I was just watching House Hunters on HGTV while getting some house stuff of my own done around here. I was especially interested in this episode because it was on a couple house hunting in the Portland, Oregon suburbs: Home sweet home for us.
This peaked my interest not only because it's all completely familiar area to us and it's always fun to see that stuff on TV (I swear I saw Ryan's dad's neighborhood on there!), but also because if you recall... the reason we left the area was because of the housing prices. Impossible for us.
So here were the houses they were looking at (coincidentally in the area we would want to be looking):
- a 4 bed, 2.5 bath 2400 sf house in Tigard for $395,000. It was basically our same house, just a tiny bit smaller and minus the basement.
- a 4 bed, 2.5 bath 3000 sf house in Tigard for $390,000. This house was nice, but it was on a steep hill above a creek and had NO backyard, just a deck on stilts.
- a 4bed, 2 bath tri-level with 2400 sf house in Tigard for $380,000. Good yard, beautiful big deck, but the house needed a lot of updating.
Isn't that insane? Now keep in mind, none of these houses were new... they were all probably 15 years old or so. They were all essentially the house we're living in now, only here in the St Louis area we paid just over $200,000 (sorry, I know house numbers are an iffy/taboo subject... I just really wanted to point out the insanity of how the prices there have gotten out of control. Five years ago, things were not like that), and we're in a neighborhood with a pool, tennis courts and community clubhouse.
I'm just shaking my head in disbelief. Makes me sad that I don't know if we can ever afford to be back there. And not that we need a house that big. But it'll definitely be hard to go back there and still have to pay way more than we're paying right now for this huge 2500 sf house (plus we have a full basement -remember basements for extra living space are rare in the Northwest!), and be stuck with maybe 1200 sf in a three bedroom fixer-upper.
It's a good thing we're liking this new city!
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2 comments:
I agree. It's hard to believe the price of houses;even in THIS neighborhood. You said it it's SICKENING!!!(Do miss you though)
The houses are crazily priced here. There's always a sacrifice no matter what you choose. Either way you give up something. And a lot of it has to do with perspective. Our 1349 sqft house has been perfect for us. In a year or two when we adopt and would like something bigger, we'll be able to sell this house and have a nice down payment that will help keep the payments smaller. Also, we've been working thru the "get debt-free" Dave Ramsey stuff (I HIGHLY recommend his course & books. We got them from the library) so by then we won't be paying on all the interest/credit cards/debts that really steal what could be going into a house payment. I'm just saying, often times, where there's a will, there's a way. So, don't give up on returning to Oregon just yet. If it truly is your desire to end up here eventually, pray that God will make a way. (I will)! :)
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