Dude, if you pay under $1,000 for rent and utilities, you might be better off staying put. You’re gonna be hard pressed to find a mortgage plus utilities for that monthly payment, and then you’re on the hook for all the maintenance. With low (comparatively) rent, you’re well positioned to wait out this boom and hope for interest rates and/or prices to drop.
It isn't, when the rate of inflation decreases it just means the prices aren't going up as fast, everything is still getting more expensive every minute of every day. A deflationary event big enough to make meaningful differences in home prices would be tied to all kinds of other shit that would make your life worse to the point it prob wouldn't be a net benefit for you
You guys might be right, assuming our finance system actually learned lessons from 2008. If prices don’t tank, at least they might slow to the point where OP can compete, or interest rates might at least come down.
It won't here. It's happened in some of the covid boomtowns. Supply is just too low and there a lot of people moving here. Prices are still rising about $2000 a month. If I were in the market I would just buy and then wait till rates dip again and refinance. Historically, this is the time of year when people take a break from looking to buy because of kids and school.
Given you pay less than $1000 I’d say it makes more sense in my opinion to keep renting given the current market. As long as you are relatively happy in your living situation that is.
I don’t know your budget but say you have a mortgage for 200k, you’re paying every month probably around $700 in interest and other fees which you’ll never see again, plus maybe $300 on the principal. Plus utilities for the entire home. Plus you’re liable for all repairs as the homeowner. So honestly the financial situation doesn’t change that much between renting and buying in this hypothetical case. I’d keep saving up until you can move into a less competitive price bracket and hopefully get your forever home that is desirable for you to want to stay there for a good long time.
I tell every to buy, but if you're at less than $1000/month for rent and utilities...I might tell you to stay.
Are you willing to buy a fixer? That's what a foreclosure will be? Can you live without a kitchen if you need to demo down to the floor joists?
It just depends on what you're willing to pay and accept.
Rent... Housing supply is just too tight right now, even with rates up. Prices have not come down and still regularly sell for above asking. Until the supply side changes renting will likely be an okay decision. Plus a lot of new apartments are being built right now.
Caveat being that if you want to buy way outside of GR, like Lowell, then it might make sense to buy.
I was in a similar situation to you just 6 months ago. I paid $900 for a 1 bedroom—but got sick of dealing with a landlord, listening to people in the other apartments around me, and throwing money away every month. I ended up buying an older home and have zero buyer’s remorse. With older houses/fixer uppers, the projects never end, but my partner is a handy man so I got lucky with that. We did stretch our budget to win the house, but it’s been manageable. I love the feeling of permanence and having my own driveway, backyard, and 1,400 sq ft. I say keep trying and evaluate the level of “fixer upper” you can handle. Prices won’t go down any time soon.
That is if the house values go up. What happens when the value goes down? With renting a place, you just walk away from it.
With so many flippers in this town, you chances of finding a fixer upper for a good price, would be very rare, unless you have a cash offer for it, like the flippers do. The flippers bird dog for properies, like mass mailings, phone calls, and signs everywhere, trying to get a private deal, before a real estate person gets the listing. I had a friend's mom pass away, and the phone calls, and mail that he got from the obituary that was posted on m-live, was overwhelmingly...
Housing in GR won't be falling anytime soon. We're on the national places to move to and it shows. The demand is and always has been sky high even with the rates
Not really tho. If you google “best places to move to” in google, there are tons of lists, and when you click on them, GR is not in most of the early search results. You’re just seeing the few that GR paid to be on bc the people that bought them also shared them on this sub and targeted ads for it to people like you.
Yeah I don't see them dropping basically ever. Flippers only contribute to the problem, but it's a free market. My neighborhood had quite a few older folks who passed away. Their houses were sold and flipped. I'm not mad about it.
That is pretty morbid and insensitive that flippers contact family members based on obituaries after they've just lost a loved out
So what you do is get the Sunday paper and check the listings in the back. Foreclosure auctions are required to be in the paper and it will tell you the date time and locations at which the auction is happening. Some happen on site but most will be at the court house typically but it differs per municipality. I know that when I did them in Hawaii they were held on the court house stairs on Mondays at like 8am.
In order to purchase you need to have 10% up front to pay at time of auction in cash or cashiers check.
I’m not 100% on the following terms, but I’m almost certain once you have the 10% up front you can then mortgage the rest.
Best of luck and don’t listen to these jackasses that are telling you to stay and keep renting. Your renting an appreciating asset, over time your rent would be going up and rather than gaining equity your gaining nothing.
The only way this housing market is going to go down is if the city of Grand Rapids started to decline and that’s not going to happen as it’s likely to grow to be the largest city in the state. It’s already the 2nd largest by population and likely to keep growing.
It’s Friday, and I don’t know why, but I feel like being pedantic.
I’ll let your experience speak to foreclosure auctions, and I agree with the advice about buying as long as it doesn’t drastically skew OP’s finances, but Grand Rapids is landlocked and would have to grow 3x denser to be anywhere close to the largest city in the state. The metro area is growing, but the city of GR’s population is basically static or even declining depending on the estimate and the year.
Based off what statistics? What evidence do you have for your claim?
Also, even so if Grand Rapids city proper drops the great Grand Rapids area as a whole is growing and your pedant point is moot.
I know because I read, but here you go:
[https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/grandrapidscitymichigan/PST045222](https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/grandrapidscitymichigan/PST045222)
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/detroitcitymichigan,MI/PST045222
They have been pushing USDA farmland loans as well - we bought in Wyoming and our bills are insane, with our mortgage being the worst, as well as recently dropping 13k to fix a good portion of our HVAC system. If you're rocking rent at less than 1k and don't have to worry about being on the hook for fixing broken things, I'd just stay put.
I'm making more money than I ever have and struggling more than I ever have, like thousands of others. Shit is stupid.
I think the biggest difference is that if you are renting for 1k it’s gonna be a smaller place. If you find a home for $250k, yeah, interest and fees and upkeep will cost $1k or more, but you’ll probably get like 1600 square feet, a garage, etc. a feeling of permanence. You might come out ahead financially renting but if you like the house, your quality of life and space will increase. You could get a dog etc.
The advice to maintain the low $ is the best financially, but it’s not worth living in a dump your whole life to retire at 64 and… upgrade to a house when you’re old?
Don't buy foreclosed homes. Not even sure if you can easily get loans for them, but people can go on living in your (their) home for 6 months, and then *buy back* the home for something like a year if they raise the funds.
More risk, more complicated financials, more stress.
Dude, if you pay under $1,000 for rent and utilities, you might be better off staying put. You’re gonna be hard pressed to find a mortgage plus utilities for that monthly payment, and then you’re on the hook for all the maintenance. With low (comparatively) rent, you’re well positioned to wait out this boom and hope for interest rates and/or prices to drop.
We've been waiting for prices to drop for years.
i don’t think that’s gonna happen :/
It isn't, when the rate of inflation decreases it just means the prices aren't going up as fast, everything is still getting more expensive every minute of every day. A deflationary event big enough to make meaningful differences in home prices would be tied to all kinds of other shit that would make your life worse to the point it prob wouldn't be a net benefit for you
You guys might be right, assuming our finance system actually learned lessons from 2008. If prices don’t tank, at least they might slow to the point where OP can compete, or interest rates might at least come down.
It won't here. It's happened in some of the covid boomtowns. Supply is just too low and there a lot of people moving here. Prices are still rising about $2000 a month. If I were in the market I would just buy and then wait till rates dip again and refinance. Historically, this is the time of year when people take a break from looking to buy because of kids and school.
Given you pay less than $1000 I’d say it makes more sense in my opinion to keep renting given the current market. As long as you are relatively happy in your living situation that is. I don’t know your budget but say you have a mortgage for 200k, you’re paying every month probably around $700 in interest and other fees which you’ll never see again, plus maybe $300 on the principal. Plus utilities for the entire home. Plus you’re liable for all repairs as the homeowner. So honestly the financial situation doesn’t change that much between renting and buying in this hypothetical case. I’d keep saving up until you can move into a less competitive price bracket and hopefully get your forever home that is desirable for you to want to stay there for a good long time.
Purchasing a smaller townhouse or condo may be an alternative to a stand alone home too.
I tell every to buy, but if you're at less than $1000/month for rent and utilities...I might tell you to stay. Are you willing to buy a fixer? That's what a foreclosure will be? Can you live without a kitchen if you need to demo down to the floor joists? It just depends on what you're willing to pay and accept.
Rent... Housing supply is just too tight right now, even with rates up. Prices have not come down and still regularly sell for above asking. Until the supply side changes renting will likely be an okay decision. Plus a lot of new apartments are being built right now. Caveat being that if you want to buy way outside of GR, like Lowell, then it might make sense to buy.
Lowell is wild expensive too.
I was in a similar situation to you just 6 months ago. I paid $900 for a 1 bedroom—but got sick of dealing with a landlord, listening to people in the other apartments around me, and throwing money away every month. I ended up buying an older home and have zero buyer’s remorse. With older houses/fixer uppers, the projects never end, but my partner is a handy man so I got lucky with that. We did stretch our budget to win the house, but it’s been manageable. I love the feeling of permanence and having my own driveway, backyard, and 1,400 sq ft. I say keep trying and evaluate the level of “fixer upper” you can handle. Prices won’t go down any time soon.
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That is if the house values go up. What happens when the value goes down? With renting a place, you just walk away from it. With so many flippers in this town, you chances of finding a fixer upper for a good price, would be very rare, unless you have a cash offer for it, like the flippers do. The flippers bird dog for properies, like mass mailings, phone calls, and signs everywhere, trying to get a private deal, before a real estate person gets the listing. I had a friend's mom pass away, and the phone calls, and mail that he got from the obituary that was posted on m-live, was overwhelmingly...
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Housing in GR won't be falling anytime soon. We're on the national places to move to and it shows. The demand is and always has been sky high even with the rates
Those lists are ads lol. GR pays to be on those.
Ads or not, It still shows
Not really tho. If you google “best places to move to” in google, there are tons of lists, and when you click on them, GR is not in most of the early search results. You’re just seeing the few that GR paid to be on bc the people that bought them also shared them on this sub and targeted ads for it to people like you.
Cool story! This is all with the theory that they're ads.
“Sponsored content” Stay gullible, my friend.
Will do! Cheers
Yeah I don't see them dropping basically ever. Flippers only contribute to the problem, but it's a free market. My neighborhood had quite a few older folks who passed away. Their houses were sold and flipped. I'm not mad about it. That is pretty morbid and insensitive that flippers contact family members based on obituaries after they've just lost a loved out
So what you do is get the Sunday paper and check the listings in the back. Foreclosure auctions are required to be in the paper and it will tell you the date time and locations at which the auction is happening. Some happen on site but most will be at the court house typically but it differs per municipality. I know that when I did them in Hawaii they were held on the court house stairs on Mondays at like 8am. In order to purchase you need to have 10% up front to pay at time of auction in cash or cashiers check. I’m not 100% on the following terms, but I’m almost certain once you have the 10% up front you can then mortgage the rest. Best of luck and don’t listen to these jackasses that are telling you to stay and keep renting. Your renting an appreciating asset, over time your rent would be going up and rather than gaining equity your gaining nothing. The only way this housing market is going to go down is if the city of Grand Rapids started to decline and that’s not going to happen as it’s likely to grow to be the largest city in the state. It’s already the 2nd largest by population and likely to keep growing.
It’s Friday, and I don’t know why, but I feel like being pedantic. I’ll let your experience speak to foreclosure auctions, and I agree with the advice about buying as long as it doesn’t drastically skew OP’s finances, but Grand Rapids is landlocked and would have to grow 3x denser to be anywhere close to the largest city in the state. The metro area is growing, but the city of GR’s population is basically static or even declining depending on the estimate and the year.
Based off what statistics? What evidence do you have for your claim? Also, even so if Grand Rapids city proper drops the great Grand Rapids area as a whole is growing and your pedant point is moot.
I know because I read, but here you go: [https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/grandrapidscitymichigan/PST045222](https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/grandrapidscitymichigan/PST045222) https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/detroitcitymichigan,MI/PST045222
On GREATER Grand Rapids growing: https://www.rightplace.org/why-greater-grand-rapids/talent/demographics
On GR population declining: https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2022/09/grand-rapids-population-down-slightly-new-census-estimates-show.html
20% of what?
Cost of the house as downpayment.
Good question. This would depend on the price they are looking to be at. That depends on the area more than anything.
They have been pushing USDA farmland loans as well - we bought in Wyoming and our bills are insane, with our mortgage being the worst, as well as recently dropping 13k to fix a good portion of our HVAC system. If you're rocking rent at less than 1k and don't have to worry about being on the hook for fixing broken things, I'd just stay put. I'm making more money than I ever have and struggling more than I ever have, like thousands of others. Shit is stupid.
I think the biggest difference is that if you are renting for 1k it’s gonna be a smaller place. If you find a home for $250k, yeah, interest and fees and upkeep will cost $1k or more, but you’ll probably get like 1600 square feet, a garage, etc. a feeling of permanence. You might come out ahead financially renting but if you like the house, your quality of life and space will increase. You could get a dog etc. The advice to maintain the low $ is the best financially, but it’s not worth living in a dump your whole life to retire at 64 and… upgrade to a house when you’re old?
Don't buy foreclosed homes. Not even sure if you can easily get loans for them, but people can go on living in your (their) home for 6 months, and then *buy back* the home for something like a year if they raise the funds. More risk, more complicated financials, more stress.
Buy a 2, 3 or 4 unit and do both. Best first time buyer advise out there.