Housing.com Blog is doing a superb job covering what is going on in the Hurricane Katrina ravaged areas.
Some of the blogs are about to be removed from my blogroll as they have not been updated in over a month. :-(
DC Housing New is up and running. Great potential. :-)
100,000 page views for Sacramento Landing. Congratulations! Very well deserved.
The spinmeisters at the NAR report that Pending Home Sales 'Leveling Out'.
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HAHAHAHA! TOOO FUNNY... .$4299 LOL, I see a flipper in trouble BTW, from craigslist
ReplyDelete$4299 / 1br - !!!! Unbelievable Brand New 2 Lvl Loft - 1Bed/ 1.5 Bath !!!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reply to: hous-178948583@craigslist.org
Date: 2006-07-06, 11:30AM EDT
The most awesome DC location of any new Condominium bar none. In the heart of DC, steps from the Verizon Center, Gallery Place, Chinatown and Downtown. This 2 story Loft is on the top floor with private balcony in the center of brand new office and retail development.
Featuring:
2 level urban contemporary loft
1 Bedroom
also configurable for Den
1.5 Bathrooms
Urban Loft with balcony
Top Floor with Fabulous Washington Monument & Old Post Office VIEWS
1263 sf
10’+ soaring ceilings with floor to ceiling windows
Stainless and Granite Finishes with Maple Cabinetry
Crema Marfil Marble and 12” Ceramic Bathrooms
Natural Hardwood Flooring (living)
Plush Carpeting (sleep)
Washer/Dryer
Fitness Center
Concierge/Security
Contact: Michael Sullivan 703 901 5922
1263 sf and only 1br. Yikes
ReplyDeleteDavid,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the compliment. I think one way for housing bubble blogs to survive is to transit into covering other issues. As Cole Kenny said, a lot of us tend to be saying the same stuff over and over again. You thrive because you mix up the dry analysis with lots of pics and economic commentary, for instance. I do well because I keep it light and fairly funny (for the most part), and I branch out into other areas of interest. Today I started my first blog war! :)
I'm interested in reading about the housing issue from a lot of different perspectives--I like Athena because she writes about housing from a woman's view, which in a field dominated by male economist/stockbroker types is a welcome change--and we need to nurture blogs that show and tell us something new.
Martin
Housing.com
The craigslist posting is insane.
ReplyDeleteWhere did people ever get the idea that the are "entitled" to receive their mortgage payments as rent.
Even my boss told me that it was great to have someone paying your mortgage, but that it took about 5 years for rent to catch up until it fully covered it.
InSANE, for that kind of rent, you could get a house with a few bedrooms in Dupont Circle.
There *could* be a super fool.
ReplyDeletethere's a 50 year mortgage, maybe we'll see a product to finance rent!
ReplyDeleteConsidering what the anon poster from Church Street said that the apartment across the street from him went for, this is probably reasonably priced. Considering the location, I don't see this appealing to people as their primary home. It'll probably go as a "pied-a-terre" for someone whose primary house is in Great Falls or Potomac and who needs a DC place to entertain after a basketball game or crash in after working over a weekend or put their mistress up in. (A high paid lawyer/lobbyist, etc. making in the high 6 figures at a minimum.) In that context, it isn't all that expensive. The alternative for them is a $600/night suite at something like the Hotel Monaco. I'd be surprised if it didn't go quickly. And just because this isn't our world, we can't pretend this isn't someone's world.
ReplyDelete"this is probably reasonably priced. Considering the location"
ReplyDeleteLance, are you insane? You sound like the mouthpiece for that crazy poster's fantasy.
The rich do not stay rich by paying $1000+ over market PER MONTH for things.
All the people you say would rent this, can get the same thing for much much less. Have you even SEEN that area? Luxury condos abound.
Sometimes you say things that make sense, but then you post reactionary $h@t like that, and you have no credibility, at all, relating to anything.
sounds like some people need to head for drinks in the lobby of hotel monaco to catch a glimpse of how the other half live. you'll find young people from around the world there who likely *do not work because they do not need to work*.
ReplyDeletewhether or not the listing is worth the asking price is another issue. it just floors me when people don't understand the breadth and depth of wealth in the world, merely because they themselves aren't wealthy. get a clue; life isn't fair. it goes on anyway.
"It just floors me when people don't understand the breadth and depth of wealth in the world, merely because they themselves aren't wealthy."
ReplyDeleteIt just floors me when people don't understand the breadth and depth of poverty in the world, merely because they themselves aren't poor.
"
ReplyDeleteIt just floors me when people don't understand the breadth and depth of poverty in the world, merely because they themselves aren't poor."
but what if you grew up poor? and your parents are poor? would you still listen to whiners whine about how they can't do anything because they're poor? or would you be inclined to think people should do as you did: grab your own damn bootstraps and give yourself a lift. It isn't possile in Somolia, but in Washington DC? get a labotomy if you think it isn't possible here.
I'm sure there'll be people who can afford to rent it. Just wait till DC is so expensive that people who provide basic services cannot live there (either cannot buy nor rent). Wait that's already happening. For all the talks about providing affordable housing the DC government is just doing lip services. Several teachers I know who teach in the Virginia suburbs (that's not even near DC) have decided to leave the area altogether. Some say in their departments over half of the teachers have quit.
ReplyDeleteThe high end market for "the uber wealthy" will not be serviced by a Craig's list entry.
ReplyDeleteThat's just a ridiculous statement.
My $0.02.
"It just floors me to think that anyone else thinks that young people provided the resources for a life of leasure would congragate en masse in Washington, DC."
ReplyDeleteyeah, not a single wealthy international expatriate in the whole town. wow.
next someone is going to be saying that saudi princes spend time and own property in the area. wait.... they do.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDelete"I'm sure there'll be people who can afford to rent it. Just wait till DC is so expensive that people who provide basic services cannot live there (either cannot buy nor rent). Wait that's already happening. For all the talks about providing affordable housing the DC government is just doing lip services. Several teachers I know who teach in the Virginia suburbs (that's not even near DC) have decided to leave the area altogether. Some say in their departments over half of the teachers have quit."
Logically, despite what all the affordable housing activists and the politicians say, this is just not possible. The very same "money" that causes housing prices to skyrocket is also available to pay whatever is necessary to get the service people they need in. The logical conclusion is that teachers, restaurant workers, etc. all get paid more. They don't get priced out to the point where they have to leave the area. Have you ever seen a restaurant with no staff 'cause they couldn't afford to live in the area? Check out Manhattan and ask what waiters are making in that high priced area. Affordable housing activists really do nothing to help the situation by demanding set asides other then help subsidize businesses and tax districts that would otherwise have to pay their employees more to stay in the area.
"The very same "money" that causes housing prices to skyrocket is also available to pay whatever is necessary to get the service people they need in. The logical conclusion is that teachers, restaurant workers, etc. all get paid more."
ReplyDeleteDo they get paid twice as much so they can keep up with the doubling of housing prices over the last three years? Most commute into DC and I bet many have roommates. My cousin's daughter is a waitress in Manhattan and she has a roommate. I guess people who really want to live in a place they'll find a way. But the teachers I know they are fed up and are leaving the area.
So far in this thread:
ReplyDeleteIf the rich lawyers are not enough, we will have Saudi Princes.
Saudi Princes will be living in 1 bedrooms and lofts over the Verizon center.
It's only natural that the bourgeoisie cannot afford property. That's life, it's not fair.
Oh wait, "the money" driving real estate will demand services and bring the bourgeoisie back to town.
Phew!
My $0.02.
Sorry, but the Saudi Princes and lawyers are already all renting their nearly 5K one bedrooms in NYC...not. It's not even happening in the "capital of the world" - why would it happen in DC?
ReplyDeleteHousing heads are always saying that bubbleheads are grasping for straws...well, trying to justify that craigslist listing is equally as crazy.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDelete"Sorry, but the Saudi Princes and lawyers are already all renting their nearly 5K one bedrooms in NYC...not. It's not even happening in the "capital of the world" - why would it happen in DC?
Housing heads are always saying that bubbleheads are grasping for straws...well, trying to justify that craigslist listing is equally as crazy."
uh ... your statement is unequivacably wrong ... except that they are probably paying more in NYC than you state ... I suspect you think the Saudi prince has to be dressed like in the movies? Think again. If you doubt the fact that they are here (and paying much more than you expressed), just google Moore's 9/11 documentary and how he chastises our government for flying the dozens of Saudi family members out of the US after 9/11 lest they suffer mob mentality.
And, of course, let's not forget all the other foreign "princes" with an interest in the US. I did some postgraduate studies abroad, and I remember being shocked to learn that fully 1/3 of our equity in the stock markets is owned by Brits ... American Revolution, well yeah ... sorta .. oh, and I also learned that the Dutch come in right behind the Brits ...
"It's not even happening in the "capital of the world" - why would it happen in DC?"
ReplyDeleteYou're very wrong. Whom is here in the united states formally representing the saudi government/royal family (one in the same).
put another way, whom are the diplomats from saudi arabia, and where do they live and work? (along with the rest of the diplomats from around the world)
look into it, or beleive me when i tell you that they work in an 'embassy', which in their case is located next to the kennedy center, and that they live in luxury on the cliffs high above the potomac river.
or look into it yourself, of course.
so what are you saying? that the hundreds of diplomatic missions in dc provide a strong stablizing force on the real estate market? i agree.
ReplyDeletego look at some of the SFH's off of CT avenue. take abermarle or brandywine streets into the neighborhoods. lots of french diplomats living there.
this is going to be hard for many to swallow, but follow the link and then look at the banner near the top of the screen. it reads "Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia Washington DC"
ReplyDeletewierd how bubbleheads deny the fact that dc has a large (very large) international community. why?
http://www.saudiembassy.net/
ReplyDelete"Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia Washington DC"
ReplyDeleteUm, and there was no Saudi Embassy in DC before the housing price increase?
I hate to type in caps, but I keep having to repeat this very basic analytic rule.
IF SOMETHING STAYED THE SAME in 1999 and 2005, THEN IT CANNOT EXPLAIN SOMETHING ELSE THAT CHANGED BETWEEN 1999 and 2005.
Thus, you cannot use the presence of the Saudi Embassy to explain the increase in DC housing prices, at least if you want smart people to take you seriously.
Look, when it comes to housing prices, believe whatever you like. But for the Love of God, please stop insulting everybody's intelligence by using embassies, lobbyists, and lawyers to explain the runup in housing prices. Those things were around before the housing price runup.
At the very least, if you are going to write something worth reading, come up with an explanation for the change in housing prices by using something else that also changed. It wouldn't necessarily make your argument true, but it would at least avoid being obviously and laughably false.
David,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the mention! Your early and continuing support is much appreciated.
SL
Keith said:
ReplyDelete"Look, when it comes to housing prices, believe whatever you like. But for the Love of God, please stop insulting everybody's intelligence by using embassies, lobbyists, and lawyers to explain the runup in housing prices. Those things were around before the housing price runup."
Keith, the something that has changed is that the lawyers, lobbyists, and yes even the Saudi princes are much wealthier today than they were in 1999. Our incomes may not have risen much theirs have. I posted something a while back detailing how something like 3 times as much money was being spent on lobbying today than at the start of the Bush administration because corps viewed this as an opportune time to get advantageous legislative changes made. Lawyers who in this town are often also lobbyists are likewise benefiting from this run up of money as well as from a general increase in profitable work. The Saudi princes? Well, I think you've noticed the price of gas ... and heard about the record profits of the oil companies? Well, the Saudi princes (and many others) share in this increased wealth. And the groups are just the tip of the iceberg. In simpliest terms ... the rich have gotten richer while the poor have gotten poorer.
Lance, I hate to tell you that saudi princes aren't buying up condos in DC. They all own estates on the potomac river and have owned them since long ago. If anything, they have spent less in this area in the past decade. There are several books out about the lives of these people. I don't know where you are getting your facts.
ReplyDeleteBob
Anonymous said...
ReplyDelete"Lance, I hate to tell you that saudi princes aren't buying up condos in DC."
I never said that they were buying up condos in DC. The point is that there is a lot more money circulating around DC now than there was in 1999. That translates into higher prices for anything where supply cannot be increased at the same rate as the demand is increasing. Real Estate falls into that category.
Just to be crystal clear, I wasn't the one bringing up the Saudi prince, and frankly as an individual his/their increased spending in this area is negligible. However, they are part of a larger group who as a whole just have a lot more money to spend. And as they spend it on whatever they spend it, it eventually gets into the hands of someone looking to buy a house or condo ... and with that extra money in hand, that person can help bid up the price of that house/condo which in the agregate means higher prices.
nothing has changed in dc since 1999? you need to get out more often.
ReplyDeleteuse this weekend as an opportunity to look around. (in the first person sense: go take a look)
Here is something that has changed since 1999: today, there is a routine 22-mile long traffic jam on one of the major morning ingress routes. It is up from 11 miles long in 1999. Gee... i wonder what this does for the value of land inside the beltway? Oh wait, I know, it drives it down because the US Congress and all their support staff will relocate to Fredricksburg to compensate.
ReplyDeletelink
LOL at all this stuff about rich kids who don't need to work and princes et cetera. Yes, there are some people like that in the DC area.
ReplyDeleteInstead of talking about them as if they were a huge number though, why don't we go get the best data available, which I think is the 2004 ACS survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.
www.census.gov
The median household income in DC, Montomgery County, P.G. County, and Fairfax County for 2004 is available. You can also see how many households make over 150K.
Go take a look at the DATA and then you will realize that talking about playboys and princes is silly. There are just NOT enough to matter.
A Redskins fan