How much lower is the housing market going to go on Long Island? (Warren: credit card, home equity loan)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
With all that being said, you did, however, end up always being a homeowner and never a renter (as you have pointed out in other threads).
For your little bit of money, you at least did have enough purchasing power to afford the American Dream. That is something the older generations want to ignore about what the younger generations are facing ... a lack of real purchasing power and a lower standard of living.
Like when dman asked someone, "Did it take 2 people working full-time in 1971 to afford a house?" Nobody answered.
Actually, we rented an apartment in Queens for almost five years before we bought the first house and squirreled away every spare penny. No going out to dinner, plays, etc. The only time I got to see a play in NYC, was when a vendor gave me a couple of freebies as a "thank you" for giving them business. And the first two years, we didn't even have a TV (did have a HiFi though after a year )
And it was a matter of "if we buy this house, we'll be eating soup for the next two years"--and we did, for well over a year. But we wanted a house, and were willing to sacrifice other things for it. We only had one car for the first six years in that house - not easy! How many people do you know who'd do that nowadays. I venture to say not too many
With regard to 2-family income, until my first daughter was born, we both worked, and even with the children, I always worked part-time. When my youngest was two, I had to go back to work full-time (not going into detail here as to why). Still working....
Also, at that time the custom was for companies to provide pensions, not shunt the costs off to the employees in the form of 491(k)s. Somehow it seems you and others got caught in the middle (no pension yet no 401(k) plan).
You're right, I always worked for small companies who were too new or small to offer a pension, and nobody told us how important that might be later on . Now, there's tons of information out there.
What I find to be truly amazing is my ability to retain a sense of humor, albeit quite sarcastic, under the current economic conditions here on the Island.
I may disappear from the forum for a little bit, Cablevision will be cutting the cord any day now. LIPA too. Oh, I got the little tag on my door knob from the water company the other day as well. And to top it all off, mortgage is due before the 15th.
Other than that, life is good. I've still got my health?
Prices have only begun to fall IMHO. I wouldn't be surprised to see another 30% drop or more!
Wait until interest rates begin to rise and that's when we'll see things really take off. The government is doing everything they can to re-inflate and prop up the bubble, but they will fail.
I'd rather have a high interest rate on a low principal, and then re-fi down the road. Don't be fooled with this $15,000 tax credit nonsense either, as it sounds much better than it really is.
Save your money and rent, especially in such uncertain times.
The more of us who continue to wait it out on the sidelines, the sooner things can come back down to earth. If housing prices don't come back in like with average incomes, then "owning" a home is simply a bad deal. I'd rather live care free and within my means, than be held hostage by a mortgage that the bank really owns.
Think about this: the banks were just bailed out so obviously they're going to be stricter about lending which means less people qualifying,which means houses on the market longer,which obviously means prices will continue to go down and a buyers market.****
It will also mean that sellers who might otherwise have put their house on the market this year will probably wait until things stabilize and credit becomes more available to buyers.
If I had to sell right now, I would not even consider an offer from someone who didn't already have a conditional mortgage approval IN HAND. Why tie my house up for weeks, off the market while under contract, waiting to hear with Mr and Mrs Smith can indeed GET that mortgage under today's stricter guidelines?
My nephew already had a condtional approval when he made his offer on the house he is buying, but it still took a week and a half for the lawyers to get the contract details haggled out, another 5 days for the sellers to sign the contract after my nephew did, and then another week for the bank's appraiser to get out to see the property. Two more days till the appraiser's okay was received. That's more than 3 weeks since the day of accepted offer .... and that's with the entire credit-approval process already done.
I hear that. The prices keep on coming down! Im giving it till next winter though. Then I will decide if I want to buy another place here or live mortgage free elsewhere. Time will tell.
Quote:
Originally Posted by StephM
I'm loving it. So many houses are now in our target areas well within our price range. We are totally booked looking at houses for the next month.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
)
. Now, there's tons of information out there.
