What is terrible is for the young people just getting started. My daughter is getting married in June 2024. They are currently looking to buy a house, but everything they see in there price range is a dump. They certainly do not want to rent. I'm at a point as a father to deed them a couple of acres and let the buy a mobile home to put on it.

I bought my first home, a little 900 sq ft starter, in 1999 for $50k. I stayed there a couple years, then upgraded for more room as my family started to grow. That same little house, with very few updates since I owned it, hit the market a couple weeks ago for $200k.

Not in this current market w/ interest rates. My family has lived in this house for goin on 4 years this next may. Gone up over 250k in that time frame. Also refinanced 2 years ago @ 2.75%. Been a hell of an investment. I wouldn't move from here anyways bc next house i want acreage and further out of town, I wont do that until my kids are off to college unless someone unforeseen circumstance arises.

I think what the OP was saying was that if you had to buy your home and land today based on how crazy prices are now, could you afford to buy it today?

He's not asking could you afford to buy it 30 years ago.

I will guarantee you the 2nd house I bought and lived in is worth over $500k today. I think I paid $180k for about 20 years ago and I sold it for around $240k just before the 2008 crash. It was a nice place a 3-2 with a garage and in a good school district. But nothing special just an average home. I use to buy a house live there and fix it up and sell it every 3-4 years.

Like I said the younger guys that work for me.... they can't afford to live where I lived at a similar age and income level. Not even close really.

I know many on here can't comprehend what putting your kids in the best school districts is all about or why someone would want to live in a certain area. But a lot of people do.

We are leaving our children way worse off than we were and the reason is the spending that has gone on in Washington for the last 20 years under both Democrats and Republicans.... And they won't stop. They just keep going. We are headed towards something very bad.

I saw a post a few days ago by a local realtor. It was a listing for a small home in Scottsboro. He said it was the only house, according to the mls, that was within the city limits AND less than $100k. There’s tons of little tiny houses here that were once considered starter homes. Just like the one I owned and talked about in my earlier post. Kids starting out today are gonna struggle with home ownership. Fresh out of school, with a $30k salary, I had plenty of home buying options. That’s not the case today.

(Here come the flames) If you are spending more that 25% of your take home on a house payment that is financed more than 15 years, you are in a house you cant afford.

Yes, but I wouldn’t like it very much. According to the tax assessor my house value is up 45%more than I paid for it just 3 years ago.

Agreed, I'm real close this, but just a tad bit over this

The housing market is crazy where I live right now with growth of the area. My house has gained $140k in value in 41/2 years. Crazy what the last house sold for in my neighborhood. We only have 9 houses and they were built the same year so I can gauge my home value pretty close.

To the OP's question. Yes. And I hope someone else can too. If we can get the amount I want for it, we'll be able to put a good down payment on the final mortgage for the new build. I just wish building costs would come down. But from what I can see, buying the kind of home we want in a neighborhood would be about as much as building one on our property. So, here we are.

Not a lot under $150K, small or otherwise, in the Boro that aren't in need of a remodel or more.

This would be interesting experiment to analyze the entire state of Alabama at the sub $150,000 price point.
The “rules”; no mobile homes, within 10 miles of the nearest Walmart and you would feel comfortable with your son/daughter or Grand Kids living in the house/area.
Houses in total BFE, the ghetto or black mold specials can’t be entered.

Nope. Not because I live beyond my means but because housing values are stupid high. My house has doubled in value from when I built it.

Yes we can

My young niece and nephews have overbought. Have great paying jobs and hopefully caught the right side of overbuying when the next up cycle hits.

Yes. But I bought my current house because of the good position my previous two homes put me in. I put a nice chunk down.

For what I paid for it in 2004, yes. For what it would cost to build in today's economy @ $240 SF, I wouldn't entertain it. We might could make it, but it would be tight. We are in the process of preparing to build another one, but are waiting it out. I've had one quote come back @ $238 per square foot. Ain't no way in hell I'm paying that.

It's not just affording the house. It's affording the increase in everything else. Housing goes up, so does insurance and property tax. The geniuses in Chelsea managed to negotiate us new trash service at 3 times the rate we were paying.... Everything at the grocery store is up. Gas is up. If you want to buy a nice used truck, its a house note too. And its disposable. They don't make them like they used to make them.

We’ve had a builder quote 120-160/sf in Elmore co. Even that is BS IMO but you’re at their mercy.

A quality built house under $160 sf now is not a bad price at all.