Colorado Springs: most affordable homes in Colorado (Boulder: sale, rentals)

[ryanek9freak]

Oh I did, then promptly blew it all once I moved out here. Hell it cost me $5000 just to hire movers to bring all my stuff out here.

THen I bought a new truck, and etc. I never learn.

[Greenmon]

hello Everyone, we ,My betterhalf and i, have been looking out west to move back, i was in Business, Real Estate , MOrtgages,yes thats right but only one slimy variable closed for a savvy wealthy biz owner. Now- read between the lines- dont take out any new high loans at this time, unless you can buy way under market- cause -BOys and Girls-put this on your calendar ,mark down -AJ said this-the market is going much further down! Period! and thats putting it lightly-with all the money our Country owes and its citizens-look at simple history, for the US , it proves my point.... now the best advice i can give you which is worth a bunch of money- is buy the land- pay it off, built your house step by step- mortgage free- and dont tell me it can't be done!! Folks all over are and have been doing it for decades! These families are way better off for the wisdom of the Grandparents or Parents who had the guts to do it- Especially if you are under 45- you have the energy to do this- and hey , you can put a used mobile home on it and live there cheap!!Be patient, Step by Step, 5-6yrs goes by fast- When you buy a few or many acres with it-BAM you have equity in the next boom, and you can sell,or build an extra house,sell, and finish your dream home. Buy this land just far enough out to afford it,you can ride share,or work from home,-- Wallah- if you don't like this simple idea - hey forget it .
Best Wishes, AJ and Denise







'

[Bideshi]

Originally Posted by Greenmon

buy the land- pay it off, built your house step by step- mortgage free- Buy this land just far enough out to afford it,you can ride share,or work from home
'

But not too far out. Increasing fuel prices and scarcity will make many remote areas, even suburbs, inaccesible. Good advice from Greemom, and pay attention to projected water availability in the future for the area. If you are relatively young, you will see many populated areas become ghost towns due to lack of water in your lifetime.

[Bob from down south]

I fundamentally agree with the idea of avoiding debt to own a house, but not sure that the average person is well-equipped to build their own. The benefits gained from an experienced builder in terms of energy efficiency, sealing and waterproofing, and safety are significant. Many of our grandparents had their drafty houses burn down around their ears due to faulty wiring and heating systems, too. And, as Bideshi points out, building far from town has its own special and emerging challenges...and one certainly cannot put up a trailer on a lot and build piecemeal in most already-established areas in a city.

Housing prices are destined to fall more, because Americans simply do not earn enough to pay for the ones we've been building for a decade or more. Much of the current stock of recently-built houses will likely end up selling for below the cost to replace them, and I think future building trends will be for smaller, more affordable houses that meet the traditional 3x annual income affordability metric for the buying population.

A house is not an investment--it is a place to live. As the housing hangover becomes more acute all across the looted plains, more people will realize that borrowing heavily for the privelege of maintaining and heating a house far too big for one's needs is/was an unwise financial decision that costs them dearly.

"Debt is dumb"

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Bob from down south

"Debt is dumb"

Dumb debt is dumb. Smart debt is smart. Interest rates are in the mid 5s. That's cheap money.

Consider this: You'd pay $876 per month on a $150,000, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a rate of 5.76%. If you were to prepay your mortgage by an additional $100 per month, you'd pay it off six years sooner and save $42,703 in interest. Had you taken that $100 and invested it, earning a conservative 8%, you'd have $55,745 — enough to compensate for the interest paid, plus $13,042 in profit.

from

Being Debt-Free Isn't Always All It's Cracked Up to Be (Debt Management: Personal Finance) at SmartMoney.com

[onaip]

What bank is giving 8% on $100 a month? If you have that tip, let me know and I'll join them right away.

[treedonkey]

Charles' opinion (dare I say, advice?) has some validity. However... To my knowledge,, interest rates for home mortgages in the 150-200k range are coming in at more like 6-7% now, not in the 5's anymore, within the past 4 months or so. Also, the only way to EARN 8% is on something very aggressive and long term. No savings, CD's or Money-Markets that I know of will yield 8% APR.

[Bob from down south]

Originally Posted by Charles

Dumb debt is dumb. Smart debt is smart. Interest rates are in the mid 5s. That's cheap money.

Consider this: You'd pay $876 per month on a $150,000, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a rate of 5.76%. If you were to prepay your mortgage by an additional $100 per month, you'd pay it off six years sooner and save $42,703 in interest. Had you taken that $100 and invested it, earning a conservative 8%, you'd have $55,745 — enough to compensate for the interest paid, plus $13,042 in profit.

from

Being Debt-Free Isn't Always All It's Cracked Up to Be (Debt Management: Personal Finance) at SmartMoney.com

Dumb debt is dumb. Smart debt is just a little less dumb.

First, that "conservative" 8% assumption is not a given these days.

Second, 30-year no-prepay rates are more like 6.15% right now, plus a whole lot of other costs nobody includes when doing these comparisons, like appraisal, funding fees, PMI, etc.

Last, there's the issue of risk premium. Money out chasing that conservative 8% gain is at risk of gaining much less, or of depreciation. Internal return on the money in the house is 100% guaranteed.

I know a number of investing geniuses that are moving their retirement dates back now due to what they've lost in the markets...equities and housing. Leverage, whether applied to equities (via derivatives/margin accounts), or housing (via high loan-to-value mortgages), works both ways. It magnifies the losses on the downside just as it magnifies the gains on the upside. And, lo and behold, the teeming masses are discovering that there actually is a downside.

Once you've lived without the anvil of debt hanging over your head, it's hard to imagine wanting to go back into debt. It is such a great feeling, I really can't effectively put it into words. To me, it's one of the purest forms of freedom one can experience.

[possumator]

I was listening to the radio today and it was mentioned how banks may be quite timid about lending money in such an uncertain housing market where prices could fall quite a bit further. That does make sense because:

While there are many folks who are defaulting because they bought too much home and cannot afford it, there may be an equal or greater number of homeowner who have seen the the assessed value of their house plummet well below their purchase price. They in turn see continuing to pay on the loan as a bad investment and simply walk away from the home, in effect letting the bank foreclose and sell off the property (albiet at a loss).

[ds495]

Originally Posted by ryanek9freak

Yeah for real! What kind of gib have you been cooking up and smoking? I make near $60K a year, and still, there's no way I could afford a $250,000 house by myself.

The mortgage would be around $2000 a month!! That would be half my monthly income!

Wouldn't that debt ratio be a little high?

People buy, live there, and get roommates. Eventually people often get a spouse, who chips in.