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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
It's incredible to me that [b]Montgomery County has the second lowest median housing costs in the region after PG County [/b]and they want to make it cheaper. Like what? There is a reason why housing in PG County is cheap. And there is a reason why it is more expensive in Arlington and Fairfax. These people don't have a clue. I am not sure what the future holds, but I am not optimistic.[/quote]

[b]And yet homeownership is increasingly unaffordable for young people, which seems like a problem. 
[/b]
And half of renting households spend more than 30% of their gross income on housing, which also seems like a problem.

[b]High housing costs [/b]are great for people who currently own and will want to sell soon, and for landlords without much debt. And maybe for realtors. Other than that, high housing costs are not a good thing.[/quote]
[b]It is no ones problem but your own if you don't have the means to afford to buy a house.[/b] Your own mismanagement of your personal financial situation is no ones responsibility but your own. Housing costs in the county are &quot;low&quot; regionally, so even your complaint is off-base and unfounded. The best way for people to afford a home is to make more income. What are you personally doing to increase your income potential? What is the county doing to increase the number of high paying jobs? The alternative path is a negative feedback loop of cheaper housing -&gt; poorer people -&gt; cheaper housing -&gt; poorer people which is what makes this county overall poorer and not richer. [/quote]

A third of households in Montgomery County are renters.

I own my home, why? Because I bought it 22 years ago when I moved here for a job. If the value had appreciated at the same rate as inflation, it would now be worth about 55% more. Instead, it's now worth about 225% more. That appreciation is not due to my stellar personal financial management skills. It's just a giant unearned windfall for me.

If I were in exactly the same situation now as I was 22 years ago, I would not be able to afford my home today. At best, I'd be renting. More likely, I wouldn't take the job and wouldn't move here. Multiply that by a lot of other young people with skills, and it doesn't look so good for the future of Montgomery County.[/quote]
Do you mind if I ask why you believe you have an "unearned windfall"? Are you incorporating all of your costs into your analysis? There is obviously interest, which was rather high 22 years ago - I know from personal experience. Did you refinance and any time, have you included those costs into the total cost of ownership? Aside from principal and interest, you were also paying paying taxes and insurance. I would hope that you conducted maintenance? Did you also do any renovations? I cannot imagine that you have 22+ year old kitchens and bathrooms. Plus, you cannot just buy and sell your home without transaction costs. You had closing costs when purchasing and you will pay costs up to 10% of the home value just to sell it, when you include commissions, transfer taxes, concessions, staging, repairs, etc.
 I really do not get the sense that you are taking all of this into consideration at all and if you did, I would be surprised if you actually came out ahead financially.

I think it is also important to understand that real estate is still a speculative investment. No one is guaranteed a return and the idea that it is a riskless asset is what caused the financial crisis. No average homeowner that loses money on real estate, and I know a few, gets a government bailout.

I would also just say that while I understand the sentiment, the evidence is pretty convincing that homeownership is a bad deal. I read a very convincing article recently about this in the New York Times. I will post the link if I can find it. If there was advice that I could give a young person, it would be to rent instead and invest the difference in the stock market. They will be much, much better off in the end.[/quote]

I'm the PP you're responding to, and yes, we have 22+ year old kitchens and bathrooms. Why can't you imagine this?

Homeownership [i]should[/i] be a bad investment, but that's not how we've set it up in the US, currently. At least not for some people.[/quote]
If you have 22 year old kitchens and bathrooms, then your home is probably not as valuable as you think. Have you looked into costing out your total return before assuming that you someone are making out like a bandit?[/quote]

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