Just read a local article that the food banks are experiencing mostly customers with jobs now. That can’t be a good sign…
Our next door neighbors (Indian family, you'll never guess the name) is selling. We got ours 2 years ago for about $430, they're asking for $200k *over that*. And not to brag but their house isn't nearly the property that ours is. $630k is a pipe dream, and I wonder if they let their agent write a check their home cannot cash. They just missed the mania.
The problem with the mania is there is no where to go even if you find a buyer willing to pay that price. You'll just be turning around and buying a similarly over-priced house. Zillow says my house is worth about $300K more than I bought it for. It was already over-priced when I bought it, so there is definitely a bubble. If the Fed fucks up the interest rate hikes, theres going to be some big crashes in multiple sectors.
I'm seeing this in my real estate hunt (stop laughing, you bag of dicks), where they'll try and auction a place off first, then list an exorbitantly high "cash only" price, and then gradually let it creep down to an acceptably high reality for a mortgage. FWIW this is in the MD/DC/VA area, and there are signs that the market is cooling off even there. My agent said they try and get an investment firm first, then a flipper/investor with cash, then as a last resort will sell to a regular homeowner. That can't end well. I have a hunch that all these investment firms owning rental properties that never depreciate are going to be hung the fuck out when local governments change rental laws, tax structures, etc. At work, we can see plenty of ordinances are in the works. I don't know that they can effectively lobby across so many disparate levels of community and government organization. I can also envision some sort of transparency push that shows what properties are owned by investment firms, and them getting shit on, to the point the investment itself takes on a higher degree of risk. I would distinguish between a crash, a recession that just sort of constricts the valuation of these things to reality, and a return to realistic valuations.
Not around here... we have a ton of people selling in Toronto, making shit-tons of cash, and then buying a much larger house a 2 hour drive away here in London, paying the crazy high prices (that are still relatively lower than where they sold), and getting cash left over in the bank.
That sounds like the California => Austin situation around here. Although it could be argued that everywhere in Texas is becoming expensive fast. They move here with a pile of cash pay a super inflated price for some basic burby houses.
A house has been on the market in my neighborhood since May 13th. They initially listed it for $825k which is about $50k over what comparable houses had been going for. They've dropped the price twice...it's now listed for $785k...still ~$35k over what it realistcally should've been listed at 4-5 months ago when the market peaked.
It's a good market for people who are willing to move to a lower cost of living area. Especially with a lot of jobs going remote, people are cashing out. Sure, the lower COL area houses are a little overpriced, but less so, and the relative price difference makes that irrelevant.
Welp, someone held an open house and despite our best efforts to people watch we didn't see hardly anybody show up to look. They've since knocked their price down to $580k which I still think is too much. We'll see how that goes but if it stays on the market much longer, I dunno.
Was at Subway getting a sandwich and saw some product placement for their new footlong Turkey Cali Club. Basically a standard club sandwich but add avocado, mozzarella and bacon. The price of this concoction of shitty bread, processed meats and browning avocado? SIXTEEN dollars! Add chips and a drink and you're real damn close to $20. For a Subway sandwich meal deal. As I've said before in this thread, I have no idea how families who were living paycheck are making it now.
My wife and I have completely scaled back our restaurant/quick service eating. Basically to zero. We only grocery shop once a week and try to stock only what we truly need. I’ve been able to save a couple hundred bucks on groceries per month and even more than that with eating out. The value:quality ratio just really isn’t there for us right now and we’ve dropped a couple pounds in the process. Each time we go to a restaurant lately, the experience is just meh and not worth the price. Yea it’s not as much fun as hitting up a bar around here and having some food and a few drinks, but I’m also not dropping a hundred bucks minimum each time we go out. Stuff like a quick trip to subway or chinese here and there adds up fast.
meanwhile, at P.Terry's in Texas today, a double cheeseburger combo is $8.50. Used to be $6.50 when they first opened up in Austin -- their food was a weekly staple of my diet in Austin -- but given that was over a decade and a half ago, I'll take it. Sometimes you just need a fresh, made to order hamburger with fries that don't get soggy on the way home, hastily wrapped in the cheapest butcher paper they can find, tossed in a thin paper bag that lets the food speak for itself. Bacon was an extra 50 cents, but I didn't wanna do that to my arteries today.
Even back before inflation was really ramping up, I always ordered to-go plates at dine in locations rather than fast food. The food tends to be so much better with the price per portion not a lot more than fast food. Around here, the fast food is at least well prepared. There's a ton of retail pressure on everything so all fast food is always freshly made. We are getting McDonald's tonight because fuck COVID, I'm exhausted and have probably not eaten 2000 calories over the last 3 days, but otherwise we've stopped eating out. We used to do take out Friday nights but the price hikes are too much, the value is just not there. Papa Murphy's (plus coupons) is my back burner option if we need a meal but that's about it these days.
I do a weird combo of meal-prep and take-out. My fridge is almost totally empty at all times, but my freezer is stocked with homemade pasta sauce, stir fry veggies, jambalaya, smoothie mixes, chili, etc. For a given meal I'll either pull something out of the freezer in advance, or make a run to a local spot for burrito/indian/bagels/donuts/etc. I'm definitely splurging more than I have to, but I never have food that goes bad in the fridge without being eaten, and every meal is either a cheap meal-prepped meal, or something tasty that I consciously choose to eat at that meal.
I ordered two burgers on DoorDash tonight. It cost me $48. They tasted like an old person smells. Like vitamins or some shit. Not worth the money. That aside, we use our Instapot almost weekly. Pulled pork, shredded Buffalo chicken, etc. sustain us for the work week. Usually.