Election Year - real estate values

Florida is lovely to visit but I couldn't live there. The humidity and bugs would be enough to put me off, but gators, crocs, all manner of snakes, plus tons of other creepy crawlies make it a total deal breaker for me.

That said, I do love visiting friends there during springtime.
 
@mathjak107 & @StarSong NYC used to be a nice place to visit...haven't been in quite awhile, but I never would want to live there. The rents in decent areas are just ridiculous. Apartment.com has some studios listed as high as $3,704 and 1 bedrooms with 1 bath as high as $5,722. I only saw one studio for $1,100 and the rest were several hundred dollars more, many in the $2,000 range.
 

Last edited:
@mathjak107 & @StarSong NYC used to be a nice place to visit...haven't been in quite awhile, but I never would want to live there. The rents in decent areas are just ridiculous. Apartment.com has some studios listed as high as $3,704 and 1 bedrooms with 1 bath as high as $5,722. I only saw one studio for $1,100 and the rest was several hundred dollars more, many in the $2,000 range.
The boroughs are far cheaper then manhattan ...we are in a lovely area in queens called bay terrace ..you can rent a nice 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment for 2500 .00.

we can take the train and be in midtown manhattan in 30 minutes or so
 
As the old saying goes 'location location location' along with 'timing is everything'

It's about the market as well although keep in these stimulus packages costing trillions will eventually have to be paid for. And many markets were already on the cusp of bubble prior to the virus because their prices are/were exorbitant.
 
Most NYers love NY. It's such an exciting city.
When this pandemic is past the rents and prices in the five boroughs will zoom back up. I'd guess it's going to be a short window buying opportunity for NYers.

Yes, Florida is booming right now. Several of my friends have retired there to escape high NJ taxes and northern winters.
Hi NJ taxes? NY has nothing to talk about when it comes to taxes. When I lived there I was taxed more than I ever was in NJ.
 
I loved living in NY. lived on the Upper West Side as a child and then my parents moved to NJ when I was about 7. While I grew to love the town we lived in, I missed the city for a kid there has tons of options. When I got out of the AF and obtained my Master's, I moved back and worked there for years. Live in a great apartment on Jane Street a little over 2 blocks from the Hudson River. Taxes then were a pain, but I made good money over there and it was safe. All of NY was quite safe back in the day and I always had something to do. I too could never live in Fla. It is flat and not at all inviting to me. Friends and relatives galore live there. More power to them. I was offered a job with NASA back when they were just starting with the astronauts. One look at Merritt Island and I was out of there.
 
Hi NJ taxes? NY has nothing to talk about when it comes to taxes. When I lived there I was taxed more than I ever was in NJ.
Sorry - I didn't mean to compare NJ & NY taxes, only to say that some of my NJ friends complain about them and are moving to FL partly as an escape.

My NY connections are family. They also complain about taxes but most of their kids/grands have remained nearby so they're more firmly entrenched in the area.

Like you, I lived in both NY & NJ while growing up so I have roots in both places.
 
Your friends are right to complain, Star Song. We have some of the highest real estate taxes in the nation and they are going up again. Lots of folks cannot sell their houses fast enough to get out. Cannot go down any street in any town and not see a few for sale signs. Now that is sad because this is truly a lovely state once you are off I-95. I had relatives visiting from Ireland who were awed by NJ. They said we had just as much beauty as Ireland.
 
I don't live in Southern California, San Francisco Bay Area, or Silicon Valley and prices in my area have still gone nuts. Rents are getting insane. There was a piece of triangle shaped property for sale for years and years, I would drive by it. It finally got sold and I can't believe how many apartments they have crammed on that property on a busy street with plenty of street noise and the prices they are asking are crazy. They seem to be filling up as fast as they complete a section. It's scary. I don't know how people afford it.

The complex I am in is in the process of being sold. We just got the notice and an inspection was done of each apartment. As scared as I am about the manufactured home I'm buying and the price I had to pay, I know it should work out. I also know the price of these apartments are going to go up to over a grand once that sale is completed. I think the local owners are a little bit below market and that will change I'm sure.
 
@mathjak107 & @StarSong NYC used to be a nice place to visit...haven't been in quite awhile, but I never would want to live there. The rents in decent areas are just ridiculous. Apartment.com has some studios listed as high as $3,704 and 1 bedrooms with 1 bath as high as $5,722. I only saw one studio for $1,100 and the rest were several hundred dollars more, many in the $2,000 range.
And the size of some of those "apartments!" My smallest bedroom is probably larger than some of them. I could not live in one of those tiny places where you can barely turn around. I do not see how people can live like that, especially during quarantine. I'd be stark, staring mad in about a week.
 
And the size of some of those "apartments!" My smallest bedroom is probably larger than some of them. I could not live in one of those tiny places where you can barely turn around. I do not see how people can live like that, especially during quarantine. I'd be stark, staring mad in about a week.
You're right Butterfly. I saw on House Hunters International that some of the apartments in Paris were quite tiny too. I love how people say..."Oh we can make this work". Yeah...suuurrrre you can. But check out this 78 Sq. foot studio. I have to admit, he uses the space well but no way could I do this. Even tiny homes come much bigger.
https://www.6sqft.com/video-how-a-man-lives-and-works-in-a-78-square-foot-hells-kitchen-studio/
 
Real Estate is moving well, in our area. One of the neighbors sold their house, and 10 acres, a couple of months ago, and had to move out quickly, as the buyers wanted to get away from the city, ASAP. Our oldest daughter and son-in-law found a beautiful place on Truman Lake a couple of months ago....3200 sq.ft, 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 3 car garage, with 5 acres...and bought it. They put their current house on the Lake of the Ozarks for sale a week later, and it sold within 3 weeks. More and more people...especially retirees...are moving to the countryside, as a result of this virus, and the rising crime in the cities. In this area, one can find a really nice house for under $300K that would probably cost well over a million in some of the major coastal cities....and aren't "squeezed" into such a tight space that you can hear the neighbors cough.
 
From that guy in the 78 sq ft apartment.
he doesn’t mind not having a kitchen or having to share a hallway bathroom with three other people, he does wish he had a sink.
No thanks.

Our prices are staying high too. IMO, after being isolated indoors for so long, everyone is desperate to have some extra space, especially outdoors. Also many can work from home so are moving to the burbs.
 
From that guy in the 78 sq ft apartment.

No thanks.

Our prices are staying high too. IMO, after being isolated indoors for so long, everyone is desperate to have some extra space, especially outdoors. Also many can work from home so are moving to the burbs.
My real estate agent stated that some people are upsizing their houses since working from home may become more permanent for some.
 
I think that we have front row seats to the next real estate bubble.

In my area of the city, some very nice homes that were selling a year ago in the 250k range are now on the market for 350k. Realtors are also posting advertisements asking local homeowners to contact them because they have a surplus of buyers.

I'm afraid that if interest rates begin to creep up the newly inflated prices/value of these properties will fall leaving people upside down with their mortgages. When that happens people that are forced to relocate usually hand the bank a deed in lieu of foreclosure and walk away.
 
I think that we have front row seats to the next real estate bubble.

In my area of the city, some very nice homes that were selling a year ago in the 250k range are now on the market for 350k. Realtors are also posting advertisements asking local homeowners to contact them because they have a surplus of buyers.

I'm afraid that if interest rates begin to creep up the newly inflated prices/value of these properties will fall leaving people upside down with their mortgages. When that happens people that are forced to relocate usually hand the bank a deed in lieu of foreclosure and walk away.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I agree. In Montana cities like Missoula and Bozeman prices have gone Big country sky high.

https://nbcmontana.com/news/local/housing-prices-around-montana-skyrocket-due-to-covid-19

Part of the link...

Missoula, MONT — Housing prices in Montana have skyrocketed over the past few months, and local realtors say COVID-19 is largely to blame.

"People are coming from across the country, realizing their jobs are online, and they can live where they want," said Tanya Gersh, a realtor with PureWest Christie's International Real Estate in Whitefish.

Realtors say that led to a major increase in housing prices.

The median sales price for a Gallatin County home increased from $384,000 in February, just before the pandemic, to $479,900 in August. Missoula County saw the median home sales price increase from $323,000 to $370,000. In Lake County it increased from $325,000 to $423,000. And Flathead County saw an increase from $335,000 to $415,000.

Now..



-----------------------------

Now
Buying a home in the Gallatin Valley continues to grow more expensive.
From September 2020 to October 2020, the median sales price of a single family home in Gallatin County increased by about 6%, from $550,000 in September to $585,000 in October, according to a news release from the Gallatin Association of Realtors.
That’s a 27.6% increase over the median sales price of $458,600 in October 2019, according to the association’s Market Watch.
 


Back
Top