Central PA Summer 2022

[Blizzard of 93]

55 for the low this morning in Marysville.

[Voyager]

7 hours ago, Bubbler86 said:

Amazon pays 20 plus per hour if near one of their warehouses.  Housing is way up here.  A normal 150k house is now 250k.  Fast food pays 12-15 an HR here.

That's the thing people don't understand about economics. Wages go up, but then so do products and services. That higher wage ends up not going much farther than it did when it was lower. 

 

[Bubbler86]

8 minutes ago, Voyager said:

That's the thing people don't understand about economics. Wages go up, but then so do products and services. That higher wage ends up not going much farther than it did when it was lower. 

 

Like getting a raise but having your health insurance go up. 

[Bubbler86]

51 here this AM.  Colder than yesterday. 

[Mount Joy Snowman]

9 hours ago, Itstrainingtime said:

In our area, convenience stores are starting out from $17/hour and up. Hersheypark is still in the $14/$15 range but they seem to be at the lower end of the spectrum.

No idea about housing. I became mortgage free last year and have no interest in looking to start over at this point.

Congrats!  My wife and I just became mortgage free last month, no better feeling.  We have been in the housing market for over a year but it's absolutely impossible to buy a decent home in the Lancaster area these days.  That's with offering well over already-inflated list prices, waiving inspections, appraisal waivers, 25% down, offering to pay transfer taxes, etc.....the works.  Still not a chance, so we just said screw it let's pay off the mortgage on our townhome instead.  It's a great feeling but also the housing situation is beyond frustrating.  Also, low of 57 here last night.

[Bubbler86]

9 minutes ago, Mount Joy Snowman said:

Congrats!  My wife and I just became mortgage free last month, no better feeling.  We have been in the housing market for over a year but it's absolutely impossible to buy a decent home in the Lancaster area these days.  That's with offering well over already-inflated list prices, waiving inspections, appraisal waivers, 25% down, offering to pay transfer taxes, etc.....the works.  Still not a chance, so we just said screw it let's pay off the mortgage on our townhome instead.  It's a great feeling but also the housing situation is beyond frustrating.  Also, low of 57 here last night.

When I moved back to PA, after being burned in Florida (and those down there are probably going to get burned again in the next year or two), I told my wife buying here was ok as the prices do not move as much as Florida.  Well, our house has almost doubled in Zillow value in the last 2 years.  It is not sustainable and I feel it has to go down a lot (as everyone else's) and I am going to be made to be a liar.  Homes are simply not affordable for most people anymore.  Take a 250K house....with the interest rates going up it is $400 more per month now than it was just a year ago assuming the same house value.  People making $60-$70K cannot afford $2000 house payments. 

[mahantango#1]

1 hour ago, Bubbler86 said:

51 here this AM.  Colder than yesterday. 

52 here this morning high yesterday was 83

[Mount Joy Snowman]

10 minutes ago, Bubbler86 said:

When I moved back to PA, after being burned in Florida (and those down there are probably going to get burned again in the next year or two), I told my wife buying here was ok as the prices do not move as much as Florida.  Well, our house has almost doubled in Zillow value in the last 2 years.  It is not sustainable and I feel it has to go down a lot (as everyone else's) and I am going to be made to be a liar.  Homes are simply not affordable for most people anymore.  Take a 250K house....with the interest rates going up it is $400 more per month now than it was just a year ago assuming the same house value.  People making $60-$70K cannot afford $2000 house payments. 

Yep.  It will level off at some point (we hope ha).  Right now is just the worst of both worlds with the rates having risen and the market still being red hot with demand which is keeping prices  high.  Of course, interest rates don't matter when you're making cash offers and that's a lot of what we're losing out to around here.  Ugh.

[Itstrainingtime]

31 minutes ago, Mount Joy Snowman said:

Congrats!  My wife and I just became mortgage free last month, no better feeling.  We have been in the housing market for over a year but it's absolutely impossible to buy a decent home in the Lancaster area these days.  That's with offering well over already-inflated list prices, waiving inspections, appraisal waivers, 25% down, offering to pay transfer taxes, etc.....the works.  Still not a chance, so we just said screw it let's pay off the mortgage on our townhome instead.  It's a great feeling but also the housing situation is beyond frustrating.  Also, low of 57 here last night.

Thanks, and congrats to you good folks as well! 

As far as no better feeling - I don't own anyone anything. House is paid off, no car payments, no loans, no credit card debt...nada. With the way things are today, it makes our choices feel especially comforting. No stress when you're not on the hook for anything. 

I also had a low of 57, which is unusual that we had the same temp on a night "like last night" - thought you might have radiated a little better than me. 

[Itstrainingtime]

23 minutes ago, Bubbler86 said:

When I moved back to PA, after being burned in Florida (and those down there are probably going to get burned again in the next year or two), I told my wife buying here was ok as the prices do not move as much as Florida.  Well, our house has almost doubled in Zillow value in the last 2 years.  It is not sustainable and I feel it has to go down a lot (as everyone else's) and I am going to be made to be a liar.  Homes are simply not affordable for most people anymore.  Take a 250K house....with the interest rates going up it is $400 more per month now than it was just a year ago assuming the same house value.  People making $60-$70K cannot afford $2000 house payments. 

Very, very true. Add in the soaring cost of just about every single thing that goes into a home and I feel for those who starting out right now. 

[Mount Joy Snowman]

2 minutes ago, Itstrainingtime said:

Thanks, and congrats to you good folks as well! 

As far as no better feeling - I don't own anyone anything. House is paid off, no car payments, no loans, no credit card debt...nada. With the way things are today, it makes our choices feel especially comforting. No stress when you're not on the hook for anything. 

I also had a low of 57, which is unusual that we had the same temp on a night "like last night" - thought you might have radiated a little better than me. 

Same here!  Zero debt.  The mortgage was the last hurdle.  It's a phenomenal feeling.  But it looks like we may be staying in our townhouse with two kids forever haha.  Yeah thought I would go a touch lower last night.  MDT is actually dead on for its June temp being exactly average to this point, at 72.3.  The old culprits of Death Valley and Peter Sinks are at it again with the national high and low of 122 and 29, respectively.  

[Bubbler86]

17 minutes ago, Mount Joy Snowman said:

Yep.  It will level off at some point (we hope ha).  Right now is just the worst of both worlds with the rates having risen and the market still being red hot with demand which is keeping prices  high.  Of course, interest rates don't matter when you're making cash offers and that's a lot of what we're losing out to around here.  Ugh.

I am afraid housing around here drops 15-20%.  25-35%  in places like Florida and Arizona.   Not as bad as 2007 but not great. In 2007 housing dropped 50-60% for most of Florida. 

[Bubbler86]

9 minutes ago, Itstrainingtime said:

Very, very true. Add in the soaring cost of just about every single thing that goes into a home and I feel for those who starting out right now. 

Some areas over there have crazy taxes as well.  One place we looked at, near Tamaqua, the taxes were 8K per year. 

[Itstrainingtime]

6 minutes ago, Mount Joy Snowman said:

Same here!  Zero debt.  The mortgage was the last hurdle.  It's a phenomenal feeling.  But it looks like we may be staying in our townhouse with two kids forever haha.  Yeah thought I would go a touch lower last night.  MDT is actually dead on for its June temp being exactly average to this point, at 72.3.  The old culprits of Death Valley and Peter Sinks are at it again with the national high and low of 122 and 29, respectively.  

Just don't beat yourself up over your current home - rather have a modest home and zero debt than a bunch of luxuries and no way to pay it off. 

Back in 2011 we were on the ropes. We had $40,000+ of debt PLUS the mortgage. We were in the pit and sinking deeper. We made a decision to prioritize financial freedom above all else. We'd both say that it was the best decision in our marriage. Hopefully, you'll get an opportunity and be able to capitalize on it. You're obviously very grounded in making sound decisions, so you'll do the right thing at the right time. 

[Itstrainingtime]

4 minutes ago, Bubbler86 said:

Some areas over there have crazy taxes as well.  One place we looked at, near Tamaqua, the taxes were 8K per year. 

Fortunately, ours aren't anywhere near that - but there are areas close by that are much higher than ours. 

[Bubbler86]

Just now, Itstrainingtime said:

Fortunately, ours aren't anywhere near that - but there are areas close by that are much higher than ours. 

It makes it hard to retire in those types of areas.  700-800 a mo payment even when mortgage is done. 

[Itstrainingtime]

Just now, Bubbler86 said:

It makes it hard to retire in those types of areas.  700-800 a mo payment even when mortgage is done. 

Definitely. 

I've stopped looking at my retirement funds. Too painful these days. 

[Bubbler86]

4 minutes ago, Itstrainingtime said:

Definitely. 

I've stopped looking at my retirement funds. Too painful these days. 

Eh, if you mean the stock market going down remember the market was down to 18K in 2020.  It is almost as inflated as the housing market right now.  Hey, post #200 for you is talking about housing taxes. LOL

[Itstrainingtime]

3 minutes ago, Bubbler86 said:

Eh, if you mean the stock market going down remember the market was down to 18K in 2020.  It is almost as inflated as the housing market right now.  Hey, post #200 for you is talking about housing taxes. LOL

Oh, I understand completely. I've been on the Ferris Wheel for a long time. Right now, I'm at the boarding station. LOL

[Mount Joy Snowman]

14 minutes ago, Itstrainingtime said:

Just don't beat yourself up over your current home - rather have a modest home and zero debt than a bunch of luxuries and no way to pay it off. 

Back in 2011 we were on the ropes. We had $40,000+ of debt PLUS the mortgage. We were in the pit and sinking deeper. We made a decision to prioritize financial freedom above all else. We'd both say that it was the best decision in our marriage. Hopefully, you'll get an opportunity and be able to capitalize on it. You're obviously very grounded in making sound decisions, so you'll do the right thing at the right time. 

Thank you, very kind of you.  I take a lot of pride in being financially responsibly, have never spent beyond my means and as such, have never paid a dime of credit card interest.  Totally agreed on the modest home with no debt.  We're trying to stay positive and remember how fortunate we are to have a decent home.  The main issue for us is wanting the second full bath so we don't have to share with kids as they age.  As it currently stands we have 1.5 and nowhere to really add another one.  Also the one car garage with single lane driveway sticks in my craw a bit but we can certainly make do.  Modern day problems, I know ha.

14 minutes ago, Itstrainingtime said:

Fortunately, ours aren't anywhere near that - but there are areas close by that are much higher than ours. 

We have seen quite a few houses in Donegal that have annual property taxes in the 6-8k range.  As I'm sure you're keenly aware, Donegal has some of the higher school taxes in the region.

[Bubbler86]

8 minutes ago, Mount Joy Snowman said:

We have seen quite a few houses in Donegal that have annual property taxes in the 6-8k range.  As I'm sure you're keenly aware, Donegal has some of the higher school taxes in the region.

That was one area as was the Hometown area near Tamaqua.  I am sure there are others. 

[Bubbler86]

Outside all the home talk, the 5 min views for MDT (and others I checked) have gone away from this site address

https://www.weather.gov/wrh/timeseries?site=Kmdt

 

[Mount Joy Snowman]

4 minutes ago, Bubbler86 said:

Outside all the home talk, the 5 min views for MDT (and others I checked) have gone away from this site address

https://www.weather.gov/wrh/timeseries?site=Kmdt

 

I noticed that they went away on the site I use as well, hmmmmmm....

https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/zoa/getobext.php?sid=KLNS

[canderson]

The main question for the July 4 weekend is: will Saturday's rain get out of here before firework time? 

[sauss06]

43 minutes ago, canderson said:

The main question for the July 4 weekend is: will Saturday's rain get out of here before firework time? 

i will take yes for $100 Bob

[Bubbler86]

11 minutes ago, sauss06 said:

i will take yes for $100 please.

If the Mini Heat wave fans want a shot at their 3rd day they may have to put up with rain Saturday late. 

[Bubbler86]

Looks like 80's are in the bag over here today.  72 at 10:30. 

[sauss06]

19 minutes ago, Bubbler86 said:

If the Mini Heat wave fans want a shot at their 3rd day they may have to put up with rain Saturday late. 

but i think it won't affect the bombs bursting in air

[Bubbler86]

2 minutes ago, sauss06 said:

but i think it won't affect the bombs bursting in air

The new GFS slowed down the front making it warmer and wetter...that was my worry.   Heavy rain all through the LSV at 8PM

[Itstrainingtime]

She's starting to sizzle...just reached 80 on the home station at 10:40am. Seems like upper 80s is quite possible, though we'll see if any clouds later dampen that somewhat. CTP even has a slight chance of showers here later on today, which is new to the forecast.