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November 08, 2005
Seattle Will Help Teachers Buy Homes
Hmmm.
With the increase in Seattle housing prices far outrunning teacher raises, the city yesterday announced it will sweeten a program that helps teachers buy homes....
Seattle's starting teacher salary is $30,000, and the median price for houses and condos sold last month was $383,000.
That means, through conventional financing, it would take more than three beginning-teacher salaries to qualify for the Seattle median-priced home, according to Bankrate.com.
So through conventional financing, someone would have to make over $90,000 a year to qualify for a median-priced home in Seattle. Because teachers aren't making enough money, the city of Seattle is going to play financing tricks to help them afford a place to live.
Check out some of the nice houses they can move into.
Here's for only $359K.
$367K and yes these houses are as small as they look.
$375K and this can be yours.
Remember, our politicians want you to buy houses in Seattle, or better yet condos, so they can then force you to ride their single line light rail system to nowhere. Cars are bad. Oh, by the way, all those extra people living in the city are going to jack prices up even further, so we're going to have to build special projects for teachers. The article says that San Francisco is considering converting unused schools into teacher living. That's classy.
Of course, in reality people want kids and a den and a spare bedroom for their mother-in-law. So they move to the suburbs where $350 will buy you a decent new home, where you can live the American dream, instead of Ron Sims dream.
And you know, you shouldn't have to pay $350,000 for a decent house that's an hour commute from where you work. Prices here are inflated because there's not enough new construction, and horrible traffic planning has led to more demand in the city. (Because who wants to commute an hour or more to work in stop and go traffic?) It's not like you're paying extra for the beautiful weather.
You know the worst part? It's not a bubble. People aren't buying houses here and then flipping them... people are just desperate to buy a house at all. It's ridiculous.
Posted by March at November 8, 2005 09:56 AM