Feeling stuck in a starter home - Page 3

Desertdi · ‎03-13-2010

You wouldn't want 5 bedrooms and 4 baths if you live in a resort city with a moderate winter........Everybody you've ever met wants to spend the "winter season" with you...................

♥Surface of the Sun♥

drizzellla · ‎03-14-2010

When we bought our house 38 years ago. The Realtor called it a starter house. And said we would be visiting her in 5 years to purchase another house. At the time interest rates were 16.5% for our mortgage. We just spent a small fortune to go through settlement and pay all the points. We were not looking to move.

Well, somehow here it is 38 years later and we are in the same house. We can say we are friends with most of our neighbors. And this is an ideal house to "grow old in". I think that is why so many of our neighbors stayed. Many bought their house when it was first built. And many of the "kids" have bought houses next door, around the corner or down the street from their parents.

So we are still in our starter house and glad we are.

kivah · ‎03-11-2010

I live in southern California. I was a realtor late 1980s when housing prices were low -- and the cost of selling a house and buying another one was inexpensive. I was also a realtor in the late 1990s when housing prices went up quite a bit. Today - housing prices where I live are very high - even though the interest rate is low. it's now very expensive to sell and then buy --- realtors commission is the biggest expense, escrow fees for buying/selling, loan fees to buy another house, etc. Also, u need to have the money upfront to buy another house -- the seller doesn't want the buyer to have to sell their house. In some cases, they may accept that - but usually not. It's still a sellers market where I live - and the banks are very strict about giving buyers loans. My neighbor sold her house 2 years ago for $545,000 and she bought another house around 10 miles east for the same price -- it cost her around $50,000 to move.

Its Me LuLuBelle2 · ‎10-12-2016

@kivah wrote:
I live in southern California. I was a realtor late 1980s when housing prices were low -- and the cost of selling a house and buying another one was inexpensive. I was also a realtor in the late 1980s when housing prices went up quite a bit. Today - housing prices where I live are very high - even though the interest rate is low. it's now very expensive to sell and then buy --- realtors commission is the biggest expense, escrow fees for buyingselling, loan fees to buy another house, etc. Also, u need to have the money upfront to buy another house -- the seller doesn't want the buyer to have to sell their house. In some cases, they may accept that - but usually not. It's still a sellers market where I live - and the banks are very strict about giving buyers loans. My neighbor sold her house 2 years ago for $545,000 and she bought another house around 10 miles east for the same price -- it cost her around $50,000 to move.

@kivah, housing prices in this area of NY are insane. A young guy I worked with and his wife have been saving and saving and looking forever to move from their condo into a house. They want to start a family, but want a home first. They found a home for $650,000 that was exactly what they wanted. A modest 3 bedroom, 2 bath home from the 1970s on an acre+, in a great school district that needed renovations to fix it up (roof, furnace, windows) and someday in the future to update it. They have excellent credit, had 20% to put down, put in their bid for full asking and lost it went into a bidding war and the highest bidder bought it for $725,000. I bet when the house was originally built it was no more than $40-50,000. My heart hurts for kids here and those on the West coast trying to become homeowners. Between Wall Street here and Tech industries there, the average couple not making huge, big bucks don't seem to have a chance. Sad.

Cumbercookie13 · ‎05-06-2016

My brother and his wife bought a starter home shortly after they got married. It was a nice rancher on a big corner lot in a quiet neighborhood that was close to work and family. They made small improvements here and there. A few years after they had their first (and only) child, they started to look for a bigger house in a neighborhood where there were more kids with good schools.They did a lot of updates to their home and put it on the market in October. It sold in just two days for a little under $300,000. They found a nice colonial in the same town, but within city limits, in a cul-de-sac. The house had been on the market for a while and the seller accepted their bid. They moved in this weekend. They paid $309,000.

I never had a starter home. I lived with my grandparents, and stayed to be with my grandfather after my grandmother died. I was not able to afford being out on my own. When my grandfather died, I inherited the house but sold it four years later and I now rent a first floor apartment.

brandiwine · ‎03-11-2010

@SeaMaiden wrote:
@catwhisperer wrote:
Be fortunate to even have a home and not be homeless nowadays.
@catwhisperer Amen! People complain about everything!

ITA! So many would be grateful to have a roof over their head and food on the table.

occasionalrain · ‎03-10-2010

Why is it that some posters can't seem to resist shaming others. Those who planned their lives, worked in uninspired jobs to get through college then later did without to save deserve the reward of their sacrifice.

pitdakota · ‎03-16-2010

I don't think the phrase "starter home" was even around when we bought our house in the late 1970s. My mother-in-law was our realtor and encouraged us to purchase a home that we thought would meet our needs for years to come. And that is what we did. We bought a 3 bedroom, garage, full basement, ranch style home and stayed there. Of course we were fortunate not to have jobs or family situations that required us to move. End result is it is well more than 30 years later and the house has been paid off for around 10 years now.

I read an article not too long ago on CNBC's website that said it is cheaper and more economical these days for younger individuals starting out to rent a home first. Times have certainly changed.

* Freedom has a taste the protected will never know *

novamc1 · ‎07-02-2015

@Its Me LuLuBelle2

My goodness.........4 acres in your area!

I know a little about real estate values where you live (as a broker I had clients from your area relocating to the Wash DC area), and I know the value of the long-owned property we recently sold in a high-dollar zip code to move to another area of the country...........

All I can say is........if you sold your house and acreage right now, you would not only probably net a whole lot of money, but you would pay a bunch of capital gains tax to Uncle Sam and the IRS, and this would do nothing but reduce the amount you might receive from Social Security (if you are entitled to SS) and increase your payment to Medicare.

It's a double-edged sword, and it happened to me, but at least I knew it would happen.

I also now realize I jumped out of one high-cost frying pan into another one that is simmering and might get worse in terms of high-cost, but I'm always looking for another opportunity.

Its Me LuLuBelle2 · ‎10-12-2016

@novamc1, my in-laws bought two, 2 acre lots for next to nothing back in the 50's. My FIL and his brother built our very modest home over a period of 3 years themselves on weekends and vacations. It truly amazes us today the home values in this area. We have no intention of selling as we love our little home.