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Buying vs. renting your domicile
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If one of your reasons for getting out of the housing market is to escape the volatility of being subjected to the whims of a landlord... don't get into a HOA (we call them Body Corporates in Aus... they seem to be slightly more regulated here).
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I'm just gonna tell you right now you are wrong. 10,000 euros is a little over $12,000 US right now. The only place where you are going to purchase a home for that amount is in detroit where there are over 50,000 houses for sale in the metro area alone. Even then its going to be a complete shithole surrounded by shitholes in a giant community that is likened to a shithole.
edit: the problem with HOAs is that it is a win/win for the developer's, the association, and the local government. It is not necessarily a win for the homeowner. The developer gets to pass on all legal and financial responsibility to the association once a certain number of lots are sold. Not houses; lots. The local government gets to increase its tax base while not providing any services to that community. They also can levy even more property taxes on things they would normally not be able to because the municipality would own them. Because the HOA owns them they are taxable. The association essentially becomes a de-facto level of government that is not subject to constitutional constraints that an actual municipal government is subject to. This is how the HOA gets its powers. They can do as they please because they do not answer to anyone. If you don't like it you will quickly find yourself finding a new home.
Homeowners get fucked because in general HOAs are very undemocratic. If someone wishes to sue a board member they must do so at their own expense. Any liability they incur is also at their own expense whereas the association's insurance cover's their legal costs as well as any judgement that might come against them. Homeowners also get to pay double taxes. They pay their normal property taxes to the municipality and then they pay again to the association. They do this because the municipality does not render any services and it is up to the association to maintain streets, lights, sidewalks, sewer systems, and all other common property like community pools and parks. So as a homeowner you pay property taxes to the municipality as well as the association. You also pay your standard association assessment fees and dues.
Not to mention in most cases where you're only paying $12,000 for a house, it will most likely be uninhabitable and require major upgrades to legally be able to live in the house. Most of the cheap shitty houses for sale in detroit have been gutted of anything remotely valuable, including wiring and pipes, so they're basically empty shells.
Yes, perverts.
Did you get a permit for that?
He's just a Kilroy.
Where I live, there are habitable houses for sale between $10,000 and $20,000. They would require some major upgrades if you want to secure an FHA loan, but otherwise, you could buy them outright, sink $10,000 more into it and sell it for two to three times what you put into it.
Hence the low home prices. The demand is relatively low, because most people don't want to live there.
That's just fine with me. The town is just the right size with just the right number of people and just the right distance away from the big city with all it's crime and other problems.
Not saying that you're wrong cause I don't know real estate in your area, but a demonstrable 100-200% profit margin would have speculators in there fast flipping things until that profit margin were pushed down considerably. So if that $15K fixer-upper were in good condition there would be buyers at $50-75K?
Yeah, I get that it's what you want. However it's not what most of us want, hence the very low home prices.
Wants are heavily outweighed by needs. Don't speak for anyone but yourself.
edit: how long has it been since the OP posted?
If you're implying that most people would in fact want to live there, the low home prices are direct evidence against that.
You keep using that word 'want.' People would happily flock there if their needs could be met. As a smaller community has limited resources, especially steady incomes, there is a limit to the needs that can be met. Especially the needs that enable one to own their own house. As I'm sure you are fairly aware we have a large housing glut in this country and it is nationwide problem. A glut of houses in an area with limited economic resources will, and I was just as surprised as you about this, cause low housing prices.
Is a bustling and interesting city a need or a want? :wink:
Needs fuel wants so you tell me.
It's amusing that you're going to such lengths to basically agree with me.
What is more amusing is that you cannot seem to grasp wants vs. needs. Do I need to write this in crayon? People want to live there but out of necessity they cannot despite the home prices being low. It takes a lot more than low housing prices to attract population.
That said this is far off topic and the OP has not posted in many pages. This thread has run its course and I shall let it end appropriately.
Since there's not, they're low. It's great that some people's needs can be met so they have the luxury of being able to pay less for housing. Since this particular area cannot meet the needs OR wants of most people, housing is cheap.
This is not rocket science.
I seem to have a penchant for starting H/A threads that turn into D&D threads... that's what happened to my "how often should you bathe" thread and it looks like that's where this one's going =p
This depends whether you found work in that small town, or whether you commute into the city. If you commute into the city, you're spending upwards of 40+ hours a week on the road...what value are you placing on your time? Then there's also gas.
If you did find work in that small town, you're still talking about limiting your economic mobility...basically you may have a good job there now, but what if you decide you would like to move on? Then you're faced with either selling and moving, or the aforementioned commute.
Even in the city, you face the same decisions...what part of town you buy in can mean either limiting your employment options in the future, or subjecting yourself to a long commute if you change jobs. Whereas renting, that just means moving if you change jobs...yeah, moving's not cheap, but moving plus the cost of selling a house is definitely more expensive.
a want my dear, but not something i want if i spent more than 2 days in cork city (population 500,000 so not excessive by usa standards) my head would explode because i couldnt take all the people and noise. i mean where i live is fine im half an hour from limerick city, 1 hour to an hour and a half from cork (depending on trafic) im 12 miles from 3 large towns and 16 miles from 2 masive towns (the 12 miles is nearly walking distance for me but i have a car now so yay!) and yet where i live all you see is a few trucks, mabey a neighbour and cars takeing the back way to cork city from limerick city in the space of a day.... and of a lively day you see the German vet down the road riding her horse. My town has a population of about 2000 people (that includes farmland areas within a few miles of the town) and we have a fast food resteraunt, cafe, chineese resteraunt, 8 regular pubs and one that serves hot food all day, we have one clothes shop, a gentelmans and ladies tailors, 5 hairdressers, 2 small supermarkets, one small grocery shop and one shop sells a small amount of grocaries as well as fancy goods, designer ornements and house hold items (such as waterford and swavorski crystal, as well as stafordshire and royal ainsley china ware) also we have a bookies, a library, a sports field, 2 masive schools (students come from a 20 mile radious) and a labour exchange (social welfare office) 2 factories (used to be 3 before my mother closed her factory) countless mechanics and builders and i have forgotten what else we have. and all in the midle of nowhere. oh i forgot the off licence the 2 chemists the 2 hardware shops, the poliece station the 2 doctors plus the seperate out of hours doctor service, the all day childcare centre, free psychiatric service, and the fact that almost every business in town is licenced for tobacco and alcohol and also the licenced arms dealer at the other side of the town. so things are pretty great outside the city.....
sorry for the long rant but i hate people talking up the cities and treating the country side like it has plague or something i do appologise for the rant.
But there's a reason it's cheaper. Fewer people can/want to live there. There's nothing more to it than that.
This is silly.
There are more than six sources of respectable income within thirty minutes of where I live. Having to commute is not a big deal. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions do it every day. It's just a part of life nowadays.
Which is why I wouldn't sell the house if I moved. I'd rent it out.
It's not because people don't want to live there. It's just the way the housing market works. Smaller, rural towns are typically cheaper. Especially in older neighborhoods of existing homes. I could buy a $100k to $250k new or near-to-new house in this very same town. Obviously the job market in a small town is going to be smaller, but if you live close enough to a major market like Indy and you don't mind an hour commute... there's absolutely no reason to spend $1500 to $2000 on a mortgage unless you just absolutely have to live in the city and have a huge house.
That's the problem with the housing market. Banks made huge mortgages easier for people to get and they thought they could afford these 4000+ sq ft homes or extensive property in high priced neighborhoods. People bought beyond their means because they though they were owed it, that they deserved it.
I live in Smalltown USA because I like it here. The low cost of living is just a bonus. It means I don't have to worry as much about finding the perfect job to meet all my needs. Hell, if I had a roomate or convinced my girlfriend to move in with me, I could pay for all my bills and have enough leftover to put into savings each week by working at McDonald's or something. If I paid of my car, since everything I need is within two to ten minutes walking distance, I could still live comfortably on minimum wage. That is a huge benefit to living in a smaller, rural town.
Hopefully this back and forth discussion has helped the OP realize what questions they need to ask of themselves and their situation... since we haven't heard from them in awhile.
If more people wanted to live there, housing would be more expensive.
It's 1 hour+ commute to Chicago, or about 30 mins to New Lenox, which has a pop of 17,000.
So message to the OP who has forgot about this, is real estate markets vary widely by geographic and geopolitical boundaries. When you do go home shopping, it's recommend then, that you find an agent who will find those purple horseshoes and red balloons in your market.
You're confusing supply with demand.
Anyway, sounds like the OP has what he needs.
We'll fight them to the death if they want to move here!
This is mind blowing. 376 dollars for a 3 bedroom? How much was the house, like 2 grand? My rent for a 1 bedroom is 1200 dollars
no one's telling him he shouldn't enjoy it
some of us are just pointing out that housing prices there seem like a good deal because there's not nearly as much demand for housing as there is in higher priced areas
I'm sure he does like it there and I'm happy for him, but he hasn't stumbled on some amazing housing secret
most of us don't want to live in the country
it's always funny when someone assumes that someone else must be angry just because they have a different point of view
I can't enjoy living in the country, so why is trying to force his opinion on me?
I think anyone that spends a fortune just to live in the "city" is a silly goose. The benefits don't outweigh the costs imo. Especially when commuting along interstate highways makes the commute a non-issue. Unless of course you just can't drive for whatever reason.