Mass market gas price hysteria- $12 a gallon gas

ctenidae · May 23, 2008

deadheadskier said:
I tell you one thing, with this oil price madness I am so glad that the condo I am purchasing is as small as the gf and I will be comfortable in for a few years and the heat is electric.

I wonder what kind of population migration away from the Northeast can be expected at these prices when it will cost upwards of five grand to heat an average size house with oil very soon. It will be a real crush on the local economy.

Unfortunately, electric costs are going up, too- Calpine just announced a bid to by some generation facilities at 18.5x EBITDA, which is way high, signalling they expect prices to rise to make that price reasonable. With costs to build new generation north of $1,000/kW and rising, it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Greg · May 23, 2008

~$4.12 in my town...

deadheadskier · May 23, 2008

wa-loaf said:
A year ago I would have called you nuts for getting a place with electric heat.

If it were a larger place, I'd agree. Last years electric for the place averaged about $145 per month, which includes heat, hot water, AC and all appliances.

We are being ULTRA conservative with our purchase; some would say too conservative. Most people in our income bracket would purchase a property twice the size and value. Given the state of our economy, I didn't want to take any big risks and decided that for now it's best to be in place that if one of us were to have a change of employment, we could still afford the place on 1/2 our income if we needed to.

The good news about the place for the future is that comparable units in the facility have a great rental history and rent for more than what the monthly expenses are for the place. So, down the road it'll become an investment property when we choose to upgrade.

deadheadskier · May 23, 2008

location was a factor also...only 5 miles to the train station with free parking for a commuter rail into Boston, should one of us decide to work in the city. $235 for a monthly pass; which is nearly half the cost per month to park in the city, never mind the gas to and from there.

wa-loaf · May 23, 2008

deadheadskier said:
location was a factor also...only 5 miles to the train station with free parking for a commuter rail into Boston, should one of us decide to work in the city. $235 for a monthly pass; which is nearly half the cost per month to park in the city, never mind the gas to and from there.

What rail line? It's $250 for a zone 8 rail pass, which if you are moving to NH it's gotta be. {don't forget to take into consideration what parking at the rail station is. $35 a month at my stop.} ignore this I obviously didn't read closely enough.

Greg · May 23, 2008

deadheadskier said:
We are being ULTRA conservative with our purchase; some would say too conservative. Most people in our income bracket would purchase a property twice the size and value.

We sorta did the same thing when we bought our first house, a small 1,000 square foot colonial. Less than 2 1/2 years later and after one kid and one in the oven, we had to move. The place was just too small. We lucked out and made enough on it to buy a much larger long term (20+ year) house, but if the market wasn't as good as it was at the time (we sold in 2005 at the peak), we would have been stuck, or might have only upgraded slightly to another stepping stone house. The bottom line is I would try to buy as much home as you can afford with the expectation being if you had to stay there long term, you could, especially if you plan on starting a family eventually. Every siutation is different though and if we were able to buy a bigger house the first time around, we might be in the situation now of staying there and it still not being as large as we want/need. The last thing you want to be is a prisoner in your own home.

deadheadskier · May 23, 2008

wa-loaf said:
What rail line? It's $250 for a zone 8 rail pass, which if you are moving to NH it's gotta be. {don't forget to take into consideration what parking at the rail station is. $35 a month at my stop.} ignore this I obviously didn't read closely enough.

The downeaster and parking at the station we would use in Exeter is free.

http://www.amtrakdowneaster.com/fares.html

Only about an hour and twenty minute trip to.

deadheadskier · May 23, 2008

Greg said:
We sorta did the same thing when we bought our first house, a small 1,000 square foot colonial. Less than 2 1/2 years later and after one kid and one in the oven, we had to move. The place was just too small. We lucked out and made enough on it to buy a much larger long term (20+ year) house, but if the market wasn't as good as it was at the time (we sold in 2005 at the peak), we would have been stuck, or might have only upgraded slightly to another stepping stone house. The bottom line is I would try to buy as much home as you can afford with the expectation being if you had to stay there long term, you could, especially if you plan on starting a family eventually. Every siutation is different though and if we were able to buy a bigger house the first time around, we might be in the situation now of staying there and it still not being as large as we want/need. The last thing you want to be is a prisoner in your own home.

All very sound advice. I guess the way I see things for us, the unit makes sense because it can easily be rented for more than what we will be paying. If we haven't upgraded by the time we have kids, which we won't be for at least two years, we'll rent it out and find a temporary larger rental unit for our own use. It's the first purchase in what I hope to be many properties......looking to retire as a slumlord. :lol:

Greg · May 23, 2008

deadheadskier said:
All very sound advice. I guess the way I see things for us, the unit makes sense because it can easily be rented for more than what we will be paying. If we haven't upgraded by the time we have kids, which we won't be for at least two years, we'll rent it out and find a temporary larger rental unit for our own use. It's the first purchase in what I hope to be many properties......looking to retire as a slumlord. :lol:

Sounds good, especially since you have a fall back (i.e. renting it). Best of luck!

wa-loaf · May 23, 2008

deadheadskier said:
The downeaster and parking at the station we would use in Exeter is free.

http://www.amtrakdowneaster.com/fares.html

Only about an hour and twenty minute trip to.

WOW! That price and schedule is better than the regular commuter rail. Maybe not as many trains running, but the times are just right for the commute. Jesus I need to move.

Warp Daddy · May 23, 2008

OldsnowboarderME said:
The fall out from this "energy crisis" will be much more severe than it was in the early eighties.

High inflation, super high interest rates.. When I was trying to buy a house back then the interest rate was above 18%.. the resulting recession was very severe..the trickle down is now just starting to show up in the cost of everything except wages. Everything is going to take a hit and may never recover. I can't imagine what the times will require this time.

IMO This scenario is probably VERY close AS we speak . I pray that i'm wrong ,but see little evidence of Political Will or Leadership to do much of anything SUBSTANTIVE about it . The Fed's reactions seem more symbolic than potent

The level of spin control and head in the sand approach to Leadership is maddening .Somewhere in the firmamant our forefathers are weeping .Get as debt free as you can and watch discretionery spending and save your $$

Hope i'm not right

dmc · May 23, 2008

OldsnowboarderME said:
The eighties saw the fundamental change in the family that it required 2 wage earners just to get by .. I can't imagine what the times will require this time.

We can always put our youth to work... But they seem to be a little busy in the middle east right now...

dmc · May 23, 2008

Warp Daddy said:
Hope i'm not right

Pretty much my mantra lately..

Moe Ghoul · May 23, 2008

Warp Daddy said:
IMO This scenario is probably VERY close AS we speak . I pray that i'm wrong ,but see little evidence of Political Will or Leadership to do much of anything SUBSTANTIVE about it . The Fed's reactions seem more symbolic than potent

The level of spin control and head in the sand approach to Leadership is maddening .Somewhere in the firmamant our forefathers are weeping .Get as debt free as you can and watch discretionery spending and save your $$

Hope i'm not right

The fed is a joke. Rates will prolly approach zero. Any hike in rates will set off calamity at this point. We can thank the king of ez money for that: Greenspan.

GrilledSteezeSandwich · May 23, 2008

Greg said:
~$4.12 in my town...

The cheapest I saw today was $3.74 at a Hess Station just south of Allentown(That was in the morning and I'm sure prices have gone up since)..the most I saw was $3.97 in the Philly area at a Lukoil. The local Shell station was $3.83 this morning and $3.89 this afternoon and diesel was $4.89 this morning and $4.99 this afternoon..now is as good of a time as ever to top off your tanks..Moe is talking about $5 by June 15th..I think it might even be more by then...and on the news they were saying $7 by Labor day...

andyzee · May 23, 2008

Bats in my belfry and rain on my roof
Even my teddy bear stays so aloof
Flies that go walking on leashes so long
Even my parakeet wears a sarong
Sometimes I wonder, but mostly I don´t
I always saqy "yes" but usually I won´t
Elephants flying way off to the moon
Even my sundial´s stuck at high noon

2knees · May 23, 2008

the rich man in his summer home
singing just leave well enough alone
when his pants are down, his covers' blown.

andyzee · May 23, 2008

I tell you everything that is really nothing, and nothing of what is everything, do not be fooled by what I am saying. Please listen carefully and try to hear what I am not saying.

mondeo · May 23, 2008

Oil shale, friends. Oil shale. I think it becomes profitable at what, $8/gallon? Oil will plateau while alternative energy sources become available.

mondeo · May 24, 2008

ed-drum said:
During World War 2 they put a carburetor on a Sherman tank that got 60 miles per gallon. The design is still classified. If a tank got that mileage, what would it do on a car? They're screwing everyone. Ed.

B.S.

I don't care how efficiently you make an engine breathe, you aren't going to get a 30 ton vehicle, with a lossy track drive system, running a 6.3:1 compression ratio, to get 60 mpg. The laws of physics deny it.

Warp Daddy said:
TRUE and in the 60's the Tire industry made a LIFETIME tire ( Had engineering faculty at my college that worked for them then ) and often recounted that fact --

Sure, I could make one too. All you have to do is make it out of steel.

The rubber they would've had to use to make a lifetime tire would've had to have had just about no grip.

Mass market gas price hysteria- $12 a gallon gas

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