Submitted by mommy2boy t3_10l3nk4 in RhodeIsland
Just venting, I’ve lived here forever and I love the state but what the hell are these prices! My husband and I aren’t going to be able to own a home for a few more years even though we really want to now since our landlord keeps increasing our rent. Some people say there will be a crash but I just don’t believe it anymore. Is there any serious advice for someone looking to purchase their first home?
Thank you for explaining it in a way I can actually understand!
Urban planning in general in the States is dog shit. And the few areas that are dense in homes, businesses, walkable you have to be making close to or six figures +. Realistically speaking, this notion that everybody should and will live in a single family house is absurd and environmentally unsustainable. I would love to see new construction based on grid designs you would find in Europe
I’m a fan of European planning myself, but we have historically had more space, had fewer feudal land owners, had more powerful local governments, had a stronger emphasis on property rights, had multiple (sometimes antagonistic) cultures, and we became wealthy just as the automobile was in ascension.
Not surprisingly, like every other civilization since the beginning of time, our circumstances determined how we built.
It isn’t because we’re idiots.
Stronger emphases on property rights and stronger local governments shouldn’t go together.
Death to zoning.
I’m not sure people should be allowed to do whatever they want with their property.🤷🏼♂️
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/26/opinion/arizona-water-colorado-river-saudi-arabia.html
Property rights and water rights in the west are two very, very different things.
A more appropriate 1-to-1 would have been Houston, which has no zoning laws.
https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/houston-doesnt-have-zoning-there-are-workarounds
Zoning rights should go hand in hand with property rights the government shouldn't be able to tell you what you can and can't do with your own property otherwise you never really own anything your just renting from the government the same argument for property taxes which also happens to be theft.
I think a lot of people start with this point of view.
But then we get old and it gets pointed out to us that our property is worth more (aka our wealth is greater) if it can be accessed by a publicly paid for road, can be saved by a publicly paid for fire company, can be protected by a publicly paid for police department, and my family can be supported by a publicly paid for school district.
Nevermind the the time I save not having to go to the dump, or the safety of publicly paid for sidewalks, and monitored water systems.
All of which is paid for by property taxes.
Really what we should be focusing on is value for taxes and whether revenues are shepherded well, not whether they should exist. Absolutists don’t like to hear it, but socializing some expenses via taxes actually does make us all richer.
All of those functions could be done far cheaper, and better in the private sector. Roads should be privatized paid for and maintained by advertising just like dominos was filling in potholes and putting their logo on it a couple years back.
Our roads are in horrible shape with so many potholes its like driving on the surface of the moon if you drive through a Walmart parking lot even one that takes multiple large truck deliveries a day its pristine. Plus if a road was privately owned people wouldn't put up with the conditions they put up with now with the government. Because you have no choice with the government you can't boycott a government without moving but you can boycott a business. Fire companies used to be private and even today often volunteer. They used to compete for who could get to a fire faster to put it out paid out by private insurance. Government took it over and they unionized and expenses ballooned. I would know my dad was a firefighter in Providence for 25 years.
You mean police who shoot teenagers in cars and have 0 accountability. I'd rather defund the police and have my own firearms to protect me and the ability to hire private security if I need to who I can fire if they do a bad job or bring disrepute. Where do you feel safer the dark alley in providence at 3am that's the purview of the government police, or the nightclub full of drunk people with the bouncer?
Public schools that indoctrinate and groom your kids rather than homeschooling that allows kids to learn at their own pace often graduating 1-2 years before other children. Or private schooling that everyone agrees is better quality. All of which would be cheaper Taxation is theft, the government creates a problem and then steals from you purporting to be the only solution to it.
running out of time to type this much will have to do.
Whatever we write on Reddit.com, property taxes are here to stay, so energy is probably better spent on analyzing value for spending and ways to tweak formulas for better results rather than arguing abstractions.🤷🏼♂️
The Libertarian Party of Rhode Island is actively working on cultivating candidates that will if elected eliminate as much taxation as possible so it's not just an abstraction similar things are happening nationwide eventually the abstraction will become policy.
“if”
You have clearly never driven down the private Center of New England road. Private owners don't shell out money to fix roads that people need to, or are accustomed to, use regularly. Acting like private companies who are beholden to shareholders will do the "right" thing is ridiculous.
I've been there I go to the Denny's there a bunch. The developer of the Centre of New England had plans to build a six-lane road connecting the two ends of the boulevard, but when he went into receivership in 2013, the project came to a halt. Eventually, that will get sorted out and the new owner will probably maintain the property. On average e.g. not in special cases like this people tend to take better care of things they privately own rather than the tragedy of the commons with public property. Just like people don't take a rental through a car wash but people will lovingly hand wash their mustang in the driveway. Sure someone might neglect their shitbox until it hits a junkyard but then someone else will buy up the scrap and do something with it. The government won't do anything proactive it will only react if someone raises a stink at least when it comes to maintenance. Also, the government has incentives for grifts, bribes, and favors for any of its projects increasing prices and reducing quality. Whereas a private owner has the incentive to get the best quality for the lowest cost.
So well-stated! I work for a state office. The pushback from municipalities is REAL. The House of Representatives has said it will be announcing a package of housing this year. Multiple towns have already opposed it - and it isn’t even out yet! They don’t even know what the legislation is or any details, and they’re opposing it.
I watch some local town council meetings and I see that towns push back hard for the local zoning changes. I hear a lot that “the state is trying to control us”. When the new ADU legislation rolled out I hear some are trying to block it from happening. What is this new legislation you speak about going to do?
Yep, Senator Gordon Rogers already went to Foster because he is trying to get the rural towns to hire a lobbyist to fight back… meanwhile when I canvass out here a lot of people are frustrated they can’t have ADU’s.
sigh
Tell people to contact their elected official. Honestly, they do listen. Senators and Reps get very reactive if they hear the same thing from multiple people in their district.
Senator Rogers is my elected official.
Ouch. Who’s your Rep?
Edited to add: would people consider a petition? Like do you think there are enough folks to band together and sign something? That could also spur some action.
Quattrocchi. :D /s
Oh man. I’m sorry.
Yeah, a petition might be your best bet. Another option is sending written testimony to the House and Senate about the legislation. You may not be able to get your rep/senator to vote the way you’d like, but it would get your point across to the other folks on the committee.
ETA: town council? A lot of zoning issues are enacted at the local level. The more granular the level of govt, the more reactive they usually are to feedback.
Yeah, I’ve been up to the state house a few times to give public testimony… good times. I have good rapport with other members of the GA… it’s just hard when your elected officials are… the way they are. I have a good rapport with the town council… and tbh I think there may be an OMA violation with how it was handled in foster… we will see.
Yeah, doing public testimony is a pain, but you can do written too. And yeah, that does suck. Do they win by a significant margin? Other option is running someone against them.
I DM’d you some context :)
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Agreed with all of this.
Some good news here: https://www.eastbayri.com/east-providence/stories/commercial-residential-developments-continue-to-rise-around-east-providence,110106
Prices are high because inventory is low. I don't think there will be a crash but prices will slowly come back down with interest rates being higher. If you are a first time buyer I would talk to a mortgage lender to see if you can qualify for down payment assistance. Even if you don't qualify now they can set you up on the right path for the future.
Thank you for the advice!
My wife and I are first time owners and we had a much lower down payment. But pmi is annoying but it beats renting.
My pmi is like $40/month and the increase in monthly interest from a larger loan (smaller down payment) is only like $30/month. No brainer for me to put less down
My pmi is much more than that, but it’s not problematic at least for now. But annoying.
Though, the pmi won’t last forever which is great.
How much more? It’s dependent on the size of the loan and other credit factors right?
Correct. I’m not sure if credit is affected in the amount but just the size of the loan and the % for pmi. I know I get around $125-$150 for pmi per month. Hopefully soon I can get it to go away
Crash has already started. Rates are insane.
It’s bad. I wonder if buying a 3 bedroom then renting out all 3 bedrooms (if permitted) and living in the basement is the only choice these days.
My mother in law keeps telling us to buy a 3 family and rent out the 2 floors and us live on the 1st floor but it’s just not what I ever had in mind. I have a toddler and just want to have a backyard he can play in and also do laundry in my own home rather than going somewhere else to do it!
She’s right.
Because it doesn’t meet your expectations is no reason to continue to pay escalating rent.
The only way to get into the real estate market is start with what you can afford then gradually work your way up from there.
You can also use rental income on that property to offset that payment and buy another house after a minimum of 12 months. If you are a first time homebuyer there is no reason not to buy a multi. You get access to better programs to buy that property, a long term investment that will help you down the road and you aren’t paying rent anymore.
What kind of programs?
In this state mainly Rhode Island Housing, they just announced today a grant program for $17,500 towards down payment and closing costs. Not a lien, no payment, just need to have a 660 FICO and make below 112k a year. Outside of that program they offer up to 15k as a second lien towards down payment and closing costs normally. 15k and whatever your first mortgage rate is. As of today that would be 6% if you are below the income limit.
My question is I’m assuming this is a one time thing? So would I not wait to use a grant it on a house we can afford after a few more years of saving? Genuinely would like your opinion
Rhode Island Housings down payment assistance will exist forever, they have been around for decades. It only applies to first time homebuyers so you would only be able to use it on a first home.
The grant with no payment will probably be gone within a few months, end of year at the latest. It has to be used at the time or closing so you would be in contract on something soon ideally.
If you have the ability to take advantage of the grant (income, FICO, etc) I would recommend it. If you are facing a situation where you don’t feel comfortable going that fast or you have a credit or income issue as far as how you are paid I would get with a lender today who is someone who does Rhode Island Housing a lot and they can put you on the right path. Rhode Island housing is pretty lax on there guidelines relative to some other equivalents in other states but deposits are a big thing for them so if you are depositing cash a lot that would be an issue.
Even if you miss the grant, the DPA is still a good program. If you need some help with a lender, let me know.
Thank you so much for the info I appreciate it!
RI Housing does free “classes” you can take. We did it when we were first considering trying to buy a house and it was helpful. They give you a ton of info and can offer a bunch of resources (realtors, lenders, etc).
Some grants and programs require you take these classes to earn their certificate, which is why we’d signed up originally. Ours had a few q&a sessions as we covered all the topics.
Highly recommend if you haven’t taken them yet. There’s a class for single family home ownership and another for multi family or properties where you’d be a landlord.
Thank you so much for the info!
These classes do provide a lot of good info, especially for people who have no previous experience in the homebuying process. They are also a requirement for a Rhode Island Housing loan, so getting done up front just saves some time.
I bought a 2 family in 2014 for $190k. Renter upstairs paid half the mortgage, so I was able to save a lot more. Had our first kid there. Sold for $250k in 2018 to buy a much bigger, more permanent house. The $60k we made on the sale went a long way towards our down payment.
That house sold again for $400k last year. If you can find an affordable multi-family in good shape, I would definitely recommend it.
Good shape being the key. Don’t buy a money pit. But a solid house with rental income is a winner to get started for sure.
Being a new homeowner is hard. Being a new homeowner and landlord to two families sounds dreadful.
You could always not give tenants access to the yard and get that scenario for yourself. House prices (and lack of supply) are all over the place not just RI.
You can't always have what you want. It's about what is possible given your financial circumstances and what makes feasible financial sense. Your mom is right, buying a 3 family home and renting out two floors would result in you living essentially mortgage free or close to it
If OP doesn't have the cash flow for a SFH, then they're unlikely to be able to afford the going rate for a multi-family. Rental income will only help with cash flow later on after initial investment/income assessment.
Lenders will allow some income of an occupied multi-family to count towards the mortgage applicants income for the purposes of preapproval and determining spending ceiling. So often times borrowers are approved for a much higher value on a multi-family home. So sometimes it can work out to be more affordable on a monthly basis.
OP wants a Ferrari when they got Honda Civic money
You're not alone. Trust me. I have no clue how people are affording these housing considering the median household income in RI.
I got lucky and bought in 2020 right before the rate hikes and the market skyrocketed.
I would not be able to afford the house I'm in now at these prices.
That's where I'm at too. Bought in 2018 for what is now a super low price, then refinanced in 2021 for what's now a super low rate. It's so unfair how someone just like me is totally screwed out of being able to buy a house, just because they're doing it a few years later.
I just can’t understand how it’s even allowed to charge so much for these homes that aren’t in good shape or at least updated from the 70’s.
That's how free markets/capitalism works
Demand far outweighs supply. People will accuse me of “oversimplifying” by framing it so plainly, when in reality many are overcomplicating the issue by making speculative claims about rental dynamics, investor practices and intentions, etc.
Objectively I think there is a clear case to be made that prohibitive zoning laws keep new construction from happening, and that this lack of new supply being introduced is our underlying failure. If there were more abundance in housing then we simply would not be experiencing such dramatic price spikes, or at the very least the intensity would be diminished.
Rhode Island cities and towns have authority over their respective zoning decisions as well as commanding the finer details via ordinance. The minimum dimensional requirements of homes and their corresponding lots prevent more modest builds and result in construction that is necessarily more expensive. It is important to note that it is wholly possible for structures and lots that don’t meet some of the local dimensional minimums to still be completely safe or useful. The dimensional requirements are arbitrary to a large degree, and are not accommodative of the greater community’s needs.
Beyond setting a price floor in practice, there are also zoning/ordinance limitations at the other end of the spectrum, preventing us from building larger or more numerous units, and limiting the potential use and value of our property. This is the density problem you will hear people talk about all the time. We have a TON of developable land, and a TON of airspace to build upwards, but we are for arbitrary reasons not allowed to use it as we see fit, or in a way that would be most useful to us. We are not building out to the degree we need to. This is strongly evidenced by US census data which demonstrates we are national losers in new residential development in both absolute and per capita terms.
This is where we get into matters of zoning variances, special use, and the associated political bullshit. If you want to build/develop anything of substance around here, you need the blessing of local town officials/representatives who frequently have NIMBY stances, or are trying to “preserve the character of the community” by shooting down ambitious projects. Homeowners think they are preserving the value of their property by disallowing further development, but they’re actually hamstringing their own property rights and values. Is your property worth more if you’re allowed 3 units on your lot by right, as opposed to one? You bet your ass it is, especially in this market climate.
So the new supply is (or always has been?) throttled, and at the exact same time we see basically unbelievable amounts of money pour into the market because of lax lending standards, historically low rates, etc. Snapping up everything that’s decent. Anyone who owned property before and had any sense whatsoever has also refinanced into those low rates. Now you have a population of property owners who will basically never sell because their financing arrangement is so favorable when you look at macro trends. This exacerbates the supply issue further, and actually excites demand at the same time, because you have a rather numerous class of folks who have sizable discretionary income and favorable debt arrangements making it much easier to clear the bar for another purchase.
I could go on about this forever. It’s a massive problem.
I wish I didn't look around so much a few years ago, I got priced out, then covid happen. It's depressing.
Same here... we looked at 50+ houses in 2020 and made aggressive bids on 10 and didn't even get close. Some of them are up $200k in value, since. Would have been our first home... I expect we'll keep renting for at least another couple years before things improve.
So much for... you know... ever being able to retire.
Seriously!!!!!
The price is whatever the market will bear. They're expensive because people are buying them.
> Some people say there will be a crash but I just don’t believe it anymore.
Instead of operating on belief, look at evidence. The run up in home prices since COVID is close to what we saw 2005-2008. Today we recognize that was an asset bubble driven by lax underwriting standard, poor transparency in the MBS marketplace, and low interest rates. At the time, a lot of folks looking to get into the housing market thought it was a “new normal” and bought in lest they miss their chance, including some friends of ours. Here are two anecdotes:
Friend 1 bought a 2 Bed / Bath condo at the height of the market for $230K. They sold in 2016, the condo finally reached that $230K valuation again last year. The sale proceeds didn’t even cover the 3% they put down on their new place.
Friend 2 bought a 2 Bed / Bath condo same neighborhood as the market started cooling for $200K. Friend 2 stopped paying his mortgage, and quit his job and worked under the table. His wife kept working. They got their loan adjusted down by about $100K, and made a decent chunk of cash when they upgraded.
Sometimes bad decisions are rewarded and good ones are punished.
>Is there any serious advice for someone looking to purchase their first home?
Wait. With interest rates where they are, the cost to buy has never been higher. Rising interest rates coexisting with rising home prices is an anomaly that cannot continue. If interest rates hit 8% (from 2% when I refinanced last year) that would doubled the monthly mortgage payment at the same purchase price. It’s unsustainable. If you look at the impact of rising interest rates were actually hitting value increases > the run up to the last bubble.
I am also hoping for a bubble pop but unfortunately I do not think it will come, at least not in the same way that it did back in 08. Sure the rate at which prices have increasing will have to stop but it doesn't mean that prices are going to crash.
The 08 bubble was mostly driven by the subprime loans being given out and interests were not as low as what we had for the past few years. That means that when prices decreased people were quickly underwater with big loans that they were already too stretched to pay. So as people got foreclosed or had to sell supply increased as demand decreased since it became an overall economy crash and people and institutions were not buying as much.
But the run up on prices during COVID is not subprime. It is mostly people that could afford it or just went a bit over budget but given the low interest rate a modest decrease in price will not be a problem for them. Unless we have a massive wave of layoffs and people cannot pay anymore we will not have the same level of foreclosures that drove prices down las time. Also, this time so many houses were bought by big corporations as investments so they will not default the same way an idividual might.
We are seeing layoffs but they seem to be concentrated in the tech sector so on higher-paid individuals so even if we see some foreclosures they are going to be in the upper range of the market. So unless the whole economy collapses I don't think we will have a drastic bubble pop.
"With interest rates where they are, the cost to buy has never been higher."
That's absolutely not true. Average mortgage rates were consistently above 6%, and usually above 7%, from the early 70s until the rate cuts stemming from the financial crisis in the late aughts.
Yes correct my parents had an interest rate of 17% for their $50,000 house
Now it’s 7% on a 800,000 house
Yes. And homes were much cheaper. When I said the cost to buy has never been higher, I meant it literally.
Take a home that was valued at $250K at the peak of the last RE bubble. Even if that home were on sale for $250K today, the actual cost of that home is significantly higher than it was at the height of the last bubble because interest rates are significantly higher today than they were then. Prices are higher too. And if you add the impact of interest rate increases to the price increases the housing market has seen over the last 12-18 months on monthly cost to buyer (instead of just focusing on asset price inflation), the rate of change is just unprecedented.
It's not just a RI problem.
A lot of people think there is something special here but there isn't.
So the answer to your question is that mortgages got super cheap during covid. But all of the economic stimulus wasn't really needed as much as we thought particularly for white collar professionals. Therefore white collar professionals had money to spend, time on their hands, and low interest rates. This drove prices up. There is also some downstream effect of remote work although Providence isn't really the beneficiary of this in the ways that places in the west were.
Now prices are a bit sticky. They will come down probably but not to 2019 levels unless there is a major correction (which will involve major losses of income etc so might not become a buying opportunity then either). Part of this is that inventory will be artificially depressed because if you are in a home with a 3.25% mortgage why would you be looking to move now if you need to take on a 6% mortgage. Same goes for people who refinanced to low rates.
Also during the runup corporations started buying homes, more than you think. And many individuals buy into get rich quick with short term rental schemes that also depress inventory.
It's all these things. And it's everywhere.
I suspect that people building up AirB&B empires has a lot to do with it. There are people in my town with a dozen houses for rent. I think it's more damaging than most people realize.
Yeah last year I was buzzed by a recruiter about a job in Bend OR. I thought it might be a nice 2-3 year change to go live out there. Then I saw that unless I wanted to live in a trailer park 10 miles out of town I'd need to make about 10% more than my Boston salary to stay even, nevermind the lower salary they were offering. How is it that everyone in a smallish mountain town can afford $800k condos. Then go to VRBO and Airbnb and see about 2000 listings...oh
When I've been doing stories on short-term rentals, all the data points to them being highly concentrated in the coastal towns (Newport, Middletown, Portsmouth) and very few everywhere else, especially per capita.
Sub required:
State lookup tool, need to do it by town:
https://elicensing.ri.gov/Lookup/OnlineReportExecute.aspx?queryIdnt=1298
Example: Warwick has 47 current listings but AirDNA, a company that tracks listings, puts it closer to 73.
But Warwick's population is 83k, with 27k single-family homes, 2.4k units in two-family, 1.9k in three familys and 5.5k in apartment complexes.
Source: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22416492-part_3_livable_neighborhoods#document/p6/a2149023
Interesting, thanks for the data and links.
Bristol has 96 official listing so probably has more in reality. It has a population of 22.5k people. Assuming the average AirB&B would house 2.5 people it's about 1% of Bristols housing. I'm not sure that would drop house prices much, but it is a significant amount of housing.
I think a better stat is comparing the number of listings to the amount of Bristol's residential units (usually the census)
That being said, when I looked it up on the census quick facts, it just gave me "X," so to find the numbers requires digging a couple layers deeper.
I was only able to afford my house thanks to an unexpected gift. Its just an ok house and not a forever home. idk how people do it. Granted I'm a single income buyer, so YMMV.
My advice? Set your expectations through the floor right now.
People keep buying them. In my neighborhood every house was selling quickly, but I can see the houses sitting on the market much longer now. Also people aren’t looking right now. My dad owns a real estate agency and the phones aren’t ringing and they wouldn’t stop a year ago.
My coworker bought in CT instead and commutes over an hour to work in RI. He's a single guy so I'm guessing it's affordable for him to do it. So maybe look wider and expect a commute if your roots are in RI.
Boomers!
It’s everywhere! Delusional people SMH
If you’re not already, work with a buyers agent. Our situation was similar, and then we selected an agent. They lined up private showings in our price range, most often before the house hit the market, and we found our home very quickly.
The seller paid our agents fees.
Good luck.
i bought a crap house in need of repair for $230,000 near RI two years ago..
Me and wife are in the same boat. We looked for a while last year with two different realtors. We almost bought a house but backed out because it was way too small and especially for the price. A lot of houses in our price range are junk and not worth the money.
We live in a apartment that has rate hikes every year too, we’re about to jump to 1,500 for our one bed.. been there three years. We’re currently working on getting into a two bedroom in Warwick with a private landlord who is asking a way better price. So if all goes well we’ll live there and ride out this market and save our money. Hopefully me, my wife and you guys will be able to buy a house soon.
Thank you, good luck to you guys!
Dan McKee (and RI legislators) just passed a grant for first time homebuyers, 17500 cash assistance on the down payment, and you don't have to pay it back.
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Supply and demand. Little supply means they usually get what they ask for. And now that the COVID rent moratorium is over, landlords are being really picky about new tenants.
What I don't understand is that RIs population is basically unchanged from 2000, so where is the demand coming from? Now it's possible there has been a structural housing deficit all that time, but what is different about this moment in time that it is rising to the level of a "crisis"? Even if the demand is coming from outside the state (Boston commuters?) it's still being offset by people leaving the state, because, again, the population isn't changing. Unless the overall housing stock has eroded I don't understand how the state as a whole can be too expensive. Certain pockets, sure, we'd all love to live on Rumstick Point or Ocean Drive, but the whole state? I'm not saying it's not true, necessarily, but there's a piece of the puzzle I'm missing.
In 2023 RI was listed as top 3 states for influx movers. Add that with well to do young professionals commuting into Boston who are gladly willing to pay the cheap price of 650k for a home(compared to greater boston home prices) and you have a huge problem.
Corporations buying up Real estate
I've heard that argument, although I haven't seen any empirical evidence. And that could cause distortions in the rental market if they control enough supply to distort pricing, but it doesn't explain housing. A corporation isn't going to buy a house and then let it sit for a few years in the hopes it appreciates, the carrying costs are too high. At most they might make some quick improvements and try to flip, but that's still dependent upon demand.
Banks figured out you make more renting the house out forever as opposed to selling it
Foreign investors and locals do that all the time buy houses and have them sit empty. Price appreciates and they sell in a year or 3
In New York City, maybe. I find it hard to believe that's a big poblem in Providence or Cranston.
You would be surprised
You don’t need more people for more demand. The amount of money in the system had ballooned and the cost of that money had plummeted. All of easily accessible cash stokes demand. Same amount of people, the activity increases to match the opportunities of cheap money.
It’s nuts. I bought my current house in 2018 for $500k and now it’s worth $800+. Prices are crazy!
Out of state buyers came in and pushed up prices. Vacation homes in RI are a bargain compared to other places. Covid remote working allowed others to come to RI because houses were cheaper than where they were. Covid also saw people spending lots of time at home move if they wanted more space at home, or renovate their homes, so a lot of home sales that would have trickled out into supply were kind of rushed into it, so theres no backlog of homes to come on market or if you renovated you are staying for a bit. The high prices and high interest rates makes it so everyone that didn't buy recently have a better situation than what they could buy into now so they are staying put. Rates are still high, but prices have backed off peak a bit so anyone thinking of selling now missed the high point and will be less likely to sell. The only people moving right now are those who have to for some reason, like work.
Lots of reasons really. The market will work itself out, but not any time soon.
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Sadly it’s not just RI, we moved from FL last year, sold our house for almost double what we purchased for under two years prior. People will pay so that’s what’s happening, it’ll keep happening too. Our rent is $1,000 more than our mortgage was in FL and our old home was 1000% nicer too. It sucks a lot, I feel like we will never be able to purchase something and not be screwed in the end now.
Supply and demand. AirBnb reduced rental availability so people decided to buy because interest rates were low. More buyers, less supply. Now the interest rates and taxes go up. Rentals get higher still because landlords' maintenance is astronomical. More want to buy. Rinse and repeat.
Supply & demand. Everyone wants a house but not enough are available + not enough sellers.
Also, the cost of a house. Property, concrete, yard, wood, appliances, dry wall, lighting, flooring, every single piece of the house cost x amount and when added together equals a larger price.
houses in new england are made of wood. If the price of wood goes up as much as it did during covid (because our lumber comes from canada and borders were closed) the price of a house will greatly increase.
My advice is to do what i did and buy a multi family and rent out 1 or 2 units while living in the one remaining. You can use that projected income as a boost to what you are approved for. I was approved for 250k for single family and 500k for a 3 family. Big difference. My 3 unit is collecting $2500 in rent and i pay $300 plus water / sewage / taxes on the rest. In a couple years i will repeat the process and in about 5-8 years use all 6 rents to pay for a single family. I would not recommend starting* with a single family.
Because you want one (and there aren’t that many)
Rhode island is still far more affordable than Massachusetts but still slim Pickens
RI is the F U I got mine state.
A place where the biggest lie always wins
You don't say what your expectation or your price range are. Are the prices truely high or are the expectations of what you can get for what you want ro pay high? I'm on house purchase #3 (own 1, not a land lord). They all needed work, even the 'brand new' house needed customizing. Are you looking for a specific neighborhood, school district, number of bedrooms? What is it that you find is expensive?
I ask because I look at real estate often and there are bargains out there.
Lol, what is your idea of a bargain? Many houses that are out there need massive amounts of work.
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Do it now. In 5 years it'll be to late.
Horrible advice
The greed and amorality of the rich.
So glad I bought my house in the late 2010's. Even with it being the tail end of the buyers market it was discouraging at certain points. If I wasn't able to get a house I was just going to pack up and move to the west coast. Looking at it now there is no way I could afford my house with the interest rate where it is now.
Crash? That doesn't make sense. Look at inventory, prices aren't falling even though demand has gone down but supply is incredibly low. Very few people are selling. Prices have stalled out meaning they aren't rising as fast as they were the past 5 years. Only way waiting makes sense is based on the belief that if you are financing you expect interest rates to fall this year or next. I'm so glad I bought my home in 2018 and was able to build equity, cash it out and use it to buy a second home. Now I rent out my first property
the housing stock in RI is so old and they sell for the same price as updated homes, this isn’t happening elsewhere in New England. There’s clearly a supply side issue here. I’ve spoken with some realtors and they have a lot of preapproved folks ready to snap up inventory as soon as they dip, I just don’t believe prices will go down considerably.
Unpopular take: Houses have always been expensive. In the 60s you could buy a nice house for 40k. In the 70s that bumped up to 60k. By the 80s you could buy a nice house under 100k in most RI communities. But you had to cough up 20k for a down-payment and pledge your firstborn for a mortgage. That kept homeownership out of reach for many. Then the median home price hit 150, 200,300,400... and most of us cannot afford one just like many of our parents couldn't afford one 35 years ago. In ten years, the median price will creep near a mil and people will say, "remember ten years ago when you could buy a deecent house for 400k? That was a bargain!"
The solution is not some magical dust that creates inexpensive housing out of thin air. It's a solid housing policy (offering both homeownership and rental options) combined with raising incomes in a state where people make trash wages for a variety of reasons.
This is incorrect. Housing prices have far outpaced salaries. A quick Google search will show you how wrong you are.
High taxes, over regulation, over population with not enough homes to meet the demand and homes becoming too expensive to build because of high taxes, over regulation, inflation and rising cost of labor and materials.
What really needs to happen is lower the tax burden but that's actually just the easy part. The hard part is getting all the people jammed up in the small new england states to actually go to other places. It's a big country. South Carolina has beaches too.
Keep the prices high!
you're making assumptions.. what you need is to get into a no rent situation where you live for free somehow to save money.. also learn about houses. get a preapproval letter to see how much you qualify for if anything. then shop for a small house or apartment with a good reserve fund in the hoa.
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smarta$$, i did that for 10 years.. i worked in the house i lived.. it sucked, but i had more money.. also people can try to live with family.
That is not a possible solution for most people & if it was for me I wouldn’t have even made this post
you want a turn key 3/2 house with a simple mortgage. those are like $500,000+ right now.. try maybe a 203k loan.. you have to think outside the box and research.
honestly.. you need a small apartment. live in less square footage, but be able to afford it in my opinion. there is a nice building in RI that was converted from a brick mill to lofts.
I agree the market is nuts. I also feel people that complain alot are using $800 cell phones with monthly payments of $50 plus. Go out or order food once or more a week. Buy coffee daily, get drinks on weekends, etc. It all adds up
Ok boomer
Probably spending it all on avocado toast.
If it weren't for the bobba tea these kids would be millionaires
Yeah I’m sure but I’m not one of them as much as that would be nice. I’ve always bought out my phone and go to simple mobile so never had to do monthly payments, my husband and I don’t drink, if we go out it’s maybe once every couple months. As a woman I haven’t had my nails, feet, hair done or cut in years. Every penny that’s made goes towards bills or things for our toddler. Unfortunately we do all we can and it’s still not enough to afford even a foreclosure home in our town.
I wasn't saying it was you but I see it alot and I can't be the only one. I can't believe I'm getting down voted for saying that.....
Impossible-Heart-540 t1_j5uonix wrote
It’s predominantly a supply problem. We’re literally 50th of 50 states in housing starts per capita.
Our local municipalities fight tooth and nail against any zoning changes that might let more building happen - especially denser/transit oriented developments that might be good starter homes.
Our cost of labor is comparable to Boston, while our prices (aka profit margins for developers) aren’t as good as Boston’s - so the math is harder.
We also have a labor shortage.
There is no short term fix for those in the market right now, save buying in a marginal neighborhood that you see transitioning so your home value appreciates more quickly.
I can only say people in the legislature are trying to push more regional thinking to alleviate the problem. The fights over Single Family Zoning have real consequences for homeowners impacted and I can sympathize, but they also impact young people who can’t afford a house and stay here.
I am sorry.