Post #47745 by Futura Girl on Wed, Aug 13, 2003 9:00 PM

Back to Vegas...
Just out of curiosity, I did a search on real estate.com for a 3+ bed 2+ bath home under 150K and it came up with over 2000 hits! It's the fastest growing city in the world... so people must to live here :)
It's just that there are just 2 frames of mind for the home buyers here - those who want all new fancy fancy places and spend a lot of $ on them and those buying older properties, yes with potential problems, but with charm and affordable price.

The s.f. valley is still probably within your reach seamus - stuff is still available under 300K - although in shady areas it's a start. and south bay probably has undiscovered pockets. The trick is to get a good agent looking for you - start looking long before you are ready to buy and see tons of homes and educate yourself to what's available for what price in what areas. That way when the sweet unforseen deal comes along - you'll know a good thing and jump through hoops. http://www.ziprealty.com seemed to give good search results as well...

So before you freak on prices in any other cities, if you are willing to buy an older place and a fixer upper to boot, i believe there are always deals to be had anywhere. We got this Vegas place for significantly less than the asking price and the median price in the hood. Why? Because no one looked beyond the overgrown bushes and filthy kitchen and no one asked about thus did not find out there were pristine hardwood floors under the smelly old carpet.

And now I will get on my soap box:
What is crazier than real estate prices is the rent that people pay to live in the so called 'hip' areas... and then they wonder why they have no money left over to save for buying. i have a girlfriend who rents an apartment in santa monica for over $2000 a month!!! this is so her son can go to a certain school. and she has had a few roommates now and then to help but with rent, but COME ON... she's is basically paying a mortgage + taxes + insurance for a $300K house at that rate - and gets no tax advantage or equity in return.

It's also all about our age of instant gratification - and about being willing to sacrifice a bit for the future. Our first home was in the unglamorous city of Reseda - (I used to call it the armpit of the valley)I swore I'd never live there in a million years, yet that was all we could afford. we borrowed 5K from folks and wiped out every last penny in savings. After living there and fixing it up (working our butts off every single weekend - eating cheap at home and not seeing a movie in a theater for 3-4 years). we eventually leased it out and moved into in a dirt cheap garage apartment for another 3-4 years just so we could save up for a nicer house in a different hood. It was literally a garage with no insulation and we washed dishes in the bathroom sink - until we finally installed a kitchen sink to go along with our hot pad and toaster oven for cooking. We sold that 1st place and now have that nicer home in L.A. we were working towards.

It's easy to get spoiled - and want to live in luxury today and then complain why there is no money left over to buy something tomorrow. I never used to understand when my parents would complain about how no one wants to work for things anymore and that everyone expects instant gratification - now i know what they were talking about. We see it all around us all the time. The good folks on tv pitch the vacation lifestyle to us daily. But i'm sorry no matter what your religious affiliations are - the protestant work ethic still rules this country and you just gotta suffer and work hard before you rest.

In this day of age we have it easier physically today than humans have ever had it, and yet we still demand and expect even more luxury and comfort and conveience for nothin'.

Now that i have worked so hard typing up this essay, i will now come off the soap box and rest with a mai tai!