Materialism, Overspending, and Foreclosure in PG County

[mdfrommw7]

Originally Posted by meatkins

This is an interesting debate. I think one thing that has to reiterated is the number of blacks that have ARM mortgages in PG County as opposed to other areas. There was an article in the Washington Post a few years ago about the similarity in incomes between Lake Arbor and Cleveland Park in DC, but the huge difference in the types of loans people were getting. One thing became very clear in the article, some black people don't read!!!! A lot of us are not educated on real estate and investing money. Black people, culturally, believe they have to be flashy and often invest in things like clothes and cars that depreciate in value, while we often neglect real estate and see the true value in it. I can't tell you the number of black people that truly do not understand real estate. Real estate has such a huge affect on this county and it is greatly affected by our poor school system. This is one of the reasons why this county is forcing people to take homeowner classes in order to receive any type of funding for their homes.

I'm beginning to think real estate (in the future) will have nothing to do with investing but everything to do with lifestyle upgrades. Houses should depreciate. They wear out, break down, fall apart, etc. There is no way houses should increase in value (other than by means of inflation). I think the days of home ownership being an investment are over, unless hyper inflation kicks in or interest rates go down to 2%

[justtitans]

Originally Posted by mdfrommw7

I'm beginning to think real estate (in the future) will have nothing to do with investing but everything to do with lifestyle upgrades. Houses should depreciate. They wear out, break down, fall apart, etc. There is no way houses should increase in value (other than by means of inflation). I think the days of home ownership being an investment are over, unless hyper inflation kicks in or interest rates go down to 2%

I'm sorry, I have to completely disagree, that's not how real estate works. Real estate values always go up and down. Houses are only going to depreciate but so much, and once they do the price usually level off and eventually increase. It doesn't sound like you have a great understanding of real estate, so let me break it down a little further.

Houses that "wear out, break down, fall apart" will always lose their value no matter what market we are in. People are not going to buy a home for an expensive price in disarray. Homeowners' responsibility should always be to maintain the repairs of their homes, update appliances, and maintain the general upkeep of their homes. You can't just expect a home to gain value by not taking care of it.

Also there are a lot of factors that determine home values like school systems, neighborhood (how many homes sell, what they sell for, and what features are included in the homes), crime, and land development around their neighborhood (i.e. retail, businesses).

Any real estate agent will tell you that good real estate will always sell no matter the market. People who put the time and money in their homes generally end up making money off of their sells, but it depends on all of those factors. There is no way we can possibly know what each individual home will do, there are too many factors to say home value will depreciate! That is just a general statement with no factual backing. Look at HGTV, I promise you, you will understand what I'm saying a lot more.

[mdfrommw7]

Originally Posted by meatkins

I'm sorry, I have to completely disagree, that's not how real estate works. Real estate values always go up and down. Houses are only going to depreciate but so much, and once they do the price usually level off and eventually increase. It doesn't sound like you have a great understanding of real estate, so let me break it down a little further.

Houses that "wear out, break down, fall apart" will always lose their value no matter what market we are in. People are not going to buy a home for an expensive price in disarray. Homeowners' responsibility should always be to maintain the repairs of their homes, update appliances, and maintain the general upkeep of their homes. You can't just expect a home to gain value by not taking care of it.

Also there are a lot of factors that determine home values like school systems, neighborhood (how many homes sell, what they sell for, and what features are included in the homes), crime, and land development around their neighborhood (i.e. retail, businesses).

Any real estate agent will tell you that good real estate will always sell no matter the market. People who put the time and money in their homes generally end up making money off of their sells, but it depends on all of those factors. There is no way we can possibly know what each individual home will do, there are too many factors to say home value will depreciate! That is just a general statement with no factual backing. Look at HGTV, I promise you, you will understand what I'm saying a lot more.

I appreciate your opinion. I don't have a crystal ball so I can't tell you what will definitely happen. Historically real estate has been a good investement but we haven't seen a real estate situation like this ever before in history. I think house values will drop significantly, there is a huge inventory of foreclosures, the unemployment rate is high and is stubborn to go down. If people don't have money to buy, losing their houses, foreclosures flood the market, etc, how can home values go up (outside of inflation) I just don't know how real estate can go up any time soon.

[oldway]

Originally Posted by mdfrommw7

I appreciate your opinion. I don't have a crystal ball so I can't tell you what will definitely happen. Historically real estate has been a good investement but we haven't seen a real estate situation like this ever before in history. I think house values will drop significantly, there is a huge inventory of foreclosures, the unemployment rate is high and is stubborn to go down. If people don't have money to buy, losing their houses, foreclosures flood the market, etc, how can home values go up (outside of inflation) I just don't know how real estate can go up any time soon.

What is the unemployment rate around the DC area? Montgomery county? Isn't it around 4-5%? I would consider that to be VERY STRONG compared to the rest of the country!!It's all relative.

The DC metro area lives in its own economy compared to the rest of the country because it is supported by the Fed Gov't. FYI Based solely on the finance reform bill that recently passed there will be numerous new government agencies being created, let alone new jobs! The SEC alone is on track to hire 800 new employees over the next three years. To think that housing is going to depreciate over the long term..especially in the good neighborhoods around dc is comical.

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by oldway

What is the unemployment rate around the DC area? Montgomery county? Isn't it around 4-5%? I would consider that to be VERY STRONG compared to the rest of the country!!It's all relative.

The DC metro area lives in its own economy compared to the rest of the country because it is supported by the Fed Gov't. FYI Based solely on the finance reform bill that recently passed there will be numerous new government agencies being created, let alone new jobs! The SEC alone is on track to hire 800 new employees over the next three years. To think that housing is going to depreciate over the long term..especially in the good neighborhoods around dc is comical.

I don't think it's comical. It is not impossible for the bad economy everywhere else to drag down this area's economy as well.

[oldway]

Originally Posted by dkf747

I don't think it's comical. It is not impossible for the bad economy everywhere else to drag down this area's economy as well.

Nothing is impossible, but when you have the security of the fed gov't the chances of the area losing housing value over time is hard to imagine.

The only way I see this changing is if more federal agencies would allow employees to telecommute from remote locations, meaning from other states, not just a few days a week from home in neighborhoods surrounding the city. For all the fed government talks about telecommuting, going green and working in virtual teams I find them slow to conform to this way thinking. It's alot of do as I say, not as I do mentality.

[mdfrommw7]

Originally Posted by oldway

What is the unemployment rate around the DC area? Montgomery county? Isn't it around 4-5%? I would consider that to be VERY STRONG compared to the rest of the country!!It's all relative.

The DC metro area lives in its own economy compared to the rest of the country because it is supported by the Fed Gov't. FYI Based solely on the finance reform bill that recently passed there will be numerous new government agencies being created, let alone new jobs! The SEC alone is on track to hire 800 new employees over the next three years. To think that housing is going to depreciate over the long term..especially in the good neighborhoods around dc is comical.

Coming from someone who just bought a house last week I hope you are right. The house I bought would have sold for $180,000 more 5 years ago. The house would have sold for $100,000 less 10 years ago. Even though the unemployment rate isn't as bad as the rest of the nation the houses depreciated like crazy in this area due to the housing bust. I also noted on the graphs I saw the unemployment rate in all the DC areas has been going up in the past two years with no signs of turning around. I also doubt the Federal government is a safe haven that can resist the horrendous state of the national economy. I read on Monday the Pentagon may lay off 3,000 people. There are a lot of people in this area that are underemployed relative to a few years ago. I don't see any off setting factors that will cause real estate to rebound, especially to the 2005 level.

Unemployment rates
DC: 10.5%
Montgomery county: 5.3%
Prince George's county: 6.9%
Howard County: 5.2%

[bmorefella]

[quote=boreatwork;14562425]Although you probably make valid points its probably that your name is bmore fella commenting on Pg county ...idk[/

OOOH YEAH I FORGOT, WERE ALL SUPPOSED TO HATE EACH OTHER!!! THAT STUPID BEEF THATS BEEN AROUND SINCE FOREVER BETWEEN THE TWO BLACKEST CITIES IN AMERICA!!! SO I GUESS IF MY NAME WAS FORT WASHINGTON FELLA EVERYTHING WOULD BE COOL!!!!


THATS SOO SAD BUT YOUR PROBABLY RIGHT!!!