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Fifty years ago, in the states and cities I lived in, a young middle class couple buying their first home would save up 20% before even starting to look. The houses they would look at would be older, less than 1000 sf, only one bathroom for sure, no garage or carport, no upgrades, a fixer, holes in the wall, weeds waist high in the yard instead of grass, in a sketchy neighborhood, really genuinely ugly and run down looking, no air conditioning, and probably right on a noisy major street. THAT was a starter home.
Sometimes (probably unintentionally) individuals have mentally redefined a starter home to be a lot fancier. I think that is the disconnect here. I see plenty of starter homes available for reasonable prices. However few young people would ever dream of such humble beginnings especially if unable to pay to fix it up right away. HGTV has raised everyone's expectations.
Maybe homes such as I described are bought by investors/landlords who can afford to fix them up right away and rent them out.
Don't forget to consider inflation. I Googled for online inflation calculators, and tried one; it said that $100,000 today was the same as just $13,945 fifty years ago.
those younger have been spoiled by their parents and given anything they wanted so they only want the best even if they can't afford it. When many people say starter home it's what an average person would call a forever home. They call it starter becuase they want nice and bigger and better homes in the future.
I wonder where and how much the cheapest starter 3/2 home 1200 to 1400 sq ft would be, new construction.
In a reasonable school district, you're going to be looking at around $200,000. This is in small town northeast TN with median family income in the $40k range.
I'm not talking about homes i"m talking about apartments. If a builder is allowed to put in 200 units at least 10 should be set aside for lower income people. Maybe smaller with lower end finished but it's not impossible.Developers can be required to include affordable housing, California high court rulesDevelopers can be required to include affordable housing, California high court rules
The decision clears the way for Los Angeles and other cities to require developers to sell a percentage of the units they build at below-market rates as a condition of a building permit. Developers also could be given the option of paying into a fund for low-cost housing.
A lot of these new luxury buildings in la do have units set aside for “-
Affordable units “ but still it’s going to be like winning a lottery .
The demand far exceeds the supply .
The politicians make promises that they are going to “fight for affordable housing for everyone “
Originally Posted by jm1982 View Post
I was watching the shop FixerUpper as it was on at a relative’s house and they showed a home being remodeled in Waco TX . I was curious to see what homes were going for in Waco TX .. and I saw a brand new home for sale actually also by D.R Horton .
When mentioned to my native L.A family members about the massive price difference they said .. “but there’s nothing out there “ ... “jobs pay a lot less “ ..
I guess the point is that all real estate is really local and much of the media has a coastal focus since all their offices are in the coasts .
Your family members really do not understand the real world. If we compare wages for a
computer programmer which is a lot of jobs in both California and Texas, plus 4 other states that are heavy into computer programming, and adjust the wages for the cost of living, you will find that California is the lowest paying not the high pay your family members assume.
California is second behind Washington for actual pay, but when it is adjusted for difference in cost of living, it is below all the other 4 including Texas, Washington, Utah, Colorado, which today are all big high tech states. If you look, you will find it is the 14th highest paying state, for the job in the United States, with cost of living adjustment.
It is amazing how many people in California believe they are number one in such things as pay. And they are all wrong.
And when it comes to computer hardware engineers, they are 4th out of that group of 5.
Go to something like accountants which are needed in all states, and their adjusted income is 31st no where near the #1, that your family members think it is.
It is amazing, how many in California keep talking about the great wages in California, when they are compared with other states, the spendable income is considerably less, than many others.
Your family members really do not understand the real world. If we compare wages for a
computer programmer which is a lot of jobs in both California and Texas, plus 4 other states that are heavy into computer programming, and adjust the wages for the cost of living, you will find that California is the lowest paying not the high pay your family members assume.
California is second behind Washington for actual pay, but when it is adjusted for difference in cost of living, it is below all the other 4 including Texas, Washington, Utah, Colorado, which today are all big high tech states. If you look, you will find it is the 14th highest paying state, for the job in the United States, with cost of living adjustment.
It is amazing how many people in California believe they are number one in such things as pay. And they are all wrong.
And when it comes to computer hardware engineers, they are 4th out of that group of 5.
Go to something like accountants which are needed in all states, and their adjusted income is 31st no where near the #1, that your family members think it is.
It is amazing, how many in California keep talking about the great wages in California, when they are compared with other states, the spendable income is considerably less, than many others.
Yeah living in CA for most is more a lifestyle choice versus an economic one . Even if they don’t realize it .
Many would rather live in a rented small apartment in CA versus owning a large home in another state.
We tried to buy seven “starter homes” that would have kept our mortgage below our current rent and would have needed years of work to make a home. At one, for instance, you had to climb a ladder to the front door because the steps had been knocked out; these were true project houses. We lost out to all-cash offers on ALL of them.
We bumped up our budget to “turn-key” territory and bid on a newish 3br/2ba - with all the things we didn’t care about like fancy lights and barn doors and nice hardware and tiled showers - and got it. It wouldn’t have been much of an investment for a cash buyer but it is a perfect finished home for someone to move into and live in, so we finally had a shot.
Your family members really do not understand the real world. If we compare wages for a
computer programmer which is a lot of jobs in both California and Texas, plus 4 other states that are heavy into computer programming, and adjust the wages for the cost of living, you will find that California is the lowest paying not the high pay your family members assume.
California is second behind Washington for actual pay, but when it is adjusted for difference in cost of living, it is below all the other 4 including Texas, Washington, Utah, Colorado, which today are all big high tech states. If you look, you will find it is the 14th highest paying state, for the job in the United States, with cost of living adjustment.
It is amazing how many people in California believe they are number one in such things as pay. And they are all wrong.
And when it comes to computer hardware engineers, they are 4th out of that group of 5.
Go to something like accountants which are needed in all states, and their adjusted income is 31st no where near the #1, that your family members think it is.
It is amazing, how many in California keep talking about the great wages in California, when they are compared with other states, the spendable income is considerably less, than many others.
You bring up a great point. While jobs may not pay as much as California, the cost of real estate will be drastically lower so potentially you get a house for 80% less and lose 20% in salary, still a win.
I think it's two issues at play. One is for many people it can be hard leaving the place you call home, leaving friends, family and the comfort of support as well as knowing the area. I've always lived in the Chicagoland area and while I prefer warmer weather and would love to move down to the Carolinas or even florida its family and friends that keep me here so for someone who grew up in California that could be an issue.
The other thing is California in many ways is so much different than other states. Minnesota vs Illinois, not a ton of difference but Illinois vs California is like night and day in terms of climate, culture, etc. I think people in California tend to think htey have the best weather, best location ie beaches, most stuff going on and the rest of the country is fly over country and boring
You bring up a great point. While jobs may not pay as much as California, the cost of real estate will be drastically lower so potentially you get a house for 80% less and lose 20% in salary, still a win.
I think it's two issues at play. One is for many people it can be hard leaving the place you call home, leaving friends, family and the comfort of support as well as knowing the area. I've always lived in the Chicagoland area and while I prefer warmer weather and would love to move down to the Carolinas or even florida its family and friends that keep me here so for someone who grew up in California that could be an issue.
The other thing is California in many ways is so much different than other states. Minnesota vs Illinois, not a ton of difference but Illinois vs California is like night and day in terms of climate, culture, etc. I think people in California tend to think htey have the best weather, best location ie beaches, most stuff going on and the rest of the country is fly over country and boring
Areas in coastal California with an excellent climate and recreational opportunities will always be in demand from those factors alone. I live in northeast TN.
Also, when looking at that spreadsheet, you have to consider the availability of positions. I work in IT. Sure, TN's cost of living is low, but if you lose an IT job here, you may have to move to find another.
Areas in coastal California with an excellent climate and recreational opportunities will always be in demand from those factors alone. I live in northeast TN.
Also, when looking at that spreadsheet, you have to consider the availability of positions. I work in IT. Sure, TN's cost of living is low, but if you lose an IT job here, you may have to move to find another.
Not sure what type of IT you do, but if it's something that can be done remotely the ideal scenario for me would be to keep a high paying job and work remotely and move to a cheaper area.
My sister was working in Chicago making like 70k per year, wound up moving to Toledo Ohio after she got married, she kept her job and her salary yet went to an area that was substantially cheaper to live so big win there.
A lot of these new luxury buildings in la do have units set aside for “-
Affordable units “ but still it’s going to be like winning a lottery .
The demand far exceeds the supply .
The politicians make promises that they are going to “fight for affordable housing for everyone “
But they know it’ll never happen .
Problem, it forces the builders to raise the rent or prices on the luxury units. This in turn makes it impossible for a lot of people that would have qualified to get one of the luxury units, to buy or rent them. Those people were just priced out of living in those buildings by the additional rent/price.
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