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Hampton Roads area Chesapeake - Hampton - Newport News - Norfolk - Portsmouth - Suffolk - Virginia Beach
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Old 03-21-2009, 10:25 AM
 
10 posts, read 42,993 times
Reputation: 12

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It's nice to see a conversation about what buyers can/can't afford. It always seems like these real estate conversations focus on the seller and what they can or can't afford to sell for. Real estate agents around here are always saying how sellers can't afford to drop their prices anymore because they'll sell for a loss, so as a result prices CAN'T drop anymore. (I actually saw a real estate agent post that argument on Trulia.com in this area). But if there is no one out there that can afford to buy for what the seller is asking, it's going to force prices down. I just don't see a population that can afford such high asking prices. If I'm wrong I would love to hear from someone who has facts and figures for salaries around here. It would boost my confidence level on the real estate market around here and could convince me to buy.

I would hate to see $400,000 houses fall to below $200,000 levels. It would be devastating to this economy/school system/city services/people's investments. And I don't think it's going to get that bad.

Did anyone see 20/20 last night? It put a face on this housing crisis and was HEART BREAKING!
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Old 03-22-2009, 10:00 PM
 
1,790 posts, read 6,518,485 times
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I work with people with delinquent mortgages every day and there are SO MANY people in this same sad state. It's just unthinkable too when I see people's houses across the country that are worth 50% or more than what they owe on them. We have it pretty good here in HR compared to other locales such as SO CA, SO FL, Phoenix and Las Vegas just to name a few.
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Old 03-23-2009, 05:50 AM
 
Location: Va Beach
3,507 posts, read 13,454,429 times
Reputation: 1034
Quote:
Originally Posted by citydweller View Post
I work with people with delinquent mortgages every day and there are SO MANY people in this same sad state. It's just unthinkable too when I see people's houses across the country that are worth 50% or more than what they owe on them. We have it pretty good here in HR compared to other locales such as SO CA, SO FL, Phoenix and Las Vegas just to name a few.
AMEN! Some don't realize how good we have it here!
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Old 03-23-2009, 06:18 AM
 
57 posts, read 386,166 times
Reputation: 28
One of the things that we have gotten away from (generally speaking) is that the REAL purpose of home ownership is to having a place to live. Part of the problem with the housing crisis is that people bought houses that they couldn't afford from a speculative perspective. People bought $400K houses with the anticipation that would sell it for $500K in a few years. Or those who cashed out their equity as values started to rise, did it under the same mindset thinking that their values would continue to go up in a short time period.

But the way I figure is that if you are living in a house with a payment that you can afford, then why worry about your property value? The fact still remains that you own your residence. I mean we would all like to know that we can get a return on our investments but if I had to choose between owning a house that has lost half its value and being a renter, I'll take the perceived "loss" in ownership on any day.
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Old 03-23-2009, 10:33 AM
 
1,790 posts, read 6,518,485 times
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Great post. A house is an investment but is not meant to make you rich in the end. Enjoy it, fix it up and make it your own!
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Old 03-23-2009, 11:11 AM
 
Location: Wherabouts Unknown!
7,841 posts, read 18,999,002 times
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tedanderson wrote:
But the way I figure is that if you are living in a house with a payment that you can afford, then why worry about your property value? The fact still remains that you own your residence. I mean we would all like to know that we can get a return on our investments but if I had to choose between owning a house that has lost half its value and being a renter, I'll take the perceived "loss" in ownership on any day.
If there is an unpaid mortgage on the home, then you LOAN your home. You really don't OWN it until the mortgage is paid off. Many people calling themselves home owners are really home loaners.


citydweller wrote:
A house is an investment but is not meant to make you rich in the end.
IMO, a house is MEANT to be whatever a person makes it out to be, including an investment having the potential to make a person rich. That has actually happened for many people.
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Old 03-23-2009, 12:08 PM
 
1,790 posts, read 6,518,485 times
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Well, true too. I've seen folks on TV who buy homes, flip it and then sell it to buy up so you are right there too.
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Old 03-23-2009, 01:57 PM
 
5 posts, read 11,033 times
Reputation: 11
I'm a little curious to the argument that it's the military presence here that is keeping home prices at these ridiculous levels. My wife and I are military and moved here in November and we too are shocked by the home prices here. We started out looking with an agent but then decided to rent. It is so much more affordable. Most people also may not realize that the military housing allowance is based off of rental prices in the area and have nothing to do with actual home prices. And while you can do well with renting a home (rentals are very plentiful right now) there is no way most incoming military can afford home prices in the decent areas here in Hampton Roads.
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Old 03-23-2009, 02:35 PM
 
1,477 posts, read 6,019,788 times
Reputation: 1116
Quote:
Originally Posted by tedanderson View Post
One of the things that we have gotten away from (generally speaking) is that the REAL purpose of home ownership is to having a place to live. Part of the problem with the housing crisis is that people bought houses that they couldn't afford from a speculative perspective. People bought $400K houses with the anticipation that would sell it for $500K in a few years. Or those who cashed out their equity as values started to rise, did it under the same mindset thinking that their values would continue to go up in a short time period.

But the way I figure is that if you are living in a house with a payment that you can afford, then why worry about your property value? The fact still remains that you own your residence. I mean we would all like to know that we can get a return on our investments but if I had to choose between owning a house that has lost half its value and being a renter, I'll take the perceived "loss" in ownership on any day.
That is the problem many people are facing rght now so that statement makes no sense.(at least the way I am reading it)
If you bought a house 2-3 years ago for 500K and now you have to relocate out of state and todays market will only net you 375K you are underwater, Sure the person that bought the house for 500K may have no problems paying the monthly payments but when you have to move what else can you do....Either you are going to take on two house payments(very few people can do that ) rent it out, short sale the property or just totally walk away from the house.....
Sure this is not the person that started this housing mess but he is the one also paying the price now because his home has dropped in value and cant sell it for anywhere around what he owes because all around him are short sales and REO's.
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Old 03-23-2009, 03:20 PM
 
Location: Maryland
40 posts, read 155,699 times
Reputation: 25
Had to chime in and give my 0.02- am moving to VA Beach this summer with my Navy man immediately after the wedding. I live in Central MD and housing prices in VA Beach are VERY affordable compared to what I'm used to.

We looked at buying, and the 3BR houses around here were going for easily $100,000 less than where we are coming from. It's like a breath of fresh air to us. Back home we could not afford to buy- in VA Beach we are choosing not to buy only because we don't know how long we will be here. Also this thread has been helpful...seems like if you are not going to stick around it may be the wrong choice to buy.

Just wanted to try and make you all feel better about these prices...
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