How bad is this economy really? (Memphis: rent, how much, schools) - Tennessee (TN) - Page 4 - City-Data Forum

WOWAddict · 10-28-2009, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k374

wherever I go the restaurants are all PACKED full, waits are like 45 minutes and these are at pretty expensive places so I don't know where the money is coming from. Infact, in prior years I have never seen the malls and restaurants this full. I also went to a movie theater recently and that was packed as well.

I noticed that also but I wonder if that is a sign of things getting better or just less restaurants decreasing supply.

hiknapster · 10-29-2009, 05:32 PM

The malls and restaurants were packed last Christmas. Then January came and it seemed like the economy in Knoxville fell off a cliff. According to the stats, we have the lowest unemployment rate in the state, when comparing the largest MSAs.

September, my husband's business just stopped. He made $300 that month; meanwhile, I probably dished out $2,000 in tuition, fees, etc. It was very, very scary.

He has worked steadily since October 1. Yes, exactly on October first. I'm seeing the restaurants and stores picking up, and fast. I have no idea what happened. Maybe consumer confidence is up. I certainly believe that the economy turned around in June. It will take awhile for jobs to follow, but they will.

Oh! I had to go to Party City to buy a costume, this week. The place was jammed. They had employees with walkie-talkies to take orders. Every register was open. The cashier said she looked for a job for two months, but now she is getting calls.

SFLWR · 10-29-2009, 05:40 PM

glad to hear this since I'll be coming there soon....

RememberMee · 10-30-2009, 09:38 PM

The question is - who's crowding restaurants, etc., I doubt there are many jobless there. Obviously, if the pie (economy) shrinks and you push a few people away from the pie (jobs), everything seems to be normal, everybody (next to the pie(jobs)) has a piece of it, it appears to be of the same size as before, the unfortunates without a piece simply fall out of the picture.

danielj72 · 11-02-2009, 08:46 PM

I live in Michigan and here the economic collapse is visible everywhere. Stores have less people in them, houses are abandoned EVERYWHERE. Houses have lost 30 to 50 percent of their value, so people just walk away from them. Many shops and restaurants have just folded up. I havent seen anything built in years. The roads are crumbling, our state goverment is failing. They are shutting prisons and letting the cons out early. Almost 1/5 of our state is unemployed. If you visit Michigan the depression is visible everywhere. I was in Tennesse this summer, and let me tell you, your state is lucky. There were still a few things being built, restaraunts were full. Yes there is alot of unemployment, but only about half of what we do. Your cities are still nice, ours are now slums. I truly hope your not beginning to slide into what we are dealing with up here in the midwest. The Tennesse economy is much more diversified so you have a much better chance of coming out of this way before we do. Ive read it could be decades for us, but some parts of the US supposedly will recover in 2010 or 2011.

hiknapster · 11-03-2009, 06:05 AM

I am very sorry to hear about that Daniel. I was just reading a Time article about the collapse of Detroit. Nothing new, of course, but fascinating, anyway. You're right; without a diverse economy, things can really sour, to understate it. The real money in this country was manufacturing and that is gone.

The very best of luck to you.

WOWAddict · 11-03-2009, 06:09 AM

If my house lost 50% of value and I didn't expect or want to be there another 10 years I would walk away from it. It is quicker just to walk away take the foreclosure on your credit rating and be able to get a loan in a few years(albeit with a high interest rate).

Fortunately I am about break even right now.

mbmouse · 11-03-2009, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WOWAddict

If my house lost 50% of value and I didn't expect or want to be there another 10 years I would walk away from it. It is quicker just to walk away take the foreclosure on your credit rating and be able to get a loan in a few years(albeit with a high interest rate).

Fortunately I am about break even right now.

I was just having a conversation about this today and I have a question for you. You said you would just walk away from a house because it lost 50% in value........walk to where? Where would you go to and live for those few years until (if) you are able to finance again? I mean if you have a job and plan to live in the same town, why would you just walk away from that house?
I am very curious about this and would appreciate any feedback. Thanks in advance.

jabogitlu · 11-04-2009, 12:30 AM

Many of the people who walked away from grossly overvalued homes in SoCal and other places were forced to move back into their parents' basements. Fun times.

as3369 · 11-04-2009, 07:09 AM

The problem in South Florida is between 2001-2006, people were buying houses as "investments" and not as "homes." It was an investor-speculated marked with no "end-users." Homes were appreciating at an unsustainable level. I knew several people who were buying several properties they couldn't afford with the thought of easy and fast profit. Now these same people have lost these properties, ruined their credit and impacted the rest of the real estate market which is in a state of rapid decline.

We bought are house 18 years ago as a "home." Yes, if we had sold a few years ago, we would have realized a substantial profit, but then again, we like our house (even though we hate South Florida). We will still walk away with a profit and will just be happy to be leaving the area to relocate to Tennessee.