10538

[jimnyc]

So they've been building a few houses down the road from me, about 6 blocks away. They are on the main road, which I would never buy myself as I hate ANY traffic in front of my house. Not bad looking houses, and they are brandie new, but really not any bigger than my house.

So they've finished and now officially up for sale. Oh, and I forgot to mention that if the neighbors hung out their windows - they could easily shoot one another with water guns. I would guess about 20 feet apart.

They want $1.6 million for one and $1.5 for the other. WTF????? I'm going to go put signs and directions out in front of those houses, giving them directions to a much cheaper and quieter place - my house!

I don't like NY anymore. I don't like my neighborhood. I'm ready to move but am stuck here for now.

[Gunny]

So they've been building a few houses down the road from me, about 6 blocks away. They are on the main road, which I would never buy myself as I hate ANY traffic in front of my house. Not bad looking houses, and they are brandie new, but really not any bigger than my house.

So they've finished and now officially up for sale. Oh, and I forgot to mention that if the neighbors hung out their windows - they could easily shoot one another with water guns. I would guess about 20 feet apart.

They want $1.6 million for one and $1.5 for the other. WTF????? I'm going to go put signs and directions out in front of those houses, giving them directions to a much cheaper and quieter place - my house!

I don't like NY anymore. I don't like my neighborhood. I'm ready to move but am stuck here for now.

Damn. You can get a decent house in San Antonio for $90k. Over a million? You're living next door to George Strait and Stone Cold Steve Austin.

[jimnyc]

Damn. You can get a decent house in San Antonio for $90k. Over a million? You're living next door to George Strait and Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Not really. Go about 15-20 block in other direction, near the water, and all of the houses are $5 million plus!! But that's near the water, I can almost understand that. Hell, I think my Dad paid like 60k for our first house, and had Dad and Mom, then 4 kids. My current house was only like $300k. If I sold today, anywhere from $500-700, but I have like $30k more of work I want to get done. I'm just afraid prices will go down again while I am getting things upgraded.

[jimnyc]

Damn. You can get a decent house in San Antonio for $90k. Over a million? You're living next door to George Strait and Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Oh, and I'll bet it's 50x nicer by you too!!

[NightTrain]

So they've finished and now officially up for sale. Oh, and I forgot to mention that if the neighbors hung out their windows - they could easily shoot one another with water guns. I would guess about 20 feet apart. .

Living like that would drive me crazy... claustrophobia would set in.

[Drummond]

So they've been building a few houses down the road from me, about 6 blocks away. They are on the main road, which I would never buy myself as I hate ANY traffic in front of my house. Not bad looking houses, and they are brandie new, but really not any bigger than my house.

So they've finished and now officially up for sale. Oh, and I forgot to mention that if the neighbors hung out their windows - they could easily shoot one another with water guns. I would guess about 20 feet apart.

They want $1.6 million for one and $1.5 for the other. WTF????? I'm going to go put signs and directions out in front of those houses, giving them directions to a much cheaper and quieter place - my house!

I don't like NY anymore. I don't like my neighborhood. I'm ready to move but am stuck here for now.

Perhaps those houses have good soundproofing.

But on the matter of cost, the UK has a phenomenon of rocketing house prices. Since the 2008 crash, lenders have been far stricter as to how much they've been willing to lend out for mortgages. Consequently .... in certain parts of the UK, especially London and the South East of England, actually having any hope of affording a mortgage is an impossibility for any 'average' wage earner.

See ...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/borrowing/mortgages/10271969/Home-buyers-in-London-need-64000-deposit.html


First-time buyers in London are putting down a record £64,000 average deposit to get on to the property ladder, new figures show.

The data, released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) today, is yet another sign of resurgence – and possibly an inflating bubble – in the capital's housing market.

Earlier today, a body representing some of Britain's biggest banks said house prices will rise 11pc over the coming three years, potentially pushing home ownership out of reach for millions of young people.

Most of this price rise activity is happening in London, where demand from families, city workers, landlords and overseas buyers is incredibly strong. Prices in the capital rose 6.9pc between April and June, the CML said, compared with 2.9pc for the UK overall.

London is fast becoming a 'rent only zone' for would-be first time house buyers.

It's different in other parts of the UK, with gaps widening. Buy a house in the north-east of England, or certain parts of Wales, and you'd expect to pay a small fraction of the cost of equivalent houses in the Capital.

[jimnyc]

Living like that would drive me crazy... claustrophobia would set in.

It's not a whole lot better on my street, it's kinda like that in the suburban areas. An Alaskan boy would think we're nuts!! I'm like a recluse, so it doesn't matter much to me as I don't go out much anyway.

[jimnyc]

Perhaps those houses have good soundproofing.

But on the matter of cost, the UK has a phenomenon of rocketing house prices. Since the 2008 crash, lenders have been far stricter as to how much they've been willing to lend out for mortgages. Consequently .... in certain parts of the UK, especially London and the South East of England, actually having any hope of affording a mortgage is an impossibility for any 'average' wage earner.

See ...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/borrowing/mortgages/10271969/Home-buyers-in-London-need-64000-deposit.html



London is fast becoming a 'rent only zone' for would-be first time house buyers.

It's different in other parts of the UK, with gaps widening. Buy a house in the north-east of England, or certain parts of Wales, and you'd expect to pay a small fraction of the cost of equivalent houses in the Capital.

Suppose I sold my house for $400k, dollars of course. After the exchange difference, what could that get me over by you?

[Gunny]

Oh, and I'll bet it's 50x nicer by you too!!

I couldn't reach my next door neighbors with a super soaker, that's for sure. You have to bust out a real gun to shoot the neighbors here. NY is worse than CA, My ex is from Rochester. I hear ya on that you can reach out the window and touch the neighbor's house crap. Screw all that.

In CA, you pa $500k for what you can get in SA for $90k.

[Kathianne]

IL isn't as bad as NY, but certainly is expensive. Can't rent a decent 1 BD apt in suburban Chicago for less than $1k per month. In the city? at least $1500 in safe areas. Son is paying over $2400 for 2bd, 1.5 bath in the city. It's a safe neighborhood and has decent upgrades. It's old, remodeled with 'charm' factors, but no elevators and it's a long haul up to 3rd floor-apts have 10ft ceilings! Fine for just going up, but I wouldn't want to be carrying groceries!

Bought my first home for $70k, sold it 3 years later for $150. Last home was townhouse in 1995, bought it for $130k, just sold for $460k. That was about 2 years ago.

My older son just bought his first home less than a year ago, he had financed through his then employer-a major bank for $330k, found better financing and the new appraisal put it at over 400k. They didn't increase their loan, just went for better rate. The home is 4bd, 3.5 bath, upgraded appliances, but dated decor. Neighborhood is good, but it's about 65 miles out of the city, over an hour to O'Hare in good traffic-which doesn't happen often.

Got to admit, housing costs was close to a reason for moving to AZ, along with the weather.

[Perianne]

When I saw the title of this thread, I was expected something about ELO.

[Gunny]

IL isn't as bad as NY, but certainly is expensive. Can't rent a decent 1 BD apt in suburban Chicago for less than $1k per month. In the city? at least $1500 in safe areas. Son is paying over $2400 for 2bd, 1.5 bath in the city. It's a safe neighborhood and has decent upgrades. It's old, remodeled with 'charm' factors, but no elevators and it's a long haul up to 3rd floor-apts have 10ft ceilings! Fine for just going up, but I wouldn't want to be carrying groceries!

Bought my first home for $70k, sold it 3 years later for $150. Last home was townhouse in 1995, bought it for $130k, just sold for $460k. That was about 2 years ago.

My older son just bought his first home less than a year ago, he had financed through his then employer-a major bank for $330k, found better financing and the new appraisal put it at over 400k. They didn't increase their loan, just went for better rate. The home is 4bd, 3.5 bath, upgraded appliances, but dated decor. Neighborhood is good, but it's about 65 miles out of the city, over an hour to O'Hare in good traffic-which doesn't happen often.

Got to admit, housing costs was close to a reason for moving to AZ, along with the weather.

This dovetails with the $15 minimum wage. That's actually good money here. It means you're poor in Chicago, LA or NYC. There's no single standard but they're trying to make it one. My house in SA that cost me $90k would have cost me $400k minimum in SoCal.

[Abbey Marie]

So they've been building a few houses down the road from me, about 6 blocks away. They are on the main road, which I would never buy myself as I hate ANY traffic in front of my house. Not bad looking houses, and they are brandie new, but really not any bigger than my house.

So they've finished and now officially up for sale. Oh, and I forgot to mention that if the neighbors hung out their windows - they could easily shoot one another with water guns. I would guess about 20 feet apart.

They want $1.6 million for one and $1.5 for the other. WTF????? I'm going to go put signs and directions out in front of those houses, giving them directions to a much cheaper and quieter place - my house!

I don't like NY anymore. I don't like my neighborhood. I'm ready to move but am stuck here for now.

But then I can't wave to you from the Hutch

[Gunny]

But then I can't wave to you from the Hutch

Why wave to HIM? He broke his wife's crock pot. :laugh:

[Drummond]

Suppose I sold my house for $400k, dollars of course. After the exchange difference, what could that get me over by you?

Well, after conversion, that comes out as just under £284,000. Actually, it would easily get you either on to the 'property ladder' in London (if you took out a mortgage using a lot of that as a deposit) ... or if you didn't want to live in the more 'select' areas of London, you COULD afford to buy outright.

The best way to answer you is to lead you to an online property site ... see for yourself what's on offer. I've set £275,000 as a minimum, £300,000 as a maximum ...

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/property/london/?beds_min=1&include_retirement_homes=true&include_shared_ownership=true&new_homes=include&price_max=300000&price_min=275000&q=London&results_sort=newest_listings&search_source=home

It has to be said that properties you see listed will be located in London's suburbs, or just outside London. Were you to want to live nearer to the centre of London, £284,000 probably wouldn't be nearly enough.

Average wage levels, Jim, are substantially lower than their equivalents in America. The prices might look reasonable to you ... but first-time buyers would struggle at absolute minimum. Many have no hope of ever affording such purchases.

[pete311]

Not really. Go about 15-20 block in other direction, near the water, and all of the houses are $5 million plus!! But that's near the water, I can almost understand that. Hell, I think my Dad paid like 60k for our first house, and had Dad and Mom, then 4 kids. My current house was only like $300k. If I sold today, anywhere from $500-700, but I have like $30k more of work I want to get done. I'm just afraid prices will go down again while I am getting things upgraded.

How do you afford your taxes? My house is valued at 250 and I pay like $8K in property taxes :(

[Gunny]

How do you afford your taxes? My house is valued at 250 and I pay like $8K in property taxes :(

They get paid more. It's a regional issue O-blah-blah is trying to make national. It still comes out the same. Only the dollar amount is different.

[Kathianne]

They get paid more. It's a regional issue O-blah-blah is trying to make national. It still comes out the same. Only the dollar amount is different.

Not really. A 'middle class' person living in a less expensive area will have a better lifestyle in areas with lower taxes and 'cost of living.' The difference between a salary of $150k in NY will get you little; but a salary of $80k in AZ will get you a lot, including the ability to create savings.

[Gunny]

Not really. A 'middle class' person living in a less expensive area will have a better lifestyle in areas with lower taxes and 'cost of living.' The difference between a salary of $150k in NY will get you little; but a salary of $80k in AZ will get you a lot, including the ability to create savings.

That's what I just said. You only get paid enough to survive. If you get ahead, you're lucky. $15 an hour is journeyman wages in SA. It's burger flipper wages in Seattle. I don't want my economy nationalized, and I damned sure don't want my skills compared to a burger flipper. I can do THAT with my eyes closed.

[Elessar]

I couldn't reach my next door neighbors with a super soaker, that's for sure. You have to bust out a real gun to shoot the neighbors here. NY is worse than CA, My ex is from Rochester. I hear ya on that you can reach out the window and touch the neighbor's house crap. Screw all that.

In CA, you pa $500k for what you can get in SA for $90k.

Real estate and rental prices in CA are preposterous in virtually any of the coastal
counties.

[Gunny]

Real estate and rental prices in CA are preposterous in virtually any of the coastal
counties.

NY's worse. I worked with a guy who had come from NYC. They pay more to rent an apartment there than I would pay to own a house in Texas. People live in their own private little worlds and don't realize they rest of the world is still out there.

It all comes out in the wash which my argument against this $15 minimum wage deal. That would make you wealthy in SD and poor in NYC. Economies are local, not national. Either way, the vendors are going to charge what the market can bear. For instance, the Burger King across I=35 in SA would jack its prices every January when military personnel got a pay raise. And that is what's going to happen with this. First, unless you're going to double MY minimim wage too, you just made me the equivalent of a moron. I don't care about them getting more but don't devalue my skills. What incentive do I have to be an electrician which requires actually knowing something if I can make the same money flipping a burger?

[Abbey Marie]

Our neighborhood isn't quite that dense, but I want to move to a place where I can't see my neighbors from my windows. And I've reached an age where folks' kids on their little kiddie cars annoy me, lol. Do kids even walk or bike anymore?

[jimnyc]

But then I can't wave to you from the Hutch

I hate the Hutch now too, seems like every damn time I go near it there is traffic anymore!

[jimnyc]

When I saw the title of this thread, I was expected something about ELO.

Electric Light Orchestra?

[jimnyc]

How do you afford your taxes? My house is valued at 250 and I pay like $8K in property taxes :(

Yet another reason I can't wait to leave. My Dad bragged when he lived in SC that his taxes were like $600 bucks per year. Ours is like $13k per year. :( The woman works in NYC and does well, and she likes this area and her career.

[Gunny]

Yet another reason I can't wait to leave. My Dad bragged when he lived in SC that his taxes were like $600 bucks per year. Ours is like $13k per year. :( The woman works in NYC and does well, and she likes this area and her career.

And you broke her crock pot. Way to go, Einstein. :laugh2:

[Perianne]

When I saw the title of this thread, I expected something about ELO.


Electric Light Orchestra?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztjfiS9fnlY

[Abbey Marie]

You've got it all wrong, Gunny. In Jim's scenario, I'm using it as an excuse to go out for dinner. :cool:

[jimnyc]

And you broke her crock pot. Way to go, Einstein. :laugh2:

I hate you, go eat a bag of worms.

[jimnyc]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztjfiS9fnlY

Sweet, I did not know that! I believe Jeff listened to them a lot when he was younger. I recall liking some of their music but yet can't think of a single name of a tune!

[Gunny]

I hate you, go eat a bag of worms.

F*ck you. I get in trouble for waking up. Seems I don't do THAT right wither. You ain't getting off the hook. No one's home so I ain't in trouble ... yet. You ARE. :laugh2:

[SassyLady]

Jim, I recently sold my house in Northern California .... Sonoma County (think Napa County neighboring county so lots of vineyards and top quality wines). Anyway, bought in 1993 for around $100K. Sold last year for around $1M. Put about $500K of improvements in it ... and thought it was a great idea selling it. Except, the capital gains tax slammed me this year. New owners put in swimming pool and made a vacation rental out of it. $800+/night. Crazy housing prices in that area.

California property was two acres and the house in Arizona is on 4.5 acres, with nothing but desert on two sides. I would go crazy living in something where you can hear your neighbors sneeze. Makes my skin crawl just thinking of people that close.

Be sure you keep really good records of all the improvements you make to the house so you can offset that cost against the capital gain.

[jimnyc]

Jim, I recently sold my house in Northern California .... Sonoma County (think Napa County neighboring county so lots of vineyards and top quality wines). Anyway, bought in 1993 for around $100K. Sold last year for around $1M. Put about $500K of improvements in it ... and thought it was a great idea selling it. Except, the capital gains tax slammed me this year. New owners put in swimming pool and made a vacation rental out of it. $800+/night. Crazy housing prices in that area.

California property was two acres and the house in Arizona is on 4.5 acres, with nothing but desert on two sides. I would go crazy living in something where you can hear your neighbors sneeze. Makes my skin crawl just thinking of people that close.

Be sure you keep really good records of all the improvements you make to the house so you can offset that cost against the capital gain.

Yes, the hearing of them drives me nuts. My neighbors kid plays the drums. He doesn't play very often, but when he does, you sure know about it! But it's more than just the noise. I like privacy. I would love to be able to go outside, have a balcony, a large porch, and be out there and not feel like people are ogling at me. 7pm at night and sitting outside is cool. Just too much action for me, and I live on a supposed dead end street!!

I suppose I keep neglecting the costs going into selling as well, and what eats up the profits after the fact. :(

I just want it warmer, but not hot. More private, but not have civilization an hour away. (and hopefully minimal liberals) :)

[hjmick]

Come on down to SC, Jimmy, you got friends here...

[jimnyc]

Come on down to SC, Jimmy, you got friends here...

I wouldn't mind that in the slightest bit! Already have 3 good friends in the area, and my brother lives not far off in Aiken. The only prices I ever looked at though were in downtown Charleston, you know, the stuff in the areas not far off from where they sold the slaves area? Probably wasn't a good place to start, as the prices scared me off quickly!!

[sundaydriver]

Where area where I live has over time become a "bedroom community", meaning live here and work elsewhere. My county is only separated from NJ by the river and routes 22 & 78 make travel to Jersey a big selling point and a lot of NJ residents moved here for the cheaper property taxes & housing. The "pricey" developments built are homes that are between 3k to 4k sq. ft. are mostly built on 1/4 or 1/3 acre lots that leave nothing to the imagination as to what the neighbors are up to. McMansions 30' apart ain't for me.

[jimnyc]

Where area where I live has over time become a "bedroom community", meaning live here and work elsewhere. My county is only separated from NJ by the river and routes 22 & 78 make travel to Jersey a big selling point and a lot of NJ residents moved here for the cheaper property taxes & housing. The "pricey" developments built are homes that are between 3k to 4k sq. ft. are mostly built on 1/4 or 1/3 acre lots that leave nothing to the imagination as to what the neighbors are up to. McMansions 30' apart ain't for me.

Ahhh, 78 and 22 heading out west, over the border - I know where about you are. :) And yes, LOTS of folks do that. I used to know a guy that lived over that border and drove 1 1/2 hours to NYC daily. He didn't mind the early commute, and did so because he saved a fortune on his home and other costs.

I would love to live in ANY area out that way, you're a lucky man. Lots of space, cleaner air, fishing, skiing & a LOT less idiots!! :) Oh, and camping, I LOVE camping!!

[sundaydriver]

Ahhh, 78 and 22 heading out west, over the border - I know where about you are. :) And yes, LOTS of folks do that. I used to know a guy that lived over that border and drove 1 1/2 hours to NYC daily. He didn't mind the early commute, and did so because he saved a fortune on his home and other costs.

I would love to live in ANY area out that way, you're a lucky man. Lots of space, cleaner air, fishing, skiing & a LOT less idiots!! :) Oh, and camping, I LOVE camping!!

We keep the NYC people ~15 miles north of me in the Pocono's, well I have one two houses down. Martz Bus Co. has depots in the area and the buses start running to NYC at 3:30 AM I think and parking lots are full as that city income is nice. I myself worked in Jersey for 34 years while living in Pennsy but my drive was 15 minutes and my lab by my GPS was only 500' or so into NJ.

[hjmick]

I wouldn't mind that in the slightest bit! Already have 3 good friends in the area, and my brother lives not far off in Aiken. The only prices I ever looked at though were in downtown Charleston, you know, the stuff in the areas not far off from where they sold the slaves area? Probably wasn't a good place to start, as the prices scared me off quickly!!


Yeah, you need money to buy downtown. Big money to buy turn-key, money to do a fixer-upper. The wife and I often talk of buying a fixer down there, how cool it would be to live down there, but you buy where you can. On the upside, the outlying areas aren't that far from downtown, here in Goose Creek we're only twenty minutes from downtown Charleston.