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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (186154)	5/6/2006 7:42:16 AM
From: jttmab	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

For one jttmab.. those 11,000 trailers are in HOPE, ARKANSAS, not New Orleans (why HOPE, ARKANSAS, one can only guess.. ;0) I didn't say they were in New Orleans, I said they were bought for New Orleans. Secondly, it is a stupid regulation that trailers cannot be emplaced in a flood plain, which is what New Orleans is. I think Chertoff said it was a common sense regulation, or something equivalent. All regulations are "common sense" regulations when someone doesn't want to change them. Who would want to change a "common sense" regulation? That would be dumb. What you want to change is "unnecessary" regulations. So if you want to change or get rid of a regulation, make sure you use the word "unneccessary". Secondly, it is a stupid regulation that trailers cannot be emplaced in a flood plain, which is what New Orleans is.. But most of those regulations are LOCAL, not Federal (zoning, building.. and utilities requirements).. I suspect the reason that the Feds get involved for this regulation is because of Federally funded flood insurance. Trailers are more likely to float away in a flood and the first housing to be a total loss. The question is not whether there will be a pop in the DC area, but whether home values will hope their present values.. I'm somewhat skeptical, given the prices I see around here ($800,000 townhomes where you're sharing a wall with a neighbor, and they have a very loud train passing by every night..). By "pop" I meant as in balloon pop. As opposed to pop as in spike. Can't hardly live in the DC area and not know what's happened to housing prices. My neighbor just recently subdivided and sold off 4 1-acre lots to a builder for $400K each. Not shabby considering we live in a rural area. But that wasn't the most surprising recent sale I saw. 1/4 acre developed with a run down 1950's house. I doubt if the house was as large as 1,000 sq ft. My other neighbors "shed" is bigger than that house. Sold in March for $330K. I've lived in this area for most of 35 years. I believe the largeness of the Federal Government keeps prices from deflating. They will go stagnant for a while. When I came back from overseas, I thought about buying a house.. But these prices are ridiculous.. Especially when I can go out to parts in the western or central US and purchase something almost as nice for under $200K. It is ridiculous, but prices are higher where more people want to live and prices are lower where people don't want to live. Business travel has taken me to most of the lower 48. Kansas is not somewhere I want to live. I'll never forget a highly recommended Chinese restaurant I went to in Indiana. Ordered up the Hot and Sour soup and was a bit surprised to see mixed vegtables [corn, carrots blocks, and peas] in the soup. After all, why own an apartment that is losing value, when you can rent and avoid all the hassles and taxes that come with actually owning the property. I made the decision that I would rather pay rent than see the sale value of any newly purchased home decline, while my mortgage remained the same. The only place I would consider owning a condo would be right in the city. You would most likely be ok in the Watergate but get into the suburbs and you're at high risk. Renting does have it's advantages. Easier to move, one month's notice and you're out of there. You don't sink any big money into an apartment; no real maintenance expenses, that's the landlord's problem. You're not going to remodel the kitchen for $60K. No grass to cut, hence no lawnmower. I don't like hiring the trades as I think the majority of them are thieves. But there will be some point in time when I'm too old to take care of the house and grounds and will likely pack up and move into some urban area. I didn't mind splitting wood with a maul when I was 35; it doesn't have the same attraction at 55. jttmab