They have just replaced high interest rates w/ hire prices. So it has the same effect as paying a high interest rate, it's just built into the price now.

Warren

 

Any more suggestions?

 

I design these so called 'expensive' houses you guys are talking about and it makes me just sick to see the prices the way they are. 12 years ago I could afford one of my own designs and now....... forget it.

It's the cost of building materials that have created the higher prices. I have heard my builders complain since last year about the sheetrock and OSB have triple in price - -and the increased labor costs from the sub-contractors and all those increased costs trickle down to you and me in the end. ALSO, the county has changed the building codes and the more strict they become the more expensive the houses are too. And we all want a well built house.

Another thing is land........... you can't find land that is affordable. These little postage stamp lots are very expensive and again that is passed on to you and me.

So, it's a combination of things driving the costs up just like everything else in life.

 

This is what you need to do. Contact either your local Weichert, or Long and Foster office, and ask them when they are offering real estate courses. Take the course. They offer a 2 week accelerated one 8 hour a day for 2 weeks, or a 13 week course. Pass their final exam, and get the certificate they will give you. You will then have to schedule an exam with whatever testing board your state uses. It will be a 2 part exam. 1st part national real estate principles. 2nd part is laws from whichever state you are trying to get licensed in. If you get licensed in VA, you can only sell in VA. You need to take another exam for MD, and yet another for DC and so on. If you pass your exam, you then need to find a broker who will agree to "hang" your license in his office. The state will not release your license until you are affiliated with a broker. And you can not become a broker from the beginning. You need to be an agent for so many years (once again depending on what state you want to be licensed in) and take so many more hours of classes. Once you agree to the broker's terms, and he signs for you, then you can start selling. Some brokers will charge you a flat fee. Some will take a cut of your commission. I have not seen or heard of any broker that will give you an allowance to get you started. They will help you as far as guidance, but don't expect financial help from them, so it is better to go into it with some money saved up. And if you go in with a fairly large network of people you might be able to tap for your first few sales, even better. Lots of people get into it. Not many stay. It's a sales job where you are an independent contractor. So you are responsible for everything financially. You have to be self motivated, and willing to go the extra steps needed to complete a sale. Because there won't be anybody else behind you pushing you to get the job done. (Unless if you are married ). I say selling, because this is a sales job. If you have any more questions, you can PM me.

Fed.

 

as far as i know yes.... i don't remember all the stipulations on it..... but what it states is taht you recieve your license at the end of the class... i'm sure there's a copule of other things you might have to do... but nothing to large...

 

when everyone's doing it, it's a bubble.

these prices are not sustainable. real estate is cyclical. it goes down as well as up. it's about to go down bigtime.

in a bubble, there's always a "new reality," things will NEVER change....

the time to sell is now. if i could short houses in this neighborhood, i would. if you are currently in a highly appreciated home, for the love of god, CASH OUT and rent.

 

I feel sorry for anyone who has bought a home in the last 3 or 4 years because when the houing bubble pops (and it will in a huge way) they'll owe more than they're house will be worth. They'll have NEGATIVE equity. Foreclosures galore! Like Chug-A-Bug said, cash out now, befre the crash hits and rent, THEN buy a nicer house.

Warren

 

Real Estate is not a traditional commodity. The bubble will burst, as in pricing will not rise as much, or there will be a temporary small decline in prices as a re-adjusment period. The price of real estate will not plummet like some fear. It's simple supply and demand economics. We live in an area with a limited supply of land, and almost unlimited demand for housing. That is why you see such a boom in new construction. Over time all this will do is increase demand. Let's be honest. Short of the complete destruction of DC, the housing market in the area is not going to crash. Selling and renting right now would be the dumbest thing you could possibly do. Real estate is an investment. Wether it is your first home, or your third property. As an investment, they all have risks. Historically, real estate has been the safest investment over time. There have been small declines, but no crashes like in the stock market. On top of that, we live right next to the federal government. The government is not going anywhere where it's going to force a max exodus out of the area, which could be one of the few things that would bring a decline in real estate values. What are you going to do, sell and put all your money in a savings account to make 2% interest and then throw that 2% plus some more in paying rent to someone else? Rent is not tax deductible nor does it build equity. At the end of the lease, it's just money wasted. You can not compare the purchase of a house to the purchase of a large production renewable resource.

 

Fed just hit the nail on the head. I couldn't have said it any better myself.

The traditional school of thought is that land value is 20 to 30% of the final sale price of a house. I think in our area land is worth far more than the house that is on it. We pay a premium for proximity to DC and as the supply of houses inside the beltway are purchased the effect starts to spread outward. So in my opinion land makes up a far greater percentage of the overall sale price. You would be nuts to sell now. Interest rates can only go up. Housing values are not going to decrease as much as you think. When the so called bubble bursts people are going to see that their property value isn't increasing at 20% anymore. The value will still be there, but it won't be growing as quickly. I think people are underestimating the safety of real estate.

"When everyone's doing it, it's a bubble"-when was the last time people weren't buying real estate? The real estate market has been around long enough to show stability for me. I don't think people understand the real effects that it takes to make property value in a market such as ours decrease. We don't live in the middle of Montana. As Fed said we are anchored by the federal government. Anybody want to short them? Go ahead, if they go under we've got far greater problems to worry about then our property values.

The word bubble has become a nice catch phrase lately. People should really try to understand the nature of the market before falling into the hype around the word "bubble". Tech stocks and Real Estate are vastly different from one another. The day DC runs out of jobs and interest rates are much higher is the day I will start worrying about the value of my house. In the mean time I do not worry about other people's finances. I can make my mortgage payment and I have locked in a fixed rate that 10 years from now people might be dying to have.

 

oh my ! DC is the capital of the USA! When did this happen? Housing prices will NEVER go down here again!

(never mind those other pesky plummets in real estate prices a few years ago, that was, like, so early 90s.)