Houses for $60-$80k in San Tan Valley??? REALLY?!?!?!

[ReadyFreddy]

I think that's the rub. People stretch to make the down payment so they know they're not going to have the cash for the shower doors, so they fold it into the mortgage (at a huge premium). It's like how people will be more likely to pay $160k for a house a flipper bought for $120k and put $20k in than to do that work themselves and save the $20k profit to the flipper. Plus just the psychology of it. Most people do feel $8/month is a lot less money than $500 today, no matter how many months and at what interest rate.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

It's even worse today than years ago. They give you less and less to keep the prices down and then pad it all back in at the design center.

Your 30 years for a shower door, though, needs an asterisk. It is only 30 years if you actually live there that long and pay for it that long. Typically, people move in five years, so that shower door costing 3 bucks ends up costing you 180 bucks over the five years - a better deal than buying one for 600 or whatever if you are likely to move on. One has to consider all the angles.

There are also opportunity costs that are lost. Contractors calling you at work cuts into your productivity. Losing weekends that you could be spending with your family or relaxing is an opportunity cost. There is a lot of mental stress that negatively impacts your health. I've wanted to build a home for such a long time but when I researched what is truly entailed in building a home, it's not worth it in my opinion. I don't know how others do it. There are a lot of wonderful houses on the market, maybe it doesn't fit my exact ideal impression of a home but so what, if it fits 90% of what I'm seeking, that is so much better than dealing with the costs of building a home.

I don't know one person who advocates building your own home. I know a lot of people who have built their own homes and they all nearly say they would never do it again and it's not worth it.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

There are also opportunity costs that are lost. Contractors calling you at work cuts into your productivity. Losing weekends that you could be spending with your family or relaxing is an opportunity cost. There is a lot of mental stress that negatively impacts your health. I've wanted to build a home for such a long time but when I researched what is truly entailed in building a home, it's not worth it in my opinion. I don't know how others do it. There are a lot of wonderful houses on the market, maybe it doesn't fit my exact ideal impression of a home but so what, if it fits 90% of what I'm seeking, that is so much better than dealing with the costs of building a home.

I don't know one person who advocates building your own home. I know a lot of people who have built their own homes and they all nearly say they would never do it again and it's not worth it.

Well you've now met one! I was the general on the last house we owned. It was move in ready in 3 1/2 months and had most every upgrade we really wanted. It's a darn good thing we did it that way too as we needed to sell in the thick of the crash. Doing it ourselves allowed us to actualy scratch out a profit after having to sell it way below what it was worth just a year prior. There are things you must do for things to work out and not result in divorce