Zillow says....

Tuesday, 7:37 pm

By Kate

Mar

25

2008

I have been keeping an eye on Zillow.com over the past few months, watching the value of my house sink. It’s sort of depressing. I think Zillow is pretty accurate, though. The values they assign for my neighborhood seem to be where the local real estate agents (unhappily) think the values are. There is one house for sale in the neighborhood priced at early 2006 values and the real estate agent has tried to explain that the house is now worth about $50,000 less and the price should be lowered. The owners refuse, though. It is, obviously, not moving. It’s been for sale for about 7 months now, with no offers.

Also, unhappily, the woman across the street who bought her house in December of 2006, at the height of bubble prices, is now lamenting that her house is worth way less than her purchase price. We were talking a couple of weeks ago and she said she was confident that the house values wouldn’t drop too much more in this town and would rise again soon. Because? I’m not sure, other than wishful thinking. She thought this because this is a wealthy town and property here is always in demand. Well, maybe not so much these days.

Houses aren’t selling here any more than anyplace else—mainly, I think, because people aren’t yet willing to drop their prices to reflect the reality of a popped housing bubble. For people who bought houses here in the past 3-4 years, that’s not what they want to hear. Well, who does?

I do wish I’d sold my house last spring and tucked the cash away until the market bottoms out. I don’t enjoy watching the value of my house plummet, but, really, the 2006 heights were unrealistic and I always thought people were insane to spend that much on these houses. On the other hand, if someone had been insane enough to buy my house for 2006 prices, I surely wouldn’t have objected.

I bought my house in 1994 just at the tail end of that recession and the New England housing bust. I was in the right place at the right time and I bought my house from a developer who was going bankrupt and trying to unload his properties at fire-sale prices. I am ever so thankful.

Watching my house increase in value more than 3 times over the purchase price was surreal, though exciting. That’s just not normal, though. Now I get to watch the value drop even faster than it rose. My house appears to be losing around $2000-$3500 in value each month, some months reflecting more loss than others (three months ago it was $10,000). I’d like to see that slow down a little bit soon, but I have my doubts. I’d also like to see my property taxes decrease along with the value of my house, but I’m not holding my breath. If the town did that, we’d be bankrupt and the schools would have to close.

I wonder about the people who live up on the hill behind me. Unless they fell into a huge sum of money (inheritance?), they’re probably reassessing the wisdom of tripling the size of their house and adding ornate landscaping (fancy stone terracing, for example). I’d guess they probably did what a lot of other people did—cashed out equity with a home equity line of credit. They’ve been adding on and making other improvements for about 3 years. They do have a beautiful house now, but will the value of their house support the debt on it in another year? Good question. How many people are in that same boat across the country? And should interest rates ever rise, which they eventually will, what will happen then?

This will just get uglier and uglier for a long while. Where it will end will probably not be good for any of us. And when that happens, I’d like to think that those who are the most responsible for this mess would meet karma up close and personal. (coughalangreenspancough)

In the end, I think we’ll all be reminded, in terms we will never forget, that houses are just places to live and the total mortgage debt needs to bear some close relationship with income rather than the house’s speculative future value and super low interest rates. That concept has surely been out of whack for the past few years.

To EZPass...or not

Tuesday, 2:20 pm

By Kate

Mar

25

2008

Have you all heard of EZPass? It’s an electronic toll collection system on roadways throughout the northeast. There are 10 participating states in the northeast, plus Illinois and Indiana. There must be something like it in other states, though it must be called something else. By affixing the EZPass transponder to the car’s windshield, one gets to sail through toll booth lanes without stopping to pay tolls with cash. The electronic devices in the EZPass toll lanes read each auto’s transponder and (hopefully) automatically deduct the appropriate amount from the account holder’s pre-paid account.

While there is nothing mandatory about signing up for an EZPass account, I have noticed that the participating states are starting to make it more difficult for drivers who don’t have one. During my trip on Sunday, I had to pass through a number of toll booths. There were a lot of EZPass lanes, but only one or two cash lanes open. The EZPass signs were HUGE, while the “cash accepted” signs were TINY. If you happen to get stuck behind a truck, it’s very, very difficult to figure out where the cash toll booths are. I noticed the same thing in Boston last week.

On my return trip home, it was past midnight by the time I exited the NY State Thruway. There were two toll lanes open, both EZPass lanes, and one of them said it also accepted cash. I drove up to that toll booth and there was not a human being in sight.  I sat there for a minute and wondered if a human being would materialize from someplace, but one didn’t. So, I left the toll booth with an unpaid toll ticket. I am quite sure that I’m going to get something in the mail telling me all about it with a bill attached. And it’s probably going to be for a whole more than the value of my actual toll. Which doesn’t make me very happy. Naturally, if I’d had an EZPass, that wouldn’t have been a problem.

A few years ago, I thought I might sign up for the EZPass. The nearest office is just over the border in New Hampshire. I gathered up an application and it was about 3 pages long and asked for my entire life history. In order to get an EZPass they wanted to know my employment history and where I’d lived for the past 10 years. It was ridiculous and I tossed the application in the trash.

The idea that a government entity would have all that information at its fingertips while being able to track my every movement didn’t appeal to me very much. Why would they need all that information in order for me to drive through a toll gate? And that was from the Live Free or Die state, for heaven’s sake.

After this trip, I started thinking about it again because it’s pretty clear that the powers that be are really pushing this EZPAss system and making it more and more difficult for those of us who don’t participate.

Last night, I checked the online application for Massachusetts and all they want is my name and address, email address, license tag information, and credit card number. I could probably live with that, though it’s still off-putting to think that, with a transponder attached to my car, my every movement could be tracked. It’s not as if I think I need to worry about that, but in this day and age, who knows?

I dunno. One of the things about the Massachusetts accounts that I don’t like is that one must leave a minimum balance of $10 in the EZPass account. Signing up requires a $20 balance (plus $29.95 for the transponder) and when the balance reaches $10 or below, they’d scoop cash out of my credit card to bring the balance back up to $20—or more for heavy users. By my reckoning, they’d have the free use of my $10 (multiplied by thousands of other drivers) for as long as I’d have my account. Nice way to fill the coffers.

But the convenience factor is worth noting. And they certainly are making it more difficult for those of us who don’t have an EZPass transponder. And, this time, not having one is going to cost me a whole lot more than the toll that I couldn’t pay, I’m pretty sure.

I almost signed up for an account last night, but didn’t at the last minute. I’m still thinking about it.

Long trip and pricey gas

Monday, 4:22 pm

By Kate

Mar

24

2008

Yesterday was a long day. The lad and I didn’t get started as early as we’d intended, not leaving here until a little after noon. But the roads were reasonably clear most of the way of the way down to Easton. Things were a little congested around New York City, but not too bad. And we didn’t make any wrong turns. We arrived on campus just a little past 7 PM.

After unloading the car I had another tour of the dorm room—his roommate was there and they were both quite proud of their decorating skills. They do have a nice room. It’s very large by most dorm room standards and they even have an L shaped wing in it. That’s reserved for the entertainment center. Yeah, an entertainment center with HDTV, DVD player, stereo equipment, and a futon and a fridge. Not a bad set-up. When we arrived the roommate had the Discovery Channel on. He’s really a cutie. I like him.

After all the lad’s stuff was stowed, the tour completed, and hugs dispensed to both boys, I took my leave. It was 8:30 PM when I hit the road. It was going to be a long drive and I didn’t expect to get home until around 2:30 AM. I couldn’t find anything on the radio that interested me much, either. NPR stations in that neck of the woods have skimpy offerings on Sunday nights. Saturday night is a much better radio night, I think. I ended up listening to Delilah and sappy love songs most of the way home.

The traffic was horrible, as anticipated. People were returning from a holiday weekend in droves. It got me to thinking that the route I usually take up through New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut was going to be pretty unpleasant with four lanes of virtually rush hour traffic. So, I made a spot decision to just take the NY State Thruway north to Albany and hop on to the Mass Turnpike and drive across the length of the state to pick up 495 the rest of the way. I had done that once before and it didn’t take me any longer. It seems as if it is the long way around, but I haven’t actually sat down to calculate the mileage.

That turned out to be a good idea. Hardly anyone was on the NY State Thruway or the Mass Pike except truckers. I don’t mind driving with trucks. They’re good people and play nice on the road. We all sailed along at a good clip and when the trucks slowed down, I slowed down. They know where the state troopers are hiding.

Even with one bathroom break and a stop to get some gas and coffee, I still pulled in the driveway at 2:34 AM. Pretty good, I think. This might be a better route in the future.

One observation on gas prices...Yikes! I thought they were a little high here, but nothing like what I found in Pennsylvania and New York. I ended up paying $3.45/gal in PA and $3.59/gal in New York. Around here it’s still $3.14. That makes a bit of a difference in the total tally for a fill-up. Gads, I’m glad I don’t have to drive very much. Both times I stopped to get gas, a much larger vehicle had been at the pump before me and their gas bills were $58 and $72. Ow. My little car ate a total of $66 for the round trip with enough gas left to get me through the rest of this week and probably most of next week. Bless my little car.

Another day, another problem

Saturday, 3:19 pm

By Kate

Mar

22

2008

After surveying the wood situation this morning, I decided it was time to relight the furnace pilot light. That went much more smoothly than turning it off did. It was the turning on the furnace part that didn’t go so smoothly.

There is probably a good reason why the furnace guy told me fire up the furnace at least once a month during the winter. And, naturally, I ignored his advice. Now...the furnace won’t turn on. It clicks when I turn up the thermostat, but that’s all that happens.

On Monday, I’ll have to call the furnace guy and have him come over to take a look and repair what needs to be repaired. I’d like to think it’s a simple little thing, but we know how these things evolve sometimes.

On the brighter side, it’s a good thing I tried it out today before I am totally out of wood. I realize that it’s a lot to ask, but wouldn’t it be nice to get through an entire month without something needing to be fixed?

The non-Easter Easter

Friday, 4:23 pm

By Kate

Mar

21

2008

At about this point in the lad’s vacation, thoughts turn to returning him to school. This was definitely NOT an Easter break because his classes begin bright and early on Monday morning. Which means...he has to return to school this weekend sometime.

From my point of view, the question is which would be easier driving...Saturday or Sunday? It’s a 12 hour round trip, either way. So much for Easter in either case. I tend to think that roads might be less congested on Saturday than the return trip on Sunday evening. And since I am skirting New York City, I think that could make quite a difference.

As far as the lad is concerned, returning Saturday is fine. His roommate won’t return until Sunday afternoon, nor will most of his friends, but he does enjoy having his room to himself and spending Easter alone doesn’t seem to phase him in the least. Spending it in the car is just about as exciting. In either case, it’s kind of a non-holiday event.

I dunno. We haven’t decided yet. I am annoyed that schools didn’t take Easter into account, but the spring break isn’t designed to be an Easter break. So, whatever, I guess.

Why I love my mechanic

Thursday, 12:19 pm

By Kate

Mar

20

2008

So, I took my car over to my mechanic’s shop about an hour ago and expected at least $100 (optimistic) in repairs because it’s NEVER simple with my car. Well, usually, anyway. I knew the alternator was acting up and it could be as simple as a new belt or as complicated as a new alternator. If I was betting, I’d bet on the latter option.

I waited in the lobby while they checked it over. I sampled a cup of their complimentary coffee and paced the floor. About 10 minutes later, they backed my car out of the auto bay and parked it outside the window beside me. My questioning glance was answered with, “We tightened the belt. You’re all set. No charge.”

WHOOOOO!!!!!