Fairly safe metro areas that are still affordable
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Anonymous
| I would really consider trying to stay within the Maryland public schools retirement plan. There are plenty of places with lower COL in Maryland. You probably have worked very little that would earn you SS. Compare how much you would get in pension payments from 2 states vs. 30 years in Maryland. And you have 1 kid in the DC area for now at least. |
Anonymous
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From an article on CNBC today:
10 U.S. cities where Americans can afford to live alone Wichita, Kan. Baton Rouge, La. Lincoln, Neb. Des Moines, Iowa Akron, Ohio Tucson, Ariz. Tulsa, Okla. St. Louis, Mo. Albuquerque, N.M. Aurora, Colo. Listed in order of affordability. I don't think they factor in safety aspects. I think Baton Rouge, Akron, St. Louis and Albuquerque maybe need to go off the list due to safety. |
Anonymous
| Every "metro area" has areas which are more, or less, safe. Predictably, those correlate to housing cost, school quality, and obvious demographic attributes, including education and income levels. Research those factors and you'll know where you want to be. |
Anonymous
| Rochester, NY suburbs |
Anonymous
This is a good idea. Frederick is nice. Hagerstown is more affordable if not the most exciting. The cost of living in Columbia is less than the DC area, although not by much. |
Anonymous
| Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Maybe it’s just a dream to own my own home. |
Anonymous
You need to likely focus on smaller college towns that tend to still have inventory of small 2 bedr detached homes. unfortunately small detached SFHs are going extinct anywhere where families live due to massive tear down activity due to higher standards for space, but they tend to linger around major colleges as student rentals with no incentive to build large expensive homes. The downside would be loud neighbors you will hear if they throw parties, even if you don't share walls. But otherwise, college towns are great, they tend to be much more walkable with lots of amenities, transit and generally positive upbeat vibe. |
Anonymous
then don't post ... easy |
Anonymous
Owning house is really not great at all in fact, I hate it. It is never ending repairs. There’s always something breaking. There’s a ton of maintenance and it’s just not worth it. I have no idea why you would wanna buy a house when you’re an empty nester when I’m an empty nester I am renting an apartment or living in a condo. I don’t wanna take care of the maintenance of the house. It is just too much especially with one adult. I think you should strongly reconsider this idea of owning a house. It’s really not that great and it really is a mortgage trap of debt for 30 years. There are better ways to spend your money. A house is not an investment. It’s just a place to live. Real estate is only an investment if it’s an income producing property and you don’t actually live there. |
Anonymous
Property values will not go up there. |
Anonymous
OP here. I will be priced out if most rentals where I currently live within about four years if the rent keeps increasing at the same pace. I have lots of friends who bought a house in their 20s/early 30s and the house is now worth hundreds of thousands more. They’d make bank if they sold it (and a few are planning on selling soon when their kids graduate). I never made enough as a single parent to buy a house which was fine back then. I was able to get my kids through college and renting wasn’t an issue. It is now. I just cannot afford it. I’ve been looking at renting cheaper properties like condos but they really aren’t cheaper anymore. I feel stuck and pretty much like a failure. I can’t afford to rent even though my salary is going up. I definitely wish I could go back in time and not go into teaching. I have the equivalent of two Master’s degrees but won’t be able to rent much of anything. Very frustrating. |
Anonymous
The idea that you think that your friends would sell their house and have a crap ton of money shows how knowledgeable you are about owning a home. Unless you own the house for 15 to 20 years and you basically lived in this exact area where prices have gone insane most people only break even they really don’t make that much money. I’ve owned multiple properties. When I made $100,000 I didn’t really make $100,000 I really only made $50,000 because I put so much money into the house. Another property I broke even on and another property I broke even on. Renting would’ve been cheaper for me the entire time. One house I thought that had no problems I spent $35,000 in three years in repairs that were unexpected that were missed by an inspector; owning is extremely risky. I am purchasing a place now only because I don’t wanna be told to move by a landlord, but when I can move in seven years when both of my kids are in college, I will be selling and I will be a lifetime renter. The yard maintenance alone is enough to put me off buying any regular townhouse or a single-family home. I have had both single-family homes and townhouses. In addition, property taxes go off every single year so it’s not like your payment stays the same. My property taxes went up like $300 each month last year. |
Anonymous
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I don’t think you can afford a SFH. And do you really want to relocate somewhere you don’t know anyone and start over again? I’ve had great neighbors in rowhomes and condos. I happen to live in a very large new SFH and have fairly crappy neighbors now.
Your best bet is to stick to what you know. Look at 55+ communities if you’d rather not have small kids next door. Otherwise look at well maintained older townhomes. Look into first time home buyer programs. Look at co-ops because they are often more affordable. Look into buying in a community where you know someone so you can get info on what potential neighbors might be like. |
Anonymous
| Also - look into what you could do to increase your income. And research where you can get stabilized rent in your area and what types of rentals are subject to limits in rent increases. |
Anonymous
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Relocate to a less expensive rental. They exist. You can't always have everything you want - location, size, amenities, neighborhood characteristics, short commute, but you can have what you need, i.e., a place to live which is within your budget. That's how personal finance works - you buy what you can afford, not what you might like to have but cannot afford.
Presumably increasing your income is not a practical option, so reducing your spending is the only alternative path to accumulating sufficient wealth for a comfortable retirement. Housing costs are a big component of spending for most people, but too many believe they absolutely must live in a specific location, in a specific type of housing, no matter the opportunity cost if that expense were instead partially redirected instead to savings and investments. |