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Post by jisp on Jul 12, 2014 20:05:43 GMT -5
WOW Healthy I suppose your son is lucky to live in an area where buying in to the housing market is possible for somebody so young. In our area the housing market is CRAZY INSANE. In fact we are currently looking for a place having sold our large house. We did not even have our house on the market but got an offer we decided we could not refuse. But now we are left with a challenge. The rental market is such that rents are super high for what you get. And we would be interested in buying if we could find something that we liked. But inventory is super low. Also the way the market is around here….properties get listed early in the week. Open houses are on the weekend and then you have to have a non-contingent offer ready to go by Monday or Tuesday.
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Post by healthy11 on Jul 12, 2014 20:43:08 GMT -5
Jisp, I do hope that you and your husband are able to find a suitable new place at a reasonable cost in a manageable timeframe. We once had someone knock on our door asking if we would consider selling "on the spot," but we weren't thinking about it at that point in time. The ordeal of moving is seldom a smooth process. I do find it amazing, and scary, how "different" the housing and job market can be from one place to the next, even an hour away, within the same state. As I've mentioned before, we live in a suburb of Chicago...there are public transit lines/trains that can take people to/from the downtown area on a daily basis, as well as a number of companies that employ people in the local areas. Where our son is working is an hour further away from us and from Chicago, and there are NO good commuter options available to get from where he's at into downtown Chicago. The economy of the city that he's working in took a HUGE economic hit several decades ago, when many manufacturing companies moved overseas and/or went bankrupt, which left lots of blue collar people without jobs, and needless to say, the local housing market was also hit hard. The city has recently tried to "promote itself" as an aeronautics and aviation center, and that's what my son is part of. articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-09-08/business/ct-biz-0908-rockford-aviation-20130908_1_woodward-inc-b-e-aerospace-aviationAs I've alluded to previously, I'm a bit concerned about my son being "locked in and pigeon-holed" into a particular job industry at such an early point of his career, but he has always "seen things from a different viewpoint" than me. He's never expressed a desire to take on the challenges of a CEO or try to move up the corporate ladder quickly; he's said that he wants to be able to keep a work-life balance, and for now, he likes the people he works with and is reasonably happy where he's at. (I'm not sure if he's had these kind of frank discussions with his long-time girlfriend, but she has 3 more years of optometry school before she'll graduate, and her plans after that are "up in the air.") His local realtor said if a person is able to stay in a house for at least 3 years, buying makes better sense. My husband and I aren't interfering, even though we foresee a number of significant problems since this particular house is a foreclosure, and it's been vacant for awhile. To us, it seems like the construction quality is poor, and the floor plan is odd, but our son is just enamored with the idea of having a bigger place with a 3-car garage for all his vehicles. The utilities have been turned off, so there's no way to test the furnace or A/C, etc. They took out all the appliances, so he'll have to buy some. The carpeting is dirty, and the yard is a weedy mess. I'm concerned, but my husband suggests that we "look on the bright side, which is that he won't have as much free time to ride his motorcycle!" Our son is sharing his current apartment with an intern, and he's hoping to be able to get another co-op student to rent a room in whatever house he buys to help pay the mortgage. (Although the house is just 3 miles from where he works, its location is not nearly as convenient to shopping as where he's at now.) Time will tell what happens; the bank hasn't accepted his offer yet.
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Post by jisp on Jul 13, 2014 6:24:46 GMT -5
Healthy I do know from the sale of our house that banks are getting pretty picky about lending money to people. Even in our case where (trust me) the buyers had more than enough to pay for this house, the banks supposedly gave them a hard time. And deals on houses are regularly falling through because people are failing to get funding.
Our area is the opposite of where your son is moving. There has always been a lot of pressure on the housing situation due to the number of Universities and students who show up in the area. But now there is a huge bio-tech industry that is growing and they are bringing in tons of people who need to find housing and there simply is not enough. Also many that are coming to work in this industry are coming from overseas. And this distorts the housing situation because financially everyone is not on the same page and what one expects in an apartment or house varies as well.
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Post by healthy11 on Jul 13, 2014 8:44:05 GMT -5
Jisp, you're obviously in a far more desirable location than our son. That said, it is difficult to advise our son not to buy a place if he feels ready to handle the responsibilities involved, because the mortgage cost plus taxes on a modest house in his area would be comparable to renting. (It's all the extra repair and maintenance costs that will add up.) He's already been frustrated by having to wait for landlords to fix things in his various apartments, plus in a single family home he'll have more space, and won't have to worry about disturbing other tenants in the building if he wants to work late at night on his cars.
On one hand, I wish he'd give himself the flexibility of being able to move about and switch jobs more freely, and not be "tied down" to a house in a depressed community, but on the other hand, even if something happens in two or three years and he's got to sell it for a loss of $25K, it's somewhat comparable to paying rent on an apartment over that timeframe ($750/mo. X 36 mo. = $27,000) and having nothing to show for it except cancelled checks.
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Post by dw on Jul 13, 2014 23:06:35 GMT -5
It will certainly be a learning experience. Your son, the home owner; could you have predicted this a couple of years ago? Perhaps if parents are fortunate enough to be home owners, that feels like the norm" to our young folks. My parents always rented, and that seemed like the "norm" to me. It never crossed my mind to buy till I was well past 30 yo.
I guess the underlying thing about this is that your son has held down this job for nearly a year now, and, from what you reported in the account of his business trip, he is doing well. So, he has the economic means to save and buy a home. Isn't that great? And, he has been saving!
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Post by healthy11 on Jul 14, 2014 14:10:29 GMT -5
dw, I am glad that my son has held his job for a year, and apparently likes it well enough to think about staying for awhile, but given the poor economy in Rockford, almost anyone with a full time job and a small downpayment can afford to buy a modest house in town. (Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of skilled worker opportunities there, but he's at one of the few companies that is trying to reinvigorate things.) Many of the homes that are for sale are foreclosures, and as you might guess, if owners couldn't make mortgage payments, they obviously couldn't always keep up with maintenance issues, either. The house my son has put an offer on was only built in 2003, but will need significant "elbow grease" in terms of cleaning. The scarier parts are the unknown, since the utilities have been shut off for awhile, so we can't tell if the furnace, A/C, water heater, etc. will function. I wish he'd looked at more homes before "falling in love with this one's 3-car garage."
You're probably right about when a person grows up in a rental situation, homeownership isn't the first responsibility they think about, but if you've already seen what it takes (ie, yardcare and other maintenance) then it doesn't seem so daunting. Our son has rented for almost 5 years now, since his sophomore year of college, and I think he values "single family homeownership" mostly for not having to deal with landlord restrictions and tenants having adjoining walls. We hope he's not getting in "over his head," and on a related note, that he stops having accidents where he bangs his head and ends up with concussions and other health issues!! (In his case, when they say "location, location, location," maybe being close to a hospital should be a higher priority than stores and restaurants??)
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Post by healthy11 on Jul 15, 2014 19:16:58 GMT -5
Homeownership On Hold. There are discrepancies in the real estate contract as to how many days the buyer (my son) is allowed, in order to obtain attorney approval and have an inspection done on the house, else risk loss of his earnest money. One place it says 7 days, another says 10 days, but he hasn't had a chance to find a lawyer or arrange an inspection yet, and it looks like he won't be able to for at least a week, because when my son went to work this morning, he was told, "your flight leaves for Phoenix in two hours." (There was talk about him traveling last week, but then it got cancelled, so he started the house-hunting process.) If he gave the seller his earnest money deposit today, when it was due, but he couldn't get an inspection done or meet with an attorney in time, he would be "on the hook" no matter what. We know he's "bummed," because the house he made the offer on has all the features he wanted at a seemingly reasonable price, but it also needs visible repairs, and the purpose of a home inspection would be to discover other hidden problems. (ie, when the gas was turned off in winter and the furnace wasn't working, the water pipes froze, and who knows when the utilities are turned back on if he'll have leaks behind the walls, mold, etc.?) We're trying to tell him that even if someone else comes in and makes an offer on that house while he's out of town, there will be similar ones available in the future. The whole home-buying process, much like dealing with school district special ed issues, requires lots of documentation and patience, but neither are his strong suits... Nov. update: Found a similar house, in a better part of town, and in good condition (costs significantly more, but still inexpensive compared to Boston or other parts of the U.S.) and he closed/moved in just before Thanksgiving.
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Post by alchemie on Jul 17, 2014 7:29:53 GMT -5
Thanks. Sorry for the late reply. I'm in Oklahoma and apparently they only keep records for 5 years after they graduate, no matter if they were in Special Education or not. I caused a huge fuss with them and they actually FOUND her file. So people here need to bug them pretty bad, otherwise they'll probably lie and say that it got destroyed.
They didn't help her after HS graduation at all. Just let her loose into the world. Didn't advise us to talk to anyone or who it was we were supposed to talk to when we got there. According to the college's site, there isn't anything about any child who has special needs on there. That college sucked anyway because after I withdrew her, they tried to say that I didn't withdrawal her from the 2nd semester, and that I'd have to pay the college for the both semesters. It was a nightmare.
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Post by bros on Jul 17, 2014 9:16:02 GMT -5
Thanks. Sorry for the late reply. I'm in Oklahoma and apparently they only keep records for 5 years after they graduate, no matter if they were in Special Education or not. I caused a huge fuss with them and they actually FOUND her file. So people here need to bug them pretty bad, otherwise they'll probably lie and say that it got destroyed. They didn't help her after HS graduation at all. Just let her loose into the world. Didn't advise us to talk to anyone or who it was we were supposed to talk to when we got there. According to the college's site, there isn't anything about any child who has special needs on there. That college sucked anyway because after I withdrew her, they tried to say that I didn't withdrawal her from the 2nd semester, and that I'd have to pay the college for the both semesters. It was a nightmare. My district forced me to sign a piece of paper in the middle of my last final in HS that said that they "advised me of organizations and other resources available to me as an individual with disabilities" They wouldn't even allow me to read the paper. Any time I tried, they kept telling me to sign the paper and not read it. Only was able to read the paper after I got my records from the district.
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Post by healthy11 on Feb 22, 2016 11:25:15 GMT -5
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Post by healthy11 on Mar 12, 2016 12:52:40 GMT -5
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Post by healthy11 on Apr 27, 2016 8:07:42 GMT -5
The following article has some eye-opening statistics and information about "millennials," many of whom live with their parents: www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/ct-re-0501-millennials-at-home-20160426-story.html"More than 20 percent of millennials (born 1981 to 1996) are living with mom and dad, even though they have graduated from high school or college, according to the National Association of Home Builders' 2016 "Missing Young Adult Households" study. That's up from 12 percent in 2000....Not all millennials who move out, stay out. About 55 percent of them "boomerang" back to their parents' home by age 27, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' National Longitudinal Surveys program..."
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Post by shawbridge on Apr 28, 2016 13:08:45 GMT -5
Given that housing is perhaps the biggest cost (per jisp's note much earlier), there are probably things we can do to help our kids become independent over time. First, we encourage them to look for jobs in places where housing costs are relatively low. For example, ShawD will graduate in three weeks with a MSN and will be able to start work as a nurse practitioner. I had suggested to her that she think about places where she could buy a house and raise a family on her salary. I'm no advocating single mothering at all, but I think women should recognize that even if they can be married and have kids, a divorce can leave them in a tenuous state. I originally suggested Albuquerque and Houston but she is thinking of Oregon (likely Portland), which is not cheap but is a lot less expensive than Boston or San Francisco.
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Post by shawbridge on Apr 28, 2016 13:11:02 GMT -5
The other thing that we might do is to help them with a downpayment on a mortgage. That way, instead of paying rent, they could more quickly start paying a mortgage. But, they'd still be responsible for mortgage payments plus maintenance and improvements, etc.
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Post by healthy11 on Apr 28, 2016 21:37:40 GMT -5
Many states have "First Time Homebuyer" Assistance Programs, that can be used instead of, or in addition to, parental help with a house downpayment. In my state, for my son's situation, the grant money could be used towards a downpayment or other closing costs. 1/60th of the grant amount is "forgiven" each month he's in the house (so after 5 years, he wouldn't owe anything back; if he sells the home and moves before then, he has to return a portion.) Some programs also offer attractive mortgage loan rates even for people without ideal credit. (I have to admit, I was surprised to learn that my son recently volunteered to become Vice President of the Homeowner's Association for the subdivision where his house is located... I'm a former Treasurer of the Homeowner's Association where we've lived for the past 30 years, so my son presumably has a general idea about the types of issues and concerns that residents might have, but I'm still shocked that the elected him, at the "ripe old age of 25." Maybe no one else volunteered for the position?) Shawbridge, if your daughter decides to settle down in Oregon, here's a link to their First Time Homebuyer Programs: www.oregon.gov/ohcs/Pages/oregon-bond-program-home-buying-resources.aspx
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Post by healthy11 on May 15, 2016 8:11:08 GMT -5
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Post by jisp on May 16, 2016 6:50:06 GMT -5
Shawbridge, I was looking at this post and noticed your comment. Interesting that you should mention raising a family. My daughter's preceptor who works for a major hospital in the Boston area is pregnant. No surprise there given the age of somebody who has been working as a nurse practitioner for a few years. My daughter who works for the same major hospital as her preceptor was telling me that the hospital has NO PAID MATERNITY LEAVE!!! What? ?? That is right, women who are pregnant are expected to use their own earned vacation time for their maternity leave. That is crazy. Given how hard it is not only to save money but also to collect earned vacation time. DD was saying that most likely many practitioners quit because it is makes more sense to collect unemployment and they can probably find new jobs once they are ready to go back to work. This is not a way to run a functioning economy!!! It is crazy. Has your DD decided where she is going to move? Portland is quite expensive.
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Post by shawbridge on May 19, 2016 16:12:50 GMT -5
^jisp, she hasn't decided much. She finished classes/exams last week and graduates tomorrow. Yesterday, today and tomorrow morning, she was/will be in a review class for her NP licensure exam and will take it a few days later. She recently visited a friend who was graduating from Smith and though Northampton might be a good place -- RE costs are pretty inexpensive there. She's going to take a 3 month trip to SE Asia and figure out what next when she returns. Alas, I think that makes Boston or Northampton more likely and Oregon or less expensive places less likely.
I did a quick look at Portland RE prices and it seems inexpensive compared to Boston. Am I missing something?
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Post by jisp on May 20, 2016 18:56:14 GMT -5
Seattle and Portland have this weird thing where it is really hard to tell what is a bad neighborhood and what is not. Houses can look deceptively nice because of the weather and the fact that things grow easily there. I suspect rent is cheaper there. But not by much. Central Portland is small and highly desirable, but I suppose if you have a car and are willing to deal with commuting prices drop off quickly. But keep in mind salaries might not be quite as high there either so it balances out.
Our daughter looked into moving there because she is interested in alternative medicine. But what she found was the practices out there mostly wanted her to come on board and then find her own patients as a way of building up their practice. There did not seem to be a desire to mentor a new NP graduate and work collaboratively with them. She was not comfortable with that model and wanted to be in a situation similar to a residency so she could continue to learn more. Increasingly more and more places are developing NP residencies because many new NP graduates do not feel entirely comfortable practicing completely on their own right after graduating.
Northampton is a great place. I know so many kids who after graduating from Mass hang around there for a while. So is Burlington VT. I am sure your DD will find a job easily as NPs are definitely in demand everywhere. The key will be finding one that matches what she wants. For our daughter that was the challenge.
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Post by kewpie on May 24, 2016 10:17:20 GMT -5
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Post by michellea on May 25, 2016 15:31:03 GMT -5
Kewpie - you are right. One of my dd's best friends is moving to SF w a good job w/ Wells Fargo. Luckily her brother is out there and she can live w him for awhile. Even compared to her native NYC, SF is very expensive. Glad DD will be in Boston - she'll be able to get a 3 BR apt and still have enough to live on - but she will need her car for her sales job, and parking could be another big expense on top of rent. Hoping she finds a place w parking......
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Post by kewpie on May 26, 2016 9:53:26 GMT -5
>Hoping she finds a place w parking......< Gosh! I hope the parking is better in Boston than SF. Its rough in SF.
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Post by jisp on May 26, 2016 16:04:18 GMT -5
Kewpie....at least in SF you don't have winter!!!! Winter changes everything when it comes to cars and parking!!! Michellea 3 Bedrooms? For herself or with others? My son is going to live in a 5 bedroom in Brighton next year with 4 other guys He feels pretty good about the place they rented. It has the advantage that he hopefully can get Brookline and/or Newton students.
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Post by kewpie on May 26, 2016 17:35:43 GMT -5
>..at least in SF you don't have winter!!!< LOL That's why its so expensive!!
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Post by shawbridge on May 31, 2016 21:56:42 GMT -5
kewpie, the Bay area economy is subject to cycles, but lots of wealth in the country is being generated there. As long as that is true, real estate prices will be pretty high.
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Post by kewpie on Jun 1, 2016 9:28:10 GMT -5
Good point Shawbridge. While weather is a factor in population growth, the RE started to climb with the birth/rise of Silicon valley in the late 70's. SF was a cheap place to live for many years, especially when you compare it to New York. In fact in retrospect, it was extremely undervalued. In an old "Streets of San Francisco" episode, someone made a "killing" of 75K for their commercial property. At that time, it was a killing as 3-5 years before it was probably worth 35K!
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Post by healthy11 on Jun 1, 2016 10:20:04 GMT -5
My friend's son just graduated with an architecture degree and has accepted a job in San Fran...any recommendations on where he might be able to find a safe, yet " relatively affordable" studio apartment, or reputable sites (not just Craigslist) where he might find a room to rent?
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Post by bros on Jun 1, 2016 11:11:56 GMT -5
I've heard good things about padmapper.
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Post by kewpie on Jun 1, 2016 12:39:18 GMT -5
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Post by healthy11 on Jun 1, 2016 16:25:33 GMT -5
Thanks! I'll pass the info along to my friend. (And count my blessings that my son was able to find a job in an area with low housing costs!!)
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