this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2023
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STOP...RENTING...
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. It's easy to get out of this cycle. Most states will have First Time Homebuyers programs, and even if you've had a home before, not having a home for 3+ years can cause you to re-qualify again.
Live in a shithole for a while if you have to. OWNING a home is like paying yourself. It's so much cheaper than renting, yes you have to fix things when they break, but you should want to learn those skills anyhow. Toilets, water pumps, hot water heaters, all that shit is pretty easy to fix yourself. Every penny you put into a house is like a savings account that doesn't actually count against you. You get done with that loan, and the worth of that house is yours. You're not paying $2k/month to someone else, with nothing to show for it. You're literally paying $2k a month to YOURSELF. Want to move? Sell the house. Anything you've put into it, you'll get back and then some.
Just whatever you do, get a FIXED rate mortgage. Or go for owner-financed. There's lots of options and renters just make excuse after excuse after excuse why they won't buy a house.
This I such a privileged take that I don't even know where to begin.
Really? Because I make less than $20k a year with 3 kids...tell me how privileged I am. I am FAR below what the poverty line is.
Would you be willing to share how you make that work? I can't imagine living on my own for that much, let alone raising 3 kids. What does a weekly meal plan look like? Do you drive? What are rent and property values like in your area?
Edit: Just ran some numbers, and I can see how that could be possible, but it's dangerously lean. We shouldn't need to live like that. I commend you for making it work, but would like to say that you're definitely worth more than $20k/yr (especially with all those home improvement skills, but regardless)
I can't work like most people, I got cancer when I was 26 and it blew out my immune system (COVID-era was fun let me tell you!). I can't make more money than what I make, as I need a schedule that's flexible because I'm tired constantly. I utilize food banks whenever I can, I drive 25 minutes to work when I do, I have multiple paid off cars (because I buy them from auctions and repair them myself). The house was paid off 4-5 years ago, it was an almost-condemned write-off. It's still not even finished, we've still got concrete under the carpet (again, auctions) and no proper padding. I can survive on almost nothing now because I managed to scrape together around $100k in 5 years by taking advantage of every last bit of help I could get.
It's hard, but I guarantee people here are making way more than I do, with way healthier bodies.
I even had 2 years of non-stop code violation complaints from the neighborhood karens because I couldn't keep up with the yard in my condition.
Additionally, I've always been in poverty - I can't get a job worth a shit because I have no college, I could never afford it. What I DO have though, is friends who are real estate agents. They led me to real estate auctions and landed me this property.