Home Ownership Overated?

[Bob_Smith]

I should have noticed that... as you can tell I have no training in this. I just fly by the seat of my pants. But now I know - no backslashes in URLs. Thanks for the help.

 

[azanon]

Since I was going to have to a pay "a" mortgage one way or the other, I simply rationalized that it made more sense to pay my own mortgage rather than someone elses. So I bought.

 

[BigMoneyJim]

If you are in one of those kinds of locations and will remain there for 5-7 years and more then it may make sense to buy.

That's the real rub. I have no roots at the moment. I may consider a condo next move, but it'll have to look good on the balance sheet to make me consider committing.

3-2-2 == 3 bedroom + 2 bath + 2 ?

-car garage

 

[KB]

I'd take one of those houses for 100k. But I'm not too sure about moving to Iowa though. What's your weather like in Iowa?

 

[John Galt]

Re. the 100K house in Iowa, it's the same where we are
(Illinois). The house shown would sell for under 100K here also. I mentioned before in our subdivision, it is
rare for a property to sell for over 100K. These are nice
(but smaller) cottages with up to 100 feet of water
frontage. My favorite deal lately was a tavern which had been
used as an apartment for years. A real fixer-upper
but probably 2500 to 3000 SF on a big lot, but not on the water. Also, it is close to a highway which was
nice when it was a tavern. Someone bought it to use
as a single family home. So far, new paint, new doors,
landscaping. Looks good. They bought the whole thing for $25,000. In my younger days I would have been on
it like a cheap suit.


John Galt

 

[Bob_Smith]

When I was a kid, I was a fanatic about baseball, and Bob Feller was my absolute favorite.

Jarhead, I heard a lot about Bob Feller growing up. He was a favorite of my Dad. When I was a kid Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee Reese were doing the play by play and my favorites were Harmon Killebrew, Willie Mays, Roger Maris, Sandy Koufax... Those were great times.

My wife's family was immersed in baseball. Her grandfather was an attorney and worked as Judge Landis' assistant. When Landis died he became acting Commissioner of Baseball until Happy Chandler took over, and then he went on to be General Manager of the White Sox and President of the Pacific Coast League. My mother-in-law grew up with Landis and other sports figures visiting her home.

 

[Bob_Smith]

I'd take one of those houses for 100k.  But I'm not too sure about moving to Iowa though.  What's your weather like in Iowa?

KB, the weather here is typical midwest. It gets hot as hell in the summer and bitterly cold in the winter. Probably the best thing about Iowa is that there isn't much here of interest to attract crowds. But if you can find a decent paying job in a small town, it's a good place to raise kids (the schools are good in my town) and you can live very cheaply. If I needed to be at the office at 7:30 AM, I left at 7:25 and parked next to the door. I came home for lunch every day. There is no crime to speak of here - the kids could take off on their bikes and we didn't worry. I worked 4 ten-hour days/week and my wife around 15-20 hours, her mostly at home. In fact I never worked more than 40 hours a week. So we had a good life while working and raising three kids, and I recently ER'd at 52. I probably couldn't have done that in too many places.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I'd take one of those houses for 100k. But I'm not too sure about moving to Iowa though. What's your weather like in Iowa?

Just like Canada without the invasion planning, the beer, and the back bacon. 8)

 

[sgeeeee]

Hi Bob,

I got lucky with my house in Iowa. I moved there in 1995 and bought a nice house with a finished walkout basement and a barn on about 3 wooded acres. I sold it 5 and 1/2 years later at a price 24% higher than my buying price. Clearly, not California type earnings, but I was pretty happy.

I was lucky because Shueyville is located half way between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids (about 20 miles from each). A lot of people were beginning to look for property outside of town, so farmers had started sub-dividing fields and putting in houses. But just a year before I moved, the county put a moratorium on further house development in the area until a plan for road maintenance to support the additional traffic could be established. I just happened to be selling when property values in the area were rising.

 

[sgeeeee]

By the way, Iowa was a nice place to live for all the reasons Bob mentioned -- no crime, no crowds, and some of the best schools in the nation. The good school thing pays dividends everywhere. I liked the way the political caucus process worked too. I think Iowans had more reasonable political discussions because they had to learn how to talk with their neighbors about the issues if they wanted to participate in the process. The caucus is also a true melting pot -- no class structure there.

 

[trumpeting_angel]

I think hating to fix things, hating yard work, and moving frequently might make buying a little less of a great investment. But if a young single person could tolerate a little fixing and mowing, s/he could always rent out the property when it came time to move (depending, of course, on all those things that depends on). Especially if it were a multifamily, although I've done this with a single-family house and lots of people do it with condos (good for the maintenance-averse, if you can get it for a good price to begin with and dont' forget to factor in condo fees). Gotta really hunt for those bargains, especially during a time of inflated real estate prices such as we have in many areas of the country now.

If one found a way to buy and hold, and buy another property where you moved next, it could be the beginnings of an empire. . .

This is not, of course, for those who cannot tolerate landlording or home maintenance.

Anne

 

[John Galt]

Hello Anne. Re. "this is not , of course, for those who cannot tolerate landlording or home maintenance",
you could add, or "just any work at all", which would
pretty much describe your humble correspondent

John Galt

 

[bow-tie]

KB, the weather here is typical midwest. It gets hot as hell in the summer and bitterly cold in the winter. Probably the best thing about Iowa is that there isn't much here of interest to attract crowds.

Bob_Smith,
If you don't mind, may I ask where you live in Iowa?

We live just outside Cedar Rapids, and the urban sprawl is beginning to envelop our small town. I wish I knew where all theses people are coming from, so I could send them back

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I wish I knew where all theses people are coming from, so I could send them back

Do they say "Ay?" a lot?

Seriously though...we have the same thing here in CA. I moved from the SF bay area a couple of hours away up to sacramento. It was like moving to Mars. Nothing and nobody. Within 7 years the area was incredibly overbuilt, shopping malls and strip malls were springing up everywhere and like the bay area, you didnt want to be out on the road during rush hours. Supposedly these are all people who were cashing out of their double and quadruple valued homes in the bay area. My home had appreciated by more than 50%. So I moved another 45 minutes north to Yuba City.

Within the last six months theres been a tremendous building boom. A few weeks ago a couple of hundred acres of peach orchard around the corner from my house was mowed down to make room for a gazillion more homes. A sign just got posted in front of a nearby field for a 300,000 square foot retail mall, right next to the new home depot.

Supposedly, these are all the people who cant afford to live in sacramento anymore, and the people who sold their double value homes there cashing in and moving to cheaper digs. My house is up 30% in a year.

I already snooped at real estate prices an hour or so away to the north, northeast and northwest...relatively thinly settled areas in the "middle of nowhere". Prices have already jumped to keep pace.

Like you, I have no idea where these people are coming from, unless the SF bay area has simply emptied itself. In which case I'm curious as to who has bought and is buying all those overpriced homes down there.

Although the traffic did seem a little meager the last time I went down there...

 

[Hyperborea]

We live just outside Cedar Rapids, and the urban sprawl is beginning to envelop our small town.

It seems that Cedar Rapids has a pop. of 120,000. I don't think that counts as urban.

 

[Bob_Smith]

Bob_Smith,
If you don't mind, may I ask where you live in Iowa?  

We live just outside Cedar Rapids, and the urban sprawl is beginning to envelop our small town.  I wish I knew where all theses people are coming from, so I could send them back

Bow-tie, we're near Waterloo now, but the house I posted is in Storm Lake, which is where we plan to move. I have noticed that the CR/Iowa City area is spreading.

 

[bow-tie]

It seems that Cedar Rapids has a pop. of 120,000.  I don't think that counts as urban.  

Hey Hyper-
When you're a hayseed like I am, 50k+ is URBAN!


Bob_Smith
Heading to Storm Lake, huh? Home of Buena Vista College. Had some good friends that went to school there. Very beautiful college town.

Yeah, the corridor, as the econcomic development group likes to call it, between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, is growing like gangbusters. Makes me want to move farther west, but with paycheck(s) coming form Cedar Rapids, it makes it difficult to move farther away. :-/

 

[bow-tie]

Seriously though...we have the same thing here in CA.  I moved from the SF bay area a couple of hours away up to sacramento.  It was like moving to Mars.  Nothing and nobody.  Within 7 years the area was incredibly overbuilt, shopping malls and strip malls were springing up everywhere and like the bay area, you didnt want to be out on the road during rush hours.  

Like you, I have no idea where these people are coming from, unless the SF bay area has simply emptied itself.  In which case I'm curious as to who has bought and is buying all those overpriced homes down there.

TH,

Although probably not on the same scale as what is experienced elsewhere, this area here is undergoing a very similar growth period. I, for the life of me, can't understand where the people are coming from. My guess is, perhaps some of the bigger cities near us, like Chicago / Twin Cities / St. Louis, using some of their housing gains to move to a lower cost area, and building huge homes. Otherwise, I haven't the foggiest how any of these people are affording the houses that are being built around here.

 

[John Galt]

Well, I know where our new neighbors are coming from.
The Chicago area! (90 miles east). Most new neighbors
come out here from the suburbs, look at the prices and
say "Damn, how can we go wrong?" Answer: they
can't. Nor can we, as we are already here and the
Chicago invasion shows no sign of decline.

John Galt

 

[Cut-Throat]

Bow-tie, we're near Waterloo now, but the house I posted is in Storm Lake, which is where we plan to move. I have noticed that the CR/Iowa City area is spreading.

Bob,

I grew up in Worthington, Minnesota which is not too far North of Storm Lake.

I can't say many nice things about the weather in Worthington. The land was bascially flat and treeless. The wind was always blowing. In fact they hold the national windsurfing championships in Worthington, because it is one of the windiest places in the U.S. - On the lake I grew up fishing - Lake Okabena. I did not know what a trout looked like until I moved to Minneapolis.

The winters were very harsh in the 60's - 2 inches of snow with that wind would produce 10 foot drifts. I was snowed in at Souix falls South Dakota in 1968 with 36 inches of snow for 3 days - 60 miles from home - 20 foot drifts.

The summers were above 90 degrees and the wind still blew hot! 8)

I hope the weather is better in Storm Lake for you - Why are you going to move there?

 

[Jarhead*]

[quote author=TH link=board=young;num=1093200276;start=30#39 date=08/24/04 at 12:58:

I already snooped at real estate prices an hour or so away to the north, northeast and northwest...relatively thinly settled areas in the "middle of nowhere".  Prices have already jumped to keep pace.

TH: No bargains in Chico.
Actually, Chico is a pretty unique little city. Self-contained in that too far from Sacramento or Bay Area to make a commute.
The price of admission has always been higher in Chico than any other town north of Sacramento, and currently about on par with Sacramento.
You were talking about large property losses in Sacramento, after the last peak, that occurred in 1990 forword. Chico property stayed flat for about 5 years, but there was only isolated cases where folks sold at a loss.
Sacramento went through a large scale military base closures that added to their problems about that time.
Chico is pretty much recession proof, as there are 17,000 sudents at Chico State, and Chico has become a regional shopping center for most of the surrounding area. It was also on the front cover of Kiplinger magazine about 6 years ago, as the best place in the country (Towns less than 100,000 ), for an active retirement. It has the largest Municipal Park (Bidwell Park) in the country. (3400 acres).
In an effort to hold down growth, the city has a very aggressive green belt policy, that of course adds to the supply & demand equation.
All in all, it has always been a pretty solid spot for real estate.
By the way, I don't live in Chico, but have always liked the town.

 

[Bob_Smith]

I hope the weather is better in Storm Lake for you - Why are you going to move there?

My parents live there and are getting older. I'll see more of my siblings too when they come to visit. So it's due to family, although we like the town. I'm not moving there for the weather, that's for sure, although it's pretty typical weather for the upper midwest. The midwest with its winters is not a place for sissies.

 

[Martha]

I grew up in Worthington, Minnesota which is not too far North of Storm Lake.

I can't say many nice things about the weather in Worthington.

I spent a summer working in Worthington as a college student. It was hotter than then blazes and I was nauseated all summer from the smells of fertilizer and animal waste.

Martha

 

[Cut-Throat]

I spent a summer working in Worthington as a college student.  It was hotter than then blazes and I was nauseated all summer from the smells of fertilizer and animal waste.  Martha

I can't say many good things about the place. Where did you work there?

 

[Martha]

I can't say many good things about the place. Where did you work there?

Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (legal aid), helping people out with social security disability appeals.

Martha