Submitted by Plane_Ask_4941 t3_1225o52 in RhodeIsland

What’s it like for you in the market right now? I have one son who will be entering public school system soon and I am really struggling to maintain an optimistic pov that we will be able to buy a classic home in an area with sound public education.

Our household makes about $200K yet it feels like we are struggling. Single family listings averaging +$400K with most needing renovation, are structurally chaotic, or we know in 5-10 years time the home will struggle to maintain the value at resale.

Is it just me??

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masoyama t1_jdowew3 wrote

Market sucks. We have a income of ~$300k and finding a good house, with no renovations needed in the <$600k range has been difficult.

Thankfully we are in no need to buy because we’ve found landlords that have been amazing, not raised rents and do preemptive maintenance few times a year.

We made an offer last year. $65k over asking and lost. Thr winning bid was like $40k under what we offered ($25k over asking) but they were willing to skip all inspections and give sellers an insane schedule for moving out. Like 3-6 months of free rent after closing until they found a house to move to. Yeah, we’re not gonna play that game.

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newtoRI22 t1_jdoy17g wrote

Although your home is an asset, if you’re buying right now it may be best to not view it as a financial investment.

We bought a home around ~400k knowing that it could go down in value, but building a family and having a place with a yard and proximity to decent schools/other things was enough of a benefit that we’re not really concerned about our home as a means of improving our finances. Of course, we need to be able to afford it, and we are on a much lower income than you, but we also scored a pretty good mortgage rate a few months ago.

That said, I did sacrifice certain things. Not in love with the style/architecture of the home. A little older than preferred, etc.

My suggestion is to really nail down what your absolute needs are and to be a little flexible on things that ultimately aren’t that important (aesthetics). We’re really happy with our purchase overall even if there were some things we could have done differently. We’re also fortunate to have spent less than we budgeted so we’re doing a few upgrades around the house where we’re able.

(Don’t skip inspections. We didn’t ask for any corrections, but we were comfortable with the results of our inspection even though a few things needed fixing.)

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RhodyViaWIClamDigger t1_jdp1sse wrote

We were pre-approved, hired a buyers agent, viewed 15 homes in one weeks time, made three offers on Sunday, one accepted on Monday, inspections, under contract, etc. etc. in 45 days. Paid $15k under asking, $100k less than we were approved for, and so far we have had to replace a garage door opener. House was turn key.
Agent is owed most of the credit, came into our agreement with several leads, did their research and networked.
Very happy.

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Ok_Connection3468 t1_jds5jkg wrote

It sucks, to buy a house that needs no major repairs is or renovations is gonna run over $450k. To give some context the average person in RI makes under $100k/year.

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BlockSubstantial1909 t1_jdxmv3w wrote

I've been looking to buy a house because my apartment was sold and we have to find somewhere to live. These replies are making me feel so poor and hopeless.

The photographer for the realtor said the market is picking up because he had a lot of bookings this week so maybe its improving.

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