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A little dangerous is relative in DC. A little dangerous means a mixed ethnic neighborhood within 4 or 5 blocks of the projects. Dangerous means being white in Anacostia or northeast DC.
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If you look around and think everyone else is an *******, you're the *******. -
Re: Housing envy -- owning a house while keeping your friends
Syracuse is experiencing the same thing. Kinda strange especially considering that a lot of the baby boomers are leaving permanently for warmer climes, which should be creating a glut in pre-owned housing.Originally posted by DanS
In DC, we have had a hot real estate market for a couple of years.
We bought at the low point in the local housing market 8 years ago, and now our house is assessed at almost twice what my wife and I payed for it . Although our house's assessed value is probably different from its true value, why it still says a lot about how the housing market is in overdrive here....Originally posted by DanS
Those who bought before the prices went up are sitting on a lot of equity.
DComment
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A foreigner in the Phillipines.Originally posted by Lancer
I do not own my house, nor do I pay rent, what am I?Visit First Cultural Industries
There are reasons why I believe mankind should live in cities and let nature reclaim all the villages with the exception of a few we keep on display as horrific reminders of rural life.-Starchild
Meat eating and the dominance and force projected over animals that is acompanies it is a gateway or parallel to other prejudiced beliefs such as classism, misogyny, and even racism. -General LuddComment
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Parts of DC are still warzones. The amount of violent crime is about half of what it was during the crack cocaine epidemic in the early 90s, so it is steadily getting better. What you have are safe neighborhoods right next to warzone neighborhoods. Most of the warzone neighborhoods are in the Southeast quadrant of the city (the northeast quadrant is not as dangerous as Timexwatch thinks). Most of the Northwest quadrant is probably safer than London.Originally posted by Starchild
Is a little dangerous in D.C. like saying a little lawless in Mogadishu?
In the suburbs (where 9/10 of the people in the metro area live), every county but Prince George's County is probably safer than London.
I moved into a "transitional" neighborhood several years ago and bought my condo about 2.5 years ago. The prices were depressed at the time and I only paid 5% down, so I made out like a bandit.Last edited by DanS; June 18, 2005, 12:00.I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891Comment
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A kept man.Originally posted by Lancer
I do not own my house, nor do I pay rent, what am I?I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891Comment
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Unless I get rich sometime soon, I'm not going to be able to buy in my area of choice, Broward County, specifically, Ft. Lauderdale. Housing costs have gone up 12% in 2005 so far.
This county is somewhat unique in that most of the county is protected swamp, and of course there's an ocean to the East. Even Palm Beach and Dade have much more land available. Apparently, however, what's really driving our housing market is Palm Beach county, as people who can't afford to buy there are buying in Broward.
When we buy, it looks like we'll be moving to Miami-Dade, but I can live with that.
There is property in Broward that's available in my price range, but it's in the most dangerous part of the ghetto or are mobile homes, and you can't get huricane insurance on those, and there's no way I'm sinking $100K into something that can easily be destroyed by a seasonal storm.
Been thinking about container housing. Shipping containers are pretty ****ing tough, and some really interesting designs have been done with them. Don't know if they're insurable, however.Christianity: The belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree...Comment
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In D.C., ownership is more expensive than renting, even considering that we can deduct home mortgage interest payments from our income for income taxes. I don't think this is sustainable, so either home prices will fall or rental prices will rise.Originally posted by Kontiki
I don't know what the rental market is like in DC, but here in Toronto someone paying the same in rent as I do on my mortgage, condo fees and property taxes is living in a much worse place. And if property prices continue to climb (not even particularly quickly), in five years if we both wanted to buy a new place, my relative advantage would be skewed even more. Whether that's a source of envy or not is up to the individual, but my lifestyle/cost ratio is certainly better owning than renting, and it gets better every year.I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891Comment
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"Cardboard box on the streets?"
Provost, nope.
"Dumpster in a back ally?
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Oerdin, hardly.
"A foreigner in the Phillipines."
Smiley, not right at the moment.
"A kept man."
DanS, though Dolores tells me I married her for her money, sadly this isn's among the many, better reasons.
"I do not own my house, nor do I pay rent, what am I?"
No guys, I am a human being.
Besides that, and regarding my habitation, I sold my multiplex and as part of the sale agreement I have a 2 bedroom apartment, for free, for 10 years. After that, God willing, I'll become "A foreigner in the Phillipines."
Long time member @ Apolyton
Civilization player since the dawn of timeComment
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Che, once you and Bunny girl have both been employed for around 6 months talk to the Department of Housing and Urban Development as they often have down payment assistance programs, subsidized loan programs, and they'll give you a loan at income to cost ratios a bank wouldn't touch. We're talking 50%-60% of income and they'll still do it.
The catch is you have to move to areas on HUDs list. They are redeveloping areas and not new home construction but in many towns huge Victorians with large yards which need some TLC can still be found at affordable prices.Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.Comment
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There are no HUD homes in Broward county. The state of Florida has a program which lends, interest free, a down payment of up to $16K on a first home. It is only repaid when the home is sold. If this job in Boca doesn't fall through, we might be able to get a house next year, but lord knows how much further out of our reach a house will be by then.Christianity: The belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree...Comment
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Maybe the bottom will drop out of the bubble and it will be cheaper.Long time member @ Apolyton
Civilization player since the dawn of timeComment
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That is what I am hoping for...it has slowed considerably in recent time...Speaking of Erith:
"It's not twinned with anywhere, but it does have a suicide pact with Dagenham" - Linda SmithComment
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Originally posted by chegitz guevara
There are no HUD homes in Broward county. The state of Florida has a program which lends, interest free, a down payment of up to $16K on a first home. It is only repaid when the home is sold. If this job in Boca doesn't fall through, we might be able to get a house next year, but lord knows how much further out of our reach a house will be by then.
On their list of priorities for Fort Lauderdale (that's what came out of HUD's site when I searched for Broward County) there is a list of HUD priorities. #8 is "Direct Financial Assistance" for home buyers. Check out their first time buyer program because even if it isn't as cheap as their urban renewal program it is still pretty cheap. Six years ago my sister and her husband used it to buy a brand new 3bd/2.5bth in Temecula for just under $200k so it doesn't have to be used in a ghetto. BTW those houses are now selling in the $500k-$600k range even way the hell out where they're living (it's around 1 hour 15 minutes north of town).Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.Comment
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Maybe, but it's doubtful the most desirable properties would fall much for very long if at all. I'm not sure in the rest of the country but in the coastal regions of California the property values have been averaging pretty good since 1945 on ward with only about a half dozen down periods which were really blips since valuations were all fully recovered with in 2-3 years. A 60 year track record is a pretty strong indication that conditions are likely to remain similiar into the future.Originally posted by Lancer
Maybe the bottom will drop out of the bubble and it will be cheaper.
Out here this is a long term trend driven by population growth and economic growth. More people with more money but the same amount of land means land prices go up.
Try http://wordforge.net/index.php for discussion and debate.Comment
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Interest on a second is also a tax write off, unlike PMI.Originally posted by Oerdin
The deposit was a killer. I was only able to save around $22k which wasn't nearly enough to avoid
PMI so I was considering a high interest second (since that's marginally cheaper then paying PMI)Comment
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