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Years ago in the 1970s, owning one's home was a lot more affordable to the middle class. My father had a civil service job, 7 kids and a stay at home wife, but he was able to buy a home in a good middle class neighborhood in Nassau County all on his 1 modest salary.
These days a man who has his exact same position could not afford to have a stay at home wife and 7 kids, and certainly could not afford to buy a home in the neighborhood we grew up in on that 1 salary. He would most likely not be able to afford a home in any neighborhood in Nassau County unless he won some Lotto money for a huge downpayment.
Often people with two "professional" salaries coming in and NO kids have a hard time affording a home here. I don't think it's a case of people being spoiled and wanting everything just so, but rather a case of homebuyers being in a very tight place when it comes to the taxes and the mortgage who are frustrated at what they are getting for their money. The fact is, real estate on LI has far outpaced wage growth in this area and it results in problems for those seeking to buy a first home, which results in problems for people looking to sell a home and trade up to a better one or move off LI.
Times have changed. The little cottages that used to be summer homes (2nd vacation homes!) for my grandparents in places like Rocky Point and Long Beach are now full-time homes for people who can barely afford them as their first home if they have bought recently.
True but today's culture is different. Look at how many people complain about the cost of housing and taxes but LEASE 2 very expensive cars! Do you see "junkers" anymore? People laugh if you have a 10 year old car now. I used to be a badge of honor to get a car to go 100,000 miles. Now? People scoff at that idea. Maybe if people were not pays $800 plus in leasing every month, things would be easier. People want a life time achievement right away. We have friends that spend spend spend but do not fund their 401K....drives me nuts!
True but today's culture is different. Look at how many people complain about the cost of housing and taxes but LEASE 2 very expensive cars! Do you see "junkers" anymore? People laugh if you have a 10 year old car now. I used to be a badge of honor to get a car to go 100,000 miles. Now? People scoff at that idea. Maybe if people were not pays $800 plus in leasing every month, things would be easier. People want a life time achievement right away. We have friends that spend spend spend but do not fund their 401K....drives me nuts
I've got to agree with the above.
People want instant gratification, don't want to have to work for the luxuries, do want other people to be overly generous and give them things (like thousands off an asking price, for example).
What happened to starting off with second-hand lamps and furniture? Today everyone has to have new whatever, costing top dollar, everyone has to go on vacations costing thousands even though they can't afford them.
And as far as cars go, leasing is the thing today primarily because people can't afford to buy cars - they can only afford a monthly payment - that's all the majority have in the way of cash; a couple of hundred dollars every month to keep their spiffy car from being reposessed.
Funny thing. We jsut bought a vacation home. I was at the Salvation Army buying furniture for it. I just cannot justify spending tons of money on furniture that we will use twice a month. Eventually I will treat ourselves to some nicer stuff but for now, this will do.
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Funny thing. We just bought a vacation home. I was at the Salvation Army buying furniture for it. I just cannot justify spending tons of money on furniture that we will use twice a month. Eventually I will treat ourselves to some nicer stuff but for now, this will do.
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We purchased a home out-of-state several years ago. We took whatever we had stored here, and were lucky enough to have friends and family pass along things they no longer needed. It was sort of like having a regift wedding shower! The people we bought from left behind a fairly new couch, a big savings. Some items I've also found on Freecycle. Since then, we've invited everyone up to stay, in gratitude for their 'donations'. It has been a lot of fun!
My husband and I finally (last year!) passed along the 2nd hand bedroom furniture we use in our regular house. The person who received it was as thrilled as we were 17 years ago!
I believe some people need to get passed the idea of having to put up appearances for the outside world and just be happy with themselves.
People in search of reasonably priced housing have depleted almost all (I bet there's still a couple out there) of the cottage/bungalow stock.
I believe that Flanders will take off in this regard. Very inexpensive waterfront houses. Tiny, no basements, but fantastic views and ripe for gentrification. Great location, lots of unbuildable/protected open land, and just plain pretty. But, not there yet. However you can buy a waterfront house for 200k. Across the road (24?) they're starting to build some larger homes. Still not the place to live, but I believe it will be in the future.
True but today's culture is different. Look at how many people complain about the cost of housing and taxes but LEASE 2 very expensive cars! Do you see "junkers" anymore? People laugh if you have a 10 year old car now. I used to be a badge of honor to get a car to go 100,000 miles. Now? People scoff at that idea. Maybe if people were not pays $800 plus in leasing every month, things would be easier. People want a life time achievement right away. We have friends that spend spend spend but do not fund their 401K....drives me nuts!
I don't think it is just the younger generation that does things like that. I also think you got a little off track, as I don't see what that has to do with the fact that on LI home prices are seriously out of sync with income, which causes problems in the market for buyers and sellers alike.
For example, did you know that if most homeowners on LI had to buy the house they live in TODAY, they could not afford to do so on their income?
Anyway, I am not one of those people because I think it's foolish too to pay so much $$$ for something like a car that devalues the minute you drive it off the lot.
I work too hard for my money to spend like that! If someone (a car salesperson for example) wants to get my money, they will have to work EVEN HARDER to get it!
I don't think it is just the younger generation that does things like that. I also think you got a little off track, as I don't see what that has to do with the fact that on LI home prices are seriously out of sync with income, which causes problems in the market for buyers and sellers alike.
For example, did you know that if most homeowners on LI had to buy the house they live in TODAY, they could not afford to do so on their income?
Anyway, I am not one of those people because I think it's foolish too to pay so much $$$ for something like a car that devalues the minute you drive it off the lot.
I work too hard for my money to spend like that! If someone (a car salesperson for example) wants to get my money, they will have to work EVEN HARDER to get it!
No its not just the younger generation, the baby boomers are in big trouble. Most have not saved enough and are waiting to inherit money. Great idea but their parents are living longer and spending more money then previous generations. And many of them thought the sale of their homes was going to be their golden ticket. In fact, they will be working much past 65. Then they are passing the same lack of money basics to their kids.
I can't tell you how many of my 1st time buyers will not move in until new carpet is installed and the painters finished up! Man when I bought my house, I used Sears crap paint because it was all I could afford.
You really can not compare the two generations in terms of house costs. Nassau was still rural in the 50's. Little to no services,etc. Its developed now. More workers needed in NYC has increased, people moved East. Still true today until you hit the Hamptons. Mineola kids were still called the "hicks from the sticks" in the 60's by Queens folk.
Good for you, don't spend too much for a car. You will have plenty of money later in life.
Well, we were out and about looking at some open houses today. I must say that Im in complete shock with most of these homes. Every home we seen, in the 400-450 range needed work. Im not talking paint. Most of them had the original kitchens and baths from the mid 70's! And lets not get into the 1970 wall paper! ughh.
Even after looking at many homes on MLS and their pics it looks like one would have to dump another $100,000 into it to make it "modern". Anyone else seeing this?
Back to the original issue: when we came here looking for homes in 1999 we had hoped to find something for around $250k - what a shock we were in for! People were spending MORE than that to knock down the house and rebuild! We were amazed at what homes were selling for and how much we'd have to invest just to bring it up to looking "nice". I'm not talking "modernization"; I'm not talking new paint, new carpet, or any other cosmetic issues. The main problems were structural and they were all pretty bad. Major renovations were going to be needed - so we bought new built and spent less money getting more for our money. Good luck to you!
No its not just the younger generation, the baby boomers are in big trouble. Most have not saved enough and are waiting to inherit money. Great idea but their parents are living longer and spending more money then previous generations. And many of them thought the sale of their homes was going to be their golden ticket. In fact, they will be working much past 65. Then they are passing the same lack of money basics to their kids.
Yes, since the voluntary 401(k) has replaced the company funded pension in many workplaces, a lot of people will have trouble. In terms of waiting to inherit from parents, nowadays the banks are beating them to it by cashing in on the parents' equity in their homes by offering reverse mortgages. It depends on when the house was bought whether or not it will be a golden ticket to retirement. The longer ago the better of course. I know seniors who still work. For example, I know one woman in her 80s who is still a law professor. I know a lot of people already that worked past the typical retirement age (65). For us younger ones, that age is going up due to longer life expectancy. What really troubles me is all these projections about how Social Security is going bust and may be gone when I am elderly and need it. I don't mind chipping in now, but they can't expect my generation to fund the current social security recipients and then we get nothing when it comes our turn. We could be saving that money for our own retirement if that is the case.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kbinspections
You really can not compare the two generations in terms of house costs. Nassau was still rural in the 50's. Little to no services,etc. Its developed now. More workers needed in NYC has increased, people moved East. Still true today until you hit the Hamptons. Mineola kids were still called the "hicks from the sticks" in the 60's by Queens folk.
I am thinking more of my parent's generation that were adults in the 1970s.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kbinspections
Good for you, don't spend too much for a car. You will have plenty of money later in life.
I learned my lesson the hard way. I used to be a spendthrift. I used to think jobs were a dime a dozen and that there would always be plenty for all. Then when 9/11 hit, I was working downtown. My company closed that office and there was not enough space in the midtown office for us. I was laid off for 10 months (without much savings either)! I sure learned to use coupons and look at pricetags! Then in 2004 I lost my job because it was outsourced to India and I had a hard time finding a steady job; all I found was freelance work for a couple of years. After these experiences, I have a totally different outlook: if I can't pay cash, don't buy it; no new cars, no gas guzzlers; if I want new furniture (with the exception of bedding or upholstered furniture), I look on craigslist for used stuff. A couple of times it has been well worth the trip into Manhattan to buy some barely used furniture at a fraction of the real cost from some business people who are relocating or redecorating. Anything new I need, I think "could I get it for free or less?" For example, my Swiffer wet jet broke. Instead of paying $19.99 plus tax, I put a posting on freecycle and someone came through with one, as her tenant had moved and left it behind. I needed a new vacuum. I found the model I liked and waited for it to go on sale. It didn't. I kept checking craigslist and finally found one that was a year old for sale because the person moved into a home with marble floors and didn't have any rugs anymore. I paid 1/3 of what the vacuum cost new. It was in great condition and the person even still had the booklet for it.
I hope we do not go into a bad recession or a "NEW DEPRESSION," as some people think we might. We all need to be ready though just in case.
Back to the original issue: when we came here looking for homes in 1999 we had hoped to find something for around $250k - what a shock we were in for! People were spending MORE than that to knock down the house and rebuild! We were amazed at what homes were selling for and how much we'd have to invest just to bring it up to looking "nice". I'm not talking "modernization"; I'm not talking new paint, new carpet, or any other cosmetic issues. The main problems were structural and they were all pretty bad. Major renovations were going to be needed - so we bought new built and spent less money getting more for our money. Good luck to you!
I remember looking and buying in the summer of '99 and I found that although houses were being snapped up quickly I put bids in on a number of houses ranging from 228-246k, from Wantagh to Holbrook. Structure was never an issue. Updating definitely was. Of course it is a moot point, as the years of the 250k dormered cape in Bellmore seem to be long gone...
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Saw the same thing 9 years ago!
Thats surprising
