Morris

That house Dave would be 2.5 M almost anywhere in town. Minimum.

dlq04

That's why I can't comprehend housing values outside the mid-west. I saw a report this week of a 2-room house being listed at $800k and they think it might sell for $1M because of the location. Do people really make enough in salaries to afford houses like that or are they always house poor?

Scooterboy

Six years ago we purchased our house that is a little over 1700 sq ft, 3 bedroom, 2 bath with full basement and a three car garage. We only own the land that the house sits on. The rest of the yard belongs to the HOA and they maintain it. With certain upgrades the house only cost a little over $300K. Anywhere else in the country we would have to pay over $400K+ We did have to pay an HOA fee but it isn't too bad for what we get.

Morris

I don’t know, Dave. A working couple can make 300,000 per year, but how much house would that buy?
Many are buying up from a cheaper house, I would guess, so not taking on as much debt as a first time home buyer. My first home in 1973 was 42K. Second was 76K then 99K. But that last one sold for 500K twenty years later and we used that to build our fourth home. That 99K house is now worth between 1.5 and 2M because of where it is, in San Jose.

zeroptzero

Oddly enough my wife's family is from the Azores and I would prefer the Azores as a very simple place, but my wife likes the mainland. Maybe a bit further north of Lisbon, in the Porto area.

Honda 367

We went to Ikea to pick up some stuff and I was a bit surprised how much their Swedish Meatball cost now. It was $8.99. I remember when it was much less. I guess it's the inflation. It still tasted great with mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. I enjoy visiting Ikea. We packed our stuff and then went back in for a lunch.

zeroptzero

I recall reading a recent article of people earning $300k US a year income and they live paycheque to paycheque. Their monthly vehicle lease/finance costs were $3,500 a month, plus a whole host of other expenses including home. This isn't a world I am familiar with, but nothing surprises me anymore.

boltonblue

Scoots,
I pretty sure I couldn't cope with an HOA. I don't play well with others.

dlq04

That’s a world I can’t relate to. Off the top of my head, I think we paid $20k for our first house, a nice 3-bedroom ranch. Sold it for about $40k to buy our second one. When it came time to sell that one, I was lucky to break even as the market was flooded with people taking losses on brand new houses. GM moved their operations to TX, and announced the closing of the local plant, so it was not the time to sell any home near Pontiac MI, where we lived at the time but I had just gotten a job transfer and had no choice. The value of my current house is about 4 times what I paid for it. Based on the upgrades, insulation, all the windows, landscaping, etc. I estimate I could make enough profit from selling today to buy an S2000.

And I am not complaining. We have no desire to move anywhere. I was happy it was paid off when I retired a couple decades ago. I never bought it with the idea of flipping it, just enjoying it.

dlq04

Jerry, I doubt I would do well in a HOA either. I fought a county official for three years over where I wanted to put up a garage.