House price

[PandaBear]

SadI'm sorry you feel I look down on people who swing a hammer if I offended you I sincerely apologize. I educated my daughter's for better opportunities, make a fantastic living , to enjoy the great things life has to offer and spoil themselves. I do take offense that you think that is spoiling my kids by educating them. My dad was a garbage man his priority was to send his three boys to college and land good non physical labor careers because he didn't want us to ever work as hard as he did. He succeeded in that goal.

My dad was a machinist, until one day he couldn't take the work and management anymore. He got lucky and became a real estate agent along with my mom, and did very well in that. Now they are mom and pop landlords managing and fixing up their own apartments and houses.

He told me one thing: you'll never make it big working for someone. I took part of that advise as not focusing only on work income (I still work for someone) but also need to invest your net worth, so eventually, you don't need to rely on your job's income. I never look down on people swinging hammer, I pay for market rate that we agreed upon before the job begin, I buy people lunch of their choice (i.e. Super Taqueria instead of Subways), I offer to do the cleanup myself when they finish the hard stuff I cannot do so they can leave early. I chat with our companies' janitors all the time and they basically say hi to me all the time when we ran into each other (which is how I know one of them work 2 full time jobs and go home during the weekend only).

I will try to discourage my kids (daughters) going into trade school or work as janitor for part time jobs, because I can afford to send them to school without burdening them with that, so they can focus on doing not just the minimum required work to graduate, but to do more and get the most out of what they can learn, internship, research, enter better school, get a better paying and less demanding job than hard physical labor. I am lucky that I can afford to do that, and I understand not everyone is as lucky as I am so I never look down on them.

I'm sure most construction workers and janitors want their kids to work a less demanding office job or have a better future as well.

 

[billt460]

Whaaaaa?

The FAA let Boeing self-certify their 737's MCAS system with disastrous results. This country's government loves the airlines and aerospace industry to a fault.

I'm not talking about the FAA. It's the EPA that is the enemy of business in California.

 

[billt460]

My dad was a machinist, until one day he couldn't take the work and management anymore. He got lucky and became a real estate agent along with my mom, and did very well in that. Now they are mom and pop landlords managing and fixing up their own apartments and houses.

So.... Demo and rehabbing construction work is less physically demanding than running machine tools?

 

[PandaBear]

So.... Demo and rehabbing construction work is less physically demanding than running machine tools?

Depends. Dad used to come home sweaty and had to shower asap because fiberglass dust poked into his skin. He is not a builder so he doesn't really demo much, just painting, laying out new pergo flooring, replacing toilets, cleanup between tenant move out, screening tenants (lots of flakes and fakes lately), repairing appliances, cleaning public area once a week, pushing out and taking back in garbage cans, hiring plumbers to replace water heaters (we go through a lot of them), etc. When tenants move out they usually spend 1 week in the place fixing things up or 1 month in the place remodeling, camping on site is easier than commuting everyday. Once it is done and between people moving in and out they just watch youtube at home on home improvement or library movies.

They hire people to do heavy work due to safety (they are 70s) and quality. You don't want DIY quality lowering your potential rent, that's not a good investment. Without changing layout the work is usually not too hard or expensive. They can replace laminated countertop themselves and it is less to replace if damaged.

 

[nickaluch]

The tradesmen I know are all turning down work. And have been for years. They're working as much overtime as they want. Most in the rust belt are moving to places here, and in Texas, where their labor is in even higher demand. As are their wages. I moved here in the 90's from Chicago, and enjoyed an immediate pay increase when I did. That span is even broader now. There's never been anything "cyclical" about it.

It's the white collar people waving their degrees at every company they can find, that are on the unemployment line. It's exactly as alarmguy said...... When you don't produce a product, you are easily replaced or relocated. People are in for a rude awaking. You can't not produce a product and have job security.... He is correct.

You are seeing the results of that being played out daily in many parts of the country. This idea people have had, that a college degree guarantees you job security is not playing out well for them. They're finding out by not only being jobless, but unable to pay back their student loans as well.

Thats what happens when you get the wrong college degree. Being a art major in college is a bad choice and I blame parents for that the kid is 18 you need to steer them in the correct direction.

 

[billt460]

Thats what happens when you get the wrong college degree.

There sure as hell seems to be a LOT of "wrong degree's" lately. Bennigan's and Golden Corral have the most over educated waiters and bus boys in existence.

 

[alarmguy]

Excellent read extremely interesting

Thanks for reading the whole post! *LOL*
Im kind of passionate about some things and my posts insanely long. (still working on my typing at times) Maybe more so because this state worked out so good for my kids, all of them grown, independent on their own, with their families and not saddled with the insane cost of living up north. Its just crazy how well things worked out for them. To this day I still can't believe we just packed up and left, after a ton of research and knowing some people moving to the area here.


One thing I miss is what you got today, a good snow storm! I always loved storms and they are kind of lacking where we live, we are 2 hours from the coast and 2 hours from the mountains which works perfect for us, but being away from the coast kind of keeps us out of the storms, there was some promise and we did have our first snowfall since 2014 last week of 3 inches. For that 3 inches was a winter storm warning *LOL* because we dont have salt trucks for the county.


But it melted off the roads by daylight. It has been a cold month, coldest in years. I do have a bunch of nephews and their families on Long Island and others in CT and ME. ME is going to get it good, a real blizzard where they are on the coast.

With all the above said, I love the South because I love the heat, love the beach, lake, boating and mountains. Our Lake, literally 3 miles for our house is 41 miles long and over 200 feet deep in areas. You NEVER scape the propeller ! The one I have on now is 3 years old and not a mark on it. We get a solid 6 months of summer here and on Long Island sometimes the summer turns out to be very short if you get a cold spring.

 

[alarmguy]

SadI'm sorry you feel I look down on people who swing a hammer if I offended you I sincerely apologize. I educated my daughter's for better opportunities, make a fantastic living , to enjoy the great things life has to offer and spoil themselves. I do take offense that you think that is spoiling my kids by educating them. My dad was a garbage man his priority was to send his three boys to college and land good non physical labor careers because he didn't want us to ever work as hard as he did. He succeeded in that goal.

Just to be clear, I didnt meant to imply you personally spoiled your kids by educating them. No one spoils their kids by educating them.
Lets face it, there are a TON of college educated kids whom parents let them throw away 4 years of college and do nothing with it is all I was implying.

Yeah, swinging the hammer I was not personally offended at all but felt the need to say something for the people that do swing a hammer for a living because starting off in a trade has led to some of the most successful people in all communities across the country.
More or less, its not having a college education vs a non college education, its what you choose to do with your life and educate yourself in the field you choose. A passion, some of the richest people in the world gave up college, followed their passion and others have failed without college.
Its not about conforming, its about doing.
(just my feelings)
BTW - I knew a man on Long Island whom I represented in a certain field at one time. He was a garbage man but in his spare time being he worked for the county had a good amount of it. Would buy and flip houses without being specific lets say nice areas of the south shore.
Sometimes he would buy them, knock them down and build homes on the land 100s of thousands more than the surrounding homes.
Im just giving this as an example, its what you do with your life and kind of felt the need for some strange reason to defend "hammer swingers" maybe just because I was self employed my whole life and I think considered pretty successful by society standards but it wasnt a trade as talked about here.

 

[billt460]

Well, about the houses. Where do you think are the best conditions for building a new house? In which state? I would like to build a beautiful middle-sized house somewhere away from any town. I am sick of big cities and crowded places and would like to have my own place somewhere in the countryside. They have a nice and detailed plan of what you need to do to build a house. The thing that is still don’t know is where to buy a piece of land. Which state is the best one in terms of taxes and other laws regarding real estate?

Stay out of blue states. You'll pay too much in property taxes. That can kill you over the long haul. Property taxes never stop. The less you pay the better off you'll be. Here in Arizona property taxes are low, and very affordable.

As an example, the house I used to own in Lake County Illinois, (in a suburb of Chicago), now has a yearly property tax of over $12,000.00 a year. It is valued at a selling price at or about the same price as the house I'm living in now here in Arizona. Except my current property taxes are a bit over $1,600.00 a year. That's a HUGE difference.

 

[Dave Hess]

Stay out of blue states. You'll pay too much in property taxes. That can kill you over the long haul. Property taxes never stop. The less you pay the better off you'll be. Here in Arizona property taxes are low, and very affordable.

As an example, the house I used to own in Lake County Illinois, (in a suburb of Chicago), now has a yearly property tax of over $12,000.00 a year. It is valued at a selling price at or about the same price as the house I'm living in now here in Arizona. Except my current property taxes are a bit over $1,600.00 a year. That's a HUGE difference.

I don’t blame retired folks (or ones about to retire) for selling their home and moving to a lower cost of living area to stretch their retirement nest egg.

 

[GON]

I don’t blame retired folks (or ones about to retire) for selling their home and moving to a lower cost of living area to stretch their retirement nest egg.

Many retiring folks may not want to leave where the live. Decades of poor choices for short term gains by officials are now coming to roost, and the results are good people are making the hard choice to leave the communities they invested decades in. How very sad.

 

[alarmguy]

I don’t blame retired folks (or ones about to retire) for selling their home and moving to a lower cost of living area to stretch their retirement nest egg.

Yeah ... and ... well ... being I come from Long Island NY for many people who retire, selling your home and moving to a more "friendly" state is an upgrade in living vs being forced to stay on Long Island until you were ready to retire.

Escape the cold fall, winters and cold spring and sometimes too short a summer if you have a cold spring.
Escape the taxes, even though seniors get a way too generous tax break there and escape the ever increasing crowded urban feeling.
An added benefit was the windfall you made on the sale of your home, though things are getting pricey in major destinations like Florida and the Carolinas though the Long Island market seems to hit more highs every single year when I think it cant go higher.

 

[alarmguy]

Deleted

 

[alarmguy]

Stay out of blue states. You'll pay too much in property taxes. That can kill you over the long haul. Property taxes never stop. The less you pay the better off you'll be. Here in Arizona property taxes are low, and very affordable.

As an example, the house I used to own in Lake County Illinois, (in a suburb of Chicago), now has a yearly property tax of over $12,000.00 a year. It is valued at a selling price at or about the same price as the house I'm living in now here in Arizona. Except my current property taxes are a bit over $1,600.00 a year. That's a HUGE difference.

Funny, I just saw this post, this is EXACTLY the tax bill when we left New York FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, $12,000.00 and our current in SC is $1,600 for this current year, for a new home 200% larger.
With that said when I talk to people from New York I do explain some things included in the tax bill up there are not included here.
Sewer charges, vehicles taxes (cars, boats, motorcycle) SO I tell my NY friends our tax bill is $3,000 a year for home 200% larger the taxes on our SC home would be $22,000.00 in the area of NY that I came from. You do get a resident tax reduction of approx 10%

 

[zzyzzx]

An added benefit was the windfall you made on the sale of your home, though things are getting pricey in major destinations like Florida and the Carolinas though the Long Island market seems to hit more highs every single year when I think it cant go higher.

Not the case everywhere. Florida and Atlanta are very expensive now WRT housing.

 

[JustinH]

We moved from Austin suburb to San Antonio outskirts to build a new house 3 years ago.

At the time we saved $200k just putting a new house in the SA hill country versus Austin.

I'm sorry but a cookie cutter style ranch home 1550 sq feet is not worth 300k but people say it is.

Everyone on my street is from California.

 

[alarmguy]

Not the case everywhere. Florida and Atlanta are very expensive now WRT housing.

Yeah, I agree, maybe I didnt type it right.
We love the northern part of Florida Atlantic side but even more so the Panhandle Gulf side from just about anywhere from Panama City to the Alabama border. I like areas that have bays before going out into the ocean or gulf.
Destin/Miramar Beach is really nice, in fact we are vacationing there again in the coming weeks.

Not looking to move but we are always looking and darn it, the house prices in Florida have gone up so much in the last five years that right now it wouldn't be worth it to us. We wont be able to buy anything close to what we have here. But even more so, I couldn't bring myself to buy a home that was sold for $150,000 to 250,000 or even $300,000 just a couple years ago and I MEAN a couple years ago now priced $100,000 to $200,000 higher and they are SMALL.


As far as moving from NY to Florida, where I came from in NY, Florida still looks inexpensive but not the bargain it was.
Where I come from in NY 1600 to 2000 sq ft ranches and capes start around $500,000 for something in good shape and easy go to $750,000 on 60 x 100 foot lots. A few of these communities that have extended those small homes now have homes on the market for over a million, I dont see them selling but who knows anymore.

Prices ARE going to stabilize and come down as interest rates go up. I wouldn't be disappointed to see 8% interest rates. I rather a high rate and low house price. Coming out of Covid and with higher rates will increase available homes in the coming two years but to a more normal market or even a market crash which is fine by me.

 

[alarmguy]

We moved from Austin suburb to San Antonio outskirts to build a new house 3 years ago.

At the time we saved $200k just putting a new house in the SA hill country versus Austin.

I'm sorry but a cookie cutter style ranch home 1550 sq feet is not worth 300k but people say it is.

Everyone on my street is from California.

Agree, wife and I got spoiled, we actually like our now empty (kids gone) 3000 sq ft home and it would be depressing to move into a Florida 1600 sq ft home at the same price or more, plus higher taxes and insurance.

*LOL* we joke about it but it might be partly true, she still works and works from home, me retired now.
We would possibly drive each other crazy if we were always in the same part of the house!

 

[Wolf359]

Funny, I just saw this post, this is EXACTLY the tax bill when we left New York FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, $12,000.00 and our current in SC is $1,600 for this current year, for a new home 200% larger.
With that said when I talk to people from New York I do explain some things included in the tax bill up there are not included here.
Sewer charges, vehicles taxes (cars, boats, motorcycle) SO I tell my NY friends our tax bill is $3,000 a year for home 200% larger the taxes on our SC home would be $22,000.00 in the area of NY that I came from. You do get a resident tax reduction of approx 10%

Well there is an old saying about no free lunch. Usually those high taxes are for good local schools but that doesn't really matter for those who are retired. I think Arizona was well known for striking teachers because their pay was so low.

 

[alarmguy]

Well there is an old saying about no free lunch. Usually those high taxes are for good local schools but that doesn't really matter for those who are retired. I think Arizona was well known for striking teachers because their pay was so low.

Yeah but I’m in one of the states best school districts here in SC. Was a must have when we moved here as caught was starting middle school and comparable to better than the one we left on Long Island.
You can’t draw a wide brush for every school district in a state, every state has some good ones.
There is no free lunch is an old outdated saying.