USVI-On-Line

Jorge,
I like the changing seasons because of snowmobiling in the winter and the very busy summer we usually have when the weather is warm. What I could do without is March and April and maybe some of May, and Nov. I do like the colors in Oct. Sometimes I think I would like to live where it is warm all of the time, but I might miss the snow and fall colors a little.

This weekend, gas in Central PA was $3.29 for the lowest grade. Diesel is $4.10 +/-.

I live in a middle of a rather diverse area in terms of housing costs. There is a wide range of house prices within a 20 minute drive. (20 minutes is "close" in my rural area.)

A move-in condition, semi-detached house in one town can be had for as little as $30,000. At the upper end, new-ish homes in the college towns are $350,00 to $450,000 for a very nice 3/4BR with 3 car garge.

A nice house with 3/4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths, two carge garage in a housing development is probably $225,000 to $250,000. A ranch house in town with 3 bedrooms, garage, and a bath or two is $130,000 to $150,000.

A shocking thing just happened in our neighborhood, someone bought a 1950-ish cape cod, tore it down and built a huge 2.5 story house. Such a thing is unheard of in my area.

I just paid $3.00 a gallon for a tankful of regular, probably the last time in awhile it will be that low.

Housing prices in Denver are all over the board depending on the neighborhood. I don't pay that much attention since we don't plan on selling anytime soon, but our neighborhood is a "hot" one. There are many smallish, older houses that are being torn down in our neighborhood to make room for ugly boxy particle board palaces. It is sad to see, but unless you own it, you don't control it. I guess people can't live in a house with less than 2,000 square feet and fewer than 3 bathrooms anymore, even if they have to live in a duplex with no yard.

I suppose our house, which I bought 22 years ago for $60,000, has dropped in value $20K or so, from $280,000 to $260,000, but our retirement account balances probably fluctuate more than that week to week so we don't really worry about it.

PA Girl wrote: A shocking thing just happened in our neighborhood, someone bought a 1950-ish cape cod, tore it down and built a huge 2.5 story house. Such a thing is unheard of in my area.

This is very much the norm in the DC suburbs. They call it infill building. As the commutes get worse and worse people buy small houses tear them down and build "mcmansions" closer in.

Our first home - a small 1700 sq ft cape - cost us $179 in 1999, we sold it in 2001 for $250, by 2005 it was going for $500k! We leveraged our take to move up.

We have seen our current home value fluctuate by more than about $500K from the time we signed on the dotted line in early 2001 (right before the market started shooting up) to its high point (about 2005). Our neighbors sold and literally cleared $500K and moved to a golf course community in SC. Don't think we were not tempted.

The high mark around here was about 2 years ago, now its leveled back off, but still worth way more than we paid. THANK goodness! Real estate like so much else is all in your timing. We view the equity in our home as very much a huge chunk of our retirement. I am one of the few actually praying assessments go down so that our property tax goes down!

Single family detached home cannot be had in Fairfax county for under $400k. The range goes up to $1.2-1.5 million for the larger more lux homes with land.

PS and gas is about $3.50 or so a gallon for super.

I have a close friend who lives inside the (DC) beltway. She would love to "cash out" and relocate but her husband has owned the house for years and doesn't want to move away from his family.

I have a close friend who lives inside the (DC) beltway

In the Fishbowl!

Mrs Random and I reside on Capitol Hill. We bought our current home in '94, and continue to feel the pain of increased tax assesments. Gasoline is not a problem because I bike to work every day and Mrs Random takes Metro.

PA Girl wrote:

PA Girl wrote:

A shocking thing just happened in our neighborhood, someone bought a 1950-ish cape cod, tore it down and built a huge 2.5 story house. Such a thing is unheard of in my area.

It's extremely common here. In fact the town next to us (Hinsdale) has been cited multiple times as the "teardown capital" of the US. Not everyone is happy about that, but it's the only way to get a new house here as we are land locked, and it's a desirable area with train access to Chicago and walk-to schools. Every house that touches our property and across the street has either been torn down and replaced with a biggie, or has been 'popped up' to put a 2nd floor or 3rd floor on. I have to remind myself that it's good for house prices... the little cottage behind us was sold for teardown at $610k, because it's a wide lot and the builder could put up a $2M McMansion. What's amazing to me is when I see 30 y.o. couples buying these houses!

PA Girl... if you see a few more of these and suspect a trend, well it might be time to get involved in the local zoning board! Towns around here have started tightening their zoning codes (changing how they measure FARs, adding indoor sprinkler requirements), but it took several years of oversized houses causing flood problems and other issues. Towns just starting to see the trend can learn from those who have lived with it for awhile. Unfortunately it has caused some tension in communities here.

Jorge wrote:Isn't it amazing that we all are so different but we all love STJ.

Right on Jorge...makes the world an interesting place

Chicagoans-

When I first moved to Chicagoland from central Illinois four and a half years ago I was dismayed by the tear-down business up here. My in-laws live in Arlington Heights, and it’s pretty rampant up there. Their neighborhood consists of 3/4 acre to 1 acre lots, so the huge new houses don’t look out of place size-wise (though style-wise they look ridiculous), but in the next neighborhood over the lots are all around 1/4 acre and they keep putting up huge houses that are so close together that you could stand between them and touch two houses at the same time. The houses look ridiculous...like a size 50 woman trying to fit into a size 0 pair of pants

One of my coworkers lives in Hinsdale in one of the few houses left that has yet to be torn down and rebuilt. We are not far from Hinsdale.

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I am actually not entirely opposed to the tear downs in my town as some of the streets declined to a point that they have become undesirable for owner-occupied housing.

Nothing against renters but these particular areas have their fair share of slum-y type landlords that don't keep up their properties. We have an employee, for example, whose landlord is refusing to repair a broken furnace.

Property taxes in our area are still very reasonable. We pay $1,100 total for a 3,000 sq ft restored colonial.

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Teresa_Rae wrote: The houses look ridiculous...like a size 50 woman trying to fit into a size 0 pair of pants

Too funny! Love the analogy!

I'm not opposed to tear downs per se. I have seen first hand how the in-fill building has attracted young buyers and families to the area and has kept our little town energetic and helped our property values stay strong. What makes me sad is when a house goes up that towers over its neighbors, blocking the sun and/or causing drainage issues. Unfortunately it seems that many builders don't pay attention to the long term effects of building -- e.g., increased energy use, increased run off going into the storm sewers, decreased green space, cutting down 100 year old trees, etc. Land values are so high that they have to build mega houses (or so they say) to get their ROI.

As with most things, it's a trade off.

Jorge-
I never appreciated the beauty in my own back yard until...

We had the stunning good luck to pull a tour of duty in Hawaii (at the height of Viet Nam War). We instantly fell for the islands. I volunteered at the Army hospital there.

One day I was talking with several of the recuperating soldiers and we discussed the most beautiful places we had ever been. One said San Francisco, I said Hawaii,etc. - then the native Hawaiian guy said "Have you ever heard of Lake of the Ozarks?" He had seen it when he was sent for training to Ft. Leonard Wood MO.

That was when I realized my own home was pretty special too.

That and family are the reasons we don't relocate to Hawaii or St John. Oh!....and money.

verjoy.. we enjoy your neck of the woods also..we own a timeshare in Horseshoe Bend in Lake Ozark, so we make the 3.5 hour trip once a year!! We always have a great week, and would love to live there some day.