The starter homes are still out of reach...

[andre3k]

Quoting difficulties...

Yeah, I've been looking into a 2nd job and or a new main job. Trying to figure out the hours and such. I just have no experience pursuing jobs. The one I have now was pretty much given to me. Been there 5 years. I'm not in a very high position, have been unhappy with it for several years at this point. Kinda baited along... One big reason that I'm holding out is health insurance, which I feel like I can't take time off to go use. Hearing about people getting these better jobs and questioning myself.

But then there's wonders about going to school for a good job, but probably getting too off topic at this point. Ya'll probably remember me bringing it up a couple months ago. I probably need to go find it and re-read it.

This time around looking on realitor, I actually found some land it looks like. 5 acre, but it's almost a hour away by Killeen. Looking at the price history, it's gone up just about as much as houses.

I'm not trying to be an ass, but spend more time doing and less time thinking. Sometimes we can get analysis paralysis and spend too much time planning something out instead of doing. In regards to a second job. You know what your current hours and days off are. Find a job doing something in those hours that can will work with your schedule and start applying and interviewing. The longer you wait the older you'll get and this stuff will definitely be harder to do when a wife and kids come along.

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[Axxe55]

An old saying. "Opportunity sometimes knocks on your door disguised as hard work."

I have total belief in this saying.

I also believe in sweat equity. Meaning you can make something into something much nicer if you are willing to put some work into it instead of just throwing money at it.

Many, many times since I was 16 years old, I have had two, and sometimes three jobs, as well as having other full-time responsibilities of being a husband and a step-father. Yeah, many times it was quite difficult, but while many of my co-workers and friends were drinking beer, or watching TV on their days off, I was working and making money for the things I wanted.

 

[Tex929rr]

Our first purchased home was a new 1800 sq ft Gemcraft home in a decent neighborhood in a San Antonio suburb. We paid 82K in 1988. Adjusted for inflation that hike would cost 182K now. Zillow shows that house as 244K now but I have no idea what it would actually sell for - I’m assuming more that that.

Are builders even building 1800 sq ft tract homes now? The median new home has gotten much bigger now.

 

[SQLGeek]

Are builders even building 1800 sq ft tract homes now? The median new home has gotten much bigger now.

Yes but not as common in this area. Our first home was a new build purchased in 2010 and was just under 1800 square feet.

 

[plinkr]

Just wanted to point out something I don't believe has been mentioned. With inflation at well above 6%, we can expect to see home mortgage interest rates rise in 2022. That will likely slow down or even reverse the recent crazy increases in home prices. Of course, monthly payments go up for the same loan, so unless paying cash the OP is no better off. History shows that the cities with fastest price growth are hit hardest when the bubble bursts.

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[Axxe55]

Find a good general contractor and have a house built.

 

[plinkr]

Find a good general contractor and have a house built.

In my county, Tilson (not high or low end) will build a 1886 sq ft Parker for starting at $288,500. On my land. Good luck, OP. Truly.

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[baboon]

Our first purchased home was a new 1800 sq ft Gemcraft home in a decent neighborhood in a San Antonio suburb. We paid 82K in 1988. Adjusted for inflation that hike would cost 182K now. Zillow shows that house as 244K now but I have no idea what it would actually sell for - I’m assuming more that that.

Are builders even building 1800 sq ft tract homes now? The median new home has gotten much bigger now.

Zillow has since cratered for all of it stupidity!

 

[Chuckles]

Quoting difficulties...

Yeah, I've been looking into a 2nd job and or a new main job. Trying to figure out the hours and such. I just have no experience pursuing jobs. The one I have now was pretty much given to me. Been there 5 years. I'm not in a very high position, have been unhappy with it for several years at this point. Kinda baited along... One big reason that I'm holding out is health insurance, which I feel like I can't take time off to go use. Hearing about people getting these better jobs and questioning myself.

But then there's wonders about going to school for a good job, but probably getting too off topic at this point. Ya'll probably remember me bringing it up a couple months ago. I probably need to go find it and re-read it.

This time around looking on realitor, I actually found some land it looks like. 5 acre, but it's almost a hour away by Killeen. Looking at the price history, it's gone up just about as much as houses.

What do you do now, and what would you change if you could? Companies are dying for good employees thanks to this Plandemic.

 

[oldag]

I understand the OP's reluctance to explore a new employer. But that is probably a really good route to pursue right now.

Employers are desperate for people and offers are often very nice raises for the same job.

You have skills, find a new home for them.

 

[Axxe55]

In my county, Tilson (not high or low end) will build a 1886 sq ft Parker for starting at $288,500. On my land. Good luck, OP. Truly.

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An almost 1900 sq. ft. home is still pretty big IMO. Ours is a little under 1600 sq. ft., three bedrooms, two baths, and an attached two-car garage and it's plenty big enough for the wife and I. Cost us about $110K in 2005 to have it built.

 

[plinkr]

An almost 1900 sq. ft. home is still pretty big IMO. Ours is a little under 1600 sq. ft., three bedrooms, two baths, and an attached two-car garage and it's plenty big enough for the wife and I. Cost us about $110K in 2005 to have it built.

I'd bet a hamburger and a coke that
you couldn't get it built today for twice that.

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[Axxe55]

I'd bet a hamburger and a coke that
you couldn't get it built today for twice that.

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If this article is fairly accurate, you would be correct. At about $114 per sq. ft. as the average, it would be about $188K to build out our house today.

How Much Does It Cost to Build a House in Texas?

On average, it costs nearly $300,000 to build a house in Texas. Learn how construction, permits, and other factors will affect your budget.

listwithclever.com

 

[Texas42]

An almost 1900 sq. ft. home is still pretty big IMO. Ours is a little under 1600 sq. ft., three bedrooms, two baths, and an attached two-car garage and it's plenty big enough for the wife and I. Cost us about $110K in 2005 to have it built.

First apparment was 650 sq. Ft. Next was 900 sq feet, then big jump to a 3 bed room 1600 square ft. Rental house. Nothing wrong with that size house.


My current house is lie 2400 sq. ft, but I’m past the starter home.

 

[Texas42]

I don't know your situation, but it does beg the question. If you're young, do you need the health insurance? I'm not exactly young and I haven't used mine in quite some time - and when I did, cash would have probably worked just as well, as poor as insurance is these days. Don't let that be high on your list of reasons to stay in a position that is limiting your potential.

Try to plot a course for yourself, so you can put your eyes on a goal. Stated goals are easier to achieve than broad ideas of merely 'doing better.' The worst thing you can do is make excuses for something that is standing in the way of what you want to achieve. We all do it, and it's probably the #1 thing most people look back on and wish they would have done differently.

Youth is for taking risks. I took a risk and uprooted everything I knew at 23 years old. Quit my cushy gov't job, sold my house, packed everything I could fit into a Firebird pulling a UHaul trailer, and moved across the country almost on a whim. It worked out quite well, and I'm glad I did it. At 17 I should have enlisted but was apprehensive they'd want to shove me in a box doing intelligence work. Looking back, I should have joined, I might have had a shot at finding my butt in the seat of a fighter jet. Nothing risked, nothing gained.

You need health insurance. You don’t necessariliy need health insurance through an employer, bu you need health insurance.

You can get by with the urgent care visit, or. most routine primary care stuff for a hundred bucks a visit, and most common medications aren’t that expensive. The motor vehicle crash were they transfer you to a trauma center to get evaluated by a trauma specialist, or have a baby a few weeks early and spend a week in the NICU. Those can all be 6 figure costs. I’m not even talking about the good stuff were people have spent a few weeks on a vent then a month Or so at an LTAC from COVID, or finding a cancer when you shouldn’t. (I’ve admitted 3 women under 40 this week with widely metastatic cancers.)

I’m just trying to say that lacking health insurance is a huge financial liability that is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the US. Live your dreams, work for yourself, but please. Plan on having some form of health insurance while you do it.

 

[Vaquero]

You need health insurance. You don’t necessariliy need health insurance through an employer, bu you need health insurance.

You can get by with the urgent care visit, or. most routine primary care stuff for a hundred bucks a visit, and most common medications aren’t that expensive. The motor vehicle crash were they transfer you to a trauma center to get evaluated by a trauma specialist, or have a baby a few weeks early and spend a week in the NICU. Those can all be 6 figure costs. I’m not even talking about the good stuff were people have spent a few weeks on a vent then a month Or so at an LTAC from COVID, or finding a cancer when you shouldn’t. (I’ve admitted 3 women under 40 this week with widely metastatic cancers.)

I’m just trying to say that lacking health insurance is a huge financial liability that is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the US. Live your dreams, work for yourself, but please. Plan on having some form of health insurance while you do it.

It's more like wealth insurance.

 

[1911'S 4 Me]

Look into a having a modular home built. A lot less built per square foot.
NOT mobile, modular.

 

[DD130]

Just because it's possible doesn't mean it's easy. Wells Fargo was a massive PITA when I attempted to secure a loan from them. And that was on a conventional loan through a corporate relocation program.

After dealing with them on a foreclosure that they put on a house we were renting; I'd N*E*V*E*R give those jackels any money. As renters, we had rights.. but they kept breaking the law, filing quit notices.. we had to hire and attorney for $$$ just to stay in the house long enough to find another rental and move our kids to a new school district. In the end our attorney went before a judge who sanctioned Wells Fargo for illegally harassing us. They ended up paying us $12k to move out. I took that check to their bank and made them CASH it out. So.. yeah.. No WF, for anyone in this family.. ever.

We bought our current place in May of last year. Value has gone up a stupid amount since then. I hope the OP can find something affordable but I fear nothing in the city limits that has a roof will be in budget.

For us, we bought out in the sticks so we could get what we wanted and not be buried in mortgage debt. Good luck.. I hope you find something you want a price that would work.

 

[toddnjoyce]

I’ll also add the worst time in your life to buy a house is when you don’t have the ability to maintain and repair it. Easiest way to get broker than broke.

 

[innominate]

You need health insurance. You don’t necessariliy need health insurance through an employer, bu you need health insurance.

You can get by with the urgent care visit, or. most routine primary care stuff for a hundred bucks a visit, and most common medications aren’t that expensive. The motor vehicle crash were they transfer you to a trauma center to get evaluated by a trauma specialist, or have a baby a few weeks early and spend a week in the NICU. Those can all be 6 figure costs. I’m not even talking about the good stuff were people have spent a few weeks on a vent then a month Or so at an LTAC from COVID, or finding a cancer when you shouldn’t. (I’ve admitted 3 women under 40 this week with widely metastatic cancers.)

I’m just trying to say that lacking health insurance is a huge financial liability that is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the US. Live your dreams, work for yourself, but please. Plan on having some form of health insurance while you do it.

I thought healthcare bills do not effect your credit and you could not be forced to pay. They can't garnish your wages etc. You end up in ICU for a few weeks they can't come and empty your bank accounts. Upfront costs are a different topic. I do think health insurance is something you should have.