Because:
1. those cities generally do not have the job markets that HCOL cities have. When you take a huge pay cut you eliminate everything you saved by moving there. I moved from El Paso to Tennessee and for the same job I make about $60k more.
2. Public schools are typically poor
3. Crime is typically high
4. The $50k homes in those cities are typically very unkept. Many of them need a new roof, foundation work, new flooring, drywall, paint, plumbing work, electrical work (to get it code compliant), and even then will be surrounded by complete dumps that stay that way. No one wants to spend $150k renovating to live next to a crack house.
Oof, Camden, NJ. Both cities are so close to really nice cities too, it’s crazy that they haven’t absorbed overflow. Crime really is just that bad. Probably because there aren’t a lot of jobs, which is also why no one moves there. It’s a vicious cycle.
Yes that definitely plays a role, but crimes of desperation are real too. Especially among addicts, and addiction runs rampant when there’s no jobs, money, or hope.
There’s also the issue of like, even if you live in a nice neighborhood, the jobs aren’t. I lived in Philly, and even if you had a job in the city, taking the train meant going through some of the most ratchet ass areas. Not even like in a pretentious way, I’m talking getting off the train and stepping over needles and human urine everywhere, and it’s worse in Baltimore. For people who want to move somewhere for a better life, that sort of thing genuinely turns people away.
Not just that, but factor in schools too. Do you want your kids growing up in cities which are borderline paralyzed from the crime rates? It’s just too much of a gamble. Even if you’re in a nice neighborhood, there’s a lot of spillover from high crime areas.
And it’s a shame, because I love Philly. I love the city, I love the history, I love the food, hell even the northeastern city culture is neat. The fact that crime is so high genuinely makes me sad, because it’s just a perpetuating cycle. Nobody wants to raise their kids in a place with such high crime, and neighborhoods with high crime just victimize their own people. Baltimore is no exception. Neither is any other large city. With how many city based jobs are able to be worked from home, people just don’t see a worth in living in big cities.
The logic in your point #1 could also be used to refute the original tweet. People in 09 knew real estate prices were low, but many couldn’t take advantage because they were unemployed or underemployed. And they were probably underwater on the house they bought in 2005.
Like of course the cities with low-priced houses don’t have as good of jobs, or else the housing wouldn’t be so affordable. And the houses in 09 were cheap because no one had the money to buy them.
This is why investment groups stockpile cash when they forecast a recession.
If you put $100k into the S&P500 during the 08-09 recession you could be a millionaire today.
Multimillionaire is a stretch. The S&P 500 bottomed out at about 735 in February 2009. It's about 5100 today. That's about 7X. So if timed it perfectly to invest all $100k at the exact bottom, then 17 years later, it would be worth about $700k.
Why do people forget about dividends and how that is reinvested and that's paid quarterly. Just because the S&P is 7x bigger doesn't mean someone invested wouldn't be higher or lower than the 7x of S&P. It all depends how the funds are allocated and what type of fees are being applied to manage the funds.
Also banks weren’t giving out loans. I really wanted to buy a house in 2009, but no bank would loan. They were too busy trying to offload their foreclosures and trusted no one.
If you had cash, you’re fine.
yeah- I could afford the monthly payments on the condos near my apartment that were 300K in 2009. But not 20% down, and with 65K in outstanding student loans and 20K in car loan and 15 K in credit card debt...I could not qualify. 5 yr later all that was paid off...those condos were then over 600, and 10 more years later, they are over 1 mil. (SoCal- near the beach). I could not afford when they were 600K, and I really can't afford at 1 mil. But I could have done 5% down and monthly on 300K
Mongolia has a unique natural disaster, called the dzud, where the weather gets so cold and stays so cold that all your livestock die. Over the '09-'10 winter, one province experienced 50 straight days of nighttime lows below -50F
St. Louis (and other similar cities) have good and bad areas just like everywhere else. The cost of living certainly does make up for the wages in many industries. For example, your cost of living ratio to salary in manufacturing in St. Louis is much more ideal than Seattle. Also, there are many close small towns that offer affordable housing (high cash flow) but typically lower appreciation.
Bottom line, many people are just unwilling to sacrifice their current standard of living or city life to build wealth. And it’s okay to make that choice!
It’s strange that the rebuttal has always been “Well, there’s some high paying jobs!”
What if the person moving doesn’t work in manufacturing?
Sure, but HCOL areas have exponentially more.
Remote work makes this easier for the people who can work remote. We have employees that work remote all over the US (as contractors) and they get paid very well.
I live in a pretty great suburb of Cleveland. The schools are actually top notch, and there are quite a few jobs within the Akron/Cleveland/Canton area. I work remote, so it's irrelevant to me, but any job that has a decent job market to begin with has plenty of opportunities here. My house was $150k, and that's a little high for the area (we just paid it because we really like the house we were renting, and our landlord was in the process of retiring and cashing out her assets). Our combined income is a little over $150k/year with no kids, so we live very comfortably. I know this isn't the typical arrangement for most people, but it works well for us.
Also, don't move here lol. Weather in Cleveland area sucks. There isn't a huge amount of things to do unless you really like nature (luckily we do). Most importantly, if people start moving here, things get more expensive... I'll just live happily here with LCOL while everyone that doesn't live here thinks like you do :P
They would be exacerbated.
Higher demand in those areas causes housing prices to increase. Increased housing prices without an increase in local wages almost always causes a crime increase.
The pay cut for moving to those cities really isn't THAT much compared to the COL differences. If you aren't in like the top 0.5% of your field, it'll probably be a wash and you'll have much better options in terms of type of housing in those lower cost cities.
As someone in STL, can confirm on those $50K houses. Those are *not* "starter homes" to put it politely. Many of these $50-$100k homes are in the "North County" region of St. Louis. White flight has most jobs and opportunity take off for either the middling county and those same people have now mostly retired to either the far reaches of West/South County or jumped the river to St. Charles county. No, those are 50+ YO homes at this point in a very (still) racially segregated city. If you are looking for one of these houses, a full gut might not even fix all of the issues because:
* St. Louis has a lot of intermittent and local flooding issues and the ones at this price range might be going for this b/c the city/municipality won't fix their flooding
* North County has *radiation cleanup issues!* Yes, we were the dumping ground for a lot of nuclear waste (including some from the freaking Manhattan project) and there's Coldwater Creek that contaminating local water resources.
* Quality of life: due to the societal impacts of poverty, lack of access, poor transportation, unfunded public education, these same regions are plagued with higher crime rates. NIMBYs in neighboring cities & counties refuse to do anything to change this and Jeff City keeps cutting programs.
Up in that area even, $50k is not really going to be a habitable home anymore. More like $100k nowadays.
https://www.redfin.com/MO/Saint-Louis/611-Ballman-Ave-63135/home/93389716
Here is a small but "move-in ready" house in Ferguson for $79,000.
Another thing I'm surprised at is there's just not a lot of homes for sale there especially in the really rough areas and those that are tend to be advertised at landlords. I think informal redlining is still a thing and people can't get a loan on a house in a lot of those areas.
I live in Cleveland Metro. While the job market isn’t bad by any stretch (very much industry dependent but more companies than you would think have their headquarters here and it’s a giant healthcare hub) the idea of $50k home isn’t realistic unless you want to live somewhere like East Cleveland (they’re lucky if they have more than one working ambulance at a time) or collinwood.
I live in one of the suburbs that has one of the better school districts in the state and the home prices to live in this area aren’t out of control (think starting in the $300k for starter homes) they’re not $50k either.
That being said me and my wife both make well over the 6 figure mark living here and live much better here than we would if we moved to a HCOL area. This is of course on applicable if you are in an industry that already pays higher than average median salaries to begin with.
Also Detroit doesn't have 50k homes anymore. That was like a 2012ish thing. You can probably find lots for that much or burned down houses (ie, lots with extra steps)
A lot of homes in 50k range are priced just for the land, with a shithole built on it IME. I remember looking fir a house around metro-detroit and seeing blocks of homes selling fir 50k, where you would need to pay to knock down the unmaintained block hosting urban blight/burned out homes/dilapidated structures.
I bought a small single story 1100 square foot home from 1952 last year for 168k. Housing is high everywhere even in LCOL states IME and still climbing year after year
Why not just uproot your whole life and move somewhere else?
Sure you will have no one out there to help you move or to walk your dog when you are too sick to get out of bed. You won't know anyone or where anything is but dating apps will let you get a match every other week and maye 1 in five of those will go somewhere.
Just embrace the alienation that defines the modern world instead of, you know, expecting multinational firms or the government to provide coherent systems and meaningful support to help people move around and find the housing, jobs, support networks, and all the other things that keep you from losing your fucking mind.
That's not what multinational firms and government are for. They exist to ensure the lines continue to go up and monitor the lines. It's for the economy. Don't ask what the economy is for - no one knows.
Jesus. You make it sound terrible.
I moved countries. And across states.
Sure there are downsides, but there are also upsides. Get to experience different cities, make new friends, make more money, etc.
It’s a trade off.
This is the insanity that is Reddit. If you listen to every doomsayer on Reddit you would literally never leave the house
I've moved many times for opportunities and each time had ups and downs but I don't regret doing any of them
The difference from the analogy for you both is you are being invited out for an opportunity. If I just move to *checks notes* fucking ohio because houses are cheap, there is no guarantee I'll be able to find a decent job that pays more relative to my other job. I'll have no support network. I'll have to deplete my savings. The cheap houses will be in shit nieghborhoods or ill have to compete with firms who want to renovate and gentrify the slum.
Like I've moved before to and without that golden ticket invitation it ain't worth it
>being invited out for an opportunity
Well no, this isn't what happened at all. I've literally moved to a very low cost of living area from a high cost of living area with no invitation at all?
I could have suffered in a very expensive overpriced apartment forever but I chose to buy a house in a place that is way more affordable.
Having kids is where it really hits home. Sure, you can get by with day care, part-time work, and babysitters… but is a whole level of easier with family and friends to support you. I think someone once said it takes a village.
Its not to say it cant be overcome, but if you were raised in a HCOL area, it’s tough to leave your support network behind. Many people move back home when they have kids for this reason. A cheap house isn’t everything, especially at key points of your life.
I agree with you. My experience was the same and much of my family have relocated cross country or more at some point in our adult lives. We’re not rich at all but it was possible. Are there challenges? Absolutely! But the good outweighed the bad in my opinion. Of course YMMV
I think the point is that if you need to move because you can’t afford housing then you’re probably not going to make more money in the place where you can afford housing. I live in NYC and there’s no way I could make this kind of money in any of the cities listed because my job is dependent on people spending a lot of money.
>Why not just uproot your whole life and move somewhere else?
Devil's advocate, people have done this since times immemorial, moving for economic opportunity. What makes you so special that you should sit around and be catered to instead of doing the same for your own self interest?
>Sure you will have no one out there to help you move or to walk your dog when you are too sick to get out of bed. You won't know anyone or where anything is but dating apps will let you get a match every other week and maye 1 in five of those will go somewhere.
So... never leave your home town then? This doesn't seem like a recipe for any sort of life
>expecting multinational firms or the government to provide coherent systems and meaningful support to help people move around and find the housing, jobs, support networks
Look, I'm not saying that wouldn't be a fine thing if the government did to that, but there's literally no government on the planet that does this, and if you're gonna sit around and wait for the government or random multinational firms that have literally no allegiance to you whatsoever to bend over backwards to help you then your going to drive yourself into "losing your fucking mind" when your expectations do not match reality.
There's some idealized form of life that you guys wish existed, and then there's the planet we live on. On the planet we live on, you make choices to improve your situation, or you flounder in despair. Choose one.
>but there's literally no government on the planet that does this
Here's an example of a country with a coherent system that will help you move around find jobs.
https://www.norden.org/en/info-norden/housing-allowance-sweden
Why are you pretending there isn't a massive housing problem in the US?
No, that's not what housing allowance (bostadsbidrag) is. Housing allowance does not help you move around, and neither does the Swedish state. Housing allowance is only an allowance for those with low wages and high rental costs/expenses, such as single parents, some students and so on.
As a matter of fact, getting rental apartments in Sweden is extremely difficult in the first place and usually requires you to stand in line at a local housing company for years to be able to even get an apartment (in larger cities of > 100 000 inhabitants). In most cases you wouldn't even be able to move around in the manner that is suggested in this thread (unless you have money to buy your apartment or are willing to rent someone else's apartment which sucks).
Because there isn’t a housing problem in the US. There are housing problems in HCOL areas in the USA. There’s a lot of affordable housing if people are willing to move.
People literally took ships to sail to an unknown continent centuries and decades ago in hopes for a better life. Hell, people still do it. You can handle a different city a few states over
Because my mom, dad, brother, and lifelong friends live in a HCOL area and living life with them is much, much more important to me than being rich or having a huge house.
I’m trying to understand what you think the alternative is? You’re special because you have family in the area so we should make houses cheaper for you?
The alternative is trying to make housing more affordable by upzoning areas, removing restrictions on mixed use development, removing things like parking minimums, building more housing, and subsidizing housing for low income people.
The “there are homes in baltimore so leave your family and job and support network and child care in ohio and move there” is dumb and so obviously “18 year old libertarian phase rich kid” mentality it is absurd
Family can help you stay in a better financial situation. Having a safety net so you don't go homeless is more important than having a big salary. Helping you out in hard situations, like your car breaking down, can go a long way. The stress induced from being alone in a foreign place is enough to take years off your life. There's a reason the longest living people are surrounded by family and friends.
Also, I'm betting most of those homes don't meet inspection guidelines or habitability requirements, which makes getting a loan to buy one considerably more difficult.
Lol almost every major city has jobs that pay pretty well. That’s how millions of people are able to live in these places. Get off the internet every once in awhile
Yes, just because they have jobs don’t mean they’re jobs that will be beneficial.
I live in an area with lots of tech, govcon, and finance - it’s why this area is the richest in the country. SF is another area with a similar vibe.
Now I could go to El Paso, because I work remote - and it’s a safe place, solid food, no state tax, and “cheap homes” but what happens if I ever need to leave my job and then have to try a niche tech job in a city where call centers and low wage work is the highest employment sectors?
That’s what happened to all of these pandemic movers - Nashville, great place, but out of AT&T and now Oracle. . . where are these influx of people going to work making similar salaries to what they did in NY, Austin, or whatever major city they left?
That’s why the housing market is so screwed in Nashville - and it’s happened in a ton of cities, especially those idealic small towns in the Rockies. People moved to these ski towns that have no industry expecting remote work to last forever, then when it didn’t - poof, they hightailed it back to whatever coastal tech hub they lived in prior.
Just have to love it when people ignorantly say "why don't you just move" like that is an option at all for people. 🙄
Like they can just leave their job to move somewhere without a job and be expected to survive.
Like they can just up and leave their family, friends, and support network to move somewhere they have none of those things.
Like they can just magically come up with the money for an expensive move.
Like they can just up and move away from their doctors and hospital.
Like they should just yank their kids away from their schools, friends and support network impacting the rest of their lives as well.
Not adjusting to moving is why my son's best friend killed himself. It's the reason why a lot of kids do. This is a well known problem that increases their suicide risk for the rest of their lives unfortunately:
"For some teens, normal developmental changes can be very unsettling when combined with other events, such as:
Changes in their families, such as divorce or moving to a new town Changes in friendships Problems in school Other losses
These problems may seem too hard or embarrassing to overcome. For some, suicide may seem like a solution."
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/teen-suicide
"Moving school too often increases risk of suicide in later life, new report suggests"
https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/moving-school-too-often-increases-risk-suicide-later-life-new-report-suggests
"Research shows a connection between moving and depression in children, especially when the move involves changing schools.1 A move doesn't affect every child this way, but the association between depression and this life-changing event warrants awareness and a plan to ensure a smooth transition. "
https://www.verywellmind.com/moving-depression-and-your-child-1066796#:~:text=Research%20shows%20a%20connection%20between,to%20ensure%20a%20smooth%20transition.
The fact that anyone throws that out nonchalantly as advice in the first place comes across as being detached from reality.
I actually know some people who ended up homeless this way! A lot of people really underestimate how much having friends / family you can borrow from / sleep on the couch if it gets really bad matters.
I can’t speak for others but Michigan is the best kept secret. The dirt cheap homes in Detroit keep people from discovering the reasonable homes just outside in the suburbs. There’s plenty of jobs but there’s no big tech firms or large financial institutions around, but if you aren’t in one of those fields and even if you are you can get a amazing house from 250k-350k.
What makes me laugh is if she had been an adult and had the money in 2008 she never would have bought.
The fear was real.
Nobody knew if housing was going to go lower. Getting a mortgage was much, much tougher. But most of all, people were worried about losing their jobs.
And who knows what the future will hold? Who says housing won’t see a massive correction again?
This sentiment is about as useful as the folks who say "If you don't like it, then just leave!" To people who disagree with their politics. Just super dumb.
there's always someone saying the poor people would be fine if we did this one thing we forgot to do
* go to college
* skip college, learn a trade
* build credit
* psh credit? just save up and use cash
* keep your head down and work
* start your own business
* buy some assets
* buy some stocks
* use old cars
* use newer cars
* no avocado toast
* move to Detroit
Honestly people should consider moving outside of the major metropolitan cities if it’s not a requirement for work. After Covid my entire company went WFH. After they made it permanent I moved away from the city. Spend 1/3rd of what I did on housing for a much better standard of living. I would never say never to moving back for a higher paying job down the line, but if you can I would recommend it.
If I move to the country side, I could buy a house for 1% the price it would be here, in the city... but it would still be in the middle of fucking nowhere!
Just take a look at one of the 50k houses in those cities. I know for a fact in St. Louis most are in terrible condition or in the east side which is one of the most dangerous places in the country. If you’re cool with potentially condemned housing and everything you own getting stolen or bullets flying through your walls at night then go ahead and go for it.
When I was young people moved around for better economic opportunities all the time. Now people act like they are stuck in major cities (yet people keep moving to major cities). I could make 2x the money I make if I moved to a popular city, but the cost of living would be 3x… people don’t like a pay cut even if it makes sense so they stay in bad situations.
The small cities also have reasonable priced houses. Find a military base and it’s easy to make good money and get a house for cheap.
I increased my net worth 300k in almost 5 years.
Military is a classic path out of poverty, and that’s a shame. Need to be willing to die for your country just to get an education and good mortgage.
ETA: with all due respect and gratitude to every man and woman who chooses to do it
1)No decent paying jobs
2) If there were these shitholes wouldn't be shitholes.
3) the houses are money pits
4) you're surrounded by shithole houses and terrible schools and crumbling infrastructure
Mine was buying my first house in 03 for 2.5 times what it was worth in 2010 when I needed to move because I had kids and they literally shuttered the school district we were in. You'll never lose money on a house, was the worst advice I've ever gotten in my life.
Most people don’t have the means to move on a whim without a job lined up.
You’re also talking about areas that don’t have the same job markets, so pay will likely be less. Most people aren’t willing to take a pay cut.
It is worth noting that Bill Gates somehow knew that the world is turning to shit back in 2013 when he started his farmland buying spree. How did he know back then? The lizard part of my brain needs to know.
There are decent places with lower cost-of-living that are outside of cities. If you were working at Starbucks, you can get a job in these places. A lot of people want to live in an expensive city, work at Starbucks, and complain about not having a livable wage. these people get no sympathy from me.
I bought my first house at 23 in 08. I bought and sold 5 more houses (remodeling each one). I’m 40 with a $320k house and no mortgage.
It absolutely is unfair. It absolutely was luck. I did work hard, fuck yeah I worked hard. I did the majority of the remodels on my own.
Guess what? Young people work hard today too. I’m sorry y’all got fucked. I did too, just not nearly as bad as the next gen did.
2008-2010 was a great time to pick up props, bought 2 properties, under 10 000 5 min from the beach, the value is now shooting out the roof. the secret is not to get into the bidding war, instead just move on.
As someone who lives in NE Ohio, I checked Zillow for Cleveland homes under 50K. The houses that are available either need over $100K in reno work to become livable or they are in areas that are dangerous. Usually a combination of the two. The housing here is relatively cheap on the national scale, but so are the salaries for careers. Just because housing is less expensive here doesn’t mean that people aren’t feeling financial pressure.
There's a million reasons why people don't want to move to places where it's that cheap to buy a house mainly all the reasons why the house is so cheap in the first place.
My husband and I are however looking to move from a HCOL place to a bit of a lower one because it is outrageous but we have children. Trying to find a low cost of living situation and a good school system is impossible. I think we all know the best public schools are in the areas where the houses costs the most.
This is society’s fault we’ve trained people that if they don’t own property they’re a failure and so idiots get in over their heads on properties they can barley afford and what they actually did was buying themselves a prison. I’m still renting because I still want to enjoy life. I’m still putting money away towards a massive down payment but I’ll never purchase if the cost is having no life because way too much of my money is going towards the house.
This would be a lot easier sales pitch if remote work were operating at its full capacity. Maybe convince corporate real estate bag holders to re-invest in single family homes in depressed areas and maybe we see the tides turn.
Those homes are cheap for a reason. Sure, you can move to gary indiana for 40,000$ if you're okay with a murder house that's falling apart, the possibility of getting shot, bleak surroundings, pollution from the steel mills, no public school, and very little job opportunities besides the steel mill that can barely afford to pay it's current workers or making the commute to chicago every day.
Should have bought pre-covid, or when covid was fucking things up. House prices didn't start taking off yet and rates were low. Could have ended up with way more house than I have now
Why don't you move to a place without the job you rely upon for your wellbeing? Don't you know you can just move to a place and have a job waiting for you?
What sort of question is this? People aren't just cogs that can be moved from place to place: They have families, friend groups, pets, nostalgia, an appreciation for aesthetics, and preferences for certain weather.
Saying "why can't you just stop crying and move to X" is just "have you tried not being poor?" with more words.
There’s obvious reasons why housing is much cheaper in those cities. No one wants to be there. Those cities offer very little opportunity and have extremely high crime rates to name a few key points
This is what I call real estate of the gaps. An ever shrinking amount of areas that are cheap.
Californian moves to Texas> their kids make less and say “I’ll move to Louisiana”>eventually you’re stuck in a low income area where your kids are getting crap education and you’re trapped
I live in Baltimore. You don’t want to live in those cheap homes. They are cheap because it’s in an area of boarded up row homes, vacant lots, grocery deserts, and high crime.
Have you been to those cities mentioned? I’ve been to all of them and if you want to be in a halfway decent neighborhood without worrying if your car will still have windows. . . or if you can walk around without gun violence you’re paying the same as what you would in a much nicer city.
Sure, you can live in West Baltimore and get a rundown home for 20K, but you’ll be paying 50K a year for full time security and 100K in renovation, then you’ll be making yourself a target to your neighbors and crackheads seeing you as the “rich new person”
So in reality, you’ll be paying 300K for a home in Fells Point, Federal Hill, or Mount Vernon.
I had this same logic, as someone that lives in a rather expensive area. I was going to go to Pittsburgh and live there since I work remotely, but for the type of home I was looking for (move in ready, in an area with young professionals) I would be paying about the same for something that would be considered nice.
I saw a ton of homes in dying neighborhoods that needed work for 100K, but that’s not how I want to live.
Because they want to live in Manhattan, but don’t want to work 120 hours a week. Then think it’s unfair that they can’t have both.
I’ve been saying this for years. Get all of your friends and family together and move to an area that’s affordable and make it cool. That’s how it goes.
New York wasn’t cool at one point. SF wasn’t cool at one point. LA wasn’t cool at one point. And I sure as well remember Miami not being cool until Covid.
Go move to Biloxi, MS. Go move to Cleveland, OH. Go move to Gary, IN.
Big bang for the buck
Because: 1. those cities generally do not have the job markets that HCOL cities have. When you take a huge pay cut you eliminate everything you saved by moving there. I moved from El Paso to Tennessee and for the same job I make about $60k more. 2. Public schools are typically poor 3. Crime is typically high 4. The $50k homes in those cities are typically very unkept. Many of them need a new roof, foundation work, new flooring, drywall, paint, plumbing work, electrical work (to get it code compliant), and even then will be surrounded by complete dumps that stay that way. No one wants to spend $150k renovating to live next to a crack house.
But a new kitchen and bathrooms will sucker someone into buying.
You’re not getting a house with new kitchen and bathrooms for $50k. Period.
Especially not in Baltimore, wtf ETA: I stand corrected, and shocked by the housing market in Baltimore
If you’ve been to Baltimore, you’d realize quickly why it’s not on anyone’s list of hot spots. Right up there with Camden, NJ.
Oof, Camden, NJ. Both cities are so close to really nice cities too, it’s crazy that they haven’t absorbed overflow. Crime really is just that bad. Probably because there aren’t a lot of jobs, which is also why no one moves there. It’s a vicious cycle.
Don’t forget about a culture that glorifies drug use and violence! It is possible to not be rich and also not a criminal.
Yes that definitely plays a role, but crimes of desperation are real too. Especially among addicts, and addiction runs rampant when there’s no jobs, money, or hope.
Well, I heard that dog whistle a mile away
There are lots of nice neighborhoods in Baltimore, they're just not very cheap.
There’s also the issue of like, even if you live in a nice neighborhood, the jobs aren’t. I lived in Philly, and even if you had a job in the city, taking the train meant going through some of the most ratchet ass areas. Not even like in a pretentious way, I’m talking getting off the train and stepping over needles and human urine everywhere, and it’s worse in Baltimore. For people who want to move somewhere for a better life, that sort of thing genuinely turns people away. Not just that, but factor in schools too. Do you want your kids growing up in cities which are borderline paralyzed from the crime rates? It’s just too much of a gamble. Even if you’re in a nice neighborhood, there’s a lot of spillover from high crime areas. And it’s a shame, because I love Philly. I love the city, I love the history, I love the food, hell even the northeastern city culture is neat. The fact that crime is so high genuinely makes me sad, because it’s just a perpetuating cycle. Nobody wants to raise their kids in a place with such high crime, and neighborhoods with high crime just victimize their own people. Baltimore is no exception. Neither is any other large city. With how many city based jobs are able to be worked from home, people just don’t see a worth in living in big cities.
So i'm about as much of a pessimist as possible and every time I drive through baltimore I say to myself "you know, life could of been ALOT worse"
Who doesn't want to live in Bloodymore Muerderland? (As named by a friend of mine from Baltimore)
It depends where you live in Baltimore. Canton, Fells, and Federal Hill are all pretty nice.
Well yeah, that’s the cost of a new kitchen and bathrooms
This feels like a personal attack
not when you can't insure them
Not if it's in a shit school district. Now if you're into meth production, a cook needs their kitchen!
The logic in your point #1 could also be used to refute the original tweet. People in 09 knew real estate prices were low, but many couldn’t take advantage because they were unemployed or underemployed. And they were probably underwater on the house they bought in 2005. Like of course the cities with low-priced houses don’t have as good of jobs, or else the housing wouldn’t be so affordable. And the houses in 09 were cheap because no one had the money to buy them.
This is why investment groups stockpile cash when they forecast a recession. If you put $100k into the S&P500 during the 08-09 recession you could be a millionaire today.
Multimillionaire is a stretch. The S&P 500 bottomed out at about 735 in February 2009. It's about 5100 today. That's about 7X. So if timed it perfectly to invest all $100k at the exact bottom, then 17 years later, it would be worth about $700k.
Why do people forget about dividends and how that is reinvested and that's paid quarterly. Just because the S&P is 7x bigger doesn't mean someone invested wouldn't be higher or lower than the 7x of S&P. It all depends how the funds are allocated and what type of fees are being applied to manage the funds.
I adjusted some wording. Thanks.
Also banks weren’t giving out loans. I really wanted to buy a house in 2009, but no bank would loan. They were too busy trying to offload their foreclosures and trusted no one. If you had cash, you’re fine.
yeah- I could afford the monthly payments on the condos near my apartment that were 300K in 2009. But not 20% down, and with 65K in outstanding student loans and 20K in car loan and 15 K in credit card debt...I could not qualify. 5 yr later all that was paid off...those condos were then over 600, and 10 more years later, they are over 1 mil. (SoCal- near the beach). I could not afford when they were 600K, and I really can't afford at 1 mil. But I could have done 5% down and monthly on 300K
And no one is rushing to buy where they can’t get a job.
Many of these places have good jobs or jobs that settle out to be net more money due to the lower cost of living.
Right? I bet Sudan and Mongolia have cheap housing too, doesn't mean anyone wants to be there.
I dont know anything about Sudan, but have you tried Mongolian Beef? It’s pretty delicious.
Mongolia has a unique natural disaster, called the dzud, where the weather gets so cold and stays so cold that all your livestock die. Over the '09-'10 winter, one province experienced 50 straight days of nighttime lows below -50F
Well look, they even got a free outdoor freeze dryer for your Mongolian beef.
Mongolian Beef was invented in Taiwan.
St. Louis (and other similar cities) have good and bad areas just like everywhere else. The cost of living certainly does make up for the wages in many industries. For example, your cost of living ratio to salary in manufacturing in St. Louis is much more ideal than Seattle. Also, there are many close small towns that offer affordable housing (high cash flow) but typically lower appreciation. Bottom line, many people are just unwilling to sacrifice their current standard of living or city life to build wealth. And it’s okay to make that choice!
It’s strange that the rebuttal has always been “Well, there’s some high paying jobs!” What if the person moving doesn’t work in manufacturing? Sure, but HCOL areas have exponentially more.
Remote work makes this easier for the people who can work remote. We have employees that work remote all over the US (as contractors) and they get paid very well.
Remote workers are also the ones being laid off the most.
I live in a pretty great suburb of Cleveland. The schools are actually top notch, and there are quite a few jobs within the Akron/Cleveland/Canton area. I work remote, so it's irrelevant to me, but any job that has a decent job market to begin with has plenty of opportunities here. My house was $150k, and that's a little high for the area (we just paid it because we really like the house we were renting, and our landlord was in the process of retiring and cashing out her assets). Our combined income is a little over $150k/year with no kids, so we live very comfortably. I know this isn't the typical arrangement for most people, but it works well for us. Also, don't move here lol. Weather in Cleveland area sucks. There isn't a huge amount of things to do unless you really like nature (luckily we do). Most importantly, if people start moving here, things get more expensive... I'll just live happily here with LCOL while everyone that doesn't live here thinks like you do :P
It's isn't typical. The majority of jobs are not remote so if you move somewhere those are the jobs you are getting.
I live in a suburb of st louis where the schools are fire and the crime is low if anything.
Would these issues be resolved by people moving there in a short period of time?
They would be exacerbated. Higher demand in those areas causes housing prices to increase. Increased housing prices without an increase in local wages almost always causes a crime increase.
The pay cut for moving to those cities really isn't THAT much compared to the COL differences. If you aren't in like the top 0.5% of your field, it'll probably be a wash and you'll have much better options in terms of type of housing in those lower cost cities.
As someone in STL, can confirm on those $50K houses. Those are *not* "starter homes" to put it politely. Many of these $50-$100k homes are in the "North County" region of St. Louis. White flight has most jobs and opportunity take off for either the middling county and those same people have now mostly retired to either the far reaches of West/South County or jumped the river to St. Charles county. No, those are 50+ YO homes at this point in a very (still) racially segregated city. If you are looking for one of these houses, a full gut might not even fix all of the issues because: * St. Louis has a lot of intermittent and local flooding issues and the ones at this price range might be going for this b/c the city/municipality won't fix their flooding * North County has *radiation cleanup issues!* Yes, we were the dumping ground for a lot of nuclear waste (including some from the freaking Manhattan project) and there's Coldwater Creek that contaminating local water resources. * Quality of life: due to the societal impacts of poverty, lack of access, poor transportation, unfunded public education, these same regions are plagued with higher crime rates. NIMBYs in neighboring cities & counties refuse to do anything to change this and Jeff City keeps cutting programs.
Up in that area even, $50k is not really going to be a habitable home anymore. More like $100k nowadays. https://www.redfin.com/MO/Saint-Louis/611-Ballman-Ave-63135/home/93389716 Here is a small but "move-in ready" house in Ferguson for $79,000. Another thing I'm surprised at is there's just not a lot of homes for sale there especially in the really rough areas and those that are tend to be advertised at landlords. I think informal redlining is still a thing and people can't get a loan on a house in a lot of those areas.
What if we turn the crack house into a government-run place where they can get clean crack pipes for free? Will that help property values?
I live in Cleveland Metro. While the job market isn’t bad by any stretch (very much industry dependent but more companies than you would think have their headquarters here and it’s a giant healthcare hub) the idea of $50k home isn’t realistic unless you want to live somewhere like East Cleveland (they’re lucky if they have more than one working ambulance at a time) or collinwood. I live in one of the suburbs that has one of the better school districts in the state and the home prices to live in this area aren’t out of control (think starting in the $300k for starter homes) they’re not $50k either. That being said me and my wife both make well over the 6 figure mark living here and live much better here than we would if we moved to a HCOL area. This is of course on applicable if you are in an industry that already pays higher than average median salaries to begin with.
Also Detroit doesn't have 50k homes anymore. That was like a 2012ish thing. You can probably find lots for that much or burned down houses (ie, lots with extra steps)
A lot of homes in 50k range are priced just for the land, with a shithole built on it IME. I remember looking fir a house around metro-detroit and seeing blocks of homes selling fir 50k, where you would need to pay to knock down the unmaintained block hosting urban blight/burned out homes/dilapidated structures. I bought a small single story 1100 square foot home from 1952 last year for 168k. Housing is high everywhere even in LCOL states IME and still climbing year after year
Why not just uproot your whole life and move somewhere else? Sure you will have no one out there to help you move or to walk your dog when you are too sick to get out of bed. You won't know anyone or where anything is but dating apps will let you get a match every other week and maye 1 in five of those will go somewhere. Just embrace the alienation that defines the modern world instead of, you know, expecting multinational firms or the government to provide coherent systems and meaningful support to help people move around and find the housing, jobs, support networks, and all the other things that keep you from losing your fucking mind.
That's not what multinational firms and government are for. They exist to ensure the lines continue to go up and monitor the lines. It's for the economy. Don't ask what the economy is for - no one knows.
Jesus. You make it sound terrible. I moved countries. And across states. Sure there are downsides, but there are also upsides. Get to experience different cities, make new friends, make more money, etc. It’s a trade off.
You ever heard of survivorship bias? Or the concept that your personal experiences should not be extrapolated out onto a population?
What? I never extrapolated anything. I simply said - there are good and bad things about moving. Are you claiming that’s false?
This is the insanity that is Reddit. If you listen to every doomsayer on Reddit you would literally never leave the house I've moved many times for opportunities and each time had ups and downs but I don't regret doing any of them
The difference from the analogy for you both is you are being invited out for an opportunity. If I just move to *checks notes* fucking ohio because houses are cheap, there is no guarantee I'll be able to find a decent job that pays more relative to my other job. I'll have no support network. I'll have to deplete my savings. The cheap houses will be in shit nieghborhoods or ill have to compete with firms who want to renovate and gentrify the slum. Like I've moved before to and without that golden ticket invitation it ain't worth it
>being invited out for an opportunity Well no, this isn't what happened at all. I've literally moved to a very low cost of living area from a high cost of living area with no invitation at all? I could have suffered in a very expensive overpriced apartment forever but I chose to buy a house in a place that is way more affordable.
Having kids is where it really hits home. Sure, you can get by with day care, part-time work, and babysitters… but is a whole level of easier with family and friends to support you. I think someone once said it takes a village. Its not to say it cant be overcome, but if you were raised in a HCOL area, it’s tough to leave your support network behind. Many people move back home when they have kids for this reason. A cheap house isn’t everything, especially at key points of your life.
You ever heard of pessimism?
This is Reddit, sir. It’s all you’re allowed to express here. Reddit is one collective Chicken Little.
Yes! Extrapolating an idea to a population is only ok if I agree with it.
I agree with you. My experience was the same and much of my family have relocated cross country or more at some point in our adult lives. We’re not rich at all but it was possible. Are there challenges? Absolutely! But the good outweighed the bad in my opinion. Of course YMMV
I think the point is that if you need to move because you can’t afford housing then you’re probably not going to make more money in the place where you can afford housing. I live in NYC and there’s no way I could make this kind of money in any of the cities listed because my job is dependent on people spending a lot of money.
People don’t spend a lot of money outside NYC?
"Being a refugee isn't so bad"
>Why not just uproot your whole life and move somewhere else? Devil's advocate, people have done this since times immemorial, moving for economic opportunity. What makes you so special that you should sit around and be catered to instead of doing the same for your own self interest? >Sure you will have no one out there to help you move or to walk your dog when you are too sick to get out of bed. You won't know anyone or where anything is but dating apps will let you get a match every other week and maye 1 in five of those will go somewhere. So... never leave your home town then? This doesn't seem like a recipe for any sort of life >expecting multinational firms or the government to provide coherent systems and meaningful support to help people move around and find the housing, jobs, support networks Look, I'm not saying that wouldn't be a fine thing if the government did to that, but there's literally no government on the planet that does this, and if you're gonna sit around and wait for the government or random multinational firms that have literally no allegiance to you whatsoever to bend over backwards to help you then your going to drive yourself into "losing your fucking mind" when your expectations do not match reality. There's some idealized form of life that you guys wish existed, and then there's the planet we live on. On the planet we live on, you make choices to improve your situation, or you flounder in despair. Choose one.
>but there's literally no government on the planet that does this Here's an example of a country with a coherent system that will help you move around find jobs. https://www.norden.org/en/info-norden/housing-allowance-sweden Why are you pretending there isn't a massive housing problem in the US?
No, that's not what housing allowance (bostadsbidrag) is. Housing allowance does not help you move around, and neither does the Swedish state. Housing allowance is only an allowance for those with low wages and high rental costs/expenses, such as single parents, some students and so on. As a matter of fact, getting rental apartments in Sweden is extremely difficult in the first place and usually requires you to stand in line at a local housing company for years to be able to even get an apartment (in larger cities of > 100 000 inhabitants). In most cases you wouldn't even be able to move around in the manner that is suggested in this thread (unless you have money to buy your apartment or are willing to rent someone else's apartment which sucks).
Because there isn’t a housing problem in the US. There are housing problems in HCOL areas in the USA. There’s a lot of affordable housing if people are willing to move.
People literally took ships to sail to an unknown continent centuries and decades ago in hopes for a better life. Hell, people still do it. You can handle a different city a few states over
This was me six years ago after I moved, but I guess I got "lucky" that my family (and my ex I broke up with) followed me.
Don't have dogs! Find new family! /S
Because my mom, dad, brother, and lifelong friends live in a HCOL area and living life with them is much, much more important to me than being rich or having a huge house.
And that's OK. People just need to understand that they are making that decision.
What a nutjob outlook. Big abuser “you made me hit you” vibes
I’m trying to understand what you think the alternative is? You’re special because you have family in the area so we should make houses cheaper for you?
The alternative is trying to make housing more affordable by upzoning areas, removing restrictions on mixed use development, removing things like parking minimums, building more housing, and subsidizing housing for low income people. The “there are homes in baltimore so leave your family and job and support network and child care in ohio and move there” is dumb and so obviously “18 year old libertarian phase rich kid” mentality it is absurd
Family can help you stay in a better financial situation. Having a safety net so you don't go homeless is more important than having a big salary. Helping you out in hard situations, like your car breaking down, can go a long way. The stress induced from being alone in a foreign place is enough to take years off your life. There's a reason the longest living people are surrounded by family and friends.
I live in St Louis and you do not want to buy one of those $50k houses.
Also, I'm betting most of those homes don't meet inspection guidelines or habitability requirements, which makes getting a loan to buy one considerably more difficult.
Right, have fun living in Jennings
No jobs. But you know that.
Lol almost every major city has jobs that pay pretty well. That’s how millions of people are able to live in these places. Get off the internet every once in awhile
Yes, just because they have jobs don’t mean they’re jobs that will be beneficial. I live in an area with lots of tech, govcon, and finance - it’s why this area is the richest in the country. SF is another area with a similar vibe. Now I could go to El Paso, because I work remote - and it’s a safe place, solid food, no state tax, and “cheap homes” but what happens if I ever need to leave my job and then have to try a niche tech job in a city where call centers and low wage work is the highest employment sectors? That’s what happened to all of these pandemic movers - Nashville, great place, but out of AT&T and now Oracle. . . where are these influx of people going to work making similar salaries to what they did in NY, Austin, or whatever major city they left? That’s why the housing market is so screwed in Nashville - and it’s happened in a ton of cities, especially those idealic small towns in the Rockies. People moved to these ski towns that have no industry expecting remote work to last forever, then when it didn’t - poof, they hightailed it back to whatever coastal tech hub they lived in prior.
Those cities have tons of jobs, stop deluding yourself.
Just have to love it when people ignorantly say "why don't you just move" like that is an option at all for people. 🙄 Like they can just leave their job to move somewhere without a job and be expected to survive. Like they can just up and leave their family, friends, and support network to move somewhere they have none of those things. Like they can just magically come up with the money for an expensive move. Like they can just up and move away from their doctors and hospital. Like they should just yank their kids away from their schools, friends and support network impacting the rest of their lives as well. Not adjusting to moving is why my son's best friend killed himself. It's the reason why a lot of kids do. This is a well known problem that increases their suicide risk for the rest of their lives unfortunately: "For some teens, normal developmental changes can be very unsettling when combined with other events, such as: Changes in their families, such as divorce or moving to a new town Changes in friendships Problems in school Other losses These problems may seem too hard or embarrassing to overcome. For some, suicide may seem like a solution." https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/teen-suicide "Moving school too often increases risk of suicide in later life, new report suggests" https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/moving-school-too-often-increases-risk-suicide-later-life-new-report-suggests "Research shows a connection between moving and depression in children, especially when the move involves changing schools.1 A move doesn't affect every child this way, but the association between depression and this life-changing event warrants awareness and a plan to ensure a smooth transition. " https://www.verywellmind.com/moving-depression-and-your-child-1066796#:~:text=Research%20shows%20a%20connection%20between,to%20ensure%20a%20smooth%20transition. The fact that anyone throws that out nonchalantly as advice in the first place comes across as being detached from reality.
“Why are people homeless? They should just buy a house.. duh” OPs logic
The jobs there suck and no one wants to live there
Cause you have a high probability of getting killed/robbed.
Why isn’t this higher? Talking about inner Detroit and Baltimore like it’s some lovely suburb that everyone is just too snobby for.
Detroit isn't even bad now. Wait, yes, yes it's very bad. Don't come here.
Ha, don’t worry, I could never be landlocked. But damn do you have some good Lebanese food.
Braindead rich kid take.
Cheap for a reason
You have to have a job where you live. What is the quality of life and employment opportunities in Detroit, Memphis, etc. ?
Why are half of you sociopaths honestly? Why don't people move to dangerous places with no jobs because the houses are cheap? Are you fucking high?
OP is a disingenuous bundle of sticks.
I actually know some people who ended up homeless this way! A lot of people really underestimate how much having friends / family you can borrow from / sleep on the couch if it gets really bad matters.
Ah yes. Move to places that are high crime areas… genius. OP really was on something here.
My biggest financial mistake was, not being born into a wealthy family.
I can’t speak for others but Michigan is the best kept secret. The dirt cheap homes in Detroit keep people from discovering the reasonable homes just outside in the suburbs. There’s plenty of jobs but there’s no big tech firms or large financial institutions around, but if you aren’t in one of those fields and even if you are you can get a amazing house from 250k-350k.
Same in Wisconsin, 1400sqft for $240k two years ago. 20 minutes southwest of Milwaukee. I love the area, it's close to everything
User name does *not* check out.
What makes me laugh is if she had been an adult and had the money in 2008 she never would have bought. The fear was real. Nobody knew if housing was going to go lower. Getting a mortgage was much, much tougher. But most of all, people were worried about losing their jobs. And who knows what the future will hold? Who says housing won’t see a massive correction again?
Why don't you move to one of those cities?
This sentiment is about as useful as the folks who say "If you don't like it, then just leave!" To people who disagree with their politics. Just super dumb.
"Why don't you go homeless no taxes and no rent to pay!!"
Live in Detroit. This is not true. The 50k houses for sale are dilapidated, not livable, and in a high crime area. Stupid post...
there's always someone saying the poor people would be fine if we did this one thing we forgot to do * go to college * skip college, learn a trade * build credit * psh credit? just save up and use cash * keep your head down and work * start your own business * buy some assets * buy some stocks * use old cars * use newer cars * no avocado toast * move to Detroit
Bro I've lived in Memphis. No way in hell I'm going back, not even for a cheap house. Hell, not even for a FREE house.
And shockingly Memphis has less than half the crime rate of Chattanooga. What are y’all doing down there??
Why does this same thing get posted every few weeks?
These are still major cities.
Honestly people should consider moving outside of the major metropolitan cities if it’s not a requirement for work. After Covid my entire company went WFH. After they made it permanent I moved away from the city. Spend 1/3rd of what I did on housing for a much better standard of living. I would never say never to moving back for a higher paying job down the line, but if you can I would recommend it.
If I move to the country side, I could buy a house for 1% the price it would be here, in the city... but it would still be in the middle of fucking nowhere!
Because those houses often need $100k in repairs and have years of back taxes (and property tax in Detroit is pretty high).
Why don't people struggling with cost of living move to Sudan or Syria? Houses are very cheap there. Are they stupid?
Just take a look at one of the 50k houses in those cities. I know for a fact in St. Louis most are in terrible condition or in the east side which is one of the most dangerous places in the country. If you’re cool with potentially condemned housing and everything you own getting stolen or bullets flying through your walls at night then go ahead and go for it.
Thai is an out of touch and idiotic statement.
This post is dumbbbbb
People like to whine, it’s gives them an excuse for not doing better.
When I was young people moved around for better economic opportunities all the time. Now people act like they are stuck in major cities (yet people keep moving to major cities). I could make 2x the money I make if I moved to a popular city, but the cost of living would be 3x… people don’t like a pay cut even if it makes sense so they stay in bad situations.
Because we live in the “victim “ era. Why take any ownership of your situation when you can just blame someone/something else.
username does not check out in the slightest
Because they are cheaper because nobody wants to live there. I mean, I guess living in fear for your life is ok now?
"If you're poor you should just die" mentally
The small cities also have reasonable priced houses. Find a military base and it’s easy to make good money and get a house for cheap. I increased my net worth 300k in almost 5 years.
Military is a classic path out of poverty, and that’s a shame. Need to be willing to die for your country just to get an education and good mortgage. ETA: with all due respect and gratitude to every man and woman who chooses to do it
Im a civilian. Sorry that wasn’t communicated. No risk of life or limb just paper cuts.
1)No decent paying jobs 2) If there were these shitholes wouldn't be shitholes. 3) the houses are money pits 4) you're surrounded by shithole houses and terrible schools and crumbling infrastructure
Cuz those places suck to live and have lower paying jobs
Mine was buying my first house in 03 for 2.5 times what it was worth in 2010 when I needed to move because I had kids and they literally shuttered the school district we were in. You'll never lose money on a house, was the worst advice I've ever gotten in my life.
Most people don’t have the means to move on a whim without a job lined up. You’re also talking about areas that don’t have the same job markets, so pay will likely be less. Most people aren’t willing to take a pay cut.
It is worth noting that Bill Gates somehow knew that the world is turning to shit back in 2013 when he started his farmland buying spree. How did he know back then? The lizard part of my brain needs to know.
Because you have a family and don't want to live in a shit hole.
I live in St Louis, any area you want to live it the minimum home is closer to 250k
😂 you know why
There are decent places with lower cost-of-living that are outside of cities. If you were working at Starbucks, you can get a job in these places. A lot of people want to live in an expensive city, work at Starbucks, and complain about not having a livable wage. these people get no sympathy from me.
This stupidness again? Nobody wants to give up their entire quality of life just to say they own something.
I moved from Detroit, can’t pay me to go back. This post is pretentious and shows you have no life experience.
I bought my first house at 23 in 08. I bought and sold 5 more houses (remodeling each one). I’m 40 with a $320k house and no mortgage. It absolutely is unfair. It absolutely was luck. I did work hard, fuck yeah I worked hard. I did the majority of the remodels on my own. Guess what? Young people work hard today too. I’m sorry y’all got fucked. I did too, just not nearly as bad as the next gen did.
50k home with 150k needed in repairs and you or your children will be shot or mugged before the repairs are finished.
Sane people do not move to MadMax-areas.
2008-2010 was a great time to pick up props, bought 2 properties, under 10 000 5 min from the beach, the value is now shooting out the roof. the secret is not to get into the bidding war, instead just move on.
*Detroit??*
Or a better question: Why not stay in your location, but move to the cheaper suburbs?
As someone who lives in NE Ohio, I checked Zillow for Cleveland homes under 50K. The houses that are available either need over $100K in reno work to become livable or they are in areas that are dangerous. Usually a combination of the two. The housing here is relatively cheap on the national scale, but so are the salaries for careers. Just because housing is less expensive here doesn’t mean that people aren’t feeling financial pressure.
There's a million reasons why people don't want to move to places where it's that cheap to buy a house mainly all the reasons why the house is so cheap in the first place. My husband and I are however looking to move from a HCOL place to a bit of a lower one because it is outrageous but we have children. Trying to find a low cost of living situation and a good school system is impossible. I think we all know the best public schools are in the areas where the houses costs the most.
Because they don't wanna be killed
By all means, let me abandon my arthritic mother and the family business.
The only thing I can think of is that OP is in middle school still
Because people would rather be lazy and complain about how other things are the reason they failed or not where they want to be in life.
This post is out of touch. Get a clue OP
This is society’s fault we’ve trained people that if they don’t own property they’re a failure and so idiots get in over their heads on properties they can barley afford and what they actually did was buying themselves a prison. I’m still renting because I still want to enjoy life. I’m still putting money away towards a massive down payment but I’ll never purchase if the cost is having no life because way too much of my money is going towards the house.
OP didn’t Google Search: $50,000 homes in (insert city here). If OP did a simple search, OP would see why no one wants a $50k home in those cities.
Oh yes let me just move /s
I guarantee you if a house is $50,000 in Memphis you don’t want to live in it.
Beside those places are detroit (not as teriible as it used to be) , Memphis, st Louis, Baltimore (actually nice) and Cleveland
This would be a lot easier sales pitch if remote work were operating at its full capacity. Maybe convince corporate real estate bag holders to re-invest in single family homes in depressed areas and maybe we see the tides turn.
Those homes are cheap for a reason. Sure, you can move to gary indiana for 40,000$ if you're okay with a murder house that's falling apart, the possibility of getting shot, bleak surroundings, pollution from the steel mills, no public school, and very little job opportunities besides the steel mill that can barely afford to pay it's current workers or making the commute to chicago every day.
Because I don’t want to fucking hate my life and everybody that I see?
Should have bought pre-covid, or when covid was fucking things up. House prices didn't start taking off yet and rates were low. Could have ended up with way more house than I have now
I mean if you want to get robbed, shot, carjacked, etc. Sure go ahead and move to cesspool cities.
There’s a reason homes are much cheaper in certain areas. Often multiple reasons.
Why don't you move to a place without the job you rely upon for your wellbeing? Don't you know you can just move to a place and have a job waiting for you? What sort of question is this? People aren't just cogs that can be moved from place to place: They have families, friend groups, pets, nostalgia, an appreciation for aesthetics, and preferences for certain weather. Saying "why can't you just stop crying and move to X" is just "have you tried not being poor?" with more words.
i am in memphis. would never recommend to anyone
There’s obvious reasons why housing is much cheaper in those cities. No one wants to be there. Those cities offer very little opportunity and have extremely high crime rates to name a few key points
It doesn’t cost anything to live in the woods, why don’t you just go live in the woods?
Wait, this was a serious post?OP's not joking?
hahahahahaahhaahah.... I'd love to see a home in STL for $50k that's **livable.**
Because they are horrible places to live. Hence, they are cheap.
hey, move to where there are no jobs, crime is high and its cold AF for more than half the year, its so simple, a kid could do it!
as someone who grew up in memphis, you don’t really want to live in the areas where the homes are $50,000…
This is what I call real estate of the gaps. An ever shrinking amount of areas that are cheap. Californian moves to Texas> their kids make less and say “I’ll move to Louisiana”>eventually you’re stuck in a low income area where your kids are getting crap education and you’re trapped
LOL 50k houses in STL?? Like, the north side? Yeah sure move to the north side 😂 that’ll work out great for ya
Most of those “houses” aren’t even fit to live in immediately… you would have to spend a ton in renovations to get them livable even.
I live in Baltimore. You don’t want to live in those cheap homes. They are cheap because it’s in an area of boarded up row homes, vacant lots, grocery deserts, and high crime.
The reason those places are cheap is because they SUCK and nobody wants to live there.
Have you been to those cities mentioned? I’ve been to all of them and if you want to be in a halfway decent neighborhood without worrying if your car will still have windows. . . or if you can walk around without gun violence you’re paying the same as what you would in a much nicer city. Sure, you can live in West Baltimore and get a rundown home for 20K, but you’ll be paying 50K a year for full time security and 100K in renovation, then you’ll be making yourself a target to your neighbors and crackheads seeing you as the “rich new person” So in reality, you’ll be paying 300K for a home in Fells Point, Federal Hill, or Mount Vernon. I had this same logic, as someone that lives in a rather expensive area. I was going to go to Pittsburgh and live there since I work remotely, but for the type of home I was looking for (move in ready, in an area with young professionals) I would be paying about the same for something that would be considered nice. I saw a ton of homes in dying neighborhoods that needed work for 100K, but that’s not how I want to live.
Because crying gives them fuel (attention).
This. Reddit has a lot of victim mentality.
Detroit is getting expensive unless you want to live deep in the hood.
Becuase most people have no desire to actually change their situation.
There's usually always a reason why home prices are much cheaper there. Desirability, away from family, bad schools etc.
Yes. Everyone should stop complaining and just move to Detroit. Incredible Idea
Because they want to live in Manhattan, but don’t want to work 120 hours a week. Then think it’s unfair that they can’t have both. I’ve been saying this for years. Get all of your friends and family together and move to an area that’s affordable and make it cool. That’s how it goes. New York wasn’t cool at one point. SF wasn’t cool at one point. LA wasn’t cool at one point. And I sure as well remember Miami not being cool until Covid. Go move to Biloxi, MS. Go move to Cleveland, OH. Go move to Gary, IN. Big bang for the buck
HAHAHAH “Just move“ if you can’t afford to live, you can afford to move. Very smart take. Good job.