Down pluges over 700 pts - now under 10,000 - yikes- Page 2

[Q]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 2:52pm

[javero]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 3:15pm

Thanks for sharing the LT article PJ. It's very insightful.

[Craig]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 3:29pm

It seems there is a last minute "recovery" of sorts... it's "only" down 434 now, but...

Wall Street suffered through another traumatic session Monday, with the Dow Jones industrials plunging as much as 800 points and setting a new record for a one-day point drop as investors despaired that the credit crisis would take a heavy toll around the world. The Dow also fell below 10,000 for the first time since 2004

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 3:42pm

All this seesawing! It's making everybody nauseous.

Yeah, there's fear right now, but I've never seen such a scramble to throw money here, throw it there... Try your luck! Step right up!

Why do people play the stock market like a craps table in Vegas?

[Mamie]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 3:57pm

And now it's -303. Incredible!

[KrissySim]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 4:14pm

There's a beautiful house I'm looking at that has dropped $100,000. If it just goes a lower I'll be able to buy it. The difficulty is that I have to snap it before someone else does, and it's hard to gauge when to make the move. How far do I let it slide before someone else makes the jump?

suspense

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 4:51pm

It's a buyer's market. If you lose this one, another equally beautiful house will pop up and drop down $150,000 or even $200,000.

This isn't going to turn around for a long time.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 4:58pm

A house in my neighborhood that we passed on in June when it was $175,000 has just been reduced- to $125,000. That's $12,500 a MONTH!

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 5:19pm

The five year old McMansion across the street from me has been on the market for a year. It's a very nice house. It started at $785,000 and is now priced at $585,000.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 5:23pm

McMansions will be VERY cheap in the coming Depression.

But they're so drafty.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 5:30pm

Turn them all into sex clubs. That's my motto.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 6:25pm

They're easy to clean--marble and hardwood floors are easy to mop up.

And high ceilings are perfect for slings 'n' things!

[LePetiteFromage]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 6:39pm

Updated On: 1/12/09 at 06:39 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 6:45pm

KrissySim--Here's the way to figure it out.

What's the average income in your area?

What's the average home price in your area?

Until the average home is 3x the average income, the housing prices aren't low enough yet.

Now, if the home you're looking at is "above average" for the area, then you will pay an above-average price accordingly. It's all relative.

But right now, prices have not dropped far enough yet to do that (very easy) math.

(And actually most respected financial analysts will tell you the math is actually 2.7x, not 3x. I'm rounding up, trying to be hopeful that it will fall into an even remotely realistic zone again. Right now, I think the average home is more like 4x or 5x the average salary, across the country. And in the highest markets, it's still something disgustingly off like 6x or 7x!)

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 7:17pm

The median income for a household in the township I live in is $98,090, and the median income for a family is $106,908; the highest in Pennsylvania and ranked #31 in the US. This is the Northeast, so everything is skewed high. If you use that formula a house should be about 290,000. Here that only gets you a condo or a very small townhouse.
Updated On: 10/6/08 at 07:17 PM

[Li'l_Devil]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 7:21pm

my building is giving away their condos! originally priced @ 500k last year they are now offering them @ 300k, you rent one and 100% of your rent goes to pay off your mortgage. incredible.

[Li'l_Devil]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 7:22pm

oh and anyone panicking i more than welcome to give me their money so i can safe-keep under my mattress. can't promise you i'll return it though.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 7:34pm

La Petit

Great idea. Suspend trading for a week until the details of the bailout come out & the bad debt starts to be assumed by Uncle Sam.

[humbugfoto]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 7:37pm

I'm essentially a retiree living on a fixed income. I've lost probably 40% of my holdings/income in just over a year. I will probably lose my house by this time next year.

And there's not a god-d**ned thing I can do about it.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 7:42pm

Hopefully all the guilty parties will get retribution. I do not just mean the big bad GOP but also the DEMS who pressed the banks to loan to those who normally would not qualify. Add to that list Wall Street & the bankers. Last but not least the people who bought homes only to sell them a few years later for a profit only to again repeat the process again & again.

The greed involves one & all. Hopefully, we will learn from this.

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 7:52pm

That's... pretty horrifying, humbugfoto.

I can't even begin to imagine. And you're far from alone. Many retirees and others on fixed incomes are going to be in big trouble. Particularly if they bought or refinanced houses in the past 5 years.

EDIT: And SOMMS, until the "average" home in your area costs $290K, we're not there yet. As I said earlier, we're about halfway there. But a condo or a very small home isn't "average." Give it another 18 months as it falls even further, and we'll be back in the realms of realistic purchases again.

My biggest fear is that financial institutions will scramble to find a "half way there" loan for buyers to try to stop the real estate market from sliding down even further. I hope not. All that means is that the process will start all over again. They have to let it settle back down to where a 30-year fixed with no crazy ARMs or interest-only loans are part of the picture.

Updated On: 10/6/08 at 07:52 PM

[LePetiteFromage]

Posted: 10/6/08 at 11:35pm

Updated On: 1/12/09 at 11:35 PM

[KrissySim]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 12:27am

Thanks for that info Besty. I'll keep that in mind and get those figures (everage income/average home). Though it may be difficult here. The wage earners here can no longer afford the housing market which is kept afloat by the well-to-do who come in to the area and don't need to work (at least not at a local job). But the figures may be there to be uncovered. Your formula is a good starting point at least

[humbugfoto]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 12:28am

I feel like a hamster trapped in a wheel. My brain keeps running running running but I can't come up with an answer, a solution, a way out. I did everything right - I have a nice, low fixed-rate mortgage, but my income has dropped so much that I don't think I'll be able to keep paying the mortgage for too much longer, let alone cover all my other bills. Until June of last year I had enough to get by on, all safely invested to provided a decent income.

But now nearly 40% of that is gone. Actually, it may be more - I haven't dared look at my accounts in the last 2 weeks or so, I get physically ill just thinking about it - I can't bring myself to look at the reality. It won't change anything. The only think I can hope for is that things will bottom out and then recover while I still have something left TO recover.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/7/08 at 12:39am

No, Krissy, the markets will not shut down.