"More can’t afford homes"- from the FW Star Telegram (Houston: foreclosure, rentals) - Dallas - Texas (TX) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

shannon94 · 10-21-2006, 05:39 PM

In the state of Texas, (so far) when people get into financial trouble, they typically dont have enough equity to fall back on and have to walk away from their homes. Especially these days, when you can get in for nothing down. Which is kind of mind boggling in that Texas is a debtors state, as is Florida (just ask OJ) You can file bankruptcy and still keep your home and cars in most cases.

I think just as many expensive homes in nice areas are in foreclosure too. It's not only in "undesireable" locations.These lovely ARM and no interest loans made alot of people bite off more than they could chew. After all.... "everythings bigger in Texas!" right? lol

Please don't worry about a bubble in Texas. Investors are starting to buy properties left and right out here now. Texas has been undervalued for sometime and prices are now starting to go up.

The job market is improving too due to the fallout in other states such as California.

momof2dfw · 10-21-2006, 05:47 PM

Here is an excerpt from the news article the other day.
----------------
It's not the most worrisome performance ever for foreclosures in the Dallas area. In 1989, foreclosures in Dallas County reached as high as 2,000 a month in a smaller overall market, Mr. Roddy said. This month's figure for Dallas County was 1,886.

Not all homes posted for foreclosure are sold at auction. Homeowners are often able to work out arrangements with their lenders.

Foreclosures this month rose by 49 percent in Dallas County, 47 percent in Tarrant County, 65 percent in Collin County and 37 percent in Rockwall County.

About 80 percent of the properties posted for foreclosure are worth $200,000 or less, with an average value of about $115,500 for Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton counties, Mr. Roddy said.

Still, a small portion of homes have values over $500,000.

-----------------

So noting that there were more foreclosures in numbers in 1989 than there are now in 2006, that makes a big difference. Back in 1989 there were not NEAR this many homes in the Dallas area.

bdlee73 · 10-21-2006, 06:14 PM

momof2dfw- you provided some good perspective on the situation. I do find it interesting the the "rich county" (Collin) had the largest increase in foreclosures. Keeping up with the Jones too much?

shannon94- "Investors are starting to buy properties left and right out here now" is what scares me. That is how Boise is now stuck in a market bubble. Californians began buying up the affordable housing because it was "cheap". Median home price went up over 100k in a just a few years while wages were up only marginally.

shannon94 · 10-21-2006, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdlee73

momof2dfw- you provided some good perspective on the situation. I do find it interesting the the "rich county" (Collin) had the largest increase in foreclosures. Keeping up with the Jones too much?

shannon94- "Investors are starting to buy properties left and right out here now" is what scares me. That is how Boise is now stuck in a market bubble. Californians began buying up the affordable housing because it was "cheap". Median home price went up over 100k in a just a few years while wages were up only marginally.

First of all the job market is better in Texas than it is in Idaho. Alot of companies are moving out here from places such as California. If you bought out here now, you wouldn't be buying at the top of the market yet. However in Boise you would be. Do you have a time frame as to when you could make the move? Are you in a position to buy now?

socketz · 10-21-2006, 07:35 PM

Take it from me, the job market in Texas, especially the North Texas Corridor, is much better than Idaho.

I read that the unemployment rate in NoCentral texas is under 4.5% now. That's excellent.

What scares me is that Texas has historically turned on a dime. So what happens in 2 years when the mass exodus of Californians now realizes they can move back to CA for 20-30% less than they paid before......

For decades everyone has always tried to underestimate CA, but when the day is done.....people want to live there, especially if it is affordable.

shannon94 · 10-21-2006, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by socketz

Take it from me, the job market in Texas, especially the North Texas Corridor, is much better than Idaho.

I read that the unemployment rate in NoCentral texas is under 4.5% now. That's excellent.

What scares me is that Texas has historically turned on a dime. So what happens in 2 years when the mass exodus of Californians now realizes they can move back to CA for 20-30% less than they paid before......

For decades everyone has always tried to underestimate CA, but when the day is done.....people want to live there, especially if it is affordable.

Weren't you the one that said 20-30% wouldn't make a dent in California prices? A 20-30% drop is still not affordable. (maybe in your world it is) Contrary to what you may believe, not all Californians want to go back. I've talked to many Californians who are quite happy to be here. I don't think people like to constantly uproot their children and change jobs either. Sure , some will go back, but I doubt it will be a mass exodus because of a 20-30% drop. That's just silly.
In a way I wish prices wouldn't drop in Cali...I'm in for an inheritance of two properties in San Diego.......I still wont go back, but would maybe buy a second place for when I visit.

bdlee73 · 10-21-2006, 10:23 PM

shannon94- I finish college in April and we'll be in a position to move after that. As far as finances, we've been concentrating on paying down debt, so we have no down payment for a home. If and when we move, we'll need to either rent for a while or look at 100% financing (yikes!).

Re: the Boise job market, unemployment is extremely low at 3.3%. The problem is that most of the jobs are in the service industry and are rather low paying. To advance in my career (over 10 years in the airline and travel industry), I will need to move to a larger job market.

momof2dfw · 10-21-2006, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdlee73

shannon94- I finish college in April and we'll be in a position to move after that. As far as finances, we've been concentrating on paying down debt, so we have no down payment for a home. If and when we move, we'll need to either rent for a while or look at 100% financing (yikes!).

Re: the Boise job market, unemployment is extremely low at 3.3%. The problem is that most of the jobs are in the service industry and are rather low paying. To advance in my career (over 10 years in the airline and travel industry), I will need to move to a larger job market.

Are you looking at working for one of the airlines around here in the Dallas area? If so about the only one I would recommend is Southwest. American is too darn wishy-washy. Especially in Dallas w/ the whole Wright Amendment w/ Love Field. Southwest on the otherhand stays pretty busy and overall reports profits instead of losses. We have some friends that work there and they all love it. They are all in different areas but stay busy, been there for YEARS and have never had any intentions of leaving or even looking much less sniff another job. Southwest operates out of Love Field and has not flights from D/FW.

bdlee73 · 10-21-2006, 10:56 PM

momof2dfw- my goal is to work at Southwest (again)- they are a great company. I worked there for seven years; the only reason I left was to finish my college degree as my work schedule as a customer service supervisor didn't permit time for school. I would have stayed if there was a way to balance the two (that was before onlinbe learning was widely available).Now I work in corporate travel, but my heart is in the airline industry. The company I work with now has a division office at ParkWest in Dallas, so that's another career option if SWA doesn't play out. Hell will freeze over before I work at AA. They have some of the most abusive pricing and I would love nothing more than to work at SWA again so I can "wage battle" against the other airlines.

Speaking of the Wright Amendment- what a victory for the city and SWA. I was so happy to see the new schedules posted on the reservation system last week. I pay close attention to the industry, and this was a great development. Bets on how long it takes for AA to stop their flights out of Love?

GoPadge · 10-23-2006, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdlee73

shannon94- I finish college in April and we'll be in a position to move after that. As far as finances, we've been concentrating on paying down debt, so we have no down payment for a home. If and when we move, we'll need to either rent for a while or look at 100% financing (yikes!).

Re: the Boise job market, unemployment is extremely low at 3.3%. The problem is that most of the jobs are in the service industry and are rather low paying. To advance in my career (over 10 years in the airline and travel industry), I will need to move to a larger job market.

100% financing doesn't have to be a big issue. It's not the wisest choice, but it's not a guarantee of foreclosure either. The most important thing to remember is to have a good budget. Know what you make and what you spend. (And know where you can cut costs if you need to.) Don't eat out or go out if you can't pay for the necessities. And certainly don't pay for it on your credit card.

Don't finance something just because they'll lend you the money. Shop for bargains and be content with what you have and where you are in life. For the most part the "Jones" are over-extended, self-involved and out of touch with each other and their children.

If I gambled, I would wager that more foreclosures are the results of poor "life-style" choices and chasing after the "Jones" than any other reason.