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The Housing Market (2021)

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Well, the market is doing the same thing around Nashville and Memphis, but in our area which is one of the poorest counties in Th. It has been cheap and stable. If your not worried about working, or you can bring your own work with you, I would choose an area like I’m in. Property is fairly cheap, houses are cheap, no building permits, and taxes are cheap. If your going to travel around. What does it matter?

 
I know you have at least found conversations about full timing interesting Neal, not that you are actually thinking of doing it, but.......

The housing market is going nuts right now. The price of a 2x4x8 a year ago was under $2.00 on sale. Now you are lucky if you can buy one for under $7.00 on sale, with a normal national price of almost $8.00. New construction has almost doubled in some parts of the country and I think that is the main driver on existing home prices rising.

The next couple months would certainly be a great time to sell a home, invest the money, and live in an RV for awhile IMHO.
 
The next couple months would certainly be a great time to sell a home, invest the money, and live in an RV for awhile IMHO.
Agree. Great time to sell IF you don't need to turn around and buy another place. Already having an RV is a perfect way to sit on the home profits until the housing market cools down again. That is, if you can handle fulltiming"for awhile.
 
I would not buy another house as I don't know where that would be, not sure I'd even buy again as I don't like being anchored. I did watch a video today that I think shedded some light on the housing market which @FL-JOE mentioned above - LUMBER. Builders are trying to talk buyers of new homes out of their contract by telling them they can't complete on time, or even near the agreed time because they want the buyer to cancel the contract. They can now sell at a much higher cost so the builders are playing games to get out of contracts. But the lumber situation seems to be what's driving this situation. My issue with selling is my 81yo mother I help out by not living too far from her. I do have a sister 45 minutes away from her and this long trip I'm on has been a test of that support system. Some here know me well and know selling my house for this reason is unlikely. I've owned one other house in my life while in the military and selling that sucked, I lost big. This house I think the prices have finally come back to where I bought in 2005, then the situation currently is a tough situation I have to think about. But who knows, could the housing market double in a few years to come, could it get even better or completely tank which is possible with inflation and expected interest rates I think will rise?

As to my RV. Yes, I love it. Yes, there are things I could do better. But the one reason for selling and buying something else is storage space. Newmar has really improved storage in the basement and I'd go with a 43 or 45 as I cannot pack light. Granted, I added a Dometic cooler which is in one of the best compartments in the Ventana for storage. If I gave that up I'd gain a lot of space back. Quite frankly I've hardly used it other than to store beverages I really didn't need to store. But again if I was to go fulltime which I would really love then I'd want more space.

I agree and have also mentioned those that are selling in this sellers market are re-entering right back into the market as a buyer so it's a wash.

Tough decision, have to really think things through and I have until summer to figure out the house, fall for the RV. Then I have to figure out capital gains and how that's going to play in.
 
I would not buy another house as I don't know where that would be, not sure I'd even buy again as I don't like being anchored. I did watch a video today that I think shedded some light on the housing market which @FL-JOE mentioned above - LUMBER. Builders are trying to talk buyers of new homes out of their contract by telling them they can't complete on time, or even near the agreed time because they want the buyer to cancel the contract. They can now sell at a much higher cost so the builders are playing games to get out of contracts. But the lumber situation seems to be what's driving this situation. My issue with selling is my 81yo mother I help out by not living too far from her. I do have a sister 45 minutes away from her and this long trip I'm on has been a test of that support system. Some here know me well and know selling my house for this reason is unlikely. I've owned one other house in my life while in the military and selling that sucked, I lost big. This house I think the prices have finally come back to where I bought in 2005, then the situation currently is a tough situation I have to think about. But who knows, could the housing market double in a few years to come, could it get even better or completely tank which is possible with inflation and expected interest rates I think will rise?

As to my RV. Yes, I love it. Yes, there are things I could do better. But the one reason for selling and buying something else is storage space. Newmar has really improved storage in the basement and I'd go with a 43 or 45 as I cannot pack light. Granted, I added a Dometic cooler which is in one of the best compartments in the Ventana for storage. If I gave that up I'd gain a lot of space back. Quite frankly I've hardly used it other than to store beverages I really didn't need to store. But again if I was to go fulltime which I would really love then I'd want more space.

I agree and have also mentioned those that are selling in this sellers market are re-entering right back into the market as a buyer so it's a wash.

Tough decision, have to really think things through and I have until summer to figure out the house, fall for the RV. Then I have to figure out capital gains and how that's going to play in.
Our situations are somewhat similar Neal. My Mother (92 years old) needs help from time to time. We camp close to her every year for anywhere from 2 to 3 months. The rest of the year if something would happen I can either get there by RV within 3 days, or fly if need be. My sister is only 90 miles away from her so that helps.

As far as capital gains goes on selling your home, it used to be around $250,000 profit for a single person ($500,000 for couples) before you had to pay anything.

It may be time to put "pin to paper" and see exactly how much it is actually costing you to spend what little time you do in your sticknbrick. Add up all costs associated with your crib (property taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance, payment/interest, etc.....). We have friends we winter with and sometimes do a little traveling with during the year. They recently figured all of this up because they only spend 2 months a year in their Kentucky home. It was costing them about $7,000 a month for the two months they actually lived there!
 
The other factor to weigh in is storage costs. I could not and would not sell everything. My S&B serves as my storage unit as well as my home. I know I'd have to add up total monthly costs, factor in real-estate as an investment but it has NOT been an investment I don't believe since I bought it at the peak of the bubble in 2005. Maybe we are not entering into a new bubble? But if I sold I'd have to store what I would expect to cost at least $500/mo in storage costs. I've also thought of buying a condo in St. Petersburg FL area. I do like the west coast of FL but there are some negatives I have to weigh as well. And again, I'm sure home prices are not on a decline there, so if you sell now you're going to buy right into the madness on the other side.
 
Im in Middle Georgia. Not my first, second or third choice.

We had a house built 3.5 years ago for 162k, no mortgage. All brick, laminate flooring, granite counter tops, high ceilings. 1325sf, all we wanted, small lot, low maintenance.

Taxes and insurance are low, low crime rate, low cost of living.

At age 62 Georgia doesnt tax the first 35k in retirement income, it goes up to 65k at age 65.

Everything we need is near the house. I use about a tank to a tank and a half of gas in the F150 every month.

Atlanta is an hour away. Orlando is 6 hours away, Savannah is 3 hours. I like Florida but there is just to many people there, to much traffic and if you are in S. Florida, pack a days provisions, it takes forever to leave. Forever and a day if it is a hurricane evac.

Wife will work another 4-6 years or until she has had enough. She has M-J-J off so we can travel every summer and chase the cooler weather.

Middle Georgia is a good compromise.
 

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Every state is soooo different! In so many ways. Climate, taxes (personal, sales, real estate), housing, food, gasoline, outdoor activities, etc.

Washington state has no income tax, which is benefiting my Software eng DD and her hubs. It wouldn't help me as I'm low income at the moment.

Oregon is in a housing crunch, which was exacerbated by the many fires last fall that destroyed entire towns. Rebuilding is very very costly now due to lumber and supply prices. The Cement fiber siding (hardi board) used to be about $25 or so a sheet and now is $42 a sheet. (I just went to Lowes and HD online and its over $50 a sheet!!). Appliances are on a 5 month back order and people are paying anything and more, for them. Roofing materials are in short supply. Not a good time for builders as someone explained above, if you've presold your new spec.
 
Taking advantage of the housing market is great but if you're looking to take the cash and build a home, then you might want to reconsider, at least for awhile. Lumber has hit an all time high, at least around here it has. A piece of 3/4' plywood is pennies shy of $100.00, and 2x4's have hit as high as $13.00. It's unbelievable!

We were going to complement the RV park by building 3-4 cabins on the mountain, but have decided to take a watch-n-see approach for a bit. Not sure what's driving this crazy lumber market, but it's scary to think what building a house would cost at those prices.
 
Canadian imports are down, some mills went idle last year and demand is very high.

Sometime later this year it should return to normal.

If you can sell and avoid capital gains, now is a good time to do so. A friend just sold land in TN and was hit with a 28k capital gains tax bill from the feds. Ouch.
 

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