To: "homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org" <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [Homestead] Most affordable living, 2005. Whew!
Date: Tue, 05 Jul 2005 15:09:34 -0700
I expect that, today, anyone over the age of thirty-five has stories that
start with, "Why I remember when I could have bought that place for . . ."
I stay as informed of real estate prices and conditions as I can. But this
article from the July 2005 edition of REALTOR magazine gave me pause:
"Affordable housing. The area comprising Boardman, Warren, and Youngstown,
Ohio is the country's most affordable housing market among metropolitan
areas with population greater than 500,000, says the National Association
of Home Builders. In the area, which includes some neighborhoods across the
Pennsylvania border, 90.2 percent of homes sold in the first quarter of
2005 were affordable to households earning the area median household income
of $51,300. The median price of all homes sold in the area during that time
was $86,000."
Compare those numbers with what homesteaders can do with far fewer purchase
dollars and less income. That is not to diminish urban opportunity. One of
the best ways to get your homestead stake remains in the city, with city
income and city real estate appreciation. For most, my advice is: make it
in the city and take it to the country. The caveat: before you do this,
become as certain as humanly possible that that's the direction you wish to
go. It is often emotionally and always financially painful to go in the
other direction, from uplifting acreage to postage stamp lot.
[Homestead] Most affordable living, 2005. Whew!,
Gene GeRue, 07/05/2005