This is strange (how much, house, to live)

[corydon]

Originally Posted by Burning Madolf

I did exactly this. Treated it as an adventure. If it didn't work out we'd try something different.
It's one of the greatest aspects of the US: ability to move about the country freely.

That is not an option unique too the US.....

[Burning Madolf]

Originally Posted by corydon

That is not an option unique too the US.....

Yes, but how many are there where you can move from say Maine to SoCal and still be in the same country?

[corydon]

Every EU citizen can move to every country in the EU. There is this Babylonian thing....

[teddyearp]

They surly don't know how terrible the state is.


https://www.city-data.com/forum/ariz...not-think.html

[DAXhound]

Originally Posted by The Kaiser

I have been coming to Arizona for about 25 years. I know the state pretty well, and just don't understand people coming here and buying a house in an area they've never been to. Is it that bad in states they are in? I'll eventually find something, but a least I'll know and like the area. Sorry for beating this to death.
Gary

It is really easy to do if you are educated and somewhat financially secure. The old model of spending weekends with an agent driving riding around in her Escalade are long over. About 80% of that is time wasted that could have been prevented by doing your own research from anywhere with Internet. Also, consider the costs.. it could easily cost you 500 per day to sit in Phoenix traffic and look at the different shades of beige paint and tile roofs. School district tells so much about everything, and that information is all online, too. Walkscore is pretty darn useful, too. And there is so much demographic data out there on zip codes. I can't remember the last time an agent "found" me a property. And I have had some excellent buyers agents. You get to the point, where you are comfortable with the standard MLS contract and you just have them change the address and price. You put an expiration on the offer of a day or two, and if it takes them longer, you are not under any obligation to continue. The rent first cheerleaders seem to conveniently forget the huge costs of moving..there are no perfect places or homes out there, and that year of renting could cost you tens of thousands. Homes were selling at 80% off, ten years ago.. Countless agents advising people to rent for a year to see if you like it. What was there to see? The economy had been ravaged, the job market was horrible, but that didn't change the fact that you had a chance to buy a home for 50k that would cost 160k to build, + a lot with water, sewer, gas, sidewalks.. I think the realtors were collectively lying to reduce the number of buyers, just like they were intentionally in a slowdown/stall early on in the GFC, thinking that a turnaround would come much sooner.

[elkotronics]

Why would they collectively lying about the number of buyers when more buyers and less homes available means higher prices for the homes? And higher commissions for them, too? Sounds like someone's (not you) overcomplicating real estate. Somewhere.

More demand=higher prices. On 1976 MG Midgets, and 2011 suburban Phoenix cushy homes.

[DAXhound]

Originally Posted by elkotronics

Why would they collectively lying about the number of buyers when more buyers and less homes available means higher prices for the homes? And higher commissions for them, too? Sounds like someone's (not you) overcomplicating real estate. Somewhere.

More demand=higher prices. On 1976 MG Midgets, and 2011 suburban Phoenix cushy homes.

More buyers means it is less likely that you will be the agent who closes the sale. And it is quite time consuming. Where were you in 2008?

[elkotronics]

More buyers means it is less likely that you will be the agent who closes the sale. And it is quite time consuming. Where were you in 2008?

Gotcha. I'm on my 2nd ta last day off from work and I've got at least 4 things on my mind I need ta do. But, if I slow my brain down, I would find that I have the day off, so, there's really not a big rush, eh?

And that 1976 MG Midget is for sale in...Arizona...and it has my name on it. For right now. It's classicly British. Now ta test my buddy's resolve of giving me a ride over to Phoenix during tough COVID-19 conditions.

Oh, see what I mean? I uploaded the other rig I'm looking at dually right now, the 1975 Triumph Spitfire 1500. Both cars are painted in yellow, my favorite color.

[The Kaiser]

DAXhound has made a lot of sense. I'll look at it at an entirely different light now. Still. I bet there will be an exodus within the next few years with people saying, you know, it wasn't so bad back home as after all.

[Ex New Yorker]

Originally Posted by The Kaiser

I have been coming to Arizona for about 25 years. I know the state pretty well, and just don't understand people coming here and buying a house in an area they've never been to. Is it that bad in states they are in? I'll eventually find something, but a least I'll know and like the area. Sorry for beating this to death.
Gary

I guess that would all depend on which state that you're moving out of? In our (wife and I) case yes, we'd rather live anywhere in Arizona than anywhere in New York State. We've been here for going on 11 years and love every aspect of living here and have no desire to leave or even visit anywhere else. Arizona's provided us with everything we could have ever wanted out of life or dreamed of. When I wake up in the morning I thank God that I live in Arizona. We're proud of our adopted state and proud to call it home.

But you're 100% correct it makes no sense to buy a house in an area sight unseen. There are a lot of things to take into consideration. Do you want to be close to everything such as shopping, medical facilities, schools etc. Or do you want to be living out in the middle of nowhere? Where you have at least an hour's or more drive for your everyday needs. Just running a simple errand can take up half of your day.

Then there's the weather. Depending on the elevation, Arizona has different weather conditions. Will you be able to withstand the intense summer heat 4 months outta' the year? Will you be able to deal with several feet of snow in some regions of the state? Where we are we have four relatively mild seasons. But if it wasn't for the intense summer heat we'd be living in the Sonoran Desert, our favorite place in all of Arizona. Fortunately it's about an hour's drive from us and we can and do spend a lot of time out there.

You also have to take into consideration whether you're a city person, a rural person or somewhere in between? Where we live we're close enough to everything but just far enough away from everything. We found a happy medium. We live in a great neighborhood and have wonderful neighbors. Not to mention there's hiking trails right in our neighborhood.

The other issue is to know what you're getting into and don't try and change the state that you're moving to into the one that you just left. Or do nothing but complain about your adopted state not being like where you used to live. In which case you had no business moving at all.