Monday, August 28, 2006

Personal Bubble Stories

A friend who is involved in coordinating housing redevelopment projects in gentrifying parts of Brooklyn was busy blaming Bernanke for raising rates so high. He said work is slowing. I pointed out to him that historically, short tem interest rates are still on the low end.
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A recent college graduate wants to buy a newly built 1br condo to live in an inner suburb of Washington, DC. He was thinking of buying one for about 280K. He was pleased that the price had come a bit from last summer's peak.

I asked him "How long do you plan to live there?"

He: "About 10 years"

Me: "10 years? Don't you want a family and children and all well before then? In 10 years you'll be 35."

He: "Ok maybe 5 years"

Me: "What do you think the 280K condo you are considering buying will be worth in 5 years?"

He: "500K"

Yikes! Talk about unrealistic expectations. I politely explained why that would not happen.
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My mom's friend who is involved in specialty homebuilding in the North Shore area (northern Chicago suburbs along the lakefront) has been in the business for a few years. He told my mom that "nothing is selling."

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