erynthered Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Apparently the concept of an individual finding a job/home/commuting balance that he can afford is just too complex for RI to understand. Ah, dont mind him. He's just assuming again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 I know that on Long Island, where he was talking, a two hour commute, door-to-door puts you in Babylon on the South Shore or Northport on the North Shore, still $400-500k for a 3 bedroom ranch. LI is a different animal altogether, and still puzzles me why people insist on paying that much to be there, when better value is available in NJ, PA & NYS at the same distance. Convenience & familiarity is definitely a major factor, but at a certain point people have to answer the question, "I'm paying $500K for this?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RkFast Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 When I bought my very first house, I knew exactly where I wanted to live. Sadly, those houses were out of my price range, and what I could afford in that area were in disrepair. So I bought a house I could afford somewhere else. Is that such a difficult concept for people to understand? Some people find proximity to family, especially when their children are just coming into the world, things that make it worth staying "close to home." Is self-sacrifice and desire to keep the extended family together, instead of a bigger house, such a difficult concept for people to understand? See....thats what's critical for ME right now. So Im choosing to live close to my folks and hers. If all I wanted was a bigger house and a nice kitchen, I would go somewhere else. But to ME, a nice® house and a huge yard dont mean ca-ca if my family isnt around to enjoy it with me. So we are buyng down a bit to stay where we are and to get a place we can swing month to month. And honestly....I watch the sun rise over a beach every morning during my Summer bike rides before work and Im a 30 minute drive from [excuse me for the dumb slogan] "The Capital of the World." There is a whole Country west of the Hudson, but this is a pretty good spot to live. Its all about tradeoffs and choices and making them with some forethough and a dose of REALISM. And the problem of lots and lots of people not doing that is the ORIGINAL point of this thread, wasnt it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blzrul Posted March 28, 2008 Author Share Posted March 28, 2008 Some people find proximity to family, especially when their children are just coming into the world, things that make it worth staying "close to home." Is self-sacrifice and desire to keep the extended family together, instead of a bigger house, such a difficult concept for people to understand? See....thats what's critical for ME right now. So Im choosing to live close to my folks and hers. If all I wanted was a bigger house and a nice kitchen, I would go somewhere else. But to ME, a nice® house and a huge yard dont mean ca-ca if my family isnt around to enjoy it with me. So we are buyng down a bit to stay where we are and to get a place we can swing month to month. And honestly....I watch the sun rise over a beach every morning during my Summer bike rides before work and Im a 30 minute drive from [excuse me for the dumb slogan] "The Capital of the World." There is a whole Country west of the Hudson, but this is a pretty good spot to live. Its all about tradeoffs and choices and making them with some forethough and a dose of REALISM. And the problem of lots and lots of people not doing that is the ORIGINAL point of this thread, wasnt it? I hate it when we agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 “To renew our economy — and to ensure that we are not doomed to repeat a cycle of bubble and bust again and again — we need to address not only the immediate crisis in the housing market; we also need to create a 21st century regulatory framework, and pursue a bold opportunity agenda for the American people,” Obama said. It's not up to one man to fix it and humanity will forever repeat a cycle of bubble & bust. The only thing you can hope for is to manage the bursts when they happen - like the patchwork that's happening now and sorting it out later. The new framework will prevent a repeat of the current crisis, but it won't prevent the next crisis, like the current regulatory framework is in place to prevent another Great Depression, the '29 stock crash, the '87 stock crash, the S&L crisis and the dot com bubble. The current regulatory framework didn't handle the securitization market, because you never had a meltdown in securitizations. The housing market meltdown is also happening in a totally different manner than historically - downside bets never contemplated a downturn across the entire nation, while builders' spare land isn't giving them the financial cushion they thought it would. At the end of the day, land is a finite resource and values will come back, but now the bigger issue is nobody willing to wager that the market has hit bottom, so big money isn't pouring back in and the buying uncertainty has carried over into markets that have very little to do with real estate. So, if Obama can come up with a way to control human behavior & emotion, then he can come up with a regulatory framework that will fix the next bubble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills_fan Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 LI is a different animal altogether, and still puzzles me why people insist on paying that much to be there, when better value is available in NJ, PA & NYS at the same distance. Convenience & familiarity is definitely a major factor, but at a certain point people have to answer the question, "I'm paying $500K for this?" True, but the same can be said for Westchester, parts of CT and Jersey and especially Brooklyn/Queens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Some people find proximity to family, especially when their children are just coming into the world, things that make it worth staying "close to home." Is self-sacrifice and desire to keep the extended family together, instead of a bigger house, such a difficult concept for people to understand? See....thats what's critical for ME right now. So Im choosing to live close to my folks and hers. If all I wanted was a bigger house and a nice kitchen, I would go somewhere else. But to ME, a nice® house and a huge yard dont mean ca-ca if my family isnt around to enjoy it with me. So we are buyng down a bit to stay where we are and to get a place we can swing month to month. And honestly....I watch the sun rise over a beach every morning during my Summer bike rides before work and Im a 30 minute drive from [excuse me for the dumb slogan] "The Capital of the World." There is a whole Country west of the Hudson, but this is a pretty good spot to live. Its all about tradeoffs and choices and making them with some forethough and a dose of REALISM. And the problem of lots and lots of people not doing that is the ORIGINAL point of this thread, wasnt it? I live in Southern CA as you all know. My immediate family is all still in WNY, my wife's parents are in FL and her only brother is in Seattle. We couldn't be more distant from our families and we like that juuuuuust fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RkFast Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 I live in Southern CA as you all know. My immediate family is all still in WNY, my wife's parents are in FL and her only brother is in Seattle. We couldn't be more distant from our families and we like that juuuuuust fine. On the flip side, my cousin reside in Brooklyn and hasnt moved one INCH, neither has her sister and her extended family. "I was born on 79th Street and Im gonna die on 79th Street" is what she says. Happiest woman and family youve ever met. Everyone sees this sh-- differently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blzrul Posted March 30, 2008 Author Share Posted March 30, 2008 On the flip side, my cousin reside in Brooklyn and hasnt moved one INCH, neither has her sister and her extended family. "I was born on 79th Street and Im gonna die on 79th Street" is what she says. Happiest woman and family youve ever met. Everyone sees this sh-- differently. Lucky that either the neighborhood is stable or they're tough enough to have weathered the ups and downs. My family lived in Brooklyn (Windsor Terrace area, on the Greenwood Cemetary side and on E24th near Flatbush) and had to leave when crack took over. My aunt had one of those glorious 3-story Victorian homes...her parents lived on the top floor and the family lived on the first two. My uncle had a liquor store that got robbed all the time and they finally thru in the towel the third or fourth time they caught a crackhead climbing into a window in their entryway.... Course where'd they move? Right across from the Twin Towers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RkFast Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Lucky that either the neighborhood is stable or they're tough enough to have weathered the ups and downs. My family lived in Brooklyn (Windsor Terrace area, on the Greenwood Cemetary side and on E24th near Flatbush) and had to leave when crack took over. My aunt had one of those glorious 3-story Victorian homes...her parents lived on the top floor and the family lived on the first two. My uncle had a liquor store that got robbed all the time and they finally thru in the towel the third or fourth time they caught a crackhead climbing into a window in their entryway.... Course where'd they move? Right across from the Twin Towers. Its Dyker Heights. Nothing will EVER change that neighborhood. Italians with money...who dont WANT to move! Its becoming more mixed, but its a closed knit community and they all look out for each other. Brooklyn is fascinating. A whole new wave of immigration has taken hold in the borough again, just like it did 80-100 years ago. Whole neighborhoods are changing from one ethnicity to another veritually overnight. For example, Sheepshead Bay has gone ALL Russian since the Berlin Wall fell. Other nabes are going through the same transformation. Its pretty amazing actually to see the social and ethnic patterns of an area change and done...how do I say this?....properly. That is, these immigrants came through the "system" and are assimilating and are part of society. Amazing how when laws are followed and people participate in society properly things work well, isnt it? Okay...thats a discussion for another day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills_fan Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Its Dyker Heights. Nothing will EVER change that neighborhood. Italians with money...who dont WANT to move! Its becoming more mixed, but its a closed knit community and they all look out for each other. Dyker and Bay Ridge (where I lived for over 5 years) may begin to change relatively soon. Those areas were protected by La Cosa Nostra, no one messed with where they lived, hence a safe, stable neighborhood. With their fall, it may begin to be open season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Other nabes are going through the same transformation. Its pretty amazing actually to see the social and ethnic patterns of an area change and done...how do I say this?....properly. That is, these immigrants came through the "system" and are assimilating and are part of society. Amazing how when laws are followed and people participate in society properly things work well, isnt it? Okay...thats a discussion for another day. You mean it's like the pattern of immigration throughout American history? Shocking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RkFast Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 You mean it's like the pattern of immigration throughout American history? Shocking. Did I say it was some "new" phenomenon? No. STFU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 Did I say it was some "new" phenomenon? No. STFU. Then why the need to couch whatever you were trying to say "properly?" If it's not a new phenomenon, you should have no problems saying whatever in the world you wanted to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 Came accross a case this week and this may not be typical of what a lot of Americans are doing, but it's out there. Couple owns a home at the beach probably worth $900k. They also own a cabin in the mountains. Leveraged both properties to the hilt to buy a new home in a nice new area with ocean views. Paid $1.4mil for it, moved in and rented the beach house. Cashed out his 401k, no loan, cashed it out which was taxed and penalized at 10%. Got an $11k refund this year and when asked what they did with it....."we spent it." They make a combined $250k which may seem like a lot to some, but it's not enough to live in a $1.4mil home. Now here's the kicker. They have $130k in credit card debt. If that were me, I'd blow my brains out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC-Bills Posted April 5, 2008 Share Posted April 5, 2008 Came accross a case this week and this may not be typical of what a lot of Americans are doing, but it's out there. Couple owns a home at the beach probably worth $900k. They also own a cabin in the mountains. Leveraged both properties to the hilt to buy a new home in a nice new area with ocean views. Paid $1.4mil for it, moved in and rented the beach house. Cashed out his 401k, no loan, cashed it out which was taxed and penalized at 10%. Got an $11k refund this year and when asked what they did with it....."we spent it." They make a combined $250k which may seem like a lot to some, but it's not enough to live in a $1.4mil home. Now here's the kicker. They have $130k in credit card debt. If that were me, I'd blow my brains out. Further reinforcement of the age old axiom: people are dumb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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