2023 Real Estate Observations (Boston, Wellesley: paycheck, place, jobs)

[simplexsimon]

Originally Posted by yesmaybe

I've mentioned this before, but specifically condos and TH in Metrowest got crushed. High end, low end, didn't matter.

SFH did OK although prices did decline a bit for awhile. But that was without the kind of FOMO that's happening today. I could easily see a 10% decline end up being 20, 30% for people because they grossly overpaid.

This is definitely happening in the SF Bay Area with all the tech job losses. “Overpaid” is in hindsight.

[matrix5k]

Originally Posted by Moh1988

I'm very new to corporate america,,, so take this with a grain of salt,,, but I witnessed two layoffs in the last two years,,, in both cases,,, friends/colleagues were laid off, and in both cases, each received a very generous package that will last minimum 6 months,,, each also received the annual bonus. Is not this the case with almost every company? Maybe excluding startups.

Only the top 5% or less get a nice package like that. Of course everyone in this forum is a top 1% earner so the responses will be skewed. The average person gets close to nothing.

[msRB311]

Don't people get unemployment as well? I mean job loss is bad, but many people have a working spouse to help out plus severance/unemployment. I think the real PITA of getting laid off is looking for another job (however many people seem to have jobs falling out of the sky to them) or figuring out what to do next.

I could see it being bad for people if they have just one working parent, several kids, pricey mortgage.

[newenglandgal123]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Don't people get unemployment as well? I mean job loss is bad, but many people have a working spouse to help out plus severance/unemployment. I think the real PITA of getting laid off is looking for another job (however many people seem to have jobs falling out of the sky to them) or figuring out what to do next.

I could see it being bad for people if they have just one working parent, several kids, pricey mortgage.

With the housing prices where they are at and the size of the mortgages people are taking out, it seems that two incomes are required in many cases. Without that emergency fund, even if one spouse is still working they may not have enough for mortgage, car payments, and all the other expenses. Take that $1 mil house where folks took out an $800K mortgage.....if you had two six figure people supporting that and then one is laid off and collecting unemployment (which is not the full weekly salary amount that they were getting), will they be able to stay afloat?

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by newenglandgal123

With the housing prices where they are at and the size of the mortgages people are taking out, it seems that two incomes are required in many cases. Without that emergency fund, even if one spouse is still working they may not have enough for mortgage, car payments, and all the other expenses. Take that $1 mil house where folks took out an $800K mortgage.....if you had two six figure people supporting that and then one is laid off and collecting unemployment (which is not the full weekly salary amount that they were getting), will they be able to stay afloat?

You don't think severance and unemployment money would help out for a while?

I haven't been paying attention to what people put down or have for a mortgage, but it does seem like most people in the area have fairly well paying jobs that they apparently think are pretty secure to have the lifestyle that they do.

People have been talking about a recession for a while. I don't foresee Boston being hit that hard by it...but I'd be curious to see what happens if we are. I can think of a few people I'd love to see have a piece of humble pie. I just don't think will happen. Wealthy people aren't affected by recessions.

[newenglandgal123]

Originally Posted by msRB311

You don't think severance and unemployment money would help out for a while?

I haven't been paying attention to what people put down or have for a mortgage, but it does seem like most people in the area have fairly well paying jobs that they apparently think are pretty secure to have the lifestyle that they do.

I guess it would depend on what they got for severance. If it was a generous 6 month plus bonus package I guess they'd be ok. However, does anyone really ever know what their employers will provide in terms of severance package until a lay off actually happens? I know I've never asked about that during the hiring process. lol I also tend to be more risk averse (always make sure to have at least 1+ yr worth of full living expenses so in other words I could technically quit my job tomorrow and still pay all my bills, buy what I normally buy without having to cut anything for a full yr+ before I had to be too concerned about making sure I had some other employment lined up).

[robr2]

Max unemployment is MA is $1015/week. If you’re grossing $3000/week, it’s a huge drop. That benefit has to have taxes paid on it so let’s say $800/week.

In MA, you cannot collect unemployment if a severance was paid.

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by robr2

In MA, you cannot collect unemployment if a severance was paid.

That's not true.

[yesmaybe]

How about this place in Eastham. I think this is the biggest spread % from initial asking price to where it is now that I've seen so far. Originally put on the market at $2M in May, it's down to 1.3M.

It's pretty gaudy.

https://www.redfin.com/MA/Eastham/18...home/132098289

[newenglandgal123]

Originally Posted by yesmaybe

How about this place in Eastham. I think this is the biggest spread % from initial asking price to where it is now that I've seen so far. Originally put on the market at $2M in May, it's down to 1.3M.

It's pretty gaudy.

https://www.redfin.com/MA/Eastham/18...home/132098289

Yuck, look at all that speckled floor tile! Maybe if they price it at $600-700K someone would buy it.