< Better times are on the horizon. I expect the economy to begin recovering in 2002. The past 1.5 years have been unpleasant, but things will improve. We are closer to the end of this than the beginning.>
Guess it depends on where you live. I doubt that many who live here share the same optimistic view as you. It’s just beginning for them.
Plano 75093: Trouble in paradise?
dallasnews.com
In the 75093 ZIP code, there are 297 homes for sale, with a median price of $414,900, according to Mr. Ellis. As of today, homes priced less than $500,000 have been on the market for an average of 55 days, compared with an average of 42 days for houses on sale in the second half of 2000. "That's a pretty significant increase," he said.
"Most of my listings lately have been people who needed to relocate out of town or find new jobs in the [high-tech] industry. Pretty much all of it is telecom-related." … Across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, there are 521 homes for sale for more than $1 million each. "That means there's a whole lot of rich people needing to sell" …
Many own sprawling two-story homes, with swimming pools, three-car garages and at least one SUV, the ZIP code's vehicle of choice. Many homes are decorated lavishly, and property values have risen sharply over a four-year period. But Mr. Simontis said … that growing numbers of his friends and neighbors were out of work …
Throughout 75093, many residents are cutting their spending, even if the ax has yet to fall, residents said. For many, it's no more eating out, no more maids, no more gardeners. Cars are being sold, cellphone accounts canceled. Thermostats are set warmly at 80. Cable and satellite TV service is reduced to less than "basic," if not eliminated altogether. Garage sales are in. Vacations are out.
One of Mr. Simontis' neighbors … recently accepted a promotion with a software company – and was promptly laid off. He immediately put his house on the market, thinking, "How can we possibly meet next month's mortgage payment, let alone pay for everything else?" He estimated the value of his property at $328,000.
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Caught up in the high-tech meltdown:
‘We’ve just explained to them that Daddy doesn’t have a job’
dallasnews.com
Two days after receiving a glowing job review, Dennis Orban, 51, lost a job he'd held for only six months, as product manager for a network communications company, Fujitsu Network Communications in Richardson.
The company had hired Mr. Orban in December, moving him from Tampa, Fla. He was making a six-figure salary. His wife and children moved in April. They built a four-bedroom home with 3-1/2 bathrooms in Murphy. By Memorial Day, he was out of work…
The Orbans are living off their savings, which were largely depleted by their move to Dallas. |
