I'll tell you.  Here in Phoenix I'm watching prices go up monthly.  The house we bought for $150 8 months ago is selling for $215.  In another couple months it'll be $230.  It's crazy.

These break neck price jumps are exactly what I saw in MA about 4 years ago.  Sadly for home buyers they usually don't come down.  I just don't understand why house prices shoot up so damn fast at times.  One thing that worries me is the wave of 100% financing, and those new minimum payment mortgages -the ones the interest rate adjusts monthly.  Those mortgages offer a low payment option, but also add to principal (instead of subtract in conventional mortgages).  This is a dangerous situation for the future.

I see a housing crash on the horizon.  I bet in less than 2 years, maybe even one.  Banks are playing things too fast & loose, buyers are uninformed and paying over market prices.  Actually I did see this, around 1991.  Bank of NE want bust along with others due to bad paper.

The prices of houses in my area have gone thru the roof as well...I was looking in the neighborhood I grew up in (where my mom still lives) and the houses have gone from the 150k-200k of 2 years ago to nearly 300k across the board some even higher...  guess i'll not be moving there anytime soon  

I live in a mobile home 60' X 12' on a small chunk of land thats about 85'x60'. that little Garden patch of land is worth 54K as bare grass and its on a steady climb.

You are in one of the hottest markets (no pun intended) out there, John.

D.C. is much the same.  Real estate there is still a can't-lose investment.  The rate of appreciation there scares me a bit though... it is unsustainable.  I can't believe that it will continue like this... its getting so bad that college-educated people can't earn enough to buy a home in that area (I know I couldn't).

I am in the process of buying here in State College, PA.  The market here isn't white-hot, but its pretty good and we figure on flipping the property in 4 years with enough appreciation to cover the closing costs and realtors fees with profit left to spare for a downpayment on the next place.

i'm getting to see some of this now.

i'm planning on being around stillwater oklahoma *home of OSU* for the next 3 years and i'm thinking the best way around it would be to buy a house. i've rented since moving here, and watched the prices climb every year.

it's not any better for appartments, and since i have the credit and employment, i figure i might as well buy a place and use it as an investment!

on campus appartment when i first moved in 3 years ago...

$385 a month for 1 bedroom of a 4 bedroom appartment.

this past fall they raised rates again and it's now up to $485 a month.

i've been looking at a few 2 and 3 bedroom houses i can afford, and will come out ahead if i can find room mates that are consistant with their rent!

sad part is, homes less then 30 miles away are 30% less!!! only because they arent in a college town.
chris<pixelmonkey>

Quote from: pixelmonkey

sad part is, homes less then 30 miles away are 30% less!!! only because they arent in a college town.
chris<pixelmonkey>

The ammenities of a college town are not necessarily the only factor.  Even out here in the boonies, most people don't want a long commute.  Also a major deciding factor in resale can be school district.  so even if you don't have kids, try to think like a parent when you buy, because odds are pretty good you wil be reselling to parents, or at least aspiring parents.

example:  State College is the financial center of the area here in central PA.  When I shopped for houses I looked at nearly identical houses in three places.  One was 30 miles away in the next county, one 10 miles away in the same county but different school district, and one 5 miles away in the best school district in the area.  The prices were 60, 100, and 150 thousand respectively!!!  People arent paying that extra 50 thousand just to save 5 minutes on their drive to work  They are paying it for the schools (among other things).

If you know you want to flip the property in 3 years, you need to choose VERY carefully so that it will appreciate enough to cover closing costs when buying and realtors fees when selling.  3 years is pushing the profitability timescale a bit short, but it can be done.

Someone said property is a can't loose investment. Given enough time this is probably correct but from time to time there are "corrections" or crashes depending on your point of view. If you are buying a house, it's a home, a machine for living-in, think of it like that and it is a can't loose situation.  Think of it as a financial investment and you may catch a cold if you want to move on in a few years.

It's only "investment" if you own more than one and then it's a different ball-game altogether.

If and when the corrections come along the "hottest" markets tend to suffer the most, often the correction is more of an equalisation with the bottom end suffering least. All house markets world-wide depend upon first-time buyers and if they get priced out the whole house of cards goes.

I will not say anything about the house prices in Silicon Valley. There was an article in SilliconValley.com titled "can you buy a house for a million dollar". The short answer - "you can. It will either be very small or within 200 feet of a railroad" :lol:

Homes that were $150k about 6-8 years ago are now 500k+.  I think the median home price in San Diego is between 500-600k.  It's rediculous.  Nobody can afford it anymore.  Wages in SD suck ass, and people keep getting laid off.  For example, the company I work for is shutting down its SD office and moving to New Jersey.  I will be moving over there at the end of the month.  Totally sucks, but SD is unaffordable now.

Quote from: Dima26I will not say anything about the house prices in Silicon Valley. There was an article in SilliconValley.com titled "can you buy a house for a million dollar". The short answer - "you can. It will either be very small or within 200 feet of a railroad" :lol:

That's funny!  :lol:

Phoenix is a late bloomer.  Parts of Cali and New England had the *boom* happen a few years ago.  When we came out here almost a year ago the market was starting to rise fast apparently.  When my real estate agent out here said that for the first time in his career he sold a house over asking price I knew that things were heating up so I jumped on a property.

Seeing how high prices are in other metro areas I figure Phoenix will top out around the 300s for a moderate 3BR 2BA home.  It already is in some parts.  Problem is that wages are lagging behind, but this will change too, it has to or else it all collapses.

I see it that Phoenix is no longer a city where you can buy a home with one income any longer, or at least will soon be.  Las Vegas is the same way.

Just be careful.  When I first moved to Hawaii in the early 90s house prices were insane.  There were new developments that held lotteries just for the privelege to buy one of their $500,000 houses.  Can you believe it!  A lottery to get to buy a house.  Anyway, after several years the botton fell out.  People who had bought a house for say $500,000 were only getting $250,000 when trying to sell.  Many just walked away, handing the keys to the bank.  By the time I left, the developers were giving away a NEW car along with upgrades to new buyers.  These were Nissan Altimas and the like.  Just something to think about.

Quote from: mrblinkHomes that were $150k about 6-8 years ago are now 500k+.  I think the median home price in San Diego is between 500-600k.  It's rediculous.  Nobody can afford it anymore.  Wages in SD suck ass, and people keep getting laid off.  For example, the company I work for is shutting down its SD office and moving to New Jersey.  I will be moving over there at the end of the month.  Totally sucks, but SD is unaffordable now.

. heh, so myuch for year round riding eh?, hell, my place is worth around 84k
but its paid for :dunno: , so im guessing, one way or another im doin alright

Real estate is like any other investment...buy low and sell high.  If you can wait it out there's always a steal that comes down the pike.  And Bank sales rock.

Buying a house is like buying a bike in that you don't what you really want until after you've bought your first one.  Unfortunately, making the wrong choice is more costly and sometimes more permanent in real estate.

It's crazy here too. 6 years ago I bought a condo for $72K, sold it four years later for $136K and bought a house for $92K. Now two years later my house is worth $135K. The Buddha Loves You of it is when I got married earlier this year and we were looking at houses, we couldn't find a decent 4 bedroom house with a garage under $300K - and they're steadily rising. We wanted to upgrade, but didn't want to be house poor, so we stayed in my little 3 bedroom joint.

I just bought a house... Finally in over my head! WOoo RAwwrR

Hahah.

J  :mrgreen:

Y'all need to watch a video called "The End of Suburbia - Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream".  All the facts they give are TRUE.  And thier theories about the future are plausible.

In a nutshell:  Oil reserves and production have or will peak in the near future.  Since there are no "vast" new reserves and the fields already in production can't pump any faster, the oil supply is/will begin to decrease.  This will cause the cost of EVERYTHING to shoot up.  

Maybe that's why the arctic wilderness area will be opened for drilling.  Maybe that's why the price of oil is shooting up.  Maybe the reason a new refinery hasn't been built in decades, why build a new refinery when you know that in a few years there won't be enough raw product to refine for the refineries you already have.  

You see, oil isn't in these big giant underground reservoirs like big underground tanks.  It's a thick liquid in saturated sand.  The "sweet" oil is at the top.  That's the good stuff.  The "sour" is at the bottom.  It's not so great, takes more work to turn into something usable.  The good stuff is already running out.  Anyway, you can only take it out so fast or you run your well dry.  Like drinking a slurpee through a straw.  If you give it time to melt and seep back down you can slowly keep sucking and always get some out.  If you suck too fast it dries up on you.  So, world production has a limit and that limit is here or will be reached shortly.

Blame China and all the cheap crap we buy from there.  Their use has compounded exponentially over the past few years.  Blame yourselve too for using energy like it's free.

How about $5-10 a gallon for gas.  SUVs will be worthless.  How about $100 a week to heat your house.  As the price goes up, and the AMOUNT of energy goes DOWN the economy will stall and begin to spiral down.  You see, EVERYTHING is conditional on GROWTH.  Everything the government and business does depends on growth.  When growth stops you can't keep putting things off.  You have to "pay the piper".  And they can't.  

Oil is THE most important thing on the planet besides water and air.

Hydrogen is NOT the answer.  It's more energy intensive to make hydrogen than just about any other fuel.  The only easy ways to make hydrogen involve oil!  Without oil, your seperating water, VERY energy costly.  Plus, hydrogen doesn't give much bang for the pound.  Compared to gasoline, it's a lightweight.

There are going to be some major changes in the next 10-20 years.  Remember all the cheap stuff you've been buying, no more.  Everything will cost more.

You think the Iraq war was to "free" the people or get WMDs?  NO, both Afghanistan and Iraq were invaded to get a foothold in the middle east, to surround the real danger there, IRAN, and to ensure we are capable of protecting and taking if necessary those oil fields.  Oil is important baby...  More important than anything.  More important than you or me, or a country or two.  The U.S. realizes this and why do you think Cheneys energy meetings were so secret?  That is probably where the decision was made that the end of almost free energy is over.  I don't think France and Germanyt believe it.

MAN... Can I hijack a thread or what?

Sorry...

. . . biodiesel . . .

You're right, and there are a lot of people looking into it.  But millions of barrels a day?  From where?  I saw an article about using the refuse from meat/chicken/turkey processors.  But what are the dogs and cats gonna eat?

Lack of oil is (at least will be) a very serious problem.

on that point, you'll get absolutely no argument from me.