Is it a bad time to buy real estate?

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Homes just arent a good investment anymore, unless they are in a major metropolitan area. Transportation costs are going to skyrocket in America as our currency inflates... this means food, commuting to work, heating costs, etc are all going to go up. With High unemployment, you are guaranteed lower wages in most professions. This means most people will be looking for places to live closer to where they work (cities) and need to be most of the time, not where they can have the biggest house and the most property.

Also, all of the carbon legislation plans that have been proposed all say that homes will have to meet certain "efficiency ratings" in order to be sold, which means that the longer you own your home, the more $$$ you'll have to sink into it in order to take it to market. I know none of these plans have passed yet, but its only a matter of time. Its also also going to be harder to sell a home as the market continues to slump as people leave suburbia and move into more convenient locations.
 
Cashizslick said:
Homes just arent a good investment anymore, unless they are in a major metropolitan area. Transportation costs are going to skyrocket in America as our currency inflates... this means food, commuting to work, heating costs, etc are all going to go up. With High unemployment, you are guaranteed lower wages in most professions. This means most people will be looking for places to live closer to where they work (cities) and need to be most of the time, not where they can have the biggest house and the most property.

Also, all of the carbon legislation plans that have been proposed all say that homes will have to meet certain "efficiency ratings" in order to be sold, which means that the longer you own your home, the more $$$ you'll have to sink into it in order to take it to market. I know none of these plans have passed yet, but its only a matter of time. Its also also going to be harder to sell a home as the market continues to slump as people leave suburbia and move into more convenient locations.
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I disagree on all accounts. Everyone keeps pushing out more into the sticks to get away from the cities and larger towns.
 
Cashizslick said:
So gas is getting cheaper?
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yup. Already 15 cents cheaper around here.

YouTube - Analysts predict 50 cent drop in gas prices before summer

The housing market is recovering?
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yup.

It's 'normal' now. This is how it was before the boom more or less.

The dollar is gaining strength?
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the dollar is fucked and has been since FDR took it off the gold standard back in 1932.
Average US income is rising?
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unemployment numbers keep dropping, so i'd say, yes, income is rising.

Food prices arent going up?
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only shit made with corn syrup or stuff that needs to be shipped really far has gone up significantly. maybe add dairy to that as well. But thats because they feed on corn.

Basically, bio./ethanol is the problem with our food 'crisis'.

chicken is still 99 cents a pound for a whole roaster

banannas from Columbia/etc are still 69 cents a pound in season like they have been for the past 10 years.

I saved about $50 last week by using coupons that took me about 15 min to clip out of sunday's paper. This week should be about $80 in savings.

There's still plenty of reasonably priced food to be had. It just requires a little bit more creative thinking and better foods.

and we've been through this-- GROW YOU OWN :) I can't wait to start eating my own produce.
 
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@ B. A friend of mine in nyc has his own vegetable garden.

Basil, tomatos, peppers.... mmmmmmmm :)



As for the unemployment figures dropping - the Govt has been manipulating the way the stats are reported... they are removing jobs and perpetually unemployed people from the figures they report.

Remember, 0bama said he would hold unemployment to 8%. Thats the magic number he has to hit around this time next year.

The US economy is headed for a condition called stagflation. Stagflation is when you have both high unemployment (yep, we do) and high inflation, making recovery very difficult. Inflation isnt here yet, but with all the money the govt keeps printing, it will show up eventually.
 
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I'm going by what I see. I monitor job boards all the time and get emails everyday from past job hunts and for a while, there were NO jobs coming in at all. Lately, it's picked up quite a bit thought with a lot of jobs available.

Of course, i'm monitoring the IT sector only.
 
I grow my own food, even when I move for law school I will be buying planter boxes, whatever I can. It's natural and cheap.

Have to disagree on the housing market being back into shape. Last yr I had 15K in equity and my value was rising, this year I have 1K and my values were falling until a month ago, but its too soon to know if we are out of the woods. Many markets have returned, but many other markets trail behind economically: they are the last to get hit and the last to recover. It just depends where you live.

As far as buying a condo, don't IMO. I refuse to pay a $150 membership fee, most condos are new enough to not require that much maintenance and at that price you'd better get the best damn landscaper in the fucking world lol.

Townhouse? That might be something to look into. Google "New Urbanism." As the cost of energy continues to go up people will move closer to metro areas driving up the cost of city property. Do some research to see where light rail or mass transit is or will be expanded too. These will be epic investment properties.

The dollar is screwed, or maybe not. Long term the value will go down, but maybe not against the Europe. The problem with holding America accountable for its fiscal lunacy is two fold.

1. We buy the world's shit and grow (most) of the world's food. It's a sort of mexican standoff. Even China, who seems strong and would traditionally have loads to gain by over taking us, is given pause by this. If we go broke they lose their biggest purchaser.

2. We keep the world safe for commerce. Stop waiving your flag and talking about how we are keeping Libyans safe: They are the largest producer of oil in Africa and European countries rely on their black gold (ever wondered why France wants to fight all of a sudden?). So long as there is instability in the oil producing world nobody will want to upset the stability we provide, right or wrong.

There is a real possibility that in the short term the rest of the world will prefer "living the lie" and the status quo. There still really aren't many alternatives to American hegemony.
 
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