how many of you live in a cheap house?

[Fritzo]

We started out like that. We bought a fixer-upper in 1994 for $37000 (it was a steal- it was abandoned for 2 years in a nice neighborhood). We fixed it up, put on siding and new windows, and lived there for 12 years. We sold it for about $90K, and used the profit to buy a $200K house in the 'burbs.

Housing used to be a great investment, and probably will be again some day. You'll lose your shirt if you buy now though.

 

[gar3555]

My wife and I live in a "cheap" house. 60's ranch2 story, full basement, 96k, 3br, 2b, 2 car garage on a double lot, 1600sqf. I live in a small midwest town, our monthly income could afford a house 1.5x this cost, but we are comfortable, and we love to be able to purchase anything we want when we want.

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: kranky
Ours is cheap, but it's paid for.

Those are the best kinds.

 

[mozirry]

Originally posted by: tfinch2

Originally posted by: kranky
Ours is cheap, but it's paid for.

Those are the best kinds.

paid for house would be unreal, Probably a necessity for retirement

 

[WTurner]

Originally posted by: RKS

Originally posted by: WTurner
Cheap housing rocks!!

Back in 2005 the wife and I had a home built outside of Louisville, Ky. 5 acreas, almost all flat was about 30k. The house was about $75k to have built. House is 2 story, 2 bed+2bath with a full basement. If we finished the basement we could have 2 more bedrooms and 1 more bath. Right now the house is 1200 s/f with detached 2 1/2 car garage. House will be paid for in about 5 years (weee!).

I don't understand people who must have a 2500 s/f house in a ritzy area. Seems like a waste of $$$. My wife is a banker (about 40k/y) and I'm an IT guy (about 50k/year). Neither of us went to college, we have no debts, we drive new cars (both paid for). We are able to have a nice small home and nice cars and other nice things (home furnishing and taking trips) because our mortgage is low. Sure we could buy a 300k house but why? We would be broke then. We are both 24.

We are going to take on some debt this fall though. My wife is starting pre-law and in the spring I am starting med school (pharmacy). Once we are out of school our year income should double for our area (90k becomes 180k). Are we going to get a bigger house? Hellz no! We'll be investing the rest. I want to retire at 55.

So without undergrad degrees and mortgage payments (and don't forget tuition unless you are getting loans); I assume at least one of you is going part-time. If she is going for a JD and you are going to become a pharmacist you are probably looking at least 7 to 10 years before both of you are working in you respective field.

I applaud you both for your goals and wish you the best of luck but you are in for some major life events.

As far as us; when we got married we never wanted to be 'house-poor'. In case either of us stopped working (attorney and cardiac rehab) we wanted to be able to afford our house. We have a tri-level that is about 1900 SF. We have now outgrown the home due to a large dog and 2 rugrats but it comes at the same time that my 'rents want to downsize from their mcmansion.

Right now we will both be going part time. We are taking out student loans (which is already taken care of). Basically the schooling isn't going to cost us anything out of pocket until we are both done. Once our house is paid off (been putting 20k/year towards the principle since it was built) my wife will stop working and go to school full time. I'll keep working (since I make more $$) and keep going part time.

We were married in 2003 and we wanted to "live" a little and get established before we went to college. I'm glad we did. When we get out of school our house will long have been paid for (our cars already are and I plan to keep them 10 years) and we will trade our two professional jobs now (banker and IT) for two higher paying professional jobs.

Thanks for the support! Spending money wisely is tough and to resist the temptation to buy excess crap or spend out of our price range (on cars for instance) is tough but doable. The reward comes later in life when you can take it easy.

The wife and I are both planning to retire at 55 or at a minimum both work part time. With all the saving we are doing now and getting the big things our of the way (house + starting long term investments) we should be set.

 

[alkemyst]

now is actually a great time to buy. Builders are giving major incentives, prices have dropped MAJORLY allowing one to buy at starter home prices in luxury neighborhoods, plus rates are at nearly the lowest ever...however they are moving up.

If you are planning on flipping properties then yeah, bad time now. If you are looking to live 5-7 years in a home then you shouldn't lose your shirt if you are buying smart right now.

 

[mozirry]

Originally posted by: alkemyst
now is actually a great time to buy. Builders are giving major incentives, prices have dropped MAJORLY allowing one to buy at starter home prices in luxury neighborhoods, plus rates are at nearly the lowest ever...however they are moving up.

If you are planning on flipping properties then yeah, bad time now. If you are looking to live 5-7 years in a home then you shouldn't lose your shirt if you are buying smart right now.

true dat

In hindsight, our "cheap" house that we bought a few years ago would be really friggin cheap right now =)

Probably like 10k cheaper IMO. Either way though, we love living here and we probably would have killed each other by now living in a 500sq ft apartment.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: mozirry

Originally posted by: alkemyst
now is actually a great time to buy. Builders are giving major incentives, prices have dropped MAJORLY allowing one to buy at starter home prices in luxury neighborhoods, plus rates are at nearly the lowest ever...however they are moving up.

If you are planning on flipping properties then yeah, bad time now. If you are looking to live 5-7 years in a home then you shouldn't lose your shirt if you are buying smart right now.

true dat

In hindsight, our "cheap" house that we bought a few years ago would be really friggin cheap right now =)

Probably like 10k cheaper IMO. Either way though, we love living here and we probably would have killed each other by now living in a 500sq ft apartment.

No, it's not a good time to buy. Have you guys been reading the news? Housing is expected to keep droping until early next year at soonest--- if you buy now your purchase could end up being worth $1000's less in a couple of months.

You want to wait until housing starts to rebound at least two months in a row.

 

[mozirry]

Originally posted by: Fritzo

Originally posted by: mozirry

Originally posted by: alkemyst
now is actually a great time to buy. Builders are giving major incentives, prices have dropped MAJORLY allowing one to buy at starter home prices in luxury neighborhoods, plus rates are at nearly the lowest ever...however they are moving up.

If you are planning on flipping properties then yeah, bad time now. If you are looking to live 5-7 years in a home then you shouldn't lose your shirt if you are buying smart right now.

true dat

In hindsight, our "cheap" house that we bought a few years ago would be really friggin cheap right now =)

Probably like 10k cheaper IMO. Either way though, we love living here and we probably would have killed each other by now living in a 500sq ft apartment.

No, it's not a good time to buy. Have you guys been reading the news? Housing is expected to keep droping until early next year at soonest--- if you buy now your purchase could end up being worth $1000's less in a couple of months.

You want to wait until housing starts to rebound at least two months in a row.

Well, I'm in St. Louis so the market here hasn't really been as effected (well at least in starter homes) as other big cities. We tend to have a good supply/demand market for housing, but I can tell that it is having an effect on prices.

 

[irishScott]

My parents bought the house that they're still living in for 200k. 1970s split-level. Doesn't sound that cheap, but when you consider that it's in the richest county (average income/household) in the country (Fairfax County, Northern VA), where most of the new homes are 800k-1mil+...

That said, I could never live in a huge house, or one with cathedral ceilings. I just don't get the point/praticality. Wasted air, wasted space, wasted material, wasted money, and an impossible to clean hugeass chandelier and/or ceiling fan for the dust to live on. 10 ft ceilings are about as high as I'll go.

I want a house with plenty of useful space (ie a large finished basement so I can have people over, large closets/bedrooms, 3 car garage, etc).

 

[Oceandevi]

My house appraises for 99k we bought for 74k. 1950 sq ft. 4 bedrooms. 2 bath. it was a foreclosure. its old as hell though built in the 50's

 

[SlickSnake]

"I live in a van, down by the river!" Chris Farley sketch from SNL

I actually live in a nice mobile home next to a large lake. Which many here would choose to poke fun at. However, it is PAID for. So poke away, home debtors with adjustable rate mortgages.

Eventually I may sell this for 2 or 3 times what I spent on the land and the home, and move on. But for now, it works out just fine. And land values are steadily going up in this area, which most of you can't brag about in this economic real estate hurricane and new depression we are now in.

 

[minendo]

My house is 909 sq ft upstairs and the finished section of the basement adds an additional 440 square feet. Bought it for $68,000 2 years ago and in a few days it will be just me living here. House was built in the 1920's, but remodeled/updated in 2002 or so.

 

[thedarkwolf]

$42k 900sq-ft with a garage and double lot 6 years ago. Just a single dude and don't need a lot of room.

 

[BoomerD]

$130K, 1700 sq. ft, built in 97, we bought it in 1999. 4 bdrms, 2 baths, 2 car garage, typical Kahleeforneeya stucco subdivision house. At the peak in 2005, it was valued at just over $400K, but sadly, it'd down...down....down...current zillow.com estimate about $275K.

BTW, my property taxes are about $1450/year. Give you all something to compare to.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: SlickSnake
"I live in a van, down by the river!" Chris Farley sketch from SNL

I actually live in a nice mobile home next to a large lake. Which many here would choose to poke fun at. However, it is PAID for. So poke away, home debtors with adjustable rate mortgages.

Eventually I may sell this for 2 or 3 times what I spent on the land and the home, and move on. But for now, it works out just fine. And land values are steadily going up in this area, which most of you can't brag about in this economic real estate hurricane and new depression we are now in.

I am not sure why you feel the need to start the defense of your mobile home from the get go bashing those with real homes. Not many of us were as stupid as possibly your meant-to-rent friends that jumped on board with adj. rate interest only mortgages to get more house than they were 'entitled' too.

 

[child of wonder]

What's "cheap?"

We live in South Dakota near Sioux Falls and our house is a new construction. It was $140,000 for a 950 sq ft split foyer 2 bed, 1 bath with a triple stall garage, unfinished basement, and 13,000 sq ft lot. Since then we spent about $15,000 finishing the basement turning it into a 4 bedroom, 2 bath house with 1700 sq ft. finished. We rolled the mortgage fees into the loan since this was our first home so our loan is for $145,000 and our mortgage payment is $1072 per month.

In CA our mortgage would be tiny. In some Southern states or ND it might be big. In SD $200,000 would get someone a very nice house (4 bed, 2.5 bath, 2000+ sq ft, etc).

 

[blert]

Live in a 1950's 1750 SF 3 bed 1 bath house on just a little over 4 acres, located in western Washington. Paid $79,000 back in 2001, will have it paid off sometime in the last quarter of 2009. I've done extensive remodeling and upgraging of all the insulation, wiring, plumbing, flooring, etc, but because I've done it myself it cost me what I paid for the materials (and permits).

I'll take my "modest" house and where I live over a $500,000 McMansion with a postage stamp sized yard located someplace trendy any day- even if I could afford it.

Don't see myself moving real soon unless something super drastic happens.

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: onlyCOpunk
It just depends where people's priorities are.

If people want an unnecessarily large house and matching hummers let them have it. It's when people start lording their material possessions over others is where it gets silly.

But in most of the American mind big house/big car=i'm better then you

Perception from others, perhaps. I personally want a big house because I would love a big house. If others think something from that, that's their problem.

 

[BabaBooey]

I live in a P.O.S. 100 + yr old house and have one,yes 1 electrical outlet in my room and it is not even grounded,cannot shower and do wash at same time ro any two things involving the water / plumbing,just a shithole overall but it is all I can afford on fixed income ...yay for me !!


Wheres my prize for being the biggest loser ?