Lakewood area housing bubble

amother

Beige

Sun, Jan 02 2022, 6:27 pm

I have 3 younger sibs who bought in the last year. All diff situations
- one is a professional and dh is learning in kollel. They saved a lot in the begging years of marriage and are still being supported (moved far out)
- one earned a decent living and saved up and when Dh went to work they saved like crazy cuz they were still able to get away with one income (moved far out and to a smaller home)
- last one dh does very well, they spend a lot and gutted the home.

No major secrets here.

amother

Sun, Jan 02 2022, 6:27 pm

IMO the Lakewood area isn’t a community anymore and there’s no centralized rabbonim anymore that everyone Modern to chasidish and everyone in between will listen to...

amother

Birch

Sun, Jan 02 2022, 6:29 pm

amother [ Violet ] wrote:

Why is it horrible? If everyone was on board it would help families have more affordable homes.

It's horrible to play with the lives of children. Don't use them as pawns ever.

amother

Brown

Sun, Jan 02 2022, 6:32 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

It’s a nice idea in theory but it’s not gonna happen.

It’s not a nice idea. It’s a ridiculous one.

amother

Bluebonnet

Sun, Jan 02 2022, 6:32 pm

amother [ Violet ] wrote:

You can if you won't allow the children in your mosdos. Easy.

Well I agree that it’s terrible but the schools that these people are going to are not the same ones that would ever consider such a rule. There are schools that specifically want wealthy people.

amother

Birch

Sun, Jan 02 2022, 6:34 pm

amother [ Bluebonnet ] wrote:

Well I agree that it’s terrible but the schools that these people are going to are not the same ones that would ever consider such a rule. There are schools that specifically want wealthy people.

What? All lakewood schools have a mixed student body there is no school that only has wealthy people. And it's not really wealthy people that are bidding for the houses. All real estate went up during corona. Mostly it was about supply and demand. Some of it was because of inflation and the issues getting things like lumber.

amother

Sun, Jan 02 2022, 6:35 pm

amother [ Brown ] wrote:

It’s not a nice idea. It’s a ridiculous one.

Lol, I mean the rabbanim getting involved to keep the prices down, not the not getting into school thing. No way. Hard enough as it is to get in.

amother

Bluebonnet

Sun, Jan 02 2022, 6:37 pm

amother [ Birch ] wrote:

No working class person is bidding $900,000 on a house.

There are schools that specifically cater towards wealthy people. Not every student is wealthy but probably most are. This isn’t a secret.

amother

Birch

Sun, Jan 02 2022, 6:39 pm

amother [ Bluebonnet ] wrote:

No working class person is bidding $900,000 on a house.

There are schools that specifically cater towards wealthy people. Not every student is wealthy but probably most are. This isn’t a secret.

Everyone is bidding on all houses. Even the 350,000 are being bid on and being raised to 450,000 it's across the board.

amother

Violet

Sun, Jan 02 2022, 6:39 pm

amother [ Bluebonnet ] wrote:

No working class person is bidding $900,000 on a house.

There are schools that specifically cater towards wealthy people. Not every student is wealthy but probably most are. This isn’t a secret.

Yes working class are bidding $900,000 on a home. Even some in kollel.

amother

Buttercup

Sun, Jan 02 2022, 6:40 pm

what! No rabbanim should not control house prices that is (basically) communism.
And it won't help the same reason rent controlled apartments don't help. No investor wants to build. Usually people like to earn money when they work 🤷‍♀️

amother

Stonewash

Sun, Jan 02 2022, 6:45 pm

There are investors who are underbidding with cash. They are grabbing houses and then hiking up prices. Yes I know this for real because it happened to me. And I was willing to go way way way out with no minyan. And this investor was at every house that l was and he bought some of them.
In fact real estate agents are also losing out because these investors are bypassing them.
We saved up for years and years and recently received a small inheritance that is helping. But houses are flying as soon as they come up. BTW- this is happening all over in the USA, not just our community.
We know that ultimately everything is bashert. But the situation is frustrating.
As for rabbanim- many of them are owners.

amother

Sun, Jan 02 2022, 6:55 pm

amother [ Violet ] wrote:

Yes working class are bidding $900,000 on a home. Even some in kollel.

Exactly why I started this thread. Because I want to know how they afford such houses!!

amother

Sun, Jan 02 2022, 6:57 pm

It’s not just investors doing it. Regular ppl who are living in the houses after buying them are doing it too.

I saw a small cape in brookwood1 for 350k and it was in horrific condition, and I heard from my realtor that they accepted an offer for 500k....

amother

Bluebonnet

Sun, Jan 02 2022, 6:58 pm

amother [ Violet ] wrote:

Yes working class are bidding $900,000 on a home. Even some in kollel.

Even if the husband is in kollel if they can afford such a house they aren’t working class.

amother

Springgreen

Sun, Jan 02 2022, 6:58 pm

This happened before and will happen again. It’s a cycle. Each time we near the peak you hear people saying “no way, it’s not a cycle, prices in Lakewood will keep going up”. I k ow this because that’s what happened last time around. And the time before that.

In 2006-8 everyone was afraid of being priced out of the market. Came 2009-2010 and single family houses were sitting for months at 400k. Historically houses appreciate at slightly higher than the rate of inflation. When they get ahead of themselves they often stagnate until things even out. I’m guessing we are seeing peak now with a long period of stagnation/ slight price dips to come.

amother

Coral

Sun, Jan 02 2022, 6:59 pm

amother [ Violet ] wrote:

Yes working class are bidding $900,000 on a home. Even some in kollel.

The only ones I know of that are buying such houses are the ones receiving serous support/help with payments. There are plenty such people but the ones paying their own way are moving further out where its a bit cheaper.

amother

Stonewash

Sun, Jan 02 2022, 7:05 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Exactly why I started this thread. Because I want to know how they afford such houses!!

Many bought homes years ago the prices went up- they are selling and moving to other areas. They lived in basements while tenants paid the rent which covered the mortgage They are not telling you that they are homeowners. I have co workers living in rental apts in BP- who have houses with tenants in Lakewood. Some invested in stocks or bitcoins. Some received inheritance. Some did tutoring or the women work in jobs that bring good parnasa. There could be so many reasons.
Also you only need 3 percent down with some govt programs like fannie mae. So that’s 27000 for a downpayment. If they livedin a small basement with low rent and lived frugally and saved they can pull it off.