How many pulling off ER w/o pension and inheritance

[youbet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by macdaddy I think I could pull this off easily in a cheap place in the midwest with solid public schools.

Oxymoron

Quote:

125k for a nice 4 bedroom, 3 bath house = less than 1000 a month in payments.

Wow. Where in the midwest would this be? Even in a rural area, a 4 bdrm, 3 bath house in nice shape is going to cost a bunch more than $125K.

[Martha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by youbet Wow. Where in the midwest would this be? Even in a rural area, a 4 bdrm, 3 bath house in nice shape is going to cost a bunch more than $125K.

We just looked at a house in rural (very rural) Minnesota that had four bedrooms and two baths and was about 1800 square feet on 5 acres. They were asking $279,000.

[macdaddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by youbet Oxymoron Wow. Where in the midwest would this be? Even in a rural area, a 4 bdrm, 3 bath house in nice shape is going to cost a bunch more than $125K.

Lincoln, Nebraska... Des Moines, Iowa... I know in both of these places a decent 1800 sq ft home runs around 125k or less. You won't have 5 acres (maybe half an acre). But it's a nice starter home. In Texas, there are tons of places where homes are around $50 psf. But property taxes are higher.

[unclemick]

85k, 1100 sq ft, sept 2005, 513/mo PITI, 3 bedroom one bath in the city of Saint Joseph MO.

Way too expensive compared to my fishcamp in the Louisiana swamp.

Heh heh heh heh

[FinanceDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by macdaddy Lincoln, Nebraska... Des Moines, Iowa... I know in both of these places a decent 1800 sq ft home runs around 125k or less. You won't have 5 acres (maybe half an acre). But it's a nice starter home. In Texas, there are tons of places where homes are around $50 psf. But property taxes are higher.

Not in Lincoln. Nebraska, anymore. And not West Des Monies, Maybe in Ames, or outside of Ames............

[WRBT]

I doubt you could say that as an absolute.

Here's one from the many $125kish in Lincoln on realtor.com:
http://tinyurl.com/ylrkul

Here's a starter home in Lincoln for $125k on craigslist:
http://lincoln.craigslist.org/rfs/245667139.html

Surely the Taj Mahal but I think it fairly supports poster's claim that one can obtain single family home for about $125k in Lincoln, NE.

[dt123]

Here's a nice neighborhood in Plano, TX with excellent public schools. http://tinyurl.com/y2xsdc My mom lives on this street, fourth house from the western end of Potomac on the north side. $137,000.

It amazes me what a lifetime hit to their finances folks living on the coasts voluntarily take.

[tryan]

Quote:

I'd like to see a houshold budget where the folks save 50% a year, have two kids, a mortgage, etc. AND, they make less than $100K a year. THAT WOULD BE A BUDGET!!!

Had the 2 kids, mortgage and less than 100k but could only save 25%. Excluding RE appreciation, of course.

[brewer12345]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dt123 It amazes me what a lifetime hit to their finances folks living on the coasts voluntarily take.

Until you compare the appreciation of costal property vs. flyover country...

[JohnDoe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tryan Had the 2 kids, mortgage and less than 100k but could only save 25%. Excluding RE appreciation, of course.

That's about where I am, however, I'm trying to squeeze another 5%. Also paying extra on mortgage principal.

[youbet]

Hmmmmm....... No one has come up with an example of a nice, four bedroom, three bath home in the midwest for $125K. So, let's just say that even here in the heartland, housing just isn't that inexpensive anymore!

[WRBT]

Well "nice" is a pretty open-ended term so saying can or can't is a pointless exercise, but just for grins:

Topeka:


Omaha:


Wichita


Lincoln:

[WRBT]

Myanmar:

[HFWR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dt123 Here's a nice neighborhood in Plano, TX with excellent public schools. http://tinyurl.com/y2xsdc My mom lives on this street, fourth house from the western end of Potomac on the north side. $137,000. It amazes me what a lifetime hit to their finances folks living on the coasts voluntarily take.

And it's close to the mall... :P

[fluffy]

New Centex homes in DFW area: http://foxandjacob.com/M21513D1317.asp?dd=TX Many start under $125K

[youbet]

Well......... nothing offered seems to be four bedrooms and three baths. We can leave "nice" out of the equation and just say "in good repair."

Anyway, I was just referring to macdaddy's post where he was hoping to build his budget around a low mortgage based on buying a "nice four bedroom three bath" house in the midwest for $125K.

Sadly, per my knowledge of the upper midwest and from what you folks have shown, it just doesn't happen anymore. Even out here, away from the coasts, a four bedroom three bath house in good repair costs a lot more than $125K.

[WRBT]

That's simply not true.

There are plenty of 4/3 midwest houses on the internet, some of which have been shown in this thread. You have no way of supporting the claim that they're not in good repair, you're just working from a conclusion and ignoring evidence to the contrary.

My mother-in-law lives in Omaha and we know very well the condition of her house and it's value... it doesn't support your claim.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dt123 It amazes me what a lifetime hit to their finances folks living on the coasts voluntarily take.

Well, it's winter on most of the Mainland right now and I'm surrounded by "living on the coasts". So why don't you come out here for a couple weeks, I'll teach you how to surf if you don't already, we'll explore some of the cultural & natural resources within 30 minutes of my door, and we'll evaluate the benefits against that "lifetime hit" to the finances...

Quote:

Originally Posted by youbet Anyway, I was just referring to macdaddy's post where he was hoping to build his budget around a low mortgage based on buying a "nice four bedroom three bath" house in the midwest for $125K.

When I look around our 4/2.5 and imagine life after the kid leaves the nest, I think we have one or two bedrooms too many. Why in the world would we want a house big enough to encourage our kids or, even worse, our parents-in-law to move back in?

[macdaddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by youbet Well......... nothing offered seems to be four bedrooms and three baths. We can leave "nice" out of the equation and just say "in good repair." Anyway, I was just referring to macdaddy's post where he was hoping to build his budget around a low mortgage based on buying a "nice four bedroom three bath" house in the midwest for $125K. Sadly, per my knowledge of the upper midwest and from what you folks have shown, it just doesn't happen anymore. Even out here, away from the coasts, a four bedroom three bath house in good repair costs a lot more than $125K.

I'm pretty familiar with Lincoln and what I described does exist... definitely in Texas too... property taxes are high in both places, though. Maybe I should have said "decent" instead of "nice" and 3 bed 2 bath rather than 4 bed 3 bath. In a lot of places $125k is still quite a bit of money to put on a house.

Personally, I agree with nords, that higher prices on the coasts and in nice areas are generally justified. Maybe Texas is an exception, because a lot of people love living there, there is a lot of stuff to do, and it's dirt cheap.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by macdaddy Maybe Texas is an exception, because a lot of people love living there, there is a lot of stuff to do, and it's dirt cheap.

Dirt cheap isn't what it used to be <said the curmudgeon>. In my case it (land price) has almost doubled in the past 5 years. Must be them dang Californians...


Edit: Defined "it" as the price of land.