Weekend Open Thread
This is your open thread for this weekend. Please post random links and off-topic discussions here.
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13 comments:
*tap* *tap*
Is this thing on?
Slow weekend.
t's peak larch season, man. I've been out in the mountains.
Not many more nice days left in the year...can't waste 'em on the intarweb....
"Peak Idiot"
I like that
"Peak Idiot"
LOL!
I tried this with the terms "Fool-Prime" and "Fool Zero."
That was to capture who the "greatest fool" was in this whole ponzi scheme.
I like yours better.
Somewhere out there is "the greatest fool." I wonder who he is.
I still like "pagan renter". Real estate platitudes have certainly become mantras of religion for some -- real estate only goes up!
Wow, what an amazing coincidence! Rent's in the Bay Area are 'skyrocketing' as well!
Well, see, Seattle's different, our rental market is tied to robust job growth with a peripheral contribution coming from condo conversions... I wonder what San Fran's got to say about their 'spike' in rental activity?
"Now that people are realizing that there is going to be no appreciation in the near future, they're renting. There is not a lot of apartment building going on, so they're competing for a restricted supply."
What? no doube-digit appreciation? Silly fools, thank Gawd real-estate is local, because Seatttle has been saved from the rest of the national pitfalls...
While rents remain below their dot-com peaks in Silicon Valley, their rapid rise is a sign of the region's recovery, said Chris Bates, director of sales and marketing for RealFacts. "The local economy is strong and growing," he said. "The jobs that are being created down there are high-earning. People are returning to Silicon Valley for jobs, so occupancies are up and rents are up."
Wait, the audacity to think they're job growth is as robust as ours! How dare they, and they have falling YOY appreciation values! some places in the red YOY! This is an outrage, I demand an explanation!
The data in the RealFacts survey are based on apartment buildings with 50 or more apartments. That excludes many apartments in places like San Francisco, where almost 40 percent of the rental buildings have fewer than five units.
Hmmm... this smells of condo-conversion, there you go... condo conversion, that's got to be it! See, up here in Seattle we have none of that dreaded condo-conversion artificially inflating the market, right?...
No way... I don't buy it!! Didn't
they just said their was robust job growth driving up rental prices down there? Now they come out and say that Bay Area home prices decline, sales slow
Which is it? Obviously someone doing the math down there is smoking crack because limited-land/robust job growth floats all boats, land of mil and honey and all that, 5-6% YOY appreciation at the worst right?
I visited some incredibly highly priced open houses today and am feeling really down about my move to this area. Here I am with a graduate degree and a great job with great pay and I feel like I'm earning a waiter's salary in the city I came from.
I keep hearing that I have to look further out to find lower prices, but prices seem to be nearly flat across this entire region. Compromising with a long commute doesn't save me anything.
I was trying to find the NWMLS listings, and came across a buyers and sellers guide at some realtor site. "How much house can you afford?" it asks. It continues to say you can probably borrow 2.5 times your income. I know someone who was offered an executive level job by one of the big technology companies here with a salary of around $300k. According to those rules, he could afford to borrow up to $750k to buy a house. That puts him in a house like this:
http://realtor.com/Prop/1069577463
We visited that house. It was nice, but nothing special. There were several dozen houses just a nice all around it and some even nicer houses just across the street. The location is okay, but it wouldn't be my first choice for a place to live. Does that mean that all of these houses are inhabited by executives? Maybe Puget Sound companies are on a major executive hiring spree. I'm so confused.
If this market does not drop then my understanding of how the world works is seriously flawed.
"It's just my opinion of course, and many will disagree even from this board, but I think the quality of life here is fairly average with the cost of living being ridiculously high. Food, services and the cost of renting or buying seem through the roof compared to other places I've seen."
Abso-freakin-lutely.
I find Seattle to be consistently average or below-average in terms of quality of life for the money. As I like to say, Seattle has it all: the traffic, congestion and cost of the big city, with the cultural opportunities and provincial attitudes of a small town.
In my experience, the newcomers who rave about this place have one of two stories:
1) "I just moved here from Dubuque, IA/Laramie, WY/Armpit, NE, and I can't believe how freaking great this place is!!!!!"
2) "I just moved here from Boston/New York/San Francisco, and I can't believe how freaking cheap this place is!!!!!"
If it weren't so sad, it would be funny....
"What does quality of life mean to you? I enjoy the trees, water, fresh air, proximity to Canada - stuff to do outside."
Last time I checked, every US city comes with "outside" as a standard feature. Many also include, (at no extra cost):
* The ability to eat after 10 PM.
* The ability to drink after 1:30 AM.
* Friendly, outgoing people.
* A dating scene.
* Libraries with books.
* Cheap parking.
* Efficient public transit.
* Sunlight
* Multiple seasons
* ...and many more!
"So far there's a lot more going on in the way of culture too (vs. San Diego). We get to see about 5x as many concerts, plays, fringe theater... for crissakes, even Jello Biafra is in town tonight."
Uhm, yeah. See story #1 in my previous post.
Seriously. Jello Biafra lives in San Francisco, and this isn't exactly a conservative town. You do the math.
"I guess I won't be a true Seattleite until I learn how to bitch and moan more, huh? ;)"
I don't know...you have a good start on the smugness and the self-satisfaction. ;-)
I'm not like you haters, I love it here. ;) Although to be honest, I don't give much of a thought to the city itself. I'm here for the scenery and outdoor activities, not the nightlife and dating scene. I'd rather go camping than clubbing any day.
Not all "outside" is created equal, and the Seattle area is fantastic. I live within two hours of three of the most remote National Parks in the lower 48, in addition to all the wilderness areas and National Forests. There's also a large amount of National Forests and Wilderness areas. I could spend a lifetime just exploring the Cascades.
I love the climate here too, although I realize that does put me in the minority. I hope to never see 90 degrees again, and for the most part I rarely do here. I also don't have bitter cold unless I purposely go into the mountains. And I don't mind the rain at all, in fact I enjoy it. I admit that by February I'm getting ready for some sunlight, but I also admit that by August I'm ready for some rain. Sunny all year is just as bad as rainy all year IMO. The Seattle area has a nice balance as far as I'm concerned.
I've also noticed a sense of independence here, which I think contributes to the Seattle Freeze that some experience. It doesn't bother me because I have the same independence streak. I'm not wired to be overly social, and would rather spend most of my time in the mountains by myself or with a good friend or two. I've noticed that most of the outdoor community is the same way, so I feel right at home here.
It may very well be that people wanting NY or SF style nightlife and culture don't find it here. This isn't the place for that IMO. Seattle, at least for me, is about what the surrounding area has to offer.
I encourage everyone to be where they want to be. Moving here from Dallas was the best move I ever made, and I've never been happier with the place I live. Ok, the suburbs are soulless voids, but I only live here because I'm saving money. Once home prices drop back to reality, I'll move out closer to the mountains.
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