[quote=bearishgurl]Just brown bag it, instead. That’s what I did, even when I lived 1-3 miles from dtn SD :=]
I’m fooling with you, AN, because I really don’t think most young buyers think of their long-term true desires when making the biggest purchase of their lives. They often take the path of least resistance and overpay for a home on a tiny lot in *newer* suburbia/exurbia not realizing they may outgrow it quickly and may not be able to unload it without taking out of their pockets for selling costs (at the very least).
Not saying this is/was you, but when I hear suburbia/exurbia homeowners living on smallish lots in tract crackerboxes or mcmansions stating they want or need more room to spread out and did not purchase the type of property they really wanted and that room is now available for roughly $300-$400K for the first acre (addt’l acres far less) WITH a house and utils aready on it, how much better can this get? This is not TX or OK and these prices will not last forever. I’m not necessarily bullish but I think traditional or “equity sale” deals are currently bargained down due most of what’s currently on the market being distressed property. Obviously, those current “equity sale” sellers very much want to sell (retire?) and so do not have a “bubble mentality,” are realistic and will make a deal. They are out there.[/quote]
I’m confused. You said people buy houses in small lot because they don’t think long term, but then you turn around and tell me to change the one thing that I love most about where I’m living, which is having the ability to go home in 5-10 minutes and eat lunch and see my wife and kids. I can see myself working for at least another 20 years. 20 years is a long time to do something you don’t like (in my case, commute). Not everyone want acreage either. I’m perfectly happy with ~.25 acre. I’m not going to sacrifice location for acreage. There’s a reason why that house on 1 acre sold for a little over $400k. AFAIK, that house is also in suburbia as well. Overpaying is all relative. You can’t make a generalization statement like “They often take the path of least resistance and overpay for a home on a tiny lot in *newer* suburbia/exurbia…” without looking foolish.
