A recent Anchorage
Daily News article about housing in Anchorage had some information I will
just call "bad" in it. One of the points in the story talks about how
housing in Anchorage isn't affordable, and that's a relative term.
Unfortunately, the article states income levels that the author represents as
needing to be met in order to buy specific types of home, and the second half
of that equation is totally left out. qualifying for a home takes income AND
debt. If a person makes $100K a year and has $90K in debt, they won't qualify
for much of a home. If they make $50K and have no debt, they will more than
likely qualify for more home than the $100K buyer does. The article also
mentions the housing stock is deteriorating, and so that means what? Homes are
crumbling? Falling down? Caving in? Home Depot and Lowes make sure that just
isn't the case. We are seeing older homes being renovated and being given a new
effective year built and that means that their "lifespans" are
renewed. And with that modern construction materials and techniques, their
useful remaining life is being extended another 60 or more years. And the last
point I'll mention is the nationally branded App that the homebuyer they
interviewed is using. Unless a person is going to the local MLS or any of its
subscribing brokers, the data is almost guaranteed to be inaccurate and
possibly out of date too. I cannot stress enough the importance of using a
local and knowledgeable product. Whether it is a Realtor, a local MLS, etc.
