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If you own a home....

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by poindexter, Feb 11, 2008.

  1. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty Guest

    considering buying when it hits rock bottom, buck?
     
  2. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    Thinking about it, sure. But I'm far away from making that decision. Prices have to come down a whole lot lower for me to consider it realistic.
     
  3. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty Guest

    i don't see how they can't keep falling.
     
  4. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    Something has to give. And it can't be just a decrease in housing prices.


    You keep saying that and I don't know what it means.

    What are you saying? Government bailout? Free houses for everyone? More fakakta programs like"Hope Now" or "Operation Lifeline"?

    Spell it out. Housing prices were once $285 in Santa Clarita. Probably about 10 years ago. Why can't they be again?
     
  5. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    Hell, I don't have the answer. I don't think guv'ment bailout is the answer, certainly.

    But I think it needs to be some combination of making houses affordable for regular people, and affording regular people a realistic chance to buy a decent house. That means a change in lending practices, a change in building practices and a change in wage scale-to-cost of living. Right now, we're nowhere near that balance, in most parts of the country.
     
  6. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    I'm not trying to be a smart ass - I don't know what any of that means. I do know there's going to be a change in lending practices, and it isn't going to be fun for a consumer who doesn't have good credit and a sizeable downpayment. Those days of fun ended this fall.
     
  7. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty Guest

    doesn't seem real practical, dog.
     
  8. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    *What* doesn't seem real practical? 20% down and 30 year fixed? It's real practical. What's impractical is banks losing their ass by giving away loans like they've done the last six years.
     
  9. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty Guest

    what's even more impractical is setting up a system where nobody pays on the notes for brand new homes that sit empty.

    your way is worse than what they were doing a year ago. at least thne banks received some money from the losers who moved in. by your standards, banks will receive nothing for the money they loaned the contractors to build the houses in the first place.
     
  10. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    The brand new house doesn't sit empty. It sells for $225,000 instead of $400,000.

    It's whats going to happen, whether you like it or not. Tract McMansions in Riverside aren't going to be selling for $500,000 in Riverside when this settles. Regardless of the cost.

    We are talking past each other. I am out.
     
  11. Tom Petty

    Tom Petty Guest

    if i'm a banker, i'd rather take a slight risk and make money on a house i'm paying for rather than take almost no risk and lose 20 percent on the house i'm paying for.

    if you think the state of our housing market is going to change america's spending habits, you're smoking some sweet herb.
     
  12. rpmmutant

    rpmmutant Member

    For one, there are a lot more houses in Santa Clarita than there were 10 years ago. You would think more supply would drive prices down, but it is a nice area to live in, not too overcrowded yet, but it's getting there, close to the Valley and downtown. I'm within an hour's drive to the beach, mountains, Dodger Stadium, Staples Center, Hollywood and Highland, the Rose Bowl. The increased supply of houses did not drive the prices down. They are starting to fall, but houses still sell in the area. It takes about a year to 18 months now as compared to three or four months when everything was crazy. I can't see a scenario where the average price of houses in the Santa Clarita Valley drops below $400,000. In fact, I see how that price for a house in Santa Clarita would be attractive, even in today's market.
    Secondly, I have lived in the area since the 1980s. Even during the last real estate burst, the value of homes in the area did not suffer that much. Other places around LA took a beating, but homes in Santa Clarita pretty much retained their value, and actually rose quicker than when the real estate market improved. It's all cyclical too. Prices will drop, I have no idea where they will fall, but they will rebound. And I don't plan on going anywhere for a long time so I can ride it out.
     
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