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Great emergency planning, regardless of the reason. If anyone would like to learn a bit more about “bird flu” the CDC has a nice layman’s summary here.

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JES, you and I are in the same boat. Well… you have a few more people on your bench! I’m sceptical as well that the market will have corrected enough in 2yrs to make buying a first house attractive. It is possible I suppose. The availiblity of information to us common folk continues to increase, and this may help speed the return to historical norms. Who wouldn’t be taken aback with the realization that the seller of the house you are considering bought it less than a year ago for a hundred thousand less? Wouldn’t that knowledge factor into most anyone’s bid? How about discoving that the city appraisal is 1/10th of the asking price? Or that the house sold 3 yrs ago for half the price? This is information is free now quickly availible. It is my hope that this buyer empowerment will speed what I consider market “recovery” 🙂

Where did you look in CO, what did you think, and where else are you looking?

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Powayseller, there are answers available for these questions, and I’d be happy to share my thoughts on them with you, but I hold that the discussion, and the board, will degrade quickly if we begin to discuss war politics. There are just too many emotion-driven opinions, too little fact-checking, a general reluctance to consider that one’s strongly held feelings might not match the facts… a scenario not unlike that which has fed the RE bubble. You may reach me via devin at badgers dotcom, I welcome a respectful discussion.

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WSJ yesterday: Revisionist History – Antiwar myths about Iraq, debunked

also, since this forum has been talking about commodities, international trade, etc:

A reminder about the biggest fraud in world history

For the little it is worth, this reader would prefer the bashing on this board to remain directed towards exotic lending.

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Ah… so this is the thread where we flush out all the 20-something wetbacks and get them to spill their guts on their personal finances. Okay, I’m game.

27, college educated, decent office job at a great local medical technology company. It took me a while to get here. Unmarried. Traditional midwestern upbringing via two fantastic upper middle class parents. Summer jobs in college included factory job, home builder, then financial planning.

Me: Currently investing equivalent to 20% of my base salary through company-matching 401k, company-sponsored stock plans, and a Roth IRA. Will be upping initial investment to about 30% in July to maximize company stock plan offerings, but will likely have to cash in some of the stock after discounted purchase (but hey, where else can you get a guarenteed 15%+ return in 6 months? Say SD RE and I’ll tar & feather you, lol). Currently share rental of a 2-bd condo in Crown Point to the tune of ~$1600. I hate renting, and want to own so badly I’m addicted to this site, Zillow, ziprealty, realtor.com. I have a nice place with nice stuff, but I have a good eye for bargin hunting and know how to fix things and minimize extra associated costs. Seriously thought about overextending on a crown point “starter home” a few months ago (read: 50 yr old 800sqft 3bd/1ba on 1/10acre, 0 ga, 0 storage, 0 space, asked $700k, sold for $630k). Bubble primer lent backing to my fears and talked me out of it (thanks Rich!).

My brother: 25, very laid back, not-a-ton-of-direction type. Just graduated from college, got engaged to a great girl with a fun job that doesn’t pay very well. While he was working a retail job and applying to fire depts they were able to buy a nice 2bd house, recently nicely renovated, full semifinished basement, semifinished attic, 2ga, ~1/4 acre yard, quiet street, good neighborhood, easy freeway/city access (Milwaukee, WI). I think it cost them about $175k. Their morgage is less than my rent. I’m green with jealousy, lol.

My friends: Tend to be mid 20’s-early 30’s. Two early 30’s are homeowners, one in Mission Beach (he rents out the summers) and one couple bought recently in Encinitas and had a baby. We all like playing hard, traveling, etc. One of my typically month-to-month friends is thinking about buying a Caddy CTS with cash soon. He’s learning about debt, but he hasn’t picked up on the saving bit. I’d agree that many aren’t saving… but some of us are, and with as much gusto as we can manage while not having the social life of a hermit.

I am very concerned about the entitement culture mentioned previosly, and its present effect on my generation and its future effect on my pocketbook. It is much more noticable to me here in SD than it was in WI… I do not know if this is due to geopolitical differences, increased personal awareness, a growing trend, or some combination there of. The idea that the American Dream is a gov’t guarenteed entitlement to everyone with their feet on US soil is one to which my work ethic takes large exception.

I’m a firm (albiet novice) believer in free market and supply-side economics, and fully approve of sellers continuing to seek top dollar for their RE. I, however, will never make a first home purchase here unless things change drastically. This is a great town, but it isn’t perfect, and there are pleanty of other great places that are also quite affordable. Personally I hope for a hard crash with no gov’t bailout. Personal accountability (on both buyer and lender sides) is a wonderful thing and would, I hope, help prevent this massive overvaluation from replicating itself elsewhere or in the future.

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Your best friend is still coming out quite nicely based on his 2002 purchase price of $245k (Zillow). My heart goes out to him on the divorce, but that’s quite a nice little ROI on the house, even if he has to drop the price lower than he already has.

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