Prices in St. Mary's don't match demand

[SmallTown]

Originally posted by sleuth14
That sounds like a Democrat way of doing things...
Another way would be to advertise the fact that there is a huge market for mid-range housing... for the single person who makes in the neighborhood of 35-60K per year... of which we have a lot of in St. Mary's (All I have to do is look around my building and they're everywhere)...

If one or two builders came in and catered to that market... they'd make a killing by not having to compete with the higher-range builders.

Like I said before, developers don't see it that way. They feel that as long as they can get a couple of buyers for the higher priced homes, no sense in wasting their time building more affordable homes. The one thing that keeps the market going are the "keeping up with the jones'" people. They stretch themselves to the limit to afford the higher priced homes, but then when something happens (loss of job, child, etc) suddenly income is reduced and foreclosures happen. But eventually they will be priced out of the market completely, which is what we are beginning to see there. No reason a single person making 50-60K should have to live in the slums. I think one of the more affordable complexes going in right now is Meadow Lake, and they are over 200K now with just the basic options which is just out of reach of your typical single income family (or just single person).

Then again, on my way to work now it is not uncommon to see signs for new homes reading "From the low 700s". There are only so many CEOs and Lawyers out there, but these keep being gobbled up. Just blows my mind.

 

[SmallTown]

Originally posted by jazz lady
or d. look at the pretty bird, piece of trash on the road, etc.
or e. Hey - let's stop on top of the bridge and take a picture.
or f. I'm a trash truck that can't make it up the hill at more than 15 miles per hour.
or g. Road construction never ending on 235 - which lane(s) will be closed TODAY?
h. It's five o'clock - there's three lanes of traffic emptying into one on Rt. 4...
or... (you get the idea)

Hey, you're starting to sound like me! Before long, you'll have lusbians saying they are glad yoo got the he!! out and never come back

 

[Pete]

Originally posted by sleuth14
That sounds like a Democrat way of doing things...
Another way would be to advertise the fact that there is a huge market for mid-range housing... for the single person who makes in the neighborhood of 35-60K per year... of which we have a lot of in St. Mary's (All I have to do is look around my building and they're everywhere)...

If one or two builders came in and catered to that market... they'd make a killing by not having to compete with the higher-range builders.

Sleuth I feel your pain (crap I sounded like Clinton). I really do, I am a single dad of a 6 year old, single income, without regular dependable child support. Before accepting a job down there I did a market analysis to see if I could afford it. I am very close and hope it works out. I am going to be making a little more that 60K because of my military retirement + the new salary so I think I am going to be in good shape. I just didn't fall into it by chance, I worked hard to get in this position. First I paid down all debt, except for my truck. Next I calculated a budget right down to the penny. That was the reason for all the questions on this board about cost of utilities, phone, cable, taxes, so on and so on. I found the school districts that I will feel good about sending my little man to and found out the median cost of houses in those districts. Next I sit at home countless weekends, packed lunches, dug through the couch cushions and have saved enough to get me in the ballpark. The only thing left is to hope. My back up plan if I cannot find my little chunk of paradise is to rent for a year and save more, perhaps buy a lot and contract my own house. Having my little prince makes a huge difference. Were I single I could shack up anywhere, but I am doing it more for him than me.

You are smart to buy within YOUR means and augment with roomies. I had to do the rommie thing in a post divorce house I could not afford. It was awful, stiffed with phone bills, runaway utilities, parties, cops, pi$$ed off neighbors. That was long ago. I am 38 and been working 21 years to get this far, most of it uphill. Some people got lucky and are making 6 digit incomes right out of college, I can't compete with that and neither can you. I think you said in another link that your 25? It will come, I got a 13 year head start on you. Keep looking and saving.

 

[jazz lady]

Originally posted by SmallTown
Hey, you're starting to sound like me! Before long, you'll have lusbians saying they are glad yoo got the he!! out and never come back

Perish the thought! There are probably a few who are glad I'm gone, because I wouldn't take crap from them and their extended retarded family. They tried to make others as miserable as themselves. But they were the exception, not the rule.

The traffic problems are not just here - I find that EVERYWHERE. Just look at the massive panic attacks that occur everytime you drive any of the major DC highways, including the Beltway: gee, there's a car on the side of the road; look, there's a new building; hey, there's a cop going the opposite way; it's a nice day, so everyone is taking off early. Somebody sees brakelights and automatically hit their brakes, too. The effects cascade and further exaberate the situation.

The same problem occurs down here. It's just amplified because there are a lot fewer "major" roadways. When there's only one lane each direction to/from a place, there are bound to be backups. I choose not to contribute to the problem any longer.

And since I'm no longer a "lusbian"...do I have to give my toaster oven back?

 

[Steve]

Originally posted by jazz lady
The effects cascade and further exaberate the situation.

Did you mean "exacerbate" the situation?

 

[vraiblonde]

So stop me when I get it wrong, m'kay? We want a decent size home in a nice neighborhood, close proximity to Pax River to reduce driving time and we want it for under $150,000. Is that right?

Here are your MLS #s from www.homesdatabase.com:

SM4460253
SM4328295
SM4486164
SM4442368
SM4442671
SM4489455

These are all single family homes with at least 2 BR and 2 BA. Nothing further away than Hollywood - I even left out Leonardtown. There were gobs more that were condos, duplexes or townhomes - I left those out too.

My pick is #SM4328295

It's in Great Mills, 4 BR, 2 BA, split-foyer, full basement, central air, aluminum siding with a brick front for $133,200. Since it's listed in the MLS, any realtor can show it to you.

Hopefully these folks won't mind me lifting their copyrighted pic since I'm trying to get Sleuth to buy the house.

 

[sleuth]

Originally posted by vraiblonde
My pick is #SM4328295

It's in Great Mills, 4 BR, 2 BA, split-foyer, full basement, central air, aluminum siding with a brick front for $133,200. Since it's listed in the MLS, any realtor can show it to you.

Hopefully these folks won't mind me lifting their copyrighted pic since I'm trying to get Sleuth to buy the house.

I've seen that... going to probably look at it soon.
My realtor said it's a HUD that needs about $2-3K in repairs which will raise the value of the house about $12-15K

I'm a little hesitant about the Great Mills area. I've heard bad things about the quality of people/places in that area.

 

[vraiblonde]

So in other words, you didn't really want a house after all?

 

[Heretic]

Builders do make money off lower income housing...if they dont sell it the government buys it and moves some dirtbags in it that will trash it.

I think affordable houses are hard to find in the area, for God Sake I saw a trailor they wanted $80k for because it was on 1/4 acre. I wouldnt let my dog live in that thing either so it wasn't even a "nice" trailor.

I have realitors telling me that I can afford way more than I think I can afford (double). I make good money (GS-13) but am only 3 years out of grad school so I still don't have that big of a downpayment. I'd also like a yard that is more than 2 feet to the neighbors house.

 

[SmallTown]

Originally posted by Heretic
Builders do make money off lower income housing...if they dont sell it the government buys it and moves some dirtbags in it that will trash it.

I think affordable houses are hard to find in the area, for God Sake I saw a trailor they wanted $80k for because it was on 1/4 acre. I wouldnt let my dog live in that thing either so it wasn't even a "nice" trailor.

I have realitors telling me that I can afford way more than I think I can afford (double). I make good money (GS-13) but am only 3 years out of grad school so I still don't have that big of a downpayment. I'd also like a yard that is more than 2 feet to the neighbors house.

When we first moved to somd and started to look at homes, we came across a trailer that was 240K because it had water views. Not water front, just water views.

Down payment isn't a big issue these days. It use to be, you HAD to have 20% down... then it was 10%, then 5%, then 3% for FHA. Now, 100% financing is very popular.

It is amazing what the banks will "qualify" you for. When we got our approval amount, we were like "wow". Sure, we could make THAT payment. Just won't have a car, won't eat, won't have phone service, etc.

Saving money for a downpayment can sometimes be useless... You'll save, save, and save and then something happens and you decide to spend the money on something else (car, boat, etc). Or, you save the amount you thought you needed, only to find out that appreciation has gone up faster than you could save. Better to hop into the market when you can, especially now with the rates so low.

 

[sleuth]

Originally posted by vraiblonde
So in other words, you didn't really want a house after all?

In other words, the reason I'm buying a house is for the investment purposes, not because I "need" a house. And it doesn't make any sense, from an investment perspective, to buy a nice home that won't appreciate in value because of the area that it's in.

If St. Mary's County would show some sort of commitment to growth and good city planning, that'd be another thing, altogether. But it seems to me that more complaining than complementing goes on in the county about the growth that's already occurring. When I think "Great Mills", I think of the area around Gate 2 and down Great Mills Rd. to Route 5, the area is for the most part dirty, seedy, and run-down. It also has the reputation of having a higher amount of crime than in the other areas of town.

I'm going to look at that house, soon. I've also heard some parts of Great Mills are worse than others, but Great Mills in general has a bad reputation, which will hurt the value of the house. I don't know exactly where this is, but that's why I'm going to look at it.

Not to mention, buying a house is *kind of* a big thing. $140,000 is a lot of money. For $140,000 I'm going to get something I can be happy with.

What I'd really like to do is buy something in Wildewood, California, Hollywood, or Leonardtown. I rarely hear anything negative about those areas.

 

[SmallTown]

I believe the great mills address also runs from great mills rd to 235 (maybe not all the way, not sure where the break is) but there are some decent areas in there

 

[frogger]

Houses off of Chancellor's Run are Great Mills too. Some decent houses/townhomes/condos around there.

 

[jazz lady]

Originally posted by Steve
Did you mean "exacerbate" the situation?

Yes, I did. After being on the computer for 12+ hours, I got a little tired and sloppy. Thanks for showing me the error of my ways.

 

[Christy]

Originally posted by jazz lady
Yes, I did. After being on the computer for 12+ hours, I got a little tired and sloppy. Thanks for showing me the error of my ways.

Oh you made his day, discovering a spelling error from the grammar Nazi!

 

[jazz lady]

Originally posted by Christy
Oh you made his day, discovering a spelling error from the grammar Nazi!

I figured everyone's gunning for me now. I was getting exasperated with the topic and tried to make a new word by combining it with exacerbate.

That's what I get for trying to do 2 things at once. Forums and statistics DON'T mix.