Gas Prices.... Completely Outrageous!!! How Much Are They Where You Are???

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by sara1998

That just blows my mind.

Atlanta is similar. I bought my first real house for $205,000 - it sold eight years later for 1.2 million and it sold in less than an hour at an all cash offer. Granted, I had not lived there for a few years and I no longer owned it - can you say DIVORCE - - and it had been renovated for about 400K - but still, that is about a 500K gain. I shoulda stayed with the bastard

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by bretonbanquet

hahaha

But yes, Wales is tremendous - I could happily live there

I still maintain the best Thai rest. I have ever been to in my life is in Cardiff -- and I have made an effort to sample MANY

[Sarah]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

Atlanta is similar. I bought my first real house for $205,000 - it sold eight years later for 1.2 million and it sold in less than an hour at an all cash offer. Granted, I had not lived there for a few years and I no longer owned it - can you say DIVORCE - - and it had been renovated for about 400K - but still, that is about a 500K gain. I shoulda stayed with the bastard

sounds like you have too much money. you should send me some.

i'm not going to buy a house until my s.o. wins the lottery. i require beach-front property.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by Sarah

sounds like you have too much money. you should send me some.

i'm not going to buy a house until my s.o. wins the lottery. i require beach-front property.

I got none of that. I bought the hosue, but only because my credit was better. I then sold it to the ex a year or so later and left a few years later. Such is life.

[sara1998]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

I got none of that. I bought the hosue, but only because my credit was better. I then sold it to the ex a year or so later and left a few years later. Such is life.

Are you serious? You were married?

[Sarah]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

I got none of that. I bought the hosue, but only because my credit was better. I then sold it to the ex a year or so later and left a few years later. Such is life.

And now I feel like I should buy you a beer.

[sara1998]

Originally Posted by Sarah

And now I feel like I should buy you a beer.

You get the beer, I'll find the shot.

[strandinthewind]

We were, of course, not legally married.

In the end - I made my choices and the chips fell as such. I have no regrets.

I will, though, take the booze

[Sugar]

Seems to me the really egregious thing about gas prices is how the top three oil makers (in the U.S. anyway) are reporting "record profits" quarter after quarter anymore.

And as to the conversation about costs of living around the world, I'm surprised that no one has brought up health care. I'm not going to say that it's not more expensive to live in smaller nations like the UK, but my understanding that some of those taxes are used to pay for health care (I tried to research but didn't get anywhere fast, so if I'm wrong just say so).

When you consider that some American families are paying $500 a month for their healthcare coverage, it levels the field a bit.

[strandinthewind]

^^^

I agree --

and, unless we compare post tax dollars to post tax dollars, any comparison is bogus. In other words, a person can make $100,000 a year, but take home $45,000 a year once they are taxed and necessary things like ins. payments are considered (most peoples' are taken out of their paycheck and could be pre tax dollars) -- then mtg interest is tax deductible here, but perhaps not elsewhere. Anyway, food for thought.

[irishgrl]

Originally Posted by sara1998

haha! I don't know how they (the middle class) do it out there, either. The cost of living is more expensive out there, too. I would never make it on my salary.

My home was built in 2003. 2200 square foot, 4 bed, 2.5 bath, 2 story, attached 2 car garage, in a subdivision... $137,000. What would that go for in Cali, Sparky???

I can vouch for that....when I was living in the Bay Area (while I was going to Law School) I was astounded at what apartment rents were going for! I had section 8 (subsidized housing) so I was only paying $650/mo for a dirtbag 2bdrm apt. the nicer ones were going for $1000/mo easy. and thats RENT!!!

and that was even out in the outskirts of the bay, too! not even in SF...

my little 2bdrm 2bath manufactured home could sell for almost $200k!!! and I am in the mountains, not anywhere special

but the commute to Chico kills me. We've been paying over $3/gal for awhile now. California has the highest gas prices (and the highest overall home values/sticker prices) in the nation. Unfortunately without two incomes, or a profession that pays really well, a lot of people go under if they were stupid enuff to go for that crappy creative financing (I just think adjustable mortgage rates with balloon payments or anything that follows prime is a bad BAD thing.)

Sara, please see the link I posted about the comparison between housing costs in several states...its an eye opener. Your home could fetch a million or more depending on where you live....

ETA: here's the link:
http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/26/real...ment/index.htm

[irishgrl]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

^^^

I agree --

and, unless we compare post tax dollars to post tax dollars, any comparison is bogus. In other words, a person can make $100,000 a year, but take home $45,000 a year once they are taxed and necessary things like ins. payments are considered (most peoples' are taken out of their paycheck and could be pre tax dollars) -- then mtg interest is tax deductible here, but perhaps not elsewhere. Anyway, food for thought.

I actually addressed some of that, I was talking net take home. And health care IS a huge bite out of our budget and car insurance and home insurance and so many other things...agreed.

[irishgrl]

by the way, I did say this awhile back (like close to the beginning lol!) that the real Bahstids in this whole mess are the big oil companies. Like I said, Chevron just posted an 18% PROFIT in the most recent quarter, solely based on prices at the pump. Thats SICKENING. No matter what side of the pond you live on, the Oil Companies are GOUGING us. And thats the REAL story here...IMO...

[MacMan]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

^^^
then mtg interest is tax deductible here, but perhaps not elsewhere. Anyway, food for thought.

Mortgage interest isn't tax deductible in Canada, I know that much. Plus isn't it true in the US you can get a loan for a house and only pay the interest as your payments - and nothing towards your principle?

I saw something on the news a few months ago about housing sales and how they are falling in the US, along with forclosures and they were talking about interest rates and how people are buying these huge expensive houses they wouldn't normally be able to afford only because the way the banks are working their mortgages with interest payments only or something like that..

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by irishgrl

. . . (I just think adjustable mortgage rates with balloon payments or anything that follows prime is a bad BAD thing.) . . . .

It really just depends. Homes across America have tripled and quadrupled or more in price over the last ten or so years and some major markets show no signs of significant slowing down. So, if you bought a house like I did and can sell it eight years later for four time or more than what you paid for it, the 100% financing or balloon pmt financing made you several hundred thousand dollars of post tax money (which you could multiply by about 1.3%) to compare it to pretax dollars (again, the law allows a $250,000 tax exemption in gain per owner occupant every two years) -- The trick now is to buy in an up and coming area and pay below market. Yes, it is still a gamble, but it is a slightly less risky one because as long as you can make the payment, you have a place to live as opposed to losing your cash in the market. And, you can always keep refinancing every three years (most ARMS come in then) until the market gets better and if you cannot afford the .05% (usual) increase in the interest rate. the cost of the gain in the sale in five or so years after that usually will more than compensate for the cost of refinancing, which is deductible.

Real estate is a very wise investment if you know what you are doing.