I live 30 miles north of Dallas and I could clear at least $100k in profit if I sold my home today but I’d be paying more monthly for anything comparable. It’s utterly insane that a person could have that much equity and not be able to purchase the same home and owe less.
I really feel sorry for anyone who has to rent. Homes and apartments are way beyond affordable for the average person.

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Thirsty Beaver over in Plaza Midwood? An apt building was built around it since they refused to sell.

That is hilarious. I don't think I have ever seen anything like that. I wonder if the snooty apartment dwellers will make that their new watering hole?

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Originally posted by Skins2881:

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Thirsty Beaver over in Plaza Midwood? An apt building was built around it since they refused to sell.

That is hilarious. I don't think I have ever seen anything like that. I wonder if the snooty apartment dwellers will make that their new watering hole?

So the place is run by two brothers I think. It’s sort of a Charlotte staple for dive bars. It’s dog friendly and there is always a couple strays in there. There are bras hanging from the ceiling and old country music playing. It’s truly an interesting mix of people, everything from yuppies, to bikers, rednecks, hipsters, gutter punks, etc... it’s in an up and coming hipster neighborhood.

Some interior pics...

In my town in KY real estate has been crazy for about 18 months. A guy I work with put his house on the market on a whim. 2 days later he had an offer for more than their asking price. There are tons of stories of people having contracts on their houses within days of listing.

I hope the madness continues. I just put mine up for sale a few weeks ago. We've had a few showings but it's been kind of slow due to the holidays. We do have a showing scheduled for the 2nd though! Hopefully it picks up again after the 1st. Of course, that means we'll be fighting for a house and probably paying a premium. I've considered renting an apartment for a few months to see if the market cools off some.

There are a few areas in Pittsburgh that are sky high. Companies are coming in and buying row houses then flipping them. A regular buyer cannot afford to pay what the companies are paying and still have money left for the renovations.

The numbers just don't add up. If average income in the US is $70k and let's even go high and say $75 - $80, even if both people are working that doesn't add up to affording a $500k house. Plus two car payments at $500 - $700 a month.

Who is affording these places?

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Who is affording these places

People who bought their first home in the 70's when the average cost was under $200K and who have rolled their appreciated equity upwards over the decades.

Inflation is a two-sided coin.

If it helps, I am reading that the new tax law provisions will significantly slow real estate appreciation. The people who are saying this are the usual "Trump == bad!" folks, I am reserving judgment. Real Estate has been a reliable investment for as long as I've been paying attention. I suspect this is true for everything that has a fixed supply, and constantly increasing demand.

Want RE prices to go down? Open up Mars to colonization, or convince people to stop having babies!

Okay guys, look at what both the stock and RE markets has been doing, and what the return on debt instruments (bond, CDs, savings accounts, etc.) are. Also look at what the Fed has been doing to the money supply (link HERE ) in the name of economic stimulus.

There's a lot of money out there chasing returns that has limited places to go. Real Estate is one of those places.

It’s not only the housing prices... it’s the taxes that the government wants you to pay; when they re access you every year saying they are broke.

Yes, a lot of similarities to the mid-2000's. I have a good friend in the mortgage industry and the NINJA style loans are back.

Can anyone say "bubble".

We are still renting in San Diego only because the inventory is so low, haven't found anything we really like in this very desirable area. So we've watched prices increase about 10% in the last year.
This area of SD (Scripps Ranch) only fell about 10% in the Great Recession.

I wish it was this way where I live. Here in SE Georgia prices have been fairly stagnant. I bought my house in 2009 for $162500 and now it's worth about $142000 (according to Zillow which is not super accurate). This despite a ton of growth in my area. I'm hoping to sell in the next 18 months or so and just be able to leave without being out of pocket.

Are they? I tried to get a commercial mortgage recently, and got run through the mill and lowballed on the LTV. I'm not seeing it.

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Originally posted by Graniteguy:
Yes, a lot of similarities to the mid-2000's. I have a good friend in the mortgage industry and the NINJA style loans are back.

Can anyone say "bubble".

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Originally posted by BBMW:
Are they? I tried to get a commercial mortgage recently, and got run through the mill and lowballed on the LTV. I'm not seeing it.

When you say lowballed on LTV, what LTV did they want and what kind of property is it?

Three family house. I had five comps putting the value in the range of $800K. They did two appraisals that came back around $640K. The appraisals were utter garbage. For instance, my building was 3x 2 bed/2 bath units. Some of their comps were all 1 bed / 1 bath. My assumption, and my lawyer agreed with me, is that they just didn't want to lend as much as I wanted, and told the aprraisers to lowball it. Also, I originally wanted 75% LTV, and the pushed it down to 70%, then just rounded it down even more. If I hadn't has as much money into the process as I had, I would have walked away and started over. There were several points where I was very tempted anyway.

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Originally posted by rocket72:

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Originally posted by BBMW:
Are they? I tried to get a commercial mortgage recently, and got run through the mill and lowballed on the LTV. I'm not seeing it.

When you say lowballed on LTV, what LTV did they want and what kind of property is it?

I am hoping the Charlotte are market keeps going the way it is. I am putting my house up for sale March 1. I live south of the city in Union County. My real estate agent says sales are slow right now but spring will be crazy just like last year. If you are priced under $300k in the Charlotte area the houses only last a day or two on the market. Over $300k it just depends.

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Originally posted by Lord Vaalic:
The numbers just don't add up. If average income in the US is $70k and let's even go high and say $75 - $80, even if both people are working that doesn't add up to affording a $500k house. Plus two car payments at $500 - $700 a month.

Who is affording these places?

People in a butt load of debt most likely.

Prices have really sky rocketed here, again.

We bought our home at $180,000 in 2009 at the pretty much the lowest point in the market. The home had last sold for $300, I think.

It’s now worth about $325, roughly. I’d like to sell to cash out the equity before it crashes again, as I imagine it will, but that would mean having to move (I don’t need that hassle) and also requires having to buy again (selling high and buying high isn’t great) or renting (rent on a comparable house to mine is probably at least $500 a month more than my mortgage).

So it looks like we stay put and ride out the coming crash. If we were ready to flee the state that’s be the answer, but we aren’t there yet.

quote:

Originally posted by Lord Vaalic:
The numbers just don't add up. If average income in the US is $70k and let's even go high and say $75 - $80, even if both people are working that doesn't add up to affording a $500k house. Plus two car payments at $500 - $700 a month.

Who is affording these places?

That’s my question. And rent prices are the same.

I work in Plaza Midwood/Villa Heights/NODA, for those familiar. We are not required to live in the city, but my kids live an hour north of Charlotte with their mom and my wife works off Westinghouse, so I’m in a hard spot as far as moving.

Currently I have an unbelievable residental situation. But eventually we will want to buy. When we moved from the beach I sold my house (got bent over on that) and she kept hers, renting it out long-term.

We occasionally look around. My MIL is a local realtor. We would be most interested in the Gaston County area probably, but we’re waiting at least another year. We have an unbelievable deal where we rent now near 77/485 on the north side of town.

But the prices are insane. We’re hoping for some kind of downturn before we buy. I want to do 20% down on a 15 year mortgage. Ain’t no way in hell were doing that on a $500,000 house.

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Originally posted by armedprof:
I am hoping the Charlotte are market keeps going the way it is. I am putting my house up for sale March 1. I live south of the city in Union County. My real estate agent says sales are slow right now but spring will be crazy just like last year. If you are priced under $300k in the Charlotte area the houses only last a day or two on the market. Over $300k it just depends.

Shit I couldn’t find good 2 bedroom apartments in uptown area for under $350k. 3rd ward has new split condos that look like they were built by ikea. They start at $480k.