For Sale. (But not for you.)

PHX Housing Market: A Fucking Mess
Originally uploaded by EdnPHX.

I’m homeless. Well, at least I soon will be. I’ve gotten the unfortunate pleasure of being notified that my apartment complex is going condo. The letter was discretely left on my door last night, right after I got home from a great Valentine’s Day dinner with Tim. Sealed in a non-descript white envelope, was the “official” letter saying (in a ghetto voice) “Dis apartments is goin’ condo, an is to spensive for yous to have!”

Yes, that’s right my small 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment is going for $303,900. (Gulp. HOW MUCH!!??) Yes, that’s quite a pretty penny to pay for an APARTMENT. Oh yes, don’t forget the monthly HOA fees of $202.98.

Now, I know I live in a good area. In fact, a really good area. But it’s a crying shame when middle-class folk like me are essentially priced out of living in a decent area in a relatively safe neighborhood. I knew it was coming…..the apartment complex going condo, but I thought the places would sell for a MUCH more reasonable price. I totally blame California for these over-inflated prices. People from California come over to places like Arizona and Nevada, buy up property and flip it within months. They don’t even live in the darn places. In fact, most apartment/condo conversions sit empty until they “flip”. It’s a fucking mess. They will pay over the asking price which in turn jacks up all of the property values to insane highs. Sooner or later the bubble is going to burst here…and I hope it is soon…so I can buy a god damn house. Augh.

The good news is that I can stay in my place until January 2007, when my lease expires. It’s just sad because I absolutely love the Biltmore area of Phoenix. It’s close to everything and is conducive to my lifestyle. (Sigh.) Now, I dread going through the home buying process. I figure, now is probably better than any other to buy than rent. Know any good mortgage brokers? (I just opened this blog up to a billion items of spam by saying that….yikes). When will this housing insanity stop? Will I ever be able to live the American Dream of owning a home? Will that home be decent or will I have to buy 50 miles out in the middle of the desert or afford anything? Augh…this is just insane!