:: living in relative obscurity ::

read it and weep

There was an interesting article in the Washington Post today regarding young people and the madness of the real estate market... it's a bit long, as it profiles several people in their twenties and thirties and their rather, ah, creative [or crazy] efforts to afford housing in and around DC. The common thread is that they all fear that if they don't buy now, they'll be priced out forever.

My husband and I have been debating this very thing for a couple years now [basically, every time a friend of ours buys a house and we receive peer pressure to do the same]. While we debated whether or not we'd enjoy a steady diet of ramen noodles in exchange for a mortgage, we really did get priced out already. Thing is, we live in a pretty nice apartment complex now, so to go in over our heads would not only cause undue stress, but we'd end up relocating to some pretty sketchy neighborhoods... I see that as a step down, really.

[btw, yes, I am aware of interest-only mortgages, and no, we're not interested in being shell-shocked by skyrocketing payments in 3 to 5 years. My cousin is a broker and he has also advised against it.]

Some interesting tidbits from the article:

"In Maryland, for example, the median starter home price in 2001 was $117,801, according to the Maryland Association of Realtors. By June 2004, that figure had rocketed to $214,446 -- an increase of 82 percent."

"Iobst recommends a few tricks to help his young clients stay competitive. One is to have their parents take over monthly bills for a few months so their bank accounts can stay full -- making it appear to lenders that the buyers really do have the cash on hand to seal the deal." ...LOL ... does this even warrant a comment?

posted by deb @ 9:55 AM