[speaker001:] Okay. What, uh, go ahead and tell me about your home [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] [Breathing] Well, my home at the moment is an apartment.
[speaker001:] Oh, is that right? [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Yeah [LAUGHTER]. I work here in Germantown, but I live in Pensacola, Florida.
[speaker001:] Oh, that's interesting.
[speaker002:] So, I own a home in Pensacola, and, uh, let's see, we are to compare homes. Correct?
[speaker001:] Okay. Yeah.
[speaker002:] Uh, [breathing] my home is, [breathing] well, is typical for the area. I live in a development, [breathing] {F uh, } it's a relatively, I would say, well, God, it sounds like, [LAUGHTER] sounds like I'm bragging [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER] No, that's okay [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] But it's upper middle class,
[speaker001:] Okay.
[speaker002:] uh, kind of an environment. It's a [breathing] two story colonial, which my wife and I designed.
[speaker001:] Oh, that's neat.
[speaker002:] Uh, it has around thirty-two hundred square feet.
[speaker001:] Wow, that's large [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] Uh, five bedrooms and so forth and so on, [breathing] and it is, I would imagine in terms of, of size and so forth, it's relatively typical for the area. It might be, [breathing] I would say it's probably midsized for the area. There are some smaller, and there are, s-, you know, several larger.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And, uh,
[speaker001:] [Lipsmack] [NOISE].
[speaker002:] but based, you know, in terms of, you know, in, in Pensacola, in that area of Florida [lipsmack] it, uh, [breathing] it's what now, it is, uh, [breathing] probably [breathing] ten years old.
[speaker001:] Oh, well, that's not too bad,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] that's still fairly new.
[speaker002:] And so it's, [breathing] in terms of cost and, and, and size and so forth, it, uh, [breathing] the hou-, you know, housing there is extremely affordable, and, uh, compared to other parts of the country, you know, let's say compared to Maryland [breathing],
[speaker001:] Well,
[speaker002:] that same house here would probably cost three-quarters of a million dollars [LAUGHTER] but,
[speaker001:] Oh, you're kidding [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] [Breathing] Well, do you mind if I ask what it's worth down there, I mean, what it's,
[speaker002:] I really haven't, I really haven't, uh, [breathing] when we built it ten years ago, it was, it ran around a hundred and forty thousand dollars.
[speaker001:] Okay.
[speaker002:] [Breathing] So, I, I would have really, I haven't really priced, you know, in the market,
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] so I,
[speaker001:] It, it sounds like, I mean, from the way you described it a home like that here would be at least two hundred and fifty thousand [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] I mean, Dallas is a very marked up [breathing] area, although right now it's a lot lower [LAUGHTER],
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] um, because of all the layoffs and everything [LAUGHTER] the economy around here is real poor [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] I thought that was on the upswing again now.
[speaker001:] Well, no, not really [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] [Breathing] Um, the area itself, uh, the Fort Worth Dallas area, um, has become kind of depressed because there's been so many layoffs with big companies, including Texas Instruments [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Yes.
[speaker001:] Um, there's been tremendous amounts of, of, uh, layoffs [breathing] so, really housing is real bad. The economy itself around here is not too terribly bad, but housing is still real bad [breathing].
[speaker002:] Uh-huh [breathing].
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] Well, Pensacola has [breathing] it's really is a buyer's market there now [breathing].
[speaker001:] Yeah. This is,
[speaker002:] And it isn't because of the, well, there has been a lot of speculative building.
[speaker001:] Oh.
[speaker002:] Uh, I don't know, perhaps not in Dallas, but, uh, I'm sure people in, uh, you know, in, uh, Galveston and so forth would be knowledgeable about it, uh, Pensacola is a Navy town.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And home porting was a possibility a few years ago.
[speaker001:] Oh.
[speaker002:] They were expecting an influx of something on the order of fifty thousand people or more from the Navy,
[speaker001:] [Breathing] Wow.
[speaker002:] a new carrier was coming in and, uh, the, uh, attendant, uh, support vessels. Well, that's no longer,
[speaker001:] So, do you think,
[speaker002:] [Breathing] the case.
[speaker001:] it was overdeveloped then?
[speaker002:] Oh, it's, it is. I mean, the, the number of single family units on sale is phenomenal compared to the population.
[speaker001:] Wow.
[speaker002:] And so i-, overbuilding is, i-, has been a real problem there.
[speaker001:] Um.
[speaker002:] So you can still get a, get a, a good house for a very, very reasonable price. And I mean [breathing] good, I would, let's say typical, [lipsmack] say three bedroom, uh, two and a half baths, [breathing] on a half acre or so of land [breathing], uh, [pause] reasonable construction would probably run you, uh, right now anywhere between, somewhere between a hundred and a hundred and forty thousand dollars.
[speaker001:] Um [lipsmack],
[speaker002:] And probably, perhaps,
[speaker001:] yeah.
[speaker002:] cheaper, depending upon the neighborhood.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] What about your home?
[speaker001:] [Breathing] Well, [breathing] right now we're just renting, but [LAUGHTER] it is a home. Um,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] [Lipsmack] it's a four bedroom home [breathing]. It has about, I guess, eighteen hundred square feet [breathing]. It's on one floor [breathing].
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] Uh, we have no basement [LAUGHTER]. I don't know,
[speaker002:] Nor do we, but,
[speaker001:] Okay [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] I wasn't sure. Most of the ones,
[speaker002:] [Throat clearing].
[speaker001:] you know, up north and everything do, [LAUGHTER] but, um, anyway, [lipsmack] it's, uh, it's pretty, also pretty typical for the area. Most of this area was developed, this house was built in seventy-four.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] [Breathing] So most of the, it's almost twenty years old, and most of the houses around here were built pretty much the same style [breathing]. Uh, we have a friend that lives two blocks over, [breathing] and his house is almost identical to us, except his is three bedrooms and ours is four
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] but otherwise the layout is pretty much the same. So I, I think most of them are [breathing] there was, it, like most areas that are built, [breathing] um, there were probably, like two or three styles you could choose from [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] And, and, uh, that's pretty much all the houses in the area, [LAUGHTER] for probably a square mile, I'd say, at least, [breathing] maybe even a little bit more than that.
[speaker002:] [Breathing] Well, the housing here in Maryland is just atrocious. And in, in the entire D C area. I'm, [breathing] I'm only about, uh, twelve miles or so from the, uh, border of Washington D C, [breathing] and Montgomery County, Maryland is probably one of the most expensive,
[speaker001:] [Breathing] Where are you in relation to Sevren?
[speaker002:] places to,
[speaker001:] are you close to Sevren?
[speaker002:] [Breathing] No, we are west.
[speaker001:] Okay.
[speaker002:] Sevren is east, near the eastern shore,
[speaker001:] Well, I just,
[speaker002:] if I had,
[speaker001:] I have a sister that used to live in Sevren.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And they bought their home [breathing] in [breathing] I, I want to say like around nineteen seventy-five or something like that, and they paid like, they, they had it built from, you know, they, they designed it and everything, [breathing] and to have it built they only paid forty thousand for it, and when they left the area they sold it for a hundred and twenty thousand [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Oh, that's not unusual, yeah.
[speaker001:] Yeah, so I just wondered, you know, if the whole area was like that [LAUGHTER] or,
[speaker002:] [Cough]. Well, that's, that area over there is not as expensive as in the, the immediate, you know, Washington area.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And so, we, uh, I was just looking, for example there is a, uh, condominium complex next to the apartment complex where I live, and I was over there recently looking at the possibility of buying a two bedroom condominium. And [breathing] ninety-two thousand dollars for a two bedroom, which is essentially a two bedroom apartment.
[speaker001:] Um.
[speaker002:] Now, it was very nicely done.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] I would have thought,
[speaker001:] Sounds like a lot of money though [LAUGHTER],
[speaker002:] Yes. I,
[speaker001:] sure.
[speaker002:] I can't, I can't envision spending that much money, and [breathing] on, on something along those lines.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] So, you know, it's, y-, I guess you pay the piper but,
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] Plus the, the, the taxes around here are phenomenally,
[speaker001:] Oh, yeah.
[speaker002:] high. Uh, for the, and so, you, on that [breathing], it's not unusual, for example, for somewhere around here on a, on a, on a, what we would, you know, what you described as your house and what I would describe as my house [breathing] say, for example, in Pensacola, Florida, on that house [breathing] with the homestead exemption and so forth and so on, might pay three or four hundred dollars a year taxes.
[speaker001:] Wow.
[speaker002:] May-,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] maybe, you know, maybe a little bit higher than that now, [breathing] but that same house here, you'd pay almost six thousand dollars a year,
[speaker001:] [Breathing].
[speaker002:] taxes on it.
[speaker001:] Wow [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Wow, that's,
[speaker002:] So, it's, uh,
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] so, the question of whether to buy here or move to another county, say, drive [breathing] twenty more miles north, buy a condominium for approximately, uh, the same price, maybe a little lower, but the taxes would be, you know, [breathing] perhaps, maybe one-third
[speaker001:] Really?
[speaker002:] uh, of,
[speaker001:] That much of a difference?
[speaker002:] Oh, absolutely.
[speaker001:] Wow.
[speaker002:] Yeah, so,
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] it's, it's really sad [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Yeah [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] This is one, this is one of the most highly taxed areas in the country.
[speaker001:] Wow. Why is that? Do you know? I mean [lipsmack],
[speaker002:] [Breathing] Well, they [breathing], it, [pause] the, their, they do have an extremely good, such things as extremely good school systems, for example. It has one of the best school systems in the country.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh [NOISE].
[speaker002:] Uh, and because the cost of living around here is so high,
[speaker001:] Oh.
[speaker002:] public employees make great salaries around here [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Oh [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] I was reading just recently where the typical administrator in the,
[speaker001:] [Breathing] [NOISE].
[speaker002:] Montgomery County Public Schools makes, a-, an-, and I'm not, this is, uh, the figure, he makes eighty thousand dollars a year.
[speaker001:] [Breathing] My goodness [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] That's,
[speaker001:] Wow [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] and I, by administrator I, I think I mean, I, they didn't, they did not define it, but [breathing] for example, a curriculum supervisor or principal or [breathing] someone, you know, in that, uh, in that range.