The housing dilemma

Automatik Senior Member

15,737 posts 99 reps Joined Nov 2009

Wed, Dec 11, 2024 2:05 PM

Just using this as a place to vent and wondering if others are in the same boat.

I've been hopping around with temp leases since ~2021. I'm over it and I REALLY want to buy something to basically "get in the game", potential investment property, build equity, blah blah. By late-spring 2025, I should be able to make a move or at least get more serious about it.

The dilemma is where? What and how much to spend? Do I keep waiting/stacking cash. Rent forever? Condo or house? Settle for something meh, live in it, then rent it out.

I don't really want to sign a long term lease, furnish it, and then potentially buy and bounce. I'm happy with the temp/furnished lease setups. They aren't that hard to find.

I go back and forth constantly between Denver, East Nashville, or possibly the suburbs of Nashville (I'm pretty sure this option would kill my soul).

Denver is my #1 choice, but obviously the most expensive. Costs here are just fucking absurd and paired with the interest rates, it will take a monster down payment to make it doable and not end up "house poor." I'm currently living in the Rino area of Denver, I'd kill to buy a place here and it would be a very solid investment, but still crazy inflated. 600k apartments. Yay.

4 years ago I'd have no problem with any of these options. Our HH income is in the fucking 94th percentile and owning where we want still seems out of reach. Very frustrating.

Here's to hoping Donald's supreme influence can decrease rates. If they get closer to 5% and I'm in the game!

sportchampps Senior Member

7,527 posts 36 reps Joined Nov 2009

Wed, Dec 11, 2024 2:55 PM

No help on advice but East Nashville is my dream location to move to. It’s close to everything and has so much to do, better weather, and no state income taxes. I have heard the market in Nashville is dropping. I have my wife about 80% committed to the idea. If our good friends move from NYC to Atlanta I think that will push her to 100% ready to move.

If we do move we will probably sell our house here in Columbus. Then put everything in storage and move to our in laws vacation home on Lake Cumberland until we find the perfect place.

Colorado real estate is insane. I know my in laws bought a place in Crested Butte in 2012 for 185k. It was about 1500 sq ft and three bedrooms. They sold it during covid for just over 600k.

Automatik Senior Member

15,737 posts 99 reps Joined Nov 2009

Wed, Dec 11, 2024 3:28 PM

Where in East? I like 5 Points or Edgefield, of course the most desirable areas. I spent last summer in the Maxwell Heights area. It's just ok. Can't walk to shit, but quick Uber to everything. I'm still not super in love with East Nash. I got my car broken into near the stadium and I've seen some ratchet shit in my time there. You can be in an undesirable area very quickly.

Prices are dropping for sure, but not drastically. It's still wild. TINY houses for 500k that need work. Huge lots though, which is appealing.

I'm leaning towards lux apartments somewhat. I'm in a 4 year old building now. Gonna be hard to go back to old ass appliances and a potential fixer upper.

justincredible Honorable Admin

37,969 posts 250 reps Joined Nov 2009

Wed, Dec 11, 2024 4:57 PM

I've got a bit of a housing dilemma as well. Sort of.

My wife and I plan on buying my grandma's 120 acre farm next year. It's currently owned by my mom, my aunt, and my two uncles. My mom is giving me her quarter of the farm, so there's 25% off the top. My aunt is reducing her share by $100k to help us out. We've given my mom a number as far as what we can offer total (minus her and my aunt's help) but it's still a decent chunk of money. We've got a good amount of cash on-hand and earmarked specifically for buying the property. We should walk away with a decent amount of cash when we sell our current house ($150k+, I would think). We also have a chunk of bitcoin specifically earmarked for the property, and depending on how high it goes this cycle it could REALLY help us.

I guess my question is, can you get a normal mortgage on a massive piece of land like that or do you have to get some other sort of loan? If things go well we shouldn't have to borrow much, but it still might be $200-300k. We don't qualify for any USDA loans because of income. The other idea is just buying everyone out one by one until we own it, but not sure the legal ramifications of that. Buying out one uncle in cash would give us half the property, which I think we could pull off pretty easily.

I dunno, it's just giving me a lot of anxiety.

Ironman92 Administrator

56,729 posts 169 reps Joined Nov 2009

Wed, Dec 11, 2024 6:18 PM

posted by justincredible
I've got a bit of a housing dilemma as well. Sort of.
My wife and I plan on buying my grandma's 120 acre farm next year. It's currently owned by my mom, my aunt, and my two uncles. My mom is giving me her quarter of the farm, so there's 25% off the top. My aunt is reducing her share by $100k to help us out. We've given my mom a number as far as what we can offer total (minus her and my aunt's help) but it's still a decent chunk of money. We've got a good amount of cash on-hand and earmarked specifically for buying the property. We should walk away with a decent amount of cash when we sell our current house ($150k+, I would think). We also have a chunk of bitcoin specifically earmarked for the property, and depending on how high it goes this cycle it could REALLY help us.
I guess my question is, can you get a normal mortgage on a massive piece of land like that or do you have to get some other sort of loan? If things go well we shouldn't have to borrow much, but it still might be $200-300k. We don't qualify for any USDA loans because of income. The other idea is just buying everyone out one by one until we own it, but not sure the legal ramifications of that. Buying out one uncle in cash would give us half the property, which I think we could pull off pretty easily.
I dunno, it's just giving me a lot of anxiety.

Any big purchase, change in environment is going to come with anxiety. Hire someone to guide you through the legalities to wipe away those anxiet

sportchampps Senior Member

7,527 posts 36 reps Joined Nov 2009

Wed, Dec 11, 2024 8:06 PM

posted by Automatik
Where in East? I like 5 Points or Edgefield, of course the most desirable areas. I spent last summer in the Maxwell Heights area. It's just ok. Can't walk to shit, but quick Uber to everything. I'm still not super in love with East Nash. I got my car broken into near the stadium and I've seen some ratchet shit in my time there. You can be in an undesirable area very quickly.
Prices are dropping for sure, but not drastically. It's still wild. TINY houses for 500k that need work. Huge lots though, which is appealing.
I'm leaning towards lux apartments somewhat. I'm in a 4 year old building now. Gonna be hard to go back to old ass appliances and a potential fixer upper.

We’ve looked from lockland springs to five points and eastwood. I forget what neighborhood it was but we found a townhome that I was in love with and of course some homeless dude had to be high out of his mind begging for money next to our car when we came back. My wife was like nope not going to move to where are guests will get bothered by homeless

iclfan2 Reppin' the 330/216/843

9,465 posts 100 reps Joined Nov 2009

Wed, Dec 11, 2024 10:47 PM

We have a giant housing crisis here, but I also timed it well on accident. I wouldn’t be able to buy my home had I not bought it 10 years ago. But unless you sell and move, selling and upgrading in the same market is trash. I know that doesn’t help but I feel for people trying to buy a house now. We couldn’t live in my entire town for what we paid in 2014.

MontyBrunswick Senior Member

1,065 posts 18 reps Joined Mar 2015

Fri, Dec 13, 2024 11:52 AM

posted by Automatik
I've been hopping around with temp leases since ~2021. I'm over it and I REALLY want to buy something to basically "get in the game", potential investment property, build equity, blah blah. By late-spring 2025, I should be able to make a move or at least get more serious about it.

went through a similar arc several years ago. i was ready to buy in 2019 and told myself that i should save up some more money. covid happened shortly afterward, and then suddenly the same homes i was looking at in 2019 were 250% more expensive and well outside of my price range. i assumed the market would eventually cool and i'd take the plunge then.

well it didnt. as time wore on, housing prices (and rates) were skyrocketing and showing no sign of slowing down. i grew more and more concerned that owning a home would never be feasible. last summer i re-entered the market and found myself competing for houses that were merely fine. i wound up with one that is absolutely nothing like the home i was originally targeting in 2019. i ultimately sacrificed on all fronts: size, location, everything, and then paid $10k over ask for the privilege of downgrades across the board.

i'm a year into it and i've been paying hundreds extra every month just to get some equity into the place. if rates fall a few percent, i'll likely sell and try and get something closer to what i wanted in 2019.

knowing what i know now about the mortgage process, i should've and could've bought back then. one of the biggest regrets of my life, but nobody could've predicted the covid bs.

also, to switch gears, being a homeowner is a catch-22. there's still plenty of times when i hope i come home and the place is burned to the ground and i could go back to renter life. but i do continue to tell myself that every investment in the home (whether it's a mortgage payment or me fixing random shit around the house) is just me shifting money around instead of directly handing it to someone else, as i would with rent.

basically what i'm saying is cocks/balls

hope this helps

Automatik Senior Member

15,737 posts 99 reps Joined Nov 2009

Fri, Dec 13, 2024 1:31 PM

Appreciate the grim response. lol

I'm looking for more of an investment property, and the main issue is where I'm looking mortgage outpaces rent....bigly.

For example, current apartment is $2500/month. It's an amazing deal for the location/space. If I were to buy with a manageable down payment and pre-approved rate as of 2 months ago....it's ~4800/month. Also factors in a $400/month HOA. Painful.

MontyBrunswick Senior Member

1,065 posts 18 reps Joined Mar 2015

Fri, Dec 13, 2024 3:05 PM

posted by Automatik

For example, current apartment is $2500/month. It's an amazing deal for the location/space. If I were to buy with a manageable down payment and pre-approved rate as of 2 months ago....it's ~4800/month. Also factors in a $400/month HOA. Painful.

are those denver prices? when I lived out there (2017) i managed to get a 1BR apartment for $1234 which was a steal for broomfield. when my renewal came up they were looking for $1500-1600.

fortunately (?) for me, i had decided for several reasons that it didn't make sense to stay there so I moved back to OH. one of those reasons were the astronomical housing prices. at the time, the median house price in broomfield was ~500k. my colleagues were happily buying them, but i have absolutely no idea how they could realistically afford them.

there has to be a disturbing amount of people living out there that are house poor.

Automatik Senior Member

15,737 posts 99 reps Joined Nov 2009

Fri, Dec 13, 2024 3:46 PM

That's my exact location, Rino Arts District. The hottest of the hot regarding urban neighborhoods.

I was previously near Olde Town Arvada. Untouchable to buy, but rent was fine.

More north, Westminster, Broomfield, etc.....very doable. I could buy there now, but I'm just not into those areas.

Automatik Senior Member

15,737 posts 99 reps Joined Nov 2009

Fri, Dec 13, 2024 3:54 PM

posted by MontyBrunswick
there has to be a disturbing amount of people living out there that are house poor.

Yes, but also a lot of people benefited from the boom. My sister's house more than doubled in value. In a location that I previously laughed at her for moving to. Now I couldn't sniff buying there (Wheat Ridge).

Another friend bought for 450, sold 5 years later for 900ish. Then bought for 1.2. It's nutty. Lots of money here...but wtf are these people actually doing? I ask myself that daily.

The housing dilemma

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