Rant about the housing market in the Raleigh area.

[sukemecuke]

Originally Posted by get-bent

The problem will really manifest itself when bigtime urban sprawl happens. Just wait until they really start building in Johnston counties and the like and then it really hurts.

I grew up in Fredericksburg, VA which is located about half-way between DC and Richmond. My parents house was mabye 1600 sq ft and they bought it for about 100K in 1988. At the time, some people were starting to move from the DC area down and make the hour or so commute back up to work. It has gotten to the point now that houses in Fredericksburg are 350K+ and its all due to urban sprawl.

The problem with the above scenario is that while Fredericksburg is 50 miles from the DC area, a lot of the people living there work in DC. The people that are born in Fredericksburg cannot get a local job that will afford them housing to live there anymore. You would be nearly forced to commute that 50 miles (which now takes 1.5-2 hours each way due to congestion) just to get a decent enough job to live in their hometown.

At least here in Raleigh, you can live in Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Apex, etc and still have a decent commute to RTP to work, you don't have to commute 50+ miles in one direction. But in time, that will happen here too probably and the counties which seem sorta far out will become ever populated with people as well and the traffic will increase due to people moving out to the new suburbs.

The other fun part of this is that when property gets expensive they start building tons of townhouses which are cheaply made and whatnot, and they will pop up everywhere. There are townhouses and stuff here now, but that is nearly all you see in the DC-metro area anymore. To get into a starter townhouse up there you are looking at 300K or so. Even with a good job, imagine trying to pay that on a single-person income.

completely agree 100%. I have already seen a small amount of what you are talking about. The other day while riding through Raleigh I saw luxury townhomes that start in the 600k range. I just don't know what folks live around here that could honestly afford that. Its plain crazy. Raleigh isn't that great to where its cool to live right smack in the middle of it. Also part of the reason why the wife and I are buying now. I know in the exact same neighborhood this time next year our house would be out of our budget. I have an idea of this cause we started looking at that neighborhood once we got married a year ago and our house was almost 20k cheaper at baseline price than it was when we bought it almost a year later. Thats a severe increase to me.

[Thunderace1997]

I hear all of you and what your saying but the median income to housing prices is what I'm talking about. In Jersey a house is expensive as hell and taxes are outrages but the starting income for my field is around 50,000 and your past 70,000 in a couple of years. here I started around 30000 and in five years i'm a little above 40000. I considered 40k good money until I realized that its hard as hell to get a house in a nice area for under 200k.

we bought our house in granville for 155k. the day we moved in the developer raised all the other houses 10k in price so we basically made 10k on our house. a year and a half later its probaly worth 170-175k so not bad. the thing is theres nothing out here. i would stay here another 5 years but the wife needs stuff around.

never meant to sound like a bitch with all the complaining. I'm totally aware of the prices around the country for housing but its upsetting to see that the pay scale for the teachers, fire, medic, popo, and others haven't been raised accordingly.

just frustrating trying to provide for your family the things you never had. im going to change this two year degree into a four and get a job that pays...screw helping people. lol

[Thunderace1997]

Originally Posted by sukemecuke

completely agree 100%. I have already seen a small amount of what you are talking about. The other day while riding through Raleigh I saw luxury townhomes that start in the 600k range. I just don't know what folks live around here that could honestly afford that. Its plain crazy. Raleigh isn't that great to where its cool to live right smack in the middle of it. Also part of the reason why the wife and I are buying now. I know in the exact same neighborhood this time next year our house would be out of our budget. I have an idea of this cause we started looking at that neighborhood once we got married a year ago and our house was almost 20k cheaper at baseline price than it was when we bought it almost a year later. Thats a severe increase to me.

thats the reason i really want to buy into apex right now. Apex is being taken over by Cary and Cary was rated as being one of the best cities to live in. I might just bite the bullet and suffer for a year or two and buy a 220k house. you said your house is around the 260K area. did you put anything down? what did they estimate your monthly payments being? if these questions are to personal then tell me to go f-off lol.

[sukemecuke]

Originally Posted by Thunderace1997

thats the reason i really want to buy into apex right now. Apex is being taken over by Cary and Cary was rated as being one of the best cities to live in. I might just bite the bullet and suffer for a year or two and buy a 220k house. you said your house is around the 260K area. did you put anything down? what did they estimate your monthly payments being? if these questions are to personal then tell me to go f-off lol.

No way our house was 246k. Yikes I wouldn't pay 260k, however if you wanted to just buy a house there I think thats what the fools are charging for a similar house. You can have one built much cheaper with still a decent amount of sq ft in that neighborhood. We put 7500 down, but we are getting some back out to pay for closing costs our mortgage will be right at about $1800.(I think like $1750 to be exact) I don't mind helping out a fellow SBNer so nothing is to personal. As many can attest to I do what I can to try and help others here.

[Thunderace1997]

if I can make 15000 off of my house then i could put 15000 to 18000 down which should make the payment somewhat affordable. 1500 a month would be the most i'm willing to do because of child care costing fing to much lol.

i appreciate it man.

[sukemecuke]

Originally Posted by Thunderace1997

if I can make 15000 off of my house then i could put 15000 to 18000 down which should make the payment somewhat affordable. 1500 a month would be the most i'm willing to do because of child care costing fing to much lol.

i appreciate it man.

yeah our mortgage is the max we would pay. I think your plan is quite doable. Apex is crazy expensive though. We tried there and just couldn't find what we wanted. My sister bought a house there in about 2001-2002 for 179k that was 2700 sq ft. Its now worth 250k-280k depending on who you get the estimate from. Thats nuts.

[PGood]

Wake Forest / Youngsville area is up and coming. Could be some good deals. My neighbor here in WF takes 98 out to Duke everyday and says the commute isnt bad.

[svbrian650s]

I just stepped up to a mortgage about two months ago. Writing that check does suck but ownership/equity is a good feeling. Our house is north of 540 off of Leesville Rd, .3 acre, 1,750 sq. ft., $210k, built in '94. I looked for a long time and wanted new construction but through my search used was worth it to me. Things are still competitive out there but have slowed down a little since the spring in my opinion.

+1 on service jobs being underpaid and under appreciated, my fiancée is a teacher.

I'm preaching to the choir but having an idea as to what you can afford is the first place to start. Depending on what you decide there are quite a few different loans out there today. Putting more money down is not always the best scenario- a few grand may be better used to pay off bills/high interest debt rather than drop your mortgage a few bucks a month. Good luck with your search.

[sukemecuke]

Originally Posted by svbrian650s

I just stepped up to a mortgage about two months ago. Writing that check does suck but ownership/equity is a good feeling. Our house is north of 540 off of Leesville Rd, .3 acre, 1,750 sq. ft., $210k, built in '94. I looked for a long time and wanted new construction but through my search used was worth it to me. Things are still competitive out there but have slowed down a little since the spring in my opinion.

+1 on service jobs being underpaid and under appreciated, my fiancée is a teacher.

I'm preaching to the choir but having an idea as to what you can afford is the first place to start. Depending on what you decide there are quite a few different loans out there today. Putting more money down is not always the best scenario- a few grand may be better used to pay off bills/high interest debt rather than drop your mortgage a few bucks a month. Good luck with your search.

IIRC your our local real estate specialist right? I hear ya on putting money down. We really didn't but they required it to start the building process on our house. We "could" get all of it back out to pay down higher debt, but knowing my wife and I that would just slow us down from really trying to get it paid off before we move in.(not studend loans of course, I will have those until I die)

[Thunderace1997]

we have everything paid off except for an old college loan for me (barely any intrest on that and its only around 6k) and one credit card which will be paid off by end of summer. All we'll have is one car payment (around 300) and child care and your typical bills such as internet,cable, phone, electric ect.

Like I said before, i might look into foreclosures too. Used is also doable but I was real interested in these new developments with the kiddie sections and the pools, the wife and kid would love that kind of stuff.

we were thinking wake forest, i work with some guys that live out there. its a nice area and building fast.

[svbrian650s]

I work on the commercial end (develop/lease shopping centers) but I do have some knowledge on residential.

Foreclosures are a good idea but sometimes hard to come by and usually in very poor shape. If you go that route make sure you get a thorough home inspection.

Keep in mind that some of the 10-15 year old communities have playgrounds, walking paths, pools, tennis courts, etc. With all the amenities there are usually HOA dues involved but most new neighborhoods have dues anyways. On an older home the initial appreciation spike has probably already happened (vs. new construction) but I prefer the mature/larger yards, character and landscaping.

Let me know if you want some specific 10-15 year old neighborhoods recommended. I'm more familiar with apex/morrisville, north raleigh, cary areas. Realtor.com is a wonderful resource.

[krl0215]

guys, Im looking at the houses you are describing, and trust me you have nothing to complain about. People want to move to NC because relatively speaking the housing prices are cheap

[krl0215]

house similar to what you guys are talking about in my town

http://riliving.com/PropSearch/sffor...731850&indiv=1

[sukemecuke]

Originally Posted by krl0215

house similar to what you guys are talking about in my town

http://riliving.com/PropSearch/sffor...731850&indiv=1

not to be rude or anything but how much do you make a year?