Free Live Seminar by David Bach Starts Tomorrow in NYC March 8, 2006
David Bach, the #1 bestselling author of The Automatic Millionaire : A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich
I’ve seen him live in other personal finance events, and although his ideas are pretty basic, I think he has some important messages for everyone in America. I think he’s the guy who coined the phrase “the latte factor”, which states that anyone can save a lot of money by not buying coffee at Starbuck’s (see my previous post on how by changing small things can save big money.) It should be interesting to go, meet like minded people, and attend the “homeowner fair” after the event to see what others are doing to get to the next income bracket.
Sign up for Bach’s seminars (around the country) here. He’s starting in NYC tomorrow. I’m going to try to go, but with work, not sure if I can get there in time. Plus, as an attendee, you can get his book
Population Migration to NYC February 22, 2006
A follow-up to my post yesterday on moving to a less expensive city to save money, NY Times had an article on the population boom projection into NYC. So if I said that moving from an expensive city such as NYC will reduce housing costs for most people, why the increase in population in NYC? I think it’s the same reason that real estate in NYC will weather a National real estate bust. From Urban Digs post yesterday, NYC will lag in a slowdown because:
- NYC is the financial capital of the world, thus jobs are fairly abundant,
- NYC is a hugely diverse city that anyone from any culture can feel comfortable to call home,
- Most apartments in NYC are co-ops,
- Speculative Markets Hit First,
- Limited land to build on so there’s always a demand for real estate
The intresting part of that article is that since 75% of NYC is co-ops, a housing downturn will protect them against speculators that would’ve bought and are no longer afford to keep their apartments because of increased interest rates or job loss. If NYC becomes less affordable in housing but increase in population, where and how will everyone live there?
Click for larger image:
Source:
New York Times, 2/19/2006
By Sam Roberts
Real Estate, Migration, and Saving More February 21, 2006
I’ve talked about getting to the next income bracket by either saving more or earning more. The mantra in life for financial freedom is that it’s not what you earn, it’s what you keep that will get you towards your financial goals. One way to save more is to migrate to a less expensive area. For many of us, housing costs make up most of our expenses, so bringing down housing costs will allow us to save much more.
I read an interesting entry at “Calculated Risk”, a blog about economics and finance about US migration patterns. He compares the migration to housing prices:
There are two regions seeing significant migration inflow: the West (excluding California) and the Southeast (excluding Florida). It is no surprise that western states like Arizona, Oregon, Nevada and Idaho have seen housing prices surge based on the migration data.
However, a similar pattern is not happening the Southeast. The states seeing inflows, like the Carolinas and Georgia, are not seeing above average house price increases. Perhaps there is more available land and higher rental vacancy rates.
Based on his assessment, home values in the Southeastern states are relatively less expensive. Also, based on the migration patterns, these high inbound states such as GA, SC, NC, AL, TN, and KN should bring more demand in housing.
Another blog, Adventures in Money Making, had an entry about “understanding real estate market cycles and how do to your own reserach“. He talks about researching population migration as an indicator of real estate cycles. For example, the California market periodically experiences a rapid runnup in pricing, then it crashes, stagnates, and then rises again. As housing becomes less and less affordable, people start to migrate to neighboring states.
As baby boomers grow older and become empty nesters, it’s likely that they will also downsize to save costs on heating, real estate taxes, and maintenance. They will be in a lower income tax bracket but the savings in cost will be a lot less than if they stayed in their large homes. For us, we’re willing to downsize for a while, but our housing payments are pretty low and finding a rental or another home to move to isn’t likely with the current prices in the area. Stay tuned for our other ideas on cutting monthly costs.
Falling Wages, Rising Apartment Rentals in NYC February 13, 2006
Since writing about expensive rental apartments in New York City, a new survey was released by city housing officials in NY State. A NY Times article says that while rents have gone up 8.7% from 2002 to 2005, median household income for rental households have gone down 5.6%. This is no surprise given that housing prices have increased so sharply in the past 5 years. The gap between the haves and have-nots is growing. Will rental prices ever go down?
Source:
Affordable Apartments a New York Luxury, 2/11/2006
by Alan Feuer, New York Times
Expensive Rental Apartments January 31, 2006
When you think of moving to the next bracket, where do you picture yourself living? Will you still be renting? Will you upgrade? Consider living below your means to save for your future. I saw a Forbes article titled “Most Expensive Rentals In The U.S. 2006″. Rentals from a $300,000 per month home in Miami Beach to a $6,500 per month 3,700 square feet home in Las Vegas are featured. I suppose these are for people who are swimming in that much cash flow and will not be settling down anytime soon, but that is a lot of money.
In New York City, they list a $60,000 per month rental for a ten-room duplex in midtown Manhattan. Corcoran, the largest realtor in the Manhattan area puts out a yearly report on homes, apartments, and rentals. Their latest report, from mid-year 2005 shows the following rental prices:
A quick search of Manhattan revealed 3 rental apartments (1 bedroom, 1 bath) for under $1000 per month, but those are in Harlem. 3 TOTAL! The top result is a $32,000 2 bedroom, 3 bathroom rental for 2100 square feet in Midtown Manhattan. The average Manhattan rental in 2005 was $3,755 per month. The median rental was $2,700 per month. If you get to your next bracket, consider living modestly, which will get you to the next bracket that much faster!
Source:
Corcoran mid-year 2005 report (pdf)