On NPR-WNYC the expert being interviewed mentioned you can’t have real estate as an appreciating asset and have affordability at the same time. Basically one or the other.
Gold closed at $2271.30. The Inter-day high was 2276.00 which also became the new 52 week high.
When there is Stagflation (persistent inflation) real estate and gold appreciate because they are a store of value.
In history paper assets usually end up as losses. Just a matter of time.
I lived in New Mexico for a year and a half when Ronald Ray-Gun was President. I worked on one of his Star Wars projects at Los Alamos. Santa Fe back then was filling up with Californians and people who were dying of AIDS. It was a wonderful place, but my neighbor who had a recent vacation there said it is much changed.
Mucho homeless. The Police keep the riff raft out of the Plaza during the day, but later they return when it gets dark. Not so pretty or safe. The Santa Fe I knew is gone.
Our Baby-Victorian appreciated about $200K, and this Thanksgiving will mark 4 years of ownership. This increase actually might be conservative, because we bought a house that basically was a rental and was last updated in 1975. That update was a Home Cheapo special.
Know that we spent a lot on upgrades and went lux. Because we bought the house so cheap, it is approaching almost doubling our money for the right buyer when we have the house as a turn-key. Our home would get bid-up by dinks, or a professional couple perhaps with one kid. The right buyer though would be the key.
Taxes in Westchester on property is mucho crazy. “Maggie’s” sister paid $30K for nothing fancy, not a McMansion, In Dobbs Ferry, a rivertown. Pretty much nothing special, and not a wealthy community.
Peekskill was the last affordable place in Westchester, and I is a desirable place to live because it is an art community, its location, and because it is a rivertown. Know that Westchester is a county of affluence and there is a lot of wealth here, but not in Peekskill.
Maggie’s three younger brothers retired and moved to North Carolina recently. They are either walking distance or a few miles away from each other. All the homes are brand new. Housing is cheap down there by New York standards.
There is a term called “Half-Back” where New Englanders retire to Florida, but then move again in retirement back up the east coast.
Maggie’s daughter (the Creature), husband, and grandkids are going to move down to the Carolinas. They are homeowners in Cortlandt nearby. Pretty much the cost of living, the level of stress, and the BS is sending them south for a reset and a slower pace with a higher quality of life.
They plan on putting their house up for sale soon. Maggie is heart broken by the thought of distance. Pretty much I’ll be driving down frequently.
Unselfishly I understand and want them to be happy. Here in New York their lives have stress right at the breaking point. Their jobs are never ending and demanding. The Creature is an Assistant Principle and the grandkid’s father is a special ed teacher. All kinda of take home drama.
This fallout effects the kids I feel. No Unions down south, a very different vibe. A real shortage of special ed teachers since housing is booming down there. Pretty much the lowlands that remained undeveloped for good reason: storms, floods, and scorching heat. They are building schools…
We looked at Wilmington, but we only like the old historic homes that are pricy and inflated in price. The new homes would be like living in a trailer for me. There are problems with flooding, hurricanes, and forest fires, besides oppressive heat and humidity. The winters are pleasant though.
I had to consider my health issues and my CAD. We would loose a lot, so moving is not in the picture. Perhaps/maybe decades out if the situation changes. If anything further north into the Hudson Valley.
So the takeaway is that we are kinda priced out, and pretty much what we have now in Peekskill would never be able to be replaced. Our UBER low mortgage, our strategic central location, mucho low taxes that have “You suck factor,” and a new network of creative friends spreads out through the Hudson Valley and the Catskills.
We pretty much have the ideal perfect home.
The round trip to North Carolina is three tanks of gas. The coastal route is the way to go to avoid the snarl of the Beltway. About a 10 hour drive that lacks congestion. Elizabeth City is a nice layover.
Basically In the Hudson Valley we have a good supply of water, and now short mild winters.
Our home has become something special that can’t be replaced.
Cal
