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Belmont has budget issues, and towns people had allowed at least 5-10 tear-downs in the last year alone. Builders are putting in McMansions or "luxury" townhouses everywhere.There is already overcrowding issues in schools (and getting worse), but they are getting desperately hungry for extra revenue, so anything will do. It is becoming neighbor beware situation! Just because there was a single family nearby one day, doesn't mean that you may not wake up second day, and have 2 or more townhouses in the back of your yard. They just crashed oldest town church to put in some more town-homes. Very weird place as of late. Most of newly built places cost arm and a leg. They have no yard, and very limited space to park, you will be on top of your neighbors at all times. High taxes, busy, noisy, dirty, potholes galore, and someone figured out you will need 750K for pleasure of calling that place "home". I do not get it.
RE bubble never truly burst, and there is still plenty of irrational exuberance among buyers. Young people who are very flush now, have no wisdom and experience to foresee that there is ebb and flow in life, including money. I know of one young couple who in order to buy in "best neighborhood", committed to home with only one parking spot, and they have two cars. One car is always parked "illegally" on the street (overnight). They have amassed huge amount of parking violations, but that doesn't seem to bother them. Free country to do what you please, but still, what a waste.
I agree with Cato the Elder, very few families truly need homes that are more than 2000 sq.ft. What is the point to having kids and family if you never want (or can afford time-wise) to interact with them? First you buy too expensive home so you have to slave to mortgage for the rest of your working life (google the word origins sometimes), and on top of it, you want to buy huge home, so everybody has a space on their own! Never understood that 1 or 2 year old "need their own space". They need loving parents, safety, family that is involved. Love is more important than things.
For some eye-opening entertainment, I would like to suggest:
I agree about the teardowns. What I'm talking about are the <2000 sq. ft. homes that are maintained if a bit outdated. I'm not saying that we should be perfectly content living like people after WWII who raised 7 kids in 1200 sq. ft. Still, do the vast majority of us really need what we say we do, especially if we're honest about our means?
There's a distinct difference between need and want, but the line is hard to see for many people. I don't think anyone sticks with just satisfying their needs. It is nice though to have some creature comforts. I don't know if I would personally ever want a 6,000 sf home but a 3500 sf home would be a good size for my family.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cato the Elder
They were outbid on a Craftsman at $700k! It was perfectly fine with original details if not super updated, but it was leveled by a builder.
Most of the houses I see demolished have single pane windows, ancient heating systems, and kitchens that still have avacado green appliances. Some are serious eyesores as well which have been left to rot for years. Sometimes, a house which could use a little work gets bulldozed but it doesn't happen a lot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cato the Elder
We were wondering how he would make money on a quarter acre lot but he plopped down a McMansion and is now asking for $1.6 million - ludicrous. So there are people looking for 3br/1.5bath homes around here whether due to an empty nest or limited means.
1/4 acre is a pretty typical lot size for a teardown here in Needham. Personally, I don't really need tons of land. If the lot is shaped right, you can still have a pretty reasonable back yard.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cato the Elder
I agree about the one year demo delay. I suspect it's like "the Club." It's a deterrent to encourage builders to look at nearby towns still at six months. Once everyone moves up to one year, we'll be back where we started.
For a really good lot, even a one year delay is not going to scare away a successful builder. The only way we can preserve these homes is to give people a reason to do so.
I can see the allure of Lexington and Newton. Hey, it sounds perfect for me--the young professional family, aspiring to be upper middle class (but not quite there because of the student debt problem).
But really, my age cohort of 24-34 aren't crazy. During our short lifetimes, we've seen the absolutely unbelievable happen. We've seen terrorists hijack planes and blow up two towers in New York City. We've seen our government botch some very expensive foreign wars. We've seen Nature become more and more extreme and vicious, and we're flabbergasted that a good chunk of our "leadership" are still skeptics. (Actually, what's up with our elected representatives? They seem more concerned about winning media points than solving some serious problems.) We've seen the stock market plunge to depths not seen since the Great Depression, yet we're told told to make do without pensions and sock a way our nest eggs in potentially volatle stocks. Medicare and Social Security have been godsends to our Baby Boomer parents as they suffer from long term unemployment, but God knows if either program will be fully there for us when we retire. Overall, healthcare costs are high rocketing because we are being pillaged by drug and hospital executives (yes, I read the "Bitter Pill" TIMES article). Will the new healthcare laws help? I don't know. I won't even go into how we've watched our parents' jobs in manufacturing get shipped overseas and how their unions are browbeated while the top echelon of Americans get more and more of the economic pie. Perhaps young professionals in Boston's more lucrative job sectors might feel cushioned for now, but we can't help but be concerned about the broader economy.
So does anyone really think our age group is going to optimistically shell out large mortgage payments even on a six figure household salary?
Don't get me wrong. I like reading this forum. I like browsing Reddit listings. I especially like daydreaming about that lovely forever home with a yard and reasonable commute. But the more I look at school listings, investigate real estate, or just read the daily newspapers, I really wonder how those people in the "nice" towns can sustain those lifestyles. I am concerned and I am worried that the Boston housing market is in a bubble. I recently read "Busted" by Ed Andrews. During the housing bubble meltdown only a few years ago, his personal finances and mortgage spiraled out of control... I can see what happened to him, happen to us and to many other middle class families--just one dire medical emergency or job loss away from catastrophe.
Last edited by sharencare; 02-26-2013 at 12:19 AM..
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If you can afford to wait before buying, do so. That's my advice. Spring 2014 through 2015 will bring back a much needed buyers market. And don't listen to realtors: go back on the web history to read realtors advices back in 2007 and 2008. They are flat out clueless about the future of real estate prices.
Thank you. I am the original poster of the "retiree" thread. I appreciate everyone who posted their opinions, but this was the type of devil's advocate information I was looking for as I have read studies about the Baby Boomer retirement. But that was back in 2008, just before the worst of the Recession hit. I really don't know what will happen. But we certainly are going to wait until Spring 2014 to Spring 2015, whether or not the Feds raise the interest rates.
Yes, I admit, the article from Boston.com is spot on. I know lots of millenials who are postponing marriage (and certainly kids) and don't even drive cars. They are investing in Boston condos or moving to Quincy and Malden. They are transient, but incredibly observant about urban gentrification trends, and talk about how they are going to sell their condos within the next ten years.
Last edited by sharencare; 02-26-2013 at 12:59 AM..
I've always found the whole "boat anchor" mortgage payment a strange thing. I have many friends (I'm 37) and coworkers who for some reason believe they needed to "step up" from a 2 bed 2 bath condo or small home to a McMansion as part of the natural progression. Along with that came the car leases that scream "we are young successful professionals" and the gigantic mortgage and tax payment. Next on the docket is the private school tuition because as nice as their Metrowest town is and as high as their taxes are the school system just isn't good enough for their budding geniuses.
We bought a small 980 sq ft 3 bed ranch when we were 23 and we still live there......(granted we have gutted it twice over the years) but by staying here we also have a second home we built ourselves in another state. Our combined housing cost for both is less than most of our friends' single mortgages.
While I enjoyed growing up in metrowest, I was more than happy to leave it and enjoy speeding through it on the highway not to return anytime soon. I will eventually extricate my parents from there and get them into a condo along the shore for a fraction of the cost of their current MW home.
Belmont has budget issues, and towns people had allowed at least 5-10 tear-downs in the last year alone. Builders are putting in McMansions or "luxury" townhouses everywhere.There is already overcrowding issues in schools (and getting worse), but they are getting desperately hungry for extra revenue, so anything will do. It is becoming neighbor beware situation! Just because there was a single family nearby one day, doesn't mean that you may not wake up second day, and have 2 or more townhouses in the back of your yard. They just crashed oldest town church to put in some more town-homes. Very weird place as of late. Most of newly built places cost arm and a leg. They have no yard, and very limited space to park, you will be on top of your neighbors at all times. High taxes, busy, noisy, dirty, potholes galore, and someone figured out you will need 750K for pleasure of calling that place "home". I do not get it.
RE bubble never truly burst, and there is still plenty of irrational exuberance among buyers. Young people who are very flush now, have no wisdom and experience to foresee that there is ebb and flow in life, including money. I know of one young couple who in order to buy in "best neighborhood", committed to home with only one parking spot, and they have two cars. One car is always parked "illegally" on the street (overnight). They have amassed huge amount of parking violations, but that doesn't seem to bother them. Free country to do what you please, but still, what a waste.
I agree with Cato the Elder, very few families truly need homes that are more than 2000 sq.ft. What is the point to having kids and family if you never want (or can afford time-wise) to interact with them? First you buy too expensive home so you have to slave to mortgage for the rest of your working life (google the word origins sometimes), and on top of it, you want to buy huge home, so everybody has a space on their own! Never understood that 1 or 2 year old "need their own space". They need loving parents, safety, family that is involved. Love is more important than things.
For some eye-opening entertainment, I would like to suggest:
I agree. It's always fascinating to me how perfectly fine people are with small spaces when they are on vacation, or how happy they are if they can have a suite or even a two bedroom with a kitchen. And those are usually the best times of your entire year. That's because people go on vacation to spend time with each other and be close to family. The only time they are in their hotels is at night, because they are busy having fun, exploring and doing other things outside of their rooms all day.
And suddenly they are not concerned about neighbors, just the opposite, they are exited that their kids can play with other kids, and they are actually more open and friendly to other people. Because their goal is to relax, be open to new people and experiences, and have a good time.
Of course that's how people lived for ages, and how most people still live in most of the world. America is the country with the most people living in their own houses, sheltered from their neighbors.
Why can't that be in everyday life?
Because it's all about perspective. They are happy with a suite because most other people are in a standard hotel room.
But if having a big house is a definition of success, it is assumed as a natural goal for anyone starting a family, because everyone else lives in big houses.
Having grown up in Eastern Europe I am fortunate to have a different perspective, from growing up in my grandmas village without cars and pavement and free to run around the whole place bordered by woods, to moving to a city designed for walking. That's where people where happy if they had a three bedroom instead of a two bedroom that most others had.
Big houses need more stuff, more cleaning, more energy, more fixing and more resources. My kids have their own rooms upstairs, but they still spend most of their time playing together in the living room. It takes me half a day just to clean the downstairs alone. And I don't want to waist my entire weekend cleaning this house, so I have to prioritize between family time and cleaning.
I would have been perfectly happy in a smaller townhouse. My dream place to live would be something that resembles a resort with lots of activities and shared recreational areas and a tight-knit community.
Subconsciously it's everyone's dream, and they act out on it when they go away on vacation, but then when they come back they feel like they have to live up to society's expectations.
I don't think just because Metrowest is expensive directly translate to its price being in a bubble - looking at price in these area for last 10 years is fairly stable (data is from realtor but seems reasonable)
As for retiree - I don't think it will create a sudden downward spike in price since they are not forced sellers (unlike people who cannot service their mortgage back in financial crisis). These areas have unemployment rate of below -4%, and a lot of them are sitting on sizable equities, so most of them can hold on to their house if the price is not to their liking. Plus given the very low interest rate, most of the homeowners in these areas are likely to have lock in a low rate. Which means, if price is not right, they will not sell.
In this scenario, supply remains constrained, price will be more or less stable but transaction will be very low. The real game changer that will truly collapse the house price in these area is if there is a complete overhaul in public school system causing a disconnect in school system and housing. But I cannot see it happening anytime soon in Massachusetts.
The 30 year olds I know are all renting with the hope of saving up for a down payment. However, if you add in kids, and then subtract a salary (because why work when that entire paycheck is going straight to daycare), you stop make decent progress on the savings. Trying to get 20% down while keeping enough of the emergency nest egg plus whatever contributions might go to some kids' education fund....difficult. I guess I was surprised to find how many engineers and scientists can't afford homes.
Oh, and that's if they were lucky enough to find jobs in the same part of the country that it would even make sense to buy a house. I think some people don't expect to work at the same job for more than 5-10 years so why go through the hassle of a mortgage anyway.....
The 30 year olds I know are all renting with the hope of saving up for a down payment. However, if you add in kids, and then subtract a salary (because why work when that entire paycheck is going straight to daycare), you stop make decent progress on the savings. Trying to get 20% down while keeping enough of the emergency nest egg plus whatever contributions might go to some kids' education fund....difficult. I guess I was surprised to find how many engineers and scientists can't afford homes.
Oh, and that's if they were lucky enough to find jobs in the same part of the country that it would even make sense to buy a house. I think some people don't expect to work at the same job for more than 5-10 years so why go through the hassle of a mortgage anyway.....
I think many folks think with the "and" paradigm vs. the "or" paradigm as well, which can lead to struggle.
I want a promising career AND a couple children AND a large house in a good area AND that fancy car AND I want to save for their education AND I want to take ski vacations AND summer vacations on the Cape AND a nice trip to the islands every winter for a couples retreat.....
Then people come on a forum and post how expensive it is live in so and so a place, they don't realize or can fathom that some of those "and's" should be "or's".....
There's a lot of comments about "my friends can't afford to buy in X, Y, Z" but it seems there are plenty of people who can. I guess you guys just don't know these people.
Every time one of my clients puts in an offer they are never the only one. Properties are coming off the market in less than a week quite frequently. Maybe these people are stretching but somehow they're making it work because last year in Needham there were 4 foreclosure deeds recorded up from a whopping 3 the year before. Compare this with the 336 single family homes in Needham that changed hands via a real estate agent last year (the number goes up a bit if you add in FSBOs).
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I think some people don't expect to work at the same job for more than 5-10 years so why go through the hassle of a mortgage anyway.....
