41% increase in sales. Anybody noticed this "micro-boom"?

[NY62]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

I left southwest Florida in October 1, 2005, right at the market's peak.

I don't know how much you know about the area but in 1999 you could buy a nice, new 1,100 square foot house for about $70,000. There were not many high-paying jobs in the Fort Myers area, but there were lots of jobs. Now there are hardly any jobs at all.

Yes, it would be nice for good-paying companies to suddenly show up in the area, but that hasn't happened, so far.

Fort Myers and its surrounding locales has always catered to snowbirds, and not particularly wealthy ones. Typically, they worked in the auto industry up north and had a small home or mobile home in an over-55 park down there.

Teachers, cops, waiters, etc., were not paid much, but it was enough to pay their very affordable mortgage.

The housing boom was a bunch of baloney. There was no way that those prices could be sustained. How the heck was anyone going to pay the mortgage?

I'll tell you this. I'm about to close on a house in Knoxville, Tenn. It's $30,000 less than asking price and I am biting my nails. I think I'm buying on the downward curve, realize that it is still going to go lower, and then I hope like heck that it goes back up. In no way do I want to buy when the values start going up.

However, there are still jobs here and since prices did not go too high to begin with, there is less of a crash. Barely any at all.

Here's what I have seen in my area. Houses that have high, unrealistic prices are sitting. Houses that are priced under realistic are snapped up. I tried to jump on several before I was able to score one.

What's realistic? Look at your local wages. Will they support the price of your condo? What are the asking price for condos of your square footage and age and location? Go lower and you will sell.

If you don't have to sell, then don't, but know that you may be waiting a long time. Fort Myers has traditionally been one of the most affordable housing markets in the country. Will you get $130,000 for your condo? Of course you will, but I bet it won't be tomorrow and may not even be for several years.

The federal government has propped up the economy for at least a decade, probably many more. While everyone was marveling at Walmart's everyday low prices, they stopped noticing that the factories were closing. We make very little in this country and we can't afford to pay the gas to look for a job.

The dollar's value is horrible. They've hinted that they will raise interest rates to stabilize it. Look for high interest rates, like in the early 80s. Unemployment was at 10 percent and interest rates were in the double digits, but it straightened out the economy, for awhile.

We have always survived before and we may, again.

The only thing I can come up with - and if someone has a better idea, then that would be great - is to stop outsourcing our war and start putting people back to work by rebuilding our infrastructure. Let's fix the levees, the bridges, etc. Lord knows we waste our tax dollars on so many less admirable things.

I'd stay away from companies that offer to buy your property. No one is in this market for charity. They are going to buy it for pennies on the dollar. Sell it yourself.

Best of luck to you. Believe me, we are all hurting, one way or another.

Great post !! glad to see you are buying. I have been saying it for a while now , I remember intrest rates at 22% I could not buy a 40 k house at that time. Imagine what will happen now. 100k house will be like buying a 250k k now at 6%. We do need to put our tax dolloars to work in a better way . and bring some work back to the usa. I agree with you on this post, for sure.