18-06-2005 05:40									#31
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A little dangerous is relative in DC. A little dangerous means a mixed ethnic neighborhood within 4 or 5 blocks of the projects. Dangerous means being white in Anacostia or northeast DC.

	18-06-2005 06:42									#32
	Re: Housing envy -- owning a house while keeping your friends Suffering from ads?

quote: Originally posted by DanS In DC, we have had a hot real estate market for a couple of years.

Syracuse is experiencing the same thing. Kinda strange especially considering that a lot of the baby boomers are leaving permanently for warmer climes, which should be creating a glut in pre-owned housing.

quote: Originally posted by DanS Those who bought before the prices went up are sitting on a lot of equity.

We bought at the low point in the local housing market 8 years ago, and now our house is assessed at almost twice what my wife and I payed for it . Although our house's assessed value is probably different from its true value, why it still says a lot about how the housing market is in overdrive here....


D

	18-06-2005 06:44									#33
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quote: Originally posted by Lancer I do not own my house, nor do I pay rent, what am I?

A foreigner in the Phillipines.

	18-06-2005 20:50									#34
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quote: Originally posted by Starchild Is a little dangerous in D.C. like saying a little lawless in Mogadishu?

Parts of DC are still warzones. The amount of violent crime is about half of what it was during the crack cocaine epidemic in the early 90s, so it is steadily getting better. What you have are safe neighborhoods right next to warzone neighborhoods. Most of the warzone neighborhoods are in the Southeast quadrant of the city (the northeast quadrant is not as dangerous as Timexwatch thinks). Most of the Northwest quadrant is probably safer than London.

In the suburbs (where 9/10 of the people in the metro area live), every county but Prince George's County is probably safer than London.

I moved into a "transitional" neighborhood several years ago and bought my condo about 2.5 years ago. The prices were depressed at the time and I only paid 5% down, so I made out like a bandit.

	18-06-2005 20:59									#35
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quote: Originally posted by Lancer I do not own my house, nor do I pay rent, what am I?

A kept man.

	18-06-2005 21:02									#36
	Got spare money?

Unless I get rich sometime soon, I'm not going to be able to buy in my area of choice, Broward County, specifically, Ft. Lauderdale. Housing costs have gone up 12% in 2005 so far. This county is somewhat unique in that most of the county is protected swamp, and of course there's an ocean to the East. Even Palm Beach and Dade have much more land available. Apparently, however, what's really driving our housing market is Palm Beach county, as people who can't afford to buy there are buying in Broward.

When we buy, it looks like we'll be moving to Miami-Dade, but I can live with that.

There is property in Broward that's available in my price range, but it's in the most dangerous part of the ghetto or are mobile homes, and you can't get huricane insurance on those, and there's no way I'm sinking $100K into something that can easily be destroyed by a seasonal storm.

Been thinking about container housing. Shipping containers are pretty ****ing tough, and some really interesting designs have been done with them. Don't know if they're insurable, however.

	18-06-2005 21:06									#37
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quote: Originally posted by Kontiki I don't know what the rental market is like in DC, but here in Toronto someone paying the same in rent as I do on my mortgage, condo fees and property taxes is living in a much worse place. And if property prices continue to climb (not even particularly quickly), in five years if we both wanted to buy a new place, my relative advantage would be skewed even more. Whether that's a source of envy or not is up to the individual, but my lifestyle/cost ratio is certainly better owning than renting, and it gets better every year.

In D.C., ownership is more expensive than renting, even considering that we can deduct home mortgage interest payments from our income for income taxes. I don't think this is sustainable, so either home prices will fall or rental prices will rise.

	18-06-2005 22:09									#38
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"Cardboard box on the streets?"

Provost, nope.

"Dumpster in a back ally? "

Oerdin, hardly.

"A foreigner in the Phillipines."

Smiley, not right at the moment.

"A kept man."

DanS, though Dolores tells me I married her for her money, sadly this isn's among the many, better reasons.

"I do not own my house, nor do I pay rent, what am I?"

No guys, I am a human being.

Besides that, and regarding my habitation, I sold my multiplex and as part of the sale agreement I have a 2 bedroom apartment, for free, for 10 years. After that, God willing, I'll become "A foreigner in the Phillipines."

	19-06-2005 01:07									#39
	Tired of ads?

Che, once you and Bunny girl have both been employed for around 6 months talk to the Department of Housing and Urban Development as they often have down payment assistance programs, subsidized loan programs, and they'll give you a loan at income to cost ratios a bank wouldn't touch. We're talking 50%-60% of income and they'll still do it.

The catch is you have to move to areas on HUDs list. They are redeveloping areas and not new home construction but in many towns huge Victorians with large yards which need some TLC can still be found at affordable prices.

	19-06-2005 23:27									#40
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There are no HUD homes in Broward county. The state of Florida has a program which lends, interest free, a down payment of up to $16K on a first home. It is only repaid when the home is sold. If this job in Boca doesn't fall through, we might be able to get a house next year, but lord knows how much further out of our reach a house will be by then.

	20-06-2005 00:01									#41
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Maybe the bottom will drop out of the bubble and it will be cheaper.

	20-06-2005 01:04									#42
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That is what I am hoping for...it has slowed considerably in recent time...

	20-06-2005 01:22									#43
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quote: Originally posted by chegitz guevara There are no HUD homes in Broward county. The state of Florida has a program which lends, interest free, a down payment of up to $16K on a first home. It is only repaid when the home is sold. If this job in Boca doesn't fall through, we might be able to get a house next year, but lord knows how much further out of our reach a house will be by then.

http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/aids...rdale/index.cfm

On their list of priorities for Fort Lauderdale (that's what came out of HUD's site when I searched for Broward County) there is a list of HUD priorities. #8 is "Direct Financial Assistance" for home buyers. Check out their first time buyer program because even if it isn't as cheap as their urban renewal program it is still pretty cheap. Six years ago my sister and her husband used it to buy a brand new 3bd/2.5bth in Temecula for just under $200k so it doesn't have to be used in a ghetto. BTW those houses are now selling in the $500k-$600k range even way the hell out where they're living (it's around 1 hour 15 minutes north of town).

	20-06-2005 01:27									#44
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quote: Originally posted by Lancer Maybe the bottom will drop out of the bubble and it will be cheaper.

Maybe, but it's doubtful the most desirable properties would fall much for very long if at all. I'm not sure in the rest of the country but in the coastal regions of California the property values have been averaging pretty good since 1945 on ward with only about a half dozen down periods which were really blips since valuations were all fully recovered with in 2-3 years. A 60 year track record is a pretty strong indication that conditions are likely to remain similiar into the future.

Out here this is a long term trend driven by population growth and economic growth. More people with more money but the same amount of land means land prices go up.

	20-06-2005 02:32									#45
	Increase Your PM Length

quote: Originally posted by Oerdin The deposit was a killer. I was only able to save around $22k which wasn't nearly enough to avoid PMI so I was considering a high interest second (since that's marginally cheaper then paying PMI)

Interest on a second is also a tax write off, unlike PMI.

	20-06-2005 03:34									#46
	Full PM-box? Change here!

Yer link ain't workin' fer me.

	20-06-2005 04:02									#47
	Full PM-box? Change here!

Go to HUD.gov and search for the county name you were looking for. Either that or search for city names you are interested in. You'd be amazed at some of the programs HUD offers. Also check the VA site because some times they have homes up for auction; my father bought one of his rental houses that way. He isn't a vet but the VA let him have the house for $10k done and they even let him take over the old VA loan terms which were way below market rate. IF you can find something like that then it would be a great way to get a starter home.