11:03 AM Wed, Apr 30, 2008 | Permalink |
I've waited years for the housing market to switch in my favor. As a first-time buyer, the overall downturn in the market is good for me individually, although not good for the economy as a whole.
But wouldn't you know it, at the same time home prices are going down, gas prices keep going up. That has added an interesting conundrum to my search. I have found that I am not only looking for the best deal, I am also looking for the most convenient bus line to work since I take the bus about four days a week on average.
Here's one example.
I found a great condo that I was ready to put an offer on. I sat down and did my budget for the upcoming year, taking all possible expenses into account. Then, I went to Metro Transit's trip planner online to determine which bus would get me to downtown Seattle quickest.
Uh oh.
The trip planner said I'd have to transfer once at Sea-Tac Airport, and all told, my one-way commute would take just over an hour. Add the time it takes to walk to and from bus stops and my round-trip commute would be three hours a day. Yikes!
I was about to give up on the place just for that reason. There was no way I could afford to give up the bus and drive every day to work. As gas prices sit now, it would cost me $200 a month minimum in my fuel-efficient compact car- and that's just going to work and back. And you know that's only going to get worse.
Fortunately, some more investigating helped me determine that my new potential home would only be a mile from a transit station, and there were three different buses from there that went straight to downtown Seattle. Problem solved (and a reminder that Metro may need to update its trip planner).
But it goes to show you the domino effect. There are several things affecting the housing market, and yes, the price of gas is one of them.
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