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Can you give an example? In my previous job I saw things but I've since changed careers. Lots of reports have been written about the many various rental populations in Los Angeles, where I was. I could have written a book. Two of the things that stood out for me then: 1) families with two or three working adults, lots of electronic and internet devices but poor quality food, crowded conditions, and no consistently reliable private transportation, 2) families with one or two working adults, fewer devices, nutritious food, enough room, and workhorse cars. I was surprised to learn that often these apartments were occupied by small (sometimes very small) business owners. This was kind of a revelation at the time since I'd always been trained that working for a corporation was the way to go.
At one property that we had in California, we had one set of tenants who were Asian immigrants [they were members of the Hmong community], 2 adults were working f/t for Minimum-Wage supporting 4 children. In 5 years they had enough money saved up that they offered to buy the property from us.
At another property that we had in Connecticut, we had a set of tenants who were Asian immigrants, 2 adults working f/t for M/W raising 2 children. After 4 years they had enough money saved up that they decided to buy property in Indiana. The property they bought was a small restaurant on the ground level with a 2 bdrm home upstairs, their plan was to open a Chinese restaurant. The adults were not very fluent in English, most of their communication was via their children. I helped them a lot with speaking to the local city officials out in Indiana.
^^^ Same here except the family was from the Philippines...
Mother and father with 3 kids aged 17 to 19 when I met them.
Everyone worked... the mom and dad worked in a rest home... the boys worked at a gas station and the daughter worked part time in a coffee shop...
The two bedroom home was on the small side to my thinking... but they checked out so I rented the place to them...
With everyone working and the kids also going to school... it took them 7 years to buy a place... but they did and all from very low wage jobs...
They were a close and happy family... always treated me with great respect and always had a bag for produce raised from the garden... asked me if they could keep 4 hens and my city allows this so I said OK...
These kind of threads are common... but knowing people who have overcome all kinds of obstacles and realizing their dream in a high cost of living area like the SF Bay Area is proof positive to the contrary...
^^^ Same here except the family was from the Philippines...
Mother and father with 3 kids aged 17 to 19 when I met them.
Everyone worked... the mom and dad worked in a rest home... the boys worked at a gas station and the daughter worked part time in a coffee shop...
The two bedroom home was on the small side to my thinking... but they checked out so I rented the place to them...
With everyone working and the kids also going to school... it took them 7 years to buy a place... but they did and all from very low wage jobs...
They were a close and happy family... always treated me with great respect and always had a bag for produce raised from the garden... asked me if they could keep 4 hens and my city allows this so I said OK...
These kind of threads are common... but knowing people who have overcome all kinds of obstacles and realizing their dream in a high cost of living area like the SF Bay Area is proof positive to the contrary...
I've never heard of an individual buying a home on minimum-wage jobs in a populated area. Families can do it because they have multiple earners.
I've never heard of an individual buying a home on minimum-wage jobs in a populated area. Families can do it because they have multiple earners.
I bought my home on minimum wage just around age 22... had been working and paying into Social Security since age 12...
The home was a 1910 Cottage of 600 square feet on a 25 x 100 city lot facing a condemnation hearing...
I viewed it because it was the least expensive single family home at the time in the SF Bay Area... still didn't want it but the Broker was fishing for an offer and after an hour or so I shot her a figure never thinking she would write it up... gave her my deposit check and went home... the next day she called to congratulate me
Now I had to come up with the rest of the cash... life savings and selling my prized restored 1968 Camaro Z28....
Had to work fast because the city wanted to tear down the place... thankfully, it still had utility service!
I've posted before pictures of the place on the day I went to see it...
Best single financial and learning experience of my life... still have it and spent about a year fixing it up... the city was happy the lot was cleaned with junk hauled off, broken windows fixed and a new coat of paint...
in nyc and the boroughs we saw rents not only come down in 2008 and through those early years of the great recession but we saw incentives to rent like we never saw before . get 13 months for the price of 12 months as an example
In the Bay Area it was opposite. Rents went up with foreclosures. In my zip and the one next to it, speculators ran rampant, drove housing prices way up, rents went up, and when the foreclosures started ( and for a few years almost all the homes for sale were foreclosures in those two zip codes) but rents stayed up, because people who still wanted to stay in the area didn’t have much choice.
Now it might be Airnb. So many people have yanked their apartments off the rental lists to use for Airnb that it creates its own shortage of rentals and the rents are rising because of that. Some cities are banning people from using their apartments for Airnb rentals.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SportyandMisty
Many of us pay cash.
Cash, as in a house is for sale for $220,000 and you just take a suitcase of money to the seller and sign the papers? I know a couple of DEA agents that would be interested in that one. LOL
... Cash, as in a house is for sale for $220,000 and you just take a suitcase of money to the seller and sign the papers? I know a couple of DEA agents that would be interested in that one. LOL
That does not make any sense, and I seriously doubt if you know any DEA 'agents'.
I bought a new property a year and a half ago, I wrote a personal check for it. People do this, it is not unusual.
The farm that I live on, I bought in 2005, I wrote a check for it too.
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since I'd always been trained that working for a corporation was the way to go.
