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Do you remember when? there was a gas shortage? A home for $116K took a year to sell?

lprstn

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I do, I was in my 20's...when there was a gas shortage and the prices almost doubled and people were in lines waiting for gas.

I remember when I purchased my 1st house 10 years ago, it was a duplex that cost $116,500 and had been on the market for 18 months. My interest rate was 8.25% which was considered good as I had an FHA loan.

Also, I made only 1/4 or what I made now and I thought I was rich.

This was before the Real Estate boom, where people temporarily forgot what it was like to have a hard time to get a loan for a home, when you didn't walk away from a home you were in for less than 2yrs with over $50,000 in cash, when people didn't realize that their property taxes would almost double, just as the cost of their homes did, where people didn't realize that gas would double and their electric and water bills would too. ... when people pay double for food and fun......which put us back to how I felt 10 years ago...while saving my pennies, not eating out, taking my lunch to work, and not buying the new car....

Do you remember when?
 
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shar

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I remember when there was no gas. People would line up at the stations for hours before the station was scheduled to be open for only a couple of hours on a particular day. Even if you were in line it did not mean that you would get gas that day. Then Jimmy Carter became President and the interest rates went through the roof. 18% was the going rate when I purchased my first house and we thought we were fortunate to get a blended rate of 12% by taking over the seller's rate and blending it with the 18% rate. When I purchased a home in 1987 and received a special buy down rate from the builder at 9% we thought this was wonderful.

My young neighbor across the street has just put his house up for sale. He says he never lives anywhere for more than 2 years. This has allowed him to make money every two years in the last real estate boom. He does not understand that trend will not last forever.

As far as the economy is concerned, personally I am much better off than I was 5, 10, 20, or 35 years ago. Yes prices are higher, but I think if people really know how to manage their money and stay out of debt then one can live and be comfortable.

Before anyone says I have had an easy life, let me point out that I was a young divorced single Mom who took care of a child, managed a household, worked, attended college and graduate school. It was not easy but I worked hard and learned to survive on very little money and not much help from anyone else.

Shar
 

lprstn

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I think we need to remember that the 4 years of the boom is an oddity, and things are bad, but have been worse. The only difference is many young people don't remember the worst, and didn't prepare for it during the good times. Others that knew what could happen, took gambles and my have lost. I myself gambled a bit with the market and am having to revert back to some of my penny pinching ways to make it though this 5yr to 7yr recovery period (hint: I minored in Econ in my college undergrad)
 

Moosie

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I remember getting up early to go sit in a line with my husband's car so he could get to work. Not married yet as I had just moved there and didn't work, this was in NJ. Maybe 1974 or so.

I also remember when we moved to MA in 1978, spending my lunch time having problems trying to find what stations where open and pumping around 1977 or so?

Did it last that long then?
 

DaveNV

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Waiting in long lines to buy gas, as I recall, was in 1974. I was in the Navy, stationed in Norfolk, Virginia. They set up a system where your license plate number determined when you could buy gas. If your plate ended with an even number, you could only buy gas on even-numbered days. If you had an odd number on your plate, you could only buy gas on odd-numbered days. My neighbor and I had different plate numbers, so we'd switch plates with each other if one of us needed to buy gas on the "wrong" day. Everyone did that, so I wonder how much gas they actually saved by doing it - the lines were still very long. And if you had out of state plates, you could buy gas anytime you wanted. Weird system...

In 1989 I bought a house in Bremerton, Washington, by assuming the 10% mortgage the seller had. I thought I was getting a steal. My current home mortgage is less than 6%, and I think I'm paying more than I should.

We're a fickle bunch, ain't we? :hysterical:

Dave
 
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LUVourMarriotts

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I guess my life's been pretty easy so far. :) I was a 1 year old during the gas crisis that you are all referring to, so I haven't had to go through one of those. The closest thing was the 2 days we couldn't get gas when all the power went out in the eastern US about 4 years ago. And my mortgage is 6.375% fixed, which I got 5 years ago when I purchased my first home.

I'll keep my fingers crossed that I don't have to go through times like you had to.
 

JoAnn

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:) Yes, I remember the gas shortage....during WWII....fewer cars and you had to use coupons to get the gas. I believe the coupons were like A, B, or C. "A" coupons got more gas because of your job. Every thing was limited, but people hoarded what they could. And a $116,000 house was a mansion back then. I remember my Mom sent me to the bakery with sugar, flour and eggs so I could have a 'real' birthday cake. Sorry, I don't remember what the price of gas was because I was way to young to drive ;)
 

Karen G

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Waiting in long lines to buy gas, as I recall, was in 1974.
I thought it was in 1978. We were living in the Dallas area at the time and I remember driving our car to the gas station and parking it in line overnight to come back for it in the morning when the station opened.

I also remember around 1980 when both my husband and I were real estate brokers and interest rates were in the 18-19% range. Amazingly enough, we were selling lots of houses!
 

rsnash

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I vaguely remember the '78 gas crises. My dad got a Honda Civic compact around then. What's amazing is, even though gas was in high demand, I think the price was still under $1/gallon. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember filling my used Caddy for $1.25 around 1988, so I don't think it was higher than that in the late 70s, despite the low supply.
 

Timeshare Von

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I remember the gas mess of the late 70's and playing board games while sitting in line to tank up.
 

Fitzriley

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I remember odd/even days also. I drove an Opel Manta and it cost me $7.50 to fill up my tank. But they washed your windows then and pumped your gas for you!

We drove up to RI on motorcycles and the attendant insisted on odd/even rules for us also, so we parked the bikes in the lot next door and switched around the plates until we all had full tanks!

And I had a CD that paid about 18%, boy was I upset when that ran out!
 

DaveNV

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I thought it was in 1978. We were living in the Dallas area at the time and I remember driving our car to the gas station and parking it in line overnight to come back for it in the morning when the station opened.

1978? I wonder if there was more than one gas shortage in different parts of the country? The 1974 one I'm referring to was the big "oil embargo," that was all about OPEC. Supposedly there was no gas to be had - but when the embargo was over, overnight there was gas everywhere. It was the first time I felt like my government was playing games with the citizens for political reasons.

I transferred out of Norfolk in the Fall of 1975, and the gas shortage was long oVer by then. By 1978 I was living back in Washington state, and there was no gas shortage here that year. :shrug:

Dave, (who is thinking it's kind of weird that his memories of events are tied to where he was stationed in the military. If it happened in a certain town, it had to be during certain years. Kind of like a memory filing cabinet. :))
 

Timeshare Von

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I remember odd/even days also. I drove an Opel Manta and it cost me $7.50 to fill up my tank. But they washed your windows then and pumped your gas for you!

My parents had "his and hers" Mantas 1972 and 1974 I think - white and blue :) I learned to drive stick on them!
 

Karen G

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But they washed your windows then and pumped your gas for you!
When I started driving in the 60's they not only washed your windows but they checked your oil, tire pressure, and gave you trading stamps and sometimes had promotions on glassware and dishes where you'd get one item each time you got gas and you could collect a whole set. And I think gas was around $.20 to $.25 a gallon!
 

vacationhopeful

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The gas station I went to the first couple of years after I got my license just sent the bill to my Dad. I had been driving 2-3 years when they closed up. Didn't know you had to PAY for gas.:confused: So, the first price I remember was $.27 a gallon.

And the still have to pump your gas for you in NJ. Mine cost was $3.33 gallon yesterday.
 

rsnash

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So, during that crises, the one where everyone was lined up and you could only fill your car on odd or even days, the one where some of us think it was 77, 78, or 74 (I guess that depends on how old you were then and if you actually looked it up before posting, I haven't ;)), What was the price when you were able to fill up? That's what gets me. If there was such a huge crises, why didn't the price go up drastically? Now, the price is high, but it's not like there's a real shortage where they control when you are able to fill up, you just have the have the $.
 

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Boy you guys has short memerys, are or pretty young, the first gas shortage was in 1972,to 74 that when cars shrunk, like the Mustang 2, chevy monza,ect.
was throught the US, and then the second one in 78, I had a gas station, and the 78 one put me out of business, as I sold AMACO and they only allotted me 40.000 gallons per mth. that sold off in one day and then you had to sit around the other 29 days telling people NO GAS,
so we sold regular only one week, the next week we sold only med. grade then one week High test, and Kerosene the next,( for Kerosene stove heat)
on our way to the station to open up,if the delivery truck got there befor us we could tell from a mile away as that's how long the line was, as once people saw the truck they line up,
to put gas in my wife and I car, I had to sneak in at 2pm at night no lite on and hope no one saw me, as if they did they would make a be line and every car going by would pull in and demand gas, even when they almost have a full tank they would want it top off,
as Archie Bunker says,
Those were the days my friend, we thought would never end
 

rsnash

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So how much was the gas? Sorry it put you out of business.
 

pcgirl54

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I recall that 1978 gas crisis and 18% Cd rates and 21 % mortgage interest rates. Yes 21%. My 1st house was 8.75% fixed in 1978 and then an 11% 3 yr adjustable in 1988 for house 2 which was good at the time. My current home is 5.24% fixed from 2003.

I also recall the last Black Monday in the stock market where I lost a great deal due to the Bear market addage do not move money. That theory caused me to ride the wave and lose a lot of money that took years to try to regain. Had I moved it to a money market until it settled I would have been better off. Today even the MM went below $1.00. Now we are at it again.

I was also a new realtor in the last real estate crash and when the seller had to pay 5 pts of a VA loan. I left before the big boom for a stable income to pay 4 college loans. Darn I could have bought that beach house......

So like you I have seen the downturns and layoffs and consumer confidence downturn. What I have not seen is banks and Wall Street groups failing. My Dad was 11 during the depression so I will need to speak to him on that point. These times are pretty hairy and I have no clue as to what will happen next. I know I paid off our Visa and do not intend to use it. I have been listening to Dave Ramsey on the way home from work and although I do not agree with all he says I am putting some of it to work. Next is the car loan.
 

vacationhopeful

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1971 Xmas had a group of us college kids taking the 24 hour train ride from FL to PHL.
1972-1974 had those ODD/EVEN license tags get gas days
1974 had the PRICE FREEZE enacted in the spring when I went to buy by first new car. And I had just started a job at a major oil company.
1978 had a slow real estate market, with a $2,000 tax credit to buy a newly constructed unsold home, IF it was your personal residence for 3 years.
1980 was the high 18% mortgage rates
1982 was when my father, brother, & I all got unemployed. Mom was working
1984 was when the real estate market sunk so low and people were mailing the keys back to the mortgage companies.
1986-1992 was the stagnate real estate market ... prices just sat.

As for the question I had for the past 6 years - Where is all the money coming from to buy these McMansions and all the new expensive SUV parked in the driveways? I knew I hadn't/wasn't earning that type of money.
 

pedro47

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I remeber paying gas on even and odd days for less than $2.00 per gal.
 

lprstn

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Yepper....I bought this up so that people remember...we had hard times before, and we recovered...as we and the economy will again...just next time I think I am going to be a lot more cautious....
 

Glynda

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1978? I wonder if there was more than one gas shortage in different parts of the country? The 1974 one I'm referring to was the big "oil embargo," that was all about OPEC. Supposedly there was no gas to be had - but when the embargo was over, overnight there was gas everywhere. It was the first time I felt like my government was playing games with the citizens for political reasons.

I transferred out of Norfolk in the Fall of 1975, and the gas shortage was long oVer by then. By 1978 I was living back in Washington state, and there was no gas shortage here that year. :shrug:

Dave, (who is thinking it's kind of weird that his memories of events are tied to where he was stationed in the military. If it happened in a certain town, it had to be during certain years. Kind of like a memory filing cabinet. :))


I remember the '74 also. Remember were I was living and teaching at the time. Remember doing crossword puzzles while I waited.
 

abbekit

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1978

Waiting in the gas line on odd/even days. We had just graduated college and gotten married (30 years ago this week :) ).

Bought our starter home in '79 with an 11% mortgage, renegotiated twice (down to 9% then 7% and were thrilled with that!). Stayed in the starter home for 22 years (even in those days we decided to spend our extra money on travel not a bigger house ;) ). Paid it off then paid cash for the current house.

I feel lucky that I'm a child of parents who lived through the depression and taught me to be extremely frugal.
 
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