Northwest Indiana Discussion

I was watching NBC's nightly news and they were talking about homes that sold for over $250,000 new recently now selling for $50k & $80k cash. So if that's true I find it a hard sell that many homes in Hammond are worth $100k, and even fewer would sell for $100k in cash. For that matter the same could generally be said for South Lake County, IN.

Man oh man if we were going in to reassessment next year would they ever be crying for a new tax to make up for lost tax revenue! And those cries may come yet. So for that reason I think it's time for the cities and counties to "reassess" their 2009 budgets and cut them to the bone, foregoing many non-essential projects and all raises. They have until December so don't tell me they can't. They can.

I agree with you, Mirage. Some houses have been way over appraised, and the ripple effect is bulldozing the housing market as a whole.

When we bought this house 8 1/2 years ago, it was selling for $51,000. We took out an additional piggy-backed loan for needed repairs, as this place was empty for 2 years, a rental for over 20 years, and was unlivable. Our total loan was for $68,000 which was one heck of a bargain. We wanted to refinance back a couple of months ago. The mortgage company told us that the house was only worth about $60,000 even though we have rehabbed it, landscaped it, and made it one of the best looking houses in this neighborhood. The housing values here are the pits. Houses that were selling in the $90-$110,000 range just 5-6 years ago, are going for $1,000 at auction, or a regular sale for as low as $17,000-$30,000.

Looking at the house values, and seeing what the costs were to refinance, we liquidated some assets, payed the mortgage down to $38,000, which got rid of the PMI. At our current house payment, we will have this place paid off in 5-7 years. At that time, hopefully the housing market will have rebounded enough, so that we can realize a profit from our house, or at the least, break even. In 6 years my Honey can get his Social Security, and we plan on retiring. All the kids will be grown and gone by then, and we certainly will no longer have a need for a 10 room house.

I do not think that the housing values will ever be what they were before, but I hope there will at least be a happy medium.

I remember about ten years ago and we refinanced our house to get some money out and the appraiser (who worked for the bank) axed how much we wanted to refinance for, then she assured me that the appraisal would come out high enough to cover that amount. When we sold our house a little over a year ago the price and appraisal were about $15,000 less than it was 8-10 years earlier.
Go figure.

Another one of your genius moves was to buy a gas guzzling Chevy Surburban. LMAO!

Poor artie.
He can't delete threads and posts here like he did to so many people at the Times Board.

Methinks our little troll is obsessed with me.

Way too funny.....

You amuse me,homebound. You're almost as pathetic as my ex-poodle,but you still have a ways to go to equal his entertainment. If you happen to run into that,remind him that I won again. Thanks

My house in Chesterton is actually worth more than what I paid for originally, butI also have added 5 feet to the back of the house, a garage, and a room addition since I bought it.

Next summer I am going to be taking the house off its foundation and replacing the foundation and while doing that, going to have a basement put in at the same time.

After thats done, then I will put on new siding as well. I might also put in an inground pool sometime as well, but have not decided where yet

I need just a touch of cosmetics on the outside of my house, and some on the inside. IF we could buy that lot next door, which looks like an impossibility, I would put in a gazebo and a small fish pond. Since I know we are going to be here for at least 6 more years, I want all the comforts I can afford. I WILL NOT take out a loan for absolutely anything, seeing the financial climate. It will be cash as we go, or no go.

Just touching up the house increases value, so I can see why I find it hard to believe some in hammond are worth what they claimed

but others are kept up nicely as well

I check the listings regularly, both foreclosures and the regular MLS. Cash is king right now. People are so desparate to dump their houses, you can get a house in a good neighborhood for very little, comparatively. If you have to finance, forget it.

As Tiger and I have been saying cash is king today. Some appraiser my claim the values are much higher than current actual selling prices because they are working from previous historical data, as in before credit all but froze even for better qualified applicants. And despite the monstrous Federal bailout so far the freeze is only showing mild signs of thawing.

I'm glad credit is frozen up myself

I was sick and tired of getting all those fliers in the mail for credit cards over and over, and I can actually finally watch TV again without worrying about seeing all those stupid "no credit no problem" or "your paycheck ia your key to a new var" commercials that always used to air(amazing how they are suddenly gone now)

And I also noticed that Horseshoe Casino, the indian Casino in Wisconsin, and The Michigan casino don't advertise as much either lately

This credit crisis hasn't affected me at all, except make me open a new bank account elsewhere since my bank was bought out by another bank and at the time I was over the FDIC limit.

But I am still only keeping $100,000 in each account, since there is no way I trust that the FDIC has enough to cover $250,000 at a time

If I were you, Mike, I wouldn't put more than $50,000 in each bank, just to be on the safe side. I don't trust FDIC either. It's better to lose a little, than a lot. Make sure you keep some cash, and any gold or silver in your safety deposit box, also. That way, even if the financial walls come crashing down, you will get acess to your box, and that might be a financial lifesaver.
In addition, get totally debt free, if possible, or at least pay off everything you can, like charges, car payments, etc, and try like heck to pay at least a big chunk on your mortgage. Be very frugal in regards to new purchases. If you absolutely do not need it, do not buy it. The time is to pay off as much as possible, and ride out the financial storm. It is going to get worse, not better. I do not see a recovery for at least a couple of years, no matter who gets in as president.

Mike, here is a current listing for my neighborhood. The MLS is 221587. It is a 2 story house with a 3 car garage and a corner lot. 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1709 sqft. It was originally listed for $55,000. It is now listed for $34,000.