this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2023
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Where I live houses are like $450k minimum for something that doesn't need major work. Even with a n FHA loan, the mortgage would be untenable. I've given up owning a home here.
A small shoebox here is upward of 550k. And at that price, you need to put another 100k if you do things yourself because the house is a shitstain.
Buy a house that needs major work. Do the damn work. That was the only way I could afford mine, and if I can do it, so can you. And stop living in the city, live out in the rural areas.
I don't live in the city. I have friends and a job here. It doesn't seem like a solution to the problem to tell everyone to move to Ohio or something. And I know what it is to renovate a house. If it is a big enough job, you have to live (pay rent) elsewhere while you do the work. Otherwise, you still have huge material costs on top of your mortgage.
I didn't live elsewhere while I did the work. You don't have to, you just have to slum it for a while.
Sometimes you do have to, sometimes you don't. If it's a major enough renovation, it may actually be illegal to inhabit. I have lived in houses with no plumbing before. My wife and I are in our 40's and that just isn't going to work.
So you need to pay a car and gas on top. Very good idea!
I bought my cars at auction for like $2.5kish. They have them all the time between 60k-160k miles on them. Look at your local car auction, you don't have to pay a $600/mo loan on a car as well.
You do have to pay the gas, and you do lose hours each day to go to work. Gas these days is at least 100€/month, possibly more.
~~No it's not. Typical car holds $35ish worth of gas, and that lasts 4-5 days of travel to/from work. And I lose an hour a day for a 30-ish minute drive. Woo...~~
Edit: Okay, so I can understand European pricing being stupid here. I can agree with you when it comes to gas over there. But the population density is twice as dense over there as it is in America, so obviously arguments aren't based on European gas prices. I left my comments but leave it able to be read. I'm not one to shy away from being wrong. In your instance, with gas like it is over there, I concede.
Genuinely... you seem very out of touch. Your entire premise is incredibly ableist. You presume that anybody can do the things you're listing, but many of us are living with disabilities, and not everyone has had the opportunities you have had to have enough money to pay for a house, or to buy a car. A $2.5k car is ultimately, MUCH More expensive than buying a more expensive car, because you are getting one that's barely functional for that price. Once all my bills are out of the way, I take home $100 for all unnecessary expenses anyways, so it would take me years to save up for one of those pieces of junk.
You take for granted that you have the confidence and motivation to do things like, say, even apply to one of these homebuyers programs - but other people have to put in more effort just to get out of bed in the morning.
Check your goddamn privilege.
If you checked my other replies, you'd know I had cancer at 26, and that I'm living with disabilities too. But hey, anything to shirk responsibility for yourself. And no, auction cars aren't "barely functional" either. Most of them last me 100k+ miles. Usually they're at auction because they were a drug dealers car, and police ripped out the interior, but otherwise run fine.
It's fairly clear that not only are you inexperienced with the world, but you also don't CARE to gain the experience by applying yourself. Even when people give you solutions, you reply with excuses.
I understand. It took me getting literal CANCER to get me off my ass and applying myself. It wasn't until I understood my own mortality that I was scared into action.