Suburban Blight Coming?

[Nick Danger]

TheArtist wrote:
In my business I have been constantly amazed at how many people can afford nice homes. I was kind of shocked when the national news was reporting 400,000 home loans as being something special. That would seem mid range for most of the homes I work in. A good portion of the homes I work in are generally 750,000 on up to 10 million or more. And yes I have had quite a few customers over the last few years who "cashed out" in California and pretty much paid cash for a nice home here....

__________________________________
Is there still a huge influx of folks from California coming here and purchasing homes? I have been wondering about this since a lot of the high-paying jobs have left Tulsa. It doesn't seem like there's much of a draw, other than the relatively inexpensive real estate.

[Double A]

Hmmm....                                                                                                         BOK Financial to lay off 200


By Staff reports
8/28/2007  3:48 PM

Tulsa-based BOK Financial Corp. plans to reduce its work force by approximately 200 jobs, or 5 percent, throughout its eight-state region, according to a filing the company made Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The reduction will involve both management and staff-level jobs throughout all of BOK's operations, a spokesman said in an interview.

About 98 jobs in Tulsa will be affected.

BOK Financial is the holding company for Tulsa-based Bank of Oklahoma, along with other banks.

The layoffs are expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter, the financial services firm stated in its filing. After the layoffs, BOK Financial will employ about 4,300 people systemwide.

[Chicken Little]

quote:Originally posted by Nick Danger

Is there still a huge influx of folks from California coming here and purchasing homes? I have been wondering about this since a lot of the high-paying jobs have left Tulsa. It doesn't seem like there's much of a draw, other than the relatively inexpensive real estate.

Haven't met anybody from California lately, but we are pretty much out of the 2004 downturn. Thread:Job Data

The jobs are pretty good, too...not just call centers, but trades and industry.  I keep hearing that there is strong demand for petroleum or aerospace engineers.  

Things are looking pretty bright these days; I just wanted to figure out if this mortgage lender implosion (nice find, thanks) was going to derail our choo-choo.  Maybe not.  Maybe even the opposite.  It's encouraging.

[tim huntzinger]

CNN had Tulsa in at 55th in the nation for foreclosures.  No idea if that is up or down from the past.

I think the blight will be caused by increased rentals and absentee landlords.

[Rico]

I hope this is not taken as an attempt to divert this thread to another topic....!

Tulsa has always seemed, IMHO, to have more apartments and rentals than they have tenants.

More strip malls and storefronts than they have business people in the market for them.

Say...... six months ago I noticed a trend... Storefronts that lay vacant and other rentals being picked up and made use of by the Hispanic community...

Abandoned grocery stores being re-opened and shopped at by... the Hispanic community...

Portions of Tulsa that had been virtual wasteland becoming more dense and vibrant...

i.e. Kendall Whittier, East Tulsa, etc.

I feel we are facing our greatest threat of urban blight and national disdain as a result of the current "red neck" bullsh$t.......


The housing market will go through a correction and then it will move forward...

I see no such correction or moving forward for Oklahoma...

[Steve]

quote:Originally posted by Nick Danger

TheArtist wrote:
In my business I have been constantly amazed at how many people can afford nice homes. I was kind of shocked when the national news was reporting 400,000 home loans as being something special. That would seem mid range for most of the homes I work in. A good portion of the homes I work in are generally 750,000 on up to 10 million or more. And yes I have had quite a few customers over the last few years who "cashed out" in California and pretty much paid cash for a nice home here....

__________________________________
Is there still a huge influx of folks from California coming here and purchasing homes? I have been wondering about this since a lot of the high-paying jobs have left Tulsa. It doesn't seem like there's much of a draw, other than the relatively inexpensive real estate.

I have often wondered myself who is buying all those expensive new houses they have built in Tulsa over the past several years, especially since our job market has changed so much.  I think people cashing out in more expensive locales and relocating here is a part of it.  I think another part may be that people like myself (50-something baby boomers) are now losing their parents to old age and perhaps inheriting wealth from them.  They suddenly find themselves with lots of cash.  I would bet at least half of the new luxury homes in Tulsa($350,000 and up) are being purchased with cash, no mortgage involved.

[iplaw]

quote:I feel we are facing our greatest threat of urban blight and national disdain as a result of the current "red neck" bullsh$t.......

[tulsa1603]

quote:Originally posted by Steve

quote:Originally posted by Nick Danger

TheArtist wrote:
In my business I have been constantly amazed at how many people can afford nice homes. I was kind of shocked when the national news was reporting 400,000 home loans as being something special. That would seem mid range for most of the homes I work in. A good portion of the homes I work in are generally 750,000 on up to 10 million or more. And yes I have had quite a few customers over the last few years who "cashed out" in California and pretty much paid cash for a nice home here....

__________________________________
Is there still a huge influx of folks from California coming here and purchasing homes? I have been wondering about this since a lot of the high-paying jobs have left Tulsa. It doesn't seem like there's much of a draw, other than the relatively inexpensive real estate.

I have often wondered myself who is buying all those expensive new houses they have built in Tulsa over the past several years, especially since our job market has changed so much.  I think people cashing out in more expensive locales and relocating here is a part of it.  I think another part may be that people like myself (50-something baby boomers) are now losing their parents to old age and perhaps inheriting wealth from them.  They suddenly find themselves with lots of cash.  I would bet at least half of the new luxury homes in Tulsa($350,000 and up) are being purchased with cash, no mortgage involved.

I'm not so sure...My work involves many homes in the $600,000 and up range.  We stay away from the cookie cutter $250-500,000 stuff because it's not rewarding work for us...But I think even most of the houses we work with have mortgages...granted, they might have enough cash to put 50% down, but almost ALL of them have mortgages of some sort.  When we get to the $1,000,000 and up range, then we start to ditch the mortgages, although I've had clients finance $1,000,000 on a $2,000,000 house.  We definitely have clients who could afford to pay cash outright, but choose not to for whatever reason.  I can't say that I've ever seen a client who appeared overextended with debt, either.  Most own their own businesses.  And most write $5,000 checks like they're post-it notes.  Must be an interesting way to live.

[Steve]

quote:Originally posted by tulsa1603

quote:Originally posted by Steve

I have often wondered myself who is buying all those expensive new houses they have built in Tulsa over the past several years, especially since our job market has changed so much.  I think people cashing out in more expensive locales and relocating here is a part of it.  I think another part may be that people like myself (50-something baby boomers) are now losing their parents to old age and perhaps inheriting wealth from them.  They suddenly find themselves with lots of cash.  I would bet at least half of the new luxury homes in Tulsa($350,000 and up) are being purchased with cash, no mortgage involved.

I'm not so sure...My work involves many homes in the $600,000 and up range.  We stay away from the cookie cutter $250-500,000 stuff because it's not rewarding work for us...But I think even most of the houses we work with have mortgages...granted, they might have enough cash to put 50% down, but almost ALL of them have mortgages of some sort.  When we get to the $1,000,000 and up range, then we start to ditch the mortgages, although I've had clients finance $1,000,000 on a $2,000,000 house.  We definitely have clients who could afford to pay cash outright, but choose not to for whatever reason.  I can't say that I've ever seen a client who appeared overextended with debt, either.  Most own their own businesses.  And most write $5,000 checks like they're post-it notes.  Must be an interesting way to live.

That was just pure speculation on my part.  If you are "in the business" then you sure know more about residential real estate than I do.  I do know that my parent's generation (children of the Great Depression and WWII Veterans) are dying off, and baby boomers like myself are inheriting their assets, so I am sure that has added fuel to the luxury and higher-end home markets.