Decline in Real Estate

[haoleboy]

IMHO, East side real estate is CHEAP. And where I come from, you are a fool not to buy good cheap real estate.

As far as pricing the market away from locals, I don't buy into that. Wages aren't bad, and business opportunities are everywhere. What is lacking (and not just on the BI) is young people willing to work hard enough and sacrifice to get into that starter home. Burning weed and playing video games will only get you so far.

Aloha

"Catch a man a fish, and you can sell it to him. Teach a man to fish, and you ruin a wonderful business opportunity."- Karl Marx

[Isa]

Buzz, I can't agree with you more. I know of local families who are now homeless, because their rent was raised beyond what they can pay. It is very difficult to make ends meet when you have a few children. There are local families living in the jungle in tents, in cars, and on the beach. The children suffer terribly. It's a direct result of home prices going up and then rents following. Mainland speculators, investors, whatever you want to call them have profitted and local children are paying dearly. Haoleboy, your comments about locals are offensive. Locals work very hard, but that doesn't mean that they can necessarily get ahead. You have expressed a very narrow view.

[Punamom]

Unfortunatly in the U.S.A there will ALWAYS be folks who can not afford a home for many reasons, but overall the increase in property values has been more of a benefit than not.
Home ownership is at an all time high,the local economy is great.
Jobs were created like crazy to fuel this "speculation".

There are also many good programs for first time home buyers and to many folks think they don't qualify to own when they actually do.
I figure if they are not even going to do some simple research on it they probably are not ready to be homeowners.
I mean there really are tons of ways for people to own a home cheaply, more so on the BI than anywhere else I've ever lived.

I am not going to worry about how uneducated homeowners spend their equity, thats their business "a fool and his money are soon parted".If they want to blow it on material things to their own detriment what can you do? I just look for the benefit of more money in the economy.
I know if you use it wisely you can increase your wealth.

Like I said your increase in equity is an insurance if you ever need it I'd rather have that option than not.The small tax increase is worth the price of the security.(my tax increase was only 40.00 bucks in 4 years not an amount worth getting upset about).
So to whomever does not like their new found equity I'll just pray you'll never need it.





Edited by - punamom on 07/20/2007 01:52:37

[haoleboy]

In the USA, we have the liberty to make choices in life. You are free to succeed or fail. Wouldn't it be wiser to be financial secure before having 3 or 4 kids? In my narrow view, the welfare state and popular culture has bred a generation and a half of slackers who do not want to take responsibility for their actions and poor decisions. Love, unfortunately, is not all you need.

"Doh!"- Homer Simpson

[bystander]

Back to the original topic, I think these speculators have pretty much tapped the well dry. Anybody trying to make a quick turnaround today will be left holding the bag. Some are predicting property value declines of up to 50%. I know our real estate friends on this forum will vehemently deny this is going to happen but it seems to have already started. Last year they were saying prices would never decline.

[loffelkopffl]

yeah as long as i got mine who cares about anyone else? almost all of this speculation is coming from off island, and if those poor locals didn't get theirs then too bad, after all we gave some of them their hawaiian home lands, what else do they want?
most of the people who lived in my subdivision when i moved here lived in unpermitted homes, shacks, tents, buses, and most worked. with wages so high here in puna, i'm sure the locals won't have any problem paying the speculators prices. aloha

[Carolann R]

Makes me a little anxious. The gal that just delivered our Closing Documents for our home in Hawaii asked me if we were selling our house here...I said yes and she said "it's a bad time to sell isn't it?" I sure hope she's wrong. We've worked very hard to just get a fair price to make the transition...we can speculate all we like but we really won't know what happens in the market until it happens. World events, war, oil, terrorism...unemployment up or down...if one has interest in the housing market because they are selling or buying, well the outcome will be what it is...

I feel personally like prices are inflated and that is good for people who could afford to own several properties and hang onto them. Maybe not so good for people who are less fortunate. Then there are other avenues available oftentimes. I don't feel that because we own a home we are putting someone else out. We've worked very hard and no old money here to be sure. We are still not "comfortable" just working with what we have.

You can tell people to not have kids because they can't afford it...if they had to wait until they could afford kids, it might never happen for some people. Babies will happen whether we think it's a wise time or not. That's life. You do your best and work with what you have and if a little one comes then you do what you have to. We can educate people on the importance of better family planning...then it's up to them. I don't feel like I was given any more opportunity than many of the local people...I was raised in a blue collar family - dad worked in a steel mill. I didn't go to a fabulous college and even fought my own demons. There is a point where we are adults and it comes down to our decisions - whether to ride the system, whether to trudge through school, whether to create a career path of your own. Commerce will continue whether I am here or not. It IS our responsibility to do our best to share what we have with people who are less fortunate for many reasons. Whether to donate goods and money if we have it or to make ourselves available to help someone else on their trudge through life. (I know I'm a bleeding heart...that's not gonna change anytime soon. I won't apologize for it. I just feel like if I don't get in this life that it's about "how can I serve you?" then I have missed the big picture.)

Mahalo

Carrie

"The opportunities to reach into the lives of others in an inspiring way arise in countless ways every single day..." Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

http://www.hellophoenix.com/art

[Lee DeJongh]

my comments were needlessly provocative and
I regret them. Sorry.

Edited by - lee dejongh on 08/17/2006 10:55:12

[bystander]

"5. Just why are land and housing prices so high? There seems to be plenty of vacant land and plenty of supply."

As the title of the thread indicates, this may not last long. People were making the same complaints back in the 80s then the market collapsed. Then people were complaining about prices being too low.

[punafish]

From my vantage point, a 50% decline in R.E. value would be a wonderful development. One, because I don't plan on selling my home anytime soon, if ever. And two, because it would give me much more buying power for my next property...which I would also keep for a very long time.

Investors are not inherently evil. The litmus test for a legitimate investor IMHO, is whether you strike a balance between the the monetary gains you earn, and how much you contribute back to the community (through tax revenue, jobs created, volunteer work, etc).

We can complain about what the speculators have done to the economically less fortunate. But there's not much we can do about it considering we're a "free market". IMHO our energy would be much better spent looking for innovative solutions within areas we can control. For me personally, it would be an honor and privilege to have the chance to help local folks improve their quality of life through education, training, etc. Beyond volunteer work, there are an infinite number of creative ways to develop the local economy, which means more jobs.

I'm not trying to downplay the reality of the housing market or the suffering of many local families. Just would prefer to focus my energies where we've got a fighting chance of making a contribution.

I am not a real estate expert so take this for what it's worth: I don't think the market's gonna go down 50%. But I'm 99% sure it's going up over the long haul. (remaining 1% is the "Pele factor" If I'm wrong and values drop 50%, I'll gladly buy a round of cocktails for everyone at our next gathering

Aloha!



Tim
"The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there." Robert Pirsig