if I truly made a poor choice. It helps me live in the now rather than always waiting for the next best thing to come along.
My $0.02
MM In fairness, your links show the current list price of the house on Edgewood St as well as the 2002 price. Since the house sold in 2 days, I am guessing the final price will be $755,000. There are no bargains in Lyon Village.
Va_Investor said...
If you want to put your life on "hold" for a possibility of a "better deal" down the road, then go for it.
Renting a 3 bedroom townhouse for a year or two rather than buying a 4 bed SFH now is hardly putting my life "on hold." We don't even have kids yet, and if we started now they wouldn't need a "good" school district for at least 5 years. If anything, my life has been MORE relaxed and enjoyable the past few years as a renter with no commute and no yard work or home maintenance on the weekends. Oh, and our savings account has continued to get bigger while my homeowner friends lost more and more equity.
I could see the "life on hold" argument if there weren't an abundance of townhouses available to rent that were suitable to start a family, but that's not the case. I think some of you homeowners seem to think that life as a renter is awful. Maybe you had terrible landlords in the past or something, but we rent from a company (Avalon) and it has been great. We are only considering moving because we want to start a family and want more space for kids and accompanying grandparent visits.
By the way - I wasn't saying I will wait 2 years just to see if 2012 will bring down the prices of 800k homes. We will continue to look and put offers in on homes that we both like. However, I would like to take into account things like the loan limit potentially expiring when deciding what to offer on a home. Our plan isn't to sell for 20+ years, but that doesn't mean we should overpay now and "just do it." That's the mentality of all the bubble buyers from 2006, and look where they are now.
Class A Apartments: Mid-Year 2010
For This Development Cycle the Train is Leaving the Station: Rents Rise Smartly and Vacancy is Down as Absorption Sets Another Record.
Highlights of market performance as of Mid-Year 2010:
Stabilized vacancy rate for investment grade apartments (Class A and B) is 3.1%, down from 4.3% a year ago. With the national rate at 8.2%, this is the lowest vacancy rate of any metro area in the nation.
Rents for all investment grade apartments were up 3.6% over the past twelve months. Class A rents performed even better, rising by 4.2% during this period, compared to a decline of 1.8% during the preceding year.
Annual Net Absorption, at 11,845 Class A and B apartments, set a new record due to a surge in Class B apartment absorption. Class A absorption continued at a strong pace with 6,770 units absorbed, remaining one of the strongest in the nation. Average monthly absorption at new projects increased to 14 units per project per month, propelled by strong lease-up pace at projects delivering during the Spring.
Concessions at Class A projects edged lower, following a pattern first seen in this cycle in the first quarter of 2010. At mid-year 2010, concessions were 4.1% of face rent, compared to 6.2% of face rent at mid-year 2009.
The quarterly report says the Washington region added 41,800 new jobs from July 2009 to July 2010, above the 20 year annual average of 37,000. The federal government was responsible for 19,700 of those new jobs.
Obama and the Dems delivered on their promises. It has been quite a ride the last 18 months.
"If you want to put your life on "hold" for a possibility of a "better deal" down the road, then go for it."
Wow is that a blast from the past!
(For those that weren't here that was one of Lance and VA_Investor's favorite lines from the bubble days)
Leroy,
I think there is a big 'if' there. If you can afford a really nice home now and have no plans to move --- I would say going forward and buying might me a smart decision. But if you'll have to stretch to buy something that is not your dream home --- I would think twice before doing it and this is kinda obvious.
I agree that sometimes you have to compromise --- say I would love to have a nice downtown condo and a sfh in the country but cannot afford them so got to choose. But buying either a small place downtown or larger one with a crazy commute does not look enticing compared to renting where I am now.
OK, this one is way-y-y-y out of my price range, but the photos of the interior were so cool IMHO, I thought I would post them here for other contemporary/modern fans:
NW DC reno
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