OT: RE

[tth2]

I just bought my first house, and it was very important to me to get something I could actually afford.

 

That's why I'm sitting right now in my nice new office/nerdatorium in Columbus, OH instead of a shoebox sized fixer-upper the San Francisco Bay Area.

Hey Jim, glad to hear you guys are all settled in your new place.

[scottish]

A tidbit I heard on the news this morning:

 

Moody's reported that they are expecting a 3% decrease in the 100 major markets in the next 18 months.

[The Less Blob]

"A tidbit I heard on the news this morning:

 

Moody's reported that they are expecting a 3% decrease in the 100 major markets in the next 18 months."

 

You see, I find that tremendously encouraging. a 3% decrease is nothing when things have been going up 10-15% a year, which was silly. If people are sitting on the sidelines for 18 months waiting for a 3% drop, well, that doesn't make a lot of sense. all we need are interest rates to go up 1/2% and you've lost the benefit of waiting and then some.

 

Mind you, the drop predicted is more like 15-20% for several Florida markets and some other areas that have gone nuts.

 

My next door neighboors just got a bid on their (huge) apartment pretty close to their $1 million + ask, which is encouraging. Unfortunately, I'm in a smaller place, which is less of a "I've gottah have that" scenario for rich people with kids and less likely to get a quick bid because it's going to go to a single person or a childless couple who can afford to wait and find the "perfect" place.

 

My big fear is having to carry two mortgages after I buy my new place and haven't sold my old one.

[scottish]

"A tidbit I heard on the news this morning:

 

Moody's reported that they are expecting a 3% decrease in the 100 major markets in the next 18 months."

 

You see, I find that tremendously encouraging. 3% increase is nothing when things have been going up 10-15% a year, which was silly. If people are sitting on the sidelines for 18 months waiting for a 3% drop, well, that doesn't make a lot of sense. all we need are interest rates to go up 1/2% and you've lost the benefit of waiting and then some.

 

Mind you, the drop predicted is more like 15-20% for several Florida markets and some other areas that have gone nuts.

 

My next door neighboors just got a bid on their (huge) apartment pretty close to their $1 million + ask, which is encouraging. Unfortunately, I'm in a smaller place, which is less of a "I've gottah have that" scenario for rich people with kids and less likely to get a quick bid because it's going to go to a single person or a childless couple who can afford to wait and find the "perfect" place.

 

My big fear is having to carry two mortgages after I buy my new place and haven't sold my old one.

 

No worries there - just have a contingency in the Purchase Contract that your current home must sell before the closing of the new home.

 

I see this all the time though some sellers can eventually grow impatient and then refuse to extend the closing any further.

[The Less Blob]

yeah, the sellers of what i'm buying were not so desperate as to allow for something like that. houses do not stay on the market long in this particular area, the "slump" has been people not bidding ask (which I didn't, but I wasn't way under) because they're no longer assuming everything will be 10% higher next year, not that there aren't buyers. I think it's probably impacted things by about 5% from the peak and probably 10% for non-prime homes that maybe need some work. there were multiple bids and mine wasn't the highest, though I was close. i'm just trying to push off the closing date as long as i can. i would never (as a seller) accept that contingency unless it was somewhat limited and they had offered me A LOT more than anyone else, particularly if I had some trouble selling mine. I figure if I had trouble they'll have trouble too.