By: Moises

Moises — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 06:56:42 +0000

RE: My own perspective from Generation Y- it’s not nescreasily easy getting established in Seattle, but your assessment is overly bleak. Work hard, do a good job, and you won’t have any problems- Seattle has jobs. Can’t afford $2000/mo rent? No problem- live on the eastside where you can easily rent for $600/mo. Or find room mates. I personally think the recession/ housing bubble has been a tremendous opportunity for those of us in GenY with a little money and some risk tolerance. Prices across the board have been so depressed (think cars, stocks, furniture, homes) that I see great deals to be had. I bought an SUV during the height of the gas crisis, sold it a couple years later for a PROFIT. I went all-in on my 401k plan when the market was nearly 40% lower than where it is today. Given low interest rates and lower home prices, I found it very easy to buy a home this year given I didn’t have one to sell. GenY is young enough that we will most likely see a recovery during our working lives- we need to plan for that. The issue is our generation can’t react to what’s in the news- we need to focus on what’s next.It seems like the rental market is just playing to the “recession lifestyle” as much as the housing market was playing to the pre-recession credit boom. As I evaluated my living situation, I didn’t see renting in Seattle making any financial sense the last couple of years. I was paying close to $2k renting an 800sqft apartment in Northgate, I’m now paying 25% less on my mortgage, taxes, and insurance for a mostly renovated 2500 sqft home in Ravenna and I don’t need to worry about $200 rent increases every year. This apartment bubble has been blindingly obvious for about 2 years now… you could call this as soon as the 10% rent increases started. Rate this comment: 0 0

Comments on: TO RAISE OR NOT TO RAISE

By: Moises