Confessions of a Fugitive Mind
April 06, 2006
High Cost of Living
I saw dozens of for sale signs on my way home yesterday and it got me thinking about house buying again. I feel like I need to start becoming a more informed consumer, even though a house is still more than a year into our future. So I went to Coldwell Banker's site and started searching the region for housing priced below $250,000. We're young newlyweds so that's about as much mortgage as we can afford right now. That pretty much limits us to little condos in New Hampshire and nearly condemned old houses in Lowell and Nashua.
Tired of looking at all the condos I was finding, Jon suggested I look at the other areas where AB does business. I had to wipe drool from my face several times. $250k will get you 3500-square-foot homes with 3 or 4 bathrooms, in-ground pools, and huge manicured lawns in Cartersville, Georgia. Ditto for the Houston, Texas area and nearly as good in Jacksonville, Florida and Columbus, Ohio. Not to mention Baldwinsville, New York, Fort Collins, Colorado, or St. Louis...
I know that the cost of living isn't as high in these areas and that my salary would probably take a hit if I moved there, but it really makes me skeptical about buying here. We're expecting to spend $250k on a tiny little place here, but it's harder knowing that it could also get us a huge place somewhere else. Or that we could get a not-so-tiny little place for a whole lot less.
Saving toward a house has really been on my mind lately. I mean, I love my apartment and could live there for a few more years pretty happily if it weren't for the fact that we're not getting any equity out of it. I'm not sure any of the pricing matters right now, but I want to be prepared when the time comes to buy our first home.
Posted by criminal at April 6, 2006 02:28 PM
Comments
Get Jon transferred to Columbus! The cost of living is ridiculously low (college town...) and then I can have someone to visit on the weeks I need to spend at the "world headquarters" of my company. Plus, I'm learning to knit and I need help! (I could probably also get you a sweet job at said world headquarters!)
Posted by: Jen at April 6, 2006 05:07 PM
Hah, you think that's bad, look at Northern California! Here in Davis you're lucky to get a small fixer-upper for $500k. It's even worse once you get into the Bay Area proper. We think northern New England is cheap, when we compare it to here. Scary stuff.
Posted by: Tim W at April 6, 2006 05:42 PM
Actually, AB has breweries in LA and Fairfield (and Newark, NJ). I looked up prices there but wasn't going to mention that it made southern NH look peachy keen. I suppose there's always something worse somewhere.
Posted by: Sarah at April 6, 2006 08:48 PM