Why do so many Tacoma owners live in Apartments?

Thank you. Precisely what I was speaking to in the beginning of this thread...

 

Did I call him a fool? No I didn't.

I said I wouldn't pay 200k+ for a 1 bedroom.
If it was still 99k absolutely.

 

In my investment property area a 830 sq feet one bedroom just sold for 375k

 

Agreed the bank makes money. No argument.

I have been a homeowner since 2004. Small house and half an acre. Buying at market peak wasn't ideal but it was what I had to do, I bought from family and have ripped every room down to the studs and started over..so I do agree there is a lot to it in terms of money and time that a renter will never have to do both planned and unplanned.

That said I do have equity in the house which I can make work for me. Short term, I used some to make improvements to the house like vinyl siding. Long term, when I eventually move south I can have the money left over after selling to buy another home.

Believe me taxes and such do suck, but that's all part of your rent as well. It depends on what you want of course. I have a pool and yard I can enjoy in warmer months, and any time of yr I can turn on my stereo and lift weights without my neighbors caring..or go outside and work on my truck

 

In my case I need a truck as a homeowner of a fixer upper..always buying stuff at Home Despot or Lowes

 

Yup, as an 18 yr old I owned 2 cars..Camaro and Monte Carlo. A coworker of mine had long believed I was a spoiled rich kid. I grew up in an affluent town but my family was not rich at all..and I'd worked in some form since I was 10 yrs old. I bought both cars cheap at auctions and did repairs on them myself, paid my own insurance, etc.

And yes, I bought my house at 30 and some of my old barroom buddies were content to continue drinking their wages while scorning me b/c someone "gave me a house" which is totally false.

 

What the market will bear though.

The equity in my house now in MA would outright buy a similar home down south.

 

Some people are only in areas for short spurts for work maybe and it's easier and less money for an apartment than a house for a year?

 

That would be around 650-780k in my area depending on conditions. Is it a turnkey house for that price here?? You'd be lucky lol

 

Yup was just up there
875k for one bedroom

350k 1 bedroom I quoted where my investment properties are , are 32 miles nW of la. Rents are 2300-2800

 

Man I need to look into those area for an income property.

 

Yup definitely do

I started with one
Now i have 4 there
Never empty

 

As the saying goes, "don't let my truck fool you."

 

I haven't read the whole thread but I presume it's because the majority of young people in LA rent in general, as others have said it's freaking expensive to own a home here. I'm 31 years old and renting. In many other states, making what I make I could easily own a nice, middle class home. Out here, no way. I need to double my annual income. Or find a sugar momma

 

In

I foresee some butthurt developing in this thread.

 

The down payments required to own in nyc are insaaaaane. I will be renting small apartments for quite some time. I also rent an indoor parking spot, which my taco appreciates.

 

same goes for up here in the bay area. I was renting at 31 till mid 30's. Sugar Mama is the way to go..hahahaah.

 

Owning a home is definitely a fouble edged sword. There are drawbacks as well as pluses to it. Similar to renting. I guess it depends all on the lifestyle you really want to live and want to feel less bound by restrictions or not.

 

A 2000sqft house on a 6000sqft lot here in Langley which is about 45min from the core of Vancouver B.C. starts @$750,000-$800,000 a 20 percent down payment on 800,000 is 160,000 and then there is property land transfer tax which is @ $15,000. And that's only if you qualify for the mortgage. A $45,000 Tacoma is a lot easier to get when you don't have to put any money down. And just a fyi $800,000 gets you a 600sqft apartment in Vancouver if your lucky

 

AFter 26 years of living in Army housing, rented apartments and houses interspersed with short stints in hotels between moves I'll gladly take the long term investment in our property. Yup, it takes a commitment to routine maintenance costs, taxes and personal labor but I am now much happier to do that then to pay someone else's mortgage. We're just a few years from paying our mortgage off now which will substantially reduce those monthly costs. Of course, knowing that we would not be moving again...until I occupy one of those small boxes filled with ashes....made the choice much easier.

In the end, there's no set answer for anyone - it's a matter of your circumstances, your future plans, your current income, real estate market prices where you live/want to live. In some cases and properties it's possible to turn a profit - we made a substantial profit on our first house in 3 years when we caught a market surge in our area and again on a property we owned in the northern VA area over an 8 year ownership period..but not everyone has that luck. In most cases, it takes years to turn a purchase into a true investment.

For us, we value the fact that we have our privacy, are away from traffic and noise yet can be in the city in 25minutes and at the grocery store in 10. Waking up to deer, turkey and an occasional black bear outside is our little slice of heaven. Of course for now, until we pay off the mortgage, we affectionately refer to it as Mighty Mortgage Manor.

Our property is 57 acres in northeast PA. It was an old horse farm with a barn, stable and old farm house - my mother-in-law lives there now - and we built our house up the hill from the road. We filled in the old pool last year - it was 42 years old - and put a new one in closer to our house. These shots were taken from a hot air balloon flight we took a few years ago. Of course, I included shots with the Taco in them.