Housing Market Near You

Quote: DRich

Quote: EvenBob

Quote: ChumpChange

A 1 bedroom apartment may be only 500-700 square feet. A house is a few times bigger.
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My house is fairly large but I only live in a small portion of it, the whole upstairs here I rarely even go up there. But the point is all the space is there if I need it you never know when you're going to need it.
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You could always get a second wife and have some kids to utilize that space.
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Or I could just kill myself a quick way, like with a gun

Quote: EvenBob

Quote: DRich

Quote: EvenBob

Quote: ChumpChange

A 1 bedroom apartment may be only 500-700 square feet. A house is a few times bigger.
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My house is fairly large but I only live in a small portion of it, the whole upstairs here I rarely even go up there. But the point is all the space is there if I need it you never know when you're going to need it.
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You could always get a second wife and have some kids to utilize that space.
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Or I could just kill myself a quick way, like with a gun
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Just think, a harem of nagging women. (That’s a joke…)

Quote: rxwine

Surely someone on the internet somewhere has compared 30 years of home ownership to 30 years of rental.Or 20 years or somewhere long term.

There’s’ things you can control with both and things you can’t. Do you want a home in East Palestine right now after that train derailment or an apartment? Less hassle and waiting in an apartment to move. Maybe in the long run you make out on a settlement in several years from a home, but you might get screwed as well, plus the waiting.

Timing when you sell something is crucial, but not always knowable. I hate to snitch on my parents R.I.P. but they knew their last house had a whole septic system major problem, but it wasn’t something that the buyer knew.
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I'm not sure how you would measure that because it would depend how the money was invested, and when, not to mention when you bought and what rate you paid. It wasn't too long ago you could get a loan at 3% or so, now it is almost double. My aunt inherited almost 2,000 shares of Lucent that was up to almost $100. She decided she didn't want to pay tax so she kept it as it descended down its death spiral. It didn't change her life but pissing away two million dollars because you don't want to pay tax on it was crazy.

Another thing people don't seem to be considering, you have to compare the rent vs the mortgage for the same house. It is easy to say I pay $1,500 a month in rent and your house payment is $2,000 but you may be in a two bedroom apartment and I am in a five bedroom house. The question is the 5 bedroom house for a mortgage of $2,000 a month need to be compared to what you could rent that same 5 bedroom house for. Compare apples to apples.
Comparing a condo to an apartment in the same building might be a valid comparison.

A very outdated comparison might be $500/month rent vs a $150K condo. I don't know the math, and I wouldn't have more than $300/month income at $3/hr.

Updated: How many years do you have to pay for a condo?
After 12 years (two years down payment, 10 years installment) of paying your monthly mortgage plus interests and taxes, this will enable you to own a condo unit.
So 144 months x $1,000/month = $144K for the 800 square foot condo in dump-town, NY

Does it make sense to buy a condo for 3 years?
When you add up the cost to buy and the cost to sell, “The property will have had to appreciate about 10 percent for you to break even,” explains Ailion. That's why buying a condo is only recommended if you plan to live in it for at least 3-5 years. Otherwise, you could actually lose money when you sell.

Buying a Condo? Here’s What You Need to Know in 2021 - Credible
https://www.credible.com/blog/mortgages/buying-a-condo/#:~:text=Getting%20a%20mortgage%20for%20a,home%20as%20a%20riskier%20investment.

I might be able to buy a house for $170K in dumpier-town, NY.

Quote: EvenBob

Got my annual tax assessment today from the Township and the assessed value went up $15,000 from last year. That means my house has a cash value of $30,000 more than last year. Which is comical when you think that my family paid $8,000 for this property in 1960. I'll never sell it because I paid it off 35 years ago and I can live here for $145 a month which is what the property tax breaks down to. Where the hell can you live for $145 a month on two acres of land in the country with a creek that runs around the edge of the property. Don't tell me homeownership doesn't pay off. I had the Xfinity guy out here in November he was in his fifties and the leaves were off the trees so you could see the creek from my house at the top of the hill. I won't tell you what he said just take my word for it that it was nothing negative. I'm in the middle of a major remodel now because at my age I won't be able to do it again. Facebook Marketplace just paid off again, last night at 2:00 a.m. I saw a 100-year-old glass door kitchen hutch 30 miles from here for $25 and I immediately sent the woman a message and I went and picked it up today. That was before noon and she said she already had 12 people wanting to buy it if I didn't show up. If I was still in the antique business I could put $175 on this and sell it next week.
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I bought a handyman's special duplex a little over 10 years ago. Took about $70,000 all in to buy and make it right. My mortgage is less than any rent I ever had. It is less than some people I knew paid for cigarettes. We all got laid off, people were worrying about their rent. I was in a comfort zone. If I rent out the upstairs almost all my housing costs are covered. I had it paid off but used the equity to by a flip. Made on the flip about what I paid for the place I live. Paid it down when I sold. Bought stocks when the virus hit the market. Did great. Used the equity again to buy the house the old lady next door could no longer live in. Had a bum tenant last year but when I get a good one soon and have my upstairs rented oh yeah! Will take 1-2 years but will have enough to buy another flip or rental. Maybe build to sell. Who knows.

I will repeat, the USA in a generation will be a land of lords, peasants, and serfs. The serfs will be renters for life. Less hassle but zero equity. The peasants will be the class who own but with no equity. They will get equity by retirement perhaps. The lords will own with equity and have a rental or a few on the side. The serfs will be funding their retirement.

When I bought my last house about 8 years ago the price didn't appreciate all for the first 5 years. If I had to sell then it would have been a big net negative. Fortunately for me it appreciated over 50% they last two years and I made a couple hundred thousand on it. Unfortunately, when I bought my current house it was near the top of the market so I probably overpaid by about $150k based on my assumptions.

I do believe most houses will appreciate over a long period but if you plan on having it only a couple of years you are just gambling.

My friends bought their house off of Ft. Apache in 2007 and paid well over 500K for it. It went down in value almost immediately and took a decade to regain its former value. Had they been forced to sell, it would have been a bloodbath. If you sell at the height of the market, it usually means you buy your next house at the height as well. The trick is to sell at the height, rent for a few years and then buy at the bottom, but people are convinced renting is just throwing their money away and you can't be a real man without owning a home.
Most houses do appreciate over time, but that doesn't make them great investments.

Quote: billryan

My friends bought their house off of Ft. Apache in 2007 and paid well over 500K for it. It went down in value almost immediately and took a decade to regain its former value. Had they been forced to sell, it would have been a bloodbath. If you sell at the height of the market, it usually means you buy your next house at the height as well. The trick is to sell at the height, rent for a few years and then buy at the bottom, but people are convinced renting is just throwing their money away and you can't be a real man without owning a home.
Most houses do appreciate over time, but that doesn't make them great investments.
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The problem is you are thinking homes are ONLY investments. Unless you buy investment property the idea is you have a place to live and if you eventually sell you should at the leas keep up with inflation. Think of the mortgage interest as "rent" if you must. Bottom line is mortgage payments end in most cases after 360 payments. Rent NEVER ends. Between 5-7 years seems to be decision time. Around shorter then probably rent. Over 7 probably should buy. But in-between it depends on personal choices.

Taxes last forever. None of my family wanted my Aunts house when she died, as the taxes without her many discounts would have exceeded $23,000 a year and do nothing but go up.
Renting also makes it easier to close your estate when you pass. Nothing shows love of family like leaving a complicated estate for them to unwind.