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Debt-free homes


YPestis

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LOL, that wouldn't cover closing costs on a crime scene townhouse with wrecked drywall here. But, there are tons of jobs, and excellent transit.

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I know of exactly two people who built a house debt free. Both are women. The first, my Grandmother bought the house she finished raising my uncle in after saving for almost 10 years. She had 6 children total, and was widowed when the youngest was 2. My mom was the next in age, and was 12. She struggled and was bound and determined to not deal with debt.

The second was a woman I went to college with and worked with as a waitress. Her parents had declared bankruptcy when she was young and completely reformed their spending and financial philosophy. They got into the Dave Ramsey stuff, and my co worker was raised on this. She had a degree in business, graduated college debt free, and continued to waitress for the first two years she worked in a bank. She even rented her wedding dress to save money. Ugly, ill fitting dress, BTW....but after 5 years she and her husband built that house debt free. Now she's a president of a local bank. Her husband is a local cop, but there is no doubt who wears the pants in that family. Biggest tightwad I've ever met, but I'm jealous of her thrifty ways.

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My house was 10K. Yes, 10K for a 2 bdrm. Appraised at 69K. I've already knocked out a closet, redone a wall, and made a 3rd bedroom. Replaced the bathroom tile. But, the systems and foundation are all fine.

It is an old house (123 years to be exact). But it was well taken care of. Cute neighborhood.

I loooooove not having a house payment. I can invest that money into my house.

No, I don't have granite countertops or any of those things.... but it is my house.

I live in a small midwestern town on the outskirts of a HUGE city.

The last owner retired and moved to Arkansas. He just wanted to get rid of it. So, he offered a deal to all of the neighbors. We took him up on it.

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This requires three things, though. You have to start early with a big seed so you have the $100,000 for the one bedroom condo when it's just you. Your family has to grow slowly enough and stay small enough so you can fit them in the next size up, and (this is the biggie) the value has to increase while you have it to both finance a bigger place and cover realtor's fees and closing costs. If you plan to upgrade in five years then the house has to have appreciated by 8% over that time just to break even.

And also have the skills and time to do necessary repairs and renovations yourself.

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And also have the skills and time to do necessary repairs and renovations yourself.

Absolutely. I'm not saying it's for everyone, only that it can be done.

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It was in black and white that Jim Bob owned the car lot but humpers fail to see it.

Jim Bob may be business savvy though many wonder how he got the first car lot on a stock boy salary. While it may have been possible, it is also possible he got the first car lot as a wedding gift from his parents. As another poster mentioned, it is hard to be debt free without starting with some seed. From the way Jim Bob talked, JL wasn't good with finances. It still leaves much speculation.

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My house was 10K. Yes, 10K for a 2 bdrm. Appraised at 69K. I've already knocked out a closet, redone a wall, and made a 3rd bedroom. Replaced the bathroom tile. But, the systems and foundation are all fine.

It is an old house (123 years to be exact). But it was well taken care of. Cute neighborhood.

I loooooove not having a house payment. I can invest that money into my house.

No, I don't have granite countertops or any of those things.... but it is my house.

I live in a small midwestern town on the outskirts of a HUGE city.

The last owner retired and moved to Arkansas. He just wanted to get rid of it. So, he offered a deal to all of the neighbors. We took him up on it.

And mine was $350,000. I can guarantee you that sort of money doesn't stretch to stone countertops, ensuite bathrooms, attached garages, walk ins, finished basements and the like. Not to mention granite is cheaper than some laminates.

Don't assume that everyone paying more than quarter of a million for a house is getting a six bedroom mcmansion, and we won't assume your house is a trailer, OK?

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It is beyond insane to me how much places cost from town to town. I live (rent) in a crazy ass expensive town, the median home price is like $1.4 million. We have no intentions of staying and moved into this apartment knowing we'd never in a million years be able to afford to buy in this town. There are gorgeous huge mansions, but there are also shitty little 3 bedroom houses that cost over $700,000. I grew up in a house like the 700k one, but in a different town where it would cost around $250,000 now (expensive state, even in the not as fancy shmancy towns).

My SIL owned a HUGE house on a huge property in the midwest and her house, much bigger than the 700k one in my town, cost under $200k. Needless to say, we are hoping to move to the midwest soon!

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Where we live, the houses are pretty affordable. Even in the city's top school district, a four bedroom is probably around $250k. It's not rural Arkansas cheap, but still pretty good. I have friends living on the coast who are pretty amazed and envious of our housing prices, but then again, we have to constantly put up with their "you live in flyover country" spiel since our city is not known for it's hip nightlife or tourism. So it's a trade-off. I have friends who have bought second homes (presumably with little debt) in the midwest which are fixer uppers. They would never be able to do that if they lived on the coasts. I guess what I'm trying to say is, despite living in a cheap part of the country, I'm aware of how fortunate I am to afford a home and always impressed when I hear someone able to afford a nice house somewhere uber-expensive like NJ or CA.

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It also depends on how close you are to a city. My friend bought a nice little house in the country for about $80k. The same house closer to a city would be about $250k, even in the same state. Most fundies seem to live in the middle of nowhere, which I'm sure helps with housing costs.

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The town I live in (northern, NJ) has crazy expensive houses. We have great public schools so people r willing to pay more for a house just to get their kids into the schools.

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