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The 25 Best Affordable Suburbs in the U.S.
Business Week ^
| Maya Roney
Posted on 11/29/2006 11:52:14 AM PST by RockinRight
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To: RockinRight
They talk like this: The looks for places that suit the typical professional American family, making $50,000 or $60,000 a year. Then go on to say With a median home price of $493,900, life in Sharon is also much more economical than in the affluent communities of Brookline, Newton, and other towns closer to Boston.
I don't consider $493,900 the least-bit affordable for most families on a 50 - 60k income. Unless they already own a home with lots of equity, and the first part of the article even mentions "first home." The entire article is based on affordable housing then they talk about all these places where the houses cost 10 times the annual income of the target families.
You forget that prices like this are not unreasonable for a $50-60K annual income. These buyers are not expected to even have a down payment. They get these homes through interest only loans and have mortgage payments half of what you suggest. The latest statistics say that 40% of home purchases are made with these exotic loans. Also, those exotic loans are providing more $$ for buyers so that bids up the housing market to the point where only exotic mortgages can get you into a decent home.
61
posted on
11/29/2006 12:23:55 PM PST
by
doc30
(Democrats are to morals what an Etch-A-Sketch is to Art.)
To: RockinRight
Family income...two-career earnings....
62
posted on
11/29/2006 12:24:28 PM PST
by
dakine
To: goldstategop
"I think for most people, 200G is the most they should spend on a new home. Any more is just wretched excess."
That kinda money would get you a rough lot in my neighborhood.
For another $400 I could at least spend the winter in a Sears tool shed.
63
posted on
11/29/2006 12:24:54 PM PST
by
taxed2death
(A few billion here, a few trillion there...we're all friends right?)
To: RockinRight
I've seen the price of some homes quadruple in NJ in the last 10 years. Just in the last 3 years the base prices of new homes (in safe/nice areas) have gone from 500K to 800K..that is even in the boonies like Jackson, NJ.
If you didn't buy a home in NJ prior to 3 years ago.. you are going to struggle... and don't get me started on the property taxes. ;)
64
posted on
11/29/2006 12:25:55 PM PST
by
divine_moment_of_facts
("So, I put on some tangerine lip gloss and answered the door.. I was one lucky woman.")
To: doc30
Not interest-only, negative amortization. The payment is LESS than the interest, which means the balance goes up.
65
posted on
11/29/2006 12:25:56 PM PST
by
RockinRight
(There's nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos.)
To: dakine
Its the function of the market. Every one's heard of San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York and wants to live there. Demand exceeds supply and what happens? Higher housing prices! Thank heaven Hollywood still hasn't discovered Flyover Country.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
66
posted on
11/29/2006 12:26:11 PM PST
by
goldstategop
(In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
To: RockinRight
I know one guy - 'course he got lucky. Bought his land and built his house for around 200K with no one around him. Suddenly, a whole slew of rich people start moved into the neighborhood, the value of his house skyrockets to ~500K. Now he's looking at another place for around 700K...of course he'd have to sell the other house first to get some sort of downpayment.
67
posted on
11/29/2006 12:27:34 PM PST
by
Andonius_99
(They [liberals] aren't humans, but rather a species of hairless retarded ape.)
To: dakine
We don't want to be in a situation where we both HAVE to work.
68
posted on
11/29/2006 12:27:34 PM PST
by
RockinRight
(There's nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos.)
To: spikeytx86
To the MSM $50-60K a year household income is destitution. Quite the contrary. To the MSM, America is still a nation of soup lines, and anything above 50K is rich!
To: 2banana
Unbelievable you have to be rich to live in Nyack. And it is not such a hot place either anymore.
70
posted on
11/29/2006 12:28:44 PM PST
by
angcat
("IF YOU DON'T STAND BEHIND OUR TROOPS, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO STAND IN FRONT OF THEM")
To: doc30
Yes and most people who buy those kind of homes won't be spending a lifetime in them. They'll hang onto them for five to seven years and then resell them and move on. That's why ARM's are so popular. No one buys a home for life anymore.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
71
posted on
11/29/2006 12:29:06 PM PST
by
goldstategop
(In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
To: spikeytx86
">Spikey collapses on the floor and begins to convulsing at most idiotic comment in history.<"
History ain't over yet.
72
posted on
11/29/2006 12:30:11 PM PST
by
Past Your Eyes
(Do what you love and the ridicule will follow.)
To: RockinRight
"We don't want to be in a situation where we both HAVE to work."
Some round about way to the above...
all I was stating is a lot of family incomes in DC area at $150K and up...the reason houses are affordable at $500K....
73
posted on
11/29/2006 12:31:04 PM PST
by
dakine
To: RockinRight
Not interest-only, negative amortization. The payment is LESS than the interest, which means the balance goes up. And with a prepayment penalty, too, I bet!
74
posted on
11/29/2006 12:31:05 PM PST
by
doc30
(Democrats are to morals what an Etch-A-Sketch is to Art.)
To: radiohead
There are people who live in West Virginia and commute to DC every day.
75
posted on
11/29/2006 12:31:15 PM PST
by
Past Your Eyes
(Do what you love and the ridicule will follow.)
To: Our man in washington
Herndon, VA to downtown DC.
Even on the "S" bus, which wandered all over the place, from the Metro to Herndon, four hours a day? Might take that long driving. When I lived in Herndon, it was rarely more than 45 minutes each way, especially with the Express buses, but then, that was some ten years ago. Maybe the Metro is much less reliable than it once was.
Now getting from Herndon to Dulles Airport, that was a tough commute. Or expensive. Sometimes it was tough AND expensive.
76
posted on
11/29/2006 12:31:27 PM PST
by
alloysteel
(Facts do not cease to exist, just because they are ignored. - Aldous Huxley)
To: All
Wow,I just can't believe some of those home prices. We bought a 2 story red brick cape cod in Monessen,PA. (south western part of the state) with 3 bedrooms,fireplace,CA, 2 garages,with 3 lots for $70.000. We put 20 grand into it and it is a nice comfortable home. All property taxes total about $2.000 a year. I grew up in NJ and I will NEVER go back to that rat race.
77
posted on
11/29/2006 12:35:03 PM PST
by
4yearlurker
(No such thing as government money.)
To: doc30
ARMs are perfect for a high end property. You can stay a few years and then sell it and pocket whatever equity has built up. I think the days when people kept their home to pass on to their heirs are long past gone.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
78
posted on
11/29/2006 12:35:13 PM PST
by
goldstategop
(In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
To: HarmlessLovableFuzzball
So they're even more stupid than we thought.
79
posted on
11/29/2006 12:35:27 PM PST
by
RockinRight
(There's nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos.)
To: goldstategop
That's 100% true. Although even with the "exotic" loans, said example family is stretched to the limit - instead of 2 grand they might be paying about 1200, but that payment goes up every year on the loan he was talking about.
80
posted on
11/29/2006 12:36:57 PM PST
by
RockinRight
(There's nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos.)
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