Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

CNN polls

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • CNN polls

    I use CNN.com as my home page, and they always have some kind of poll going on. I've quoted them here before in various threads, as they usually get quite a large number of responses, so I created this thread to post various polls and open discussions on the topics.
    Here's today's poll and results so far:
    Which concerns you more?

    Gas prices... 69%... 89,039
    Home depreciation... 31%... 40,200

    Total Votes: 129,239
    .
    .

    That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

  • #2
    Re: CNN polls

    Gas prices concern me...big time! I'm going to analyze my 2008 overall car costs then determine whether I should sell my car and do without. My other options are City Taxi or The Bus for in town transportation and renting a car for longer hauls such as Makaha. There just happens to be 2 car rental companies on the lobby level of my town building so the convenience factor can't be overlooked. We'll see. So far I have my annual mileage down to approx. 4000.

    Home depreciation isn't much of a concern for me right now as I have no desire to sell. What goes down will eventually go back up and then some. Town pad is still worth a lot more than I paid for it. Makaha pad, while in the midst of tanking (down 18% in 2007 alone), will stabilize once we kick a certain madman to the curb. It's not a question of if...just a question of when! I'd be very surprised if it dipped below what I paid for it in 1987...

    ...$30,000., fee simple, oceanfront!

    That said, it did dip below that during the late 90s.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: CNN polls

      The overall economy concerns me. The U.S. had a huge loss of jobs last month, the worst in 5 years; big increase in gas prices; continuous decline in the Dow; and of course, house-price depreciation. It's times like this that I'm glad I'm a habitual tightwad and have no debt except for my house.
      * I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. *
      - Anna Quindlen

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: CNN polls

        Originally posted by tutusue View Post
        I'd be very surprised if it dipped below what I paid for it in 1987... $30,000., fee simple, oceanfront!
        That said, it did dip below that during the late 90s.
        Friends of mine owned two adjacent units on the first floor of your building in Makaha. In 1996 they offered to sell me one unit for $25,000 or both units for $40,000. Fee simple. Oceanfront.
        I didn't buy them.
        I am clearly an idiot.
        .
        .

        That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: CNN polls

          Originally posted by tutusue View Post
          Home depreciation isn't much of a concern for me right now as I have no desire to sell. What goes down will eventually go back up and then some.
          Home depreciation is a bigger issue on the Mainland than here, since people in Hawaii tend to keep their homes longer, on the average. If you don't intend to sell or seek out a reverse mortgage, a slight drop is not a dire concern.

          OTOH, rising home values are a headache when it comes to paying your property tax. In fact, I would wager that if you polled locals and asked them which is a bigger concern to them (home depreciation or rising property tax assessments), the latter would be the one more people in Hawaii are worried about. Especially for the retirees.
          This post may contain an opinion that may conflict with your opinion. Do not take it personal. Polite discussion of difference of opinion is welcome.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: CNN polls

            For me...gas prices. I'm looking at a 100mile drive on Monday (50 each way)...bleh.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: CNN polls

              Originally posted by LikaNui View Post
              Friends of mine owned two adjacent units on the first floor of your building in Makaha. In 1996 they offered to sell me one unit for $25,000 or both units for $40,000. Fee simple. Oceanfront.
              I didn't buy them.
              I am clearly an idiot.
              No you're not! You really don't want first (ground) floor anything in that building. Every ground floor unit got wiped out during Hurricane Iniki in '92. That's why they were so cheap in '96(???)...altho' my guess is it was a little bit later than '96. Just a guess, tho'! Hmmm...I thought it was 2/50k.

              And, right now, I'm steering everyone away due to gross mismanagement. We're in the midst of a human hurricane. But that's another story...
              Originally posted by Frankie's Market View Post
              Home depreciation is a bigger issue on the Mainland than here, since people in Hawaii tend to keep their homes longer, on the average. If you don't intend to sell or seek out a reverse mortgage, a slight drop is not a dire concern.

              OTOH, rising home values are a headache when it comes to paying your property tax. In fact, I would wager that if you polled locals and asked them which is a bigger concern to them (home depreciation or rising property tax assessments), the latter would be the one more people in Hawaii are worried about. Especially for the retirees.
              There was a lot of flipping going on plus we're a transient society. The flippers and those leaving Hawaii are probably the most impacted, currently, by depreciation...esp. if they bought at the high end of the market. You're right, however, that currently lower housing prices are a bigger issue on the mainland. It takes us a bit longer to catch up...both in the downswing and the upswing.

              My Makaha condo's prop. taxes tripled in 3 years. Hopefully the assessment will go down next year.
              Last edited by tutusue; March 8, 2008, 04:27 PM.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: CNN polls

                As of a few minutes ago:

                Should New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer resign?

                Yes... 78%... 266,443

                No... 22%... 75,927

                Total Votes: 342,370
                .
                .

                That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: CNN polls

                  Originally posted by tutusue View Post
                  Gas prices concern me...big time! I'm going to analyze my 2008 overall car costs then determine whether I should sell my car and do without.
                  Try living here on the Big Island (or any neighbor island for that matter), get used to gas prices here then go back to Oahu. You'll think you're in Gas Station heaven with Oahu's lower prices

                  I have an American Savings Bank checking account and I utilize their online banking service. Last night I catagorized all of our expenses and income and made a checking report via ASB's online support and determined between my wife and I we use about $400 per month in gas, $600 in groceries and $450 in dining out per month.

                  I told my wife we need to convert that dining out expenditure into groceries and increase our savings. Amazing how going out to Pizza hut once a week, hitting the fast food drive thru's every other day all add up.

                  I'm also trying to lower my monthly electrical bill from $367 per month to under $300. And we're not even energy hogs! CFL's everywhere!
                  Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: CNN polls

                    Originally posted by craigwatanabe View Post
                    Try living here on the Big Island (or any neighbor island for that matter), get used to gas prices here then go back to Oahu. You'll think you're in Gas Station heaven with Oahu's lower prices
                    Wow! That's an expensive way to learn to appreciate Oahu's lower gas prices! I heard on the news that Lanai's price is over $4./gal now.
                    [...]I'm also trying to lower my monthly electrical bill from $367 per month to under $300. And we're not even energy hogs! CFL's everywhere!
                    It's that dang "energy cost adjustment", "non-fuel energy" and "base fuel energy" costs that fluctuate and make it almost impossible to lower already conservative electricity bills.

                    My little studio in Waikiki runs between $60 and $75 a month even tho' my usage is fairly consistent. Can't run too much amok in a studio!!! Still, included in my maintenance fees are hot water and central a/c...so no big energy hogs in my unit. I do, however, have a dishwasher and stack W/D that are each used once a week. The HECO rep said the refrigerator is the majority of the bill!!! It's only 5 years old and I moved it to town from Makaha where it didn't spike the HECO bill. Finally she and I settled on the 3 costs mentioned above as being the culprits. Well, she settled on it. Makaha, where I have ceiling fans running day and night and a hot water heater in the unit, still remains pretty level at around $40/mo. HECO rep said that's 'cuz I have a more efficient and probably newer fridge there. Umm...nope. It's 15 years old!

                    Frustrating.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: CNN polls

                      read my post here

                      OT, gas prices are a big concern here on the Big Island where people don't make certain commutes because of gas prices. I have friends who live in Hilo that won't come to my place in Keaau because of the 22-mile drive.

                      It's amazing how some in Hilo who've lived in Hilo all their lives, have never ventured outside the city limits unless it's a Costco trip to Kona.

                      Housing prices are on the rise here on the Big Island (wayyy up there in West Hawaii and parts of Hamakua just outside of Hilo, but back in Keaau, it's holding pretty well, dipping as we speak. Keaau is fast becoming the darling of East Hawaii and with it getting to look more and more like Kapolei as housing inventory increases while municipal infrastructures lag.

                      But Half a million dollars still buys you some major bling here while under $350,000 can still get you the equivalent of a really nice Makakilo Mauka home on 40,000 sq ft fee simple.

                      It's just the damned electrical costs. Last month's energy bill was $457.49 with the following breakdown:

                      $10.00 Customer Charge
                      $137.59 Non-Fuel Energy
                      $90.90 Base Fuel Energy
                      $25.76 Interim Rate Adjustment
                      $190.43 Energy Cost Adjustment
                      $2.81 IRP Cost Recovery

                      For a grand total of $457.49

                      And I unplugged my garage chest freezer last month to boot! It seems every time I do something drastic to reduce energy costs, HELCO/HECO imposes a rate increase. They tell you to conserve, then they put you on a higher rate because you are a low volume user (The Gas Company does the same thing).

                      You know for another $43 I could have purchased a 5700-watt gas generator every month with an electric bill like that. So many of our customers (Home Depot Hilo) have already unplugged HELCO and have gone 100% off the grid using photo voltaic panels and supplimenting them with generators when it's cloudy.
                      Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: CNN polls

                        $457!!!!

                        Makes my latest bill of $216 look like NOTHING, comparatively speaking. I have solar water heating, but I also have four AC units which are generally used in the summer as I have good cross-ventilation over most of the year. The three ceiling fans are very helpful. We have three computers on for much of the time, plus three TVs.

                        It wasn't that long ago, before all these extra "adjustments" and "charges," that my bill was "only" around $120/month. Remember the days when the electric bill was on a 60-day billing cycle?

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: CNN polls

                          Electrical costs here on the Big Island (and probably on most of the other outer islands as well) are prohibitively high. It's no wonder most of Hilo shuts their lights off after 8pm.

                          It seems almost every year HELCO wants and gets a rate increase while wages don't (typical). With rising housing prices I'm wondering how many of those living on paycheck to paycheck here survive.

                          For the elderly living here on the Big Island, utility costs and transportation are major issues along with adequate health care. Issues like these need to be addressed for sustainable and realistic economic growth to survive here.
                          Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: CNN polls

                            Apparently, you need a lot of "pull" to get a doctor on the Big Island to take you as a patient. I called my brother's classmate one weekend in Hilo, but he was "off" that time. I was lucky to get the physician who was on-call and "covering" for everyone else so that I could get the prescription for an anti-biotic to "knock out" the flu bug before it knocked me out.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: CNN polls

                              Oh man! now that I am finally reading up more on the economy and how it is right now....I'm concerned about it all, the big and little...uh, micro and macro? LOL...I better not try to sound more educated than I am.

                              Seriously, I am finally realizing that people are not running around saying the proverbial sky is falling. Many are reporting how very bad it truly is, and I doubt it's all sunk in, yet.

                              The country's largest mortgage company in deep doo, it's largest bank? I think Citi is, and Merrel Lynch in trouble? All at the same time? A home builder that's very old and a pillar of the contruction business on the East coast and operated in several states....bankrupt? I need to google that name again.

                              Our dollar still plummeting and oil over a hundred a barrel and sounds like it will not be going down. Gold hit a thousand and will most likely keep rising as people run to it. The Fed is freaking out and admitting they are working to prevent DEPRESSION, I saw a quote by Bernanke myself or I'd have thought someone else claiming this was chicken little, I swear.

                              The National Bank or United? Bank of Switzerland lost Billions last year....was it for the first time ever? The cause? too invested in OUR economy and those that backup our mortgage mess. (I may be gettting a title of a company wrong here or there...sorry, not a robot nor do I have a photographic memory, but what I am NOT getting wrong is the message.....our economy is a wreck right now)

                              Fannie Mae and is the other one called Freddie Mac? BOTH in serious trouble! huh?? Yeppers...and all of this at the same time. 2008 started out with some shocking economic news every few weeks, per Countrywide, Citibank and Merrell Lynch, dang hope I got those last two names right.

                              Also read that the Chrysler Corporation has told all of its employees worldwide to take a mandatory two week vacation in July,I think is the month. Didn't catch if it is a paid or unpaid vacation but I can guess.....uh huh, unpaid?

                              I think I did too much reading on it in the past few days cuz I really didn't want to come to the conclusion that right now..........the economy is worse than it has been since the Great Depression, but....it is.
                              Last edited by Karen; March 16, 2008, 01:06 PM.
                              Stop being lost in thought where our problems thrive.~

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X