Posted on 01/16/2024 6:40:18 AM PST by devane617
One of my grandfathers was born during WW1. He worked in the 1920’s for under $2 a week. After some hard times, he managed to buy a house for $10k in 1950. Mostly from funds paid him by a grateful nation for his exertions in Burma and the Pacific :(
The house was in a perfect location, the sticks in 1950 being a short hop to Manhattan, so the whole area sprouted up very quickly. He sold it for half a million in 1990.
That kind of opportunity may never come again. These days you don’t find sleepy towns a short hop from anywhere but graveyards.
Okay maybe in another fifty years if we get there, NYC or Chicago will rise from the ashes...and the cycle start up again.
Me, I’m content with rural real estate.
The Tucson property was in a middle class neighborhood with a cul-de-sac and a park and very nice and all the streets were paved but yes it was back then nowhere near populated as it is now but it was a popular place for New Yorkers trying to get away from allergies and cold. I understand that neighborhood is now the ghetto.
The New Mexico property was quite a large house on a very large corner lot with wooden fence all around and had city services but the streets weren’t paved yet although they were within 5 years. ... And it was New Mexico... which has regressed in the last 50 years.
Yes, those prices seem a little low. In 1957 we moved to Jacksonville from Cocoa and I think my Dad paid $12,000 for our 3/2 brick ranch in a nice subdivision. The payment on the VA loan was about $100 A month. My Dad was making about $6,800 A year.
I remember standing with him on the front porch one day admiring the two new cars in our neighbor’s driveway. My Dad said “well you can afford two new cars when you’re raking in $10,000 per year”. 😂
and in those days, it was typically a one earner income. The 60's tax increases starting forcing families into two income jobs to survive and get ahead.
In 1970 $40k was a lot of house.
1960 was 1100 sq ft for $13.5k
1982 was a 2337 sq ft custom for $125k
After that another Ican’t remember
1994 was 3600 sf custom for like $237k
Boulding 1000 sf addition now for about $100k doing most myself
Doesnt matter anymore
The bottom line is home ownership is out of reach for most people who don’t currently live in a home they’ve had a mortgage on for many years now. I think 10 years ago was the last best time to buy. Pre-2020 was still possible for many. Post scamdemic bidenomics era - no longer possible.
Yes, my Mom stayed at home til I was in Middle school. Then she took a partime job at the church to pay for my college tuition and my 2 sisters behind me.
Luckily, wage growth has outpaced cost of living increases over the decades…
If I had to do it all over again I would go back to the 50s and 60s and grow up all over. It was a wonderful time. The neighborhoods were full of baby boomer kids and we all played together and it was nice. Heck you could get a pickup baseball game going in minutes...there were that many kids around. Good times.
Million and two million dollar homes change hands in Westport CT so the new owner can tear them down and build five or ten million dollar homes. It’s insanity.
I agree we had wonderful wholesome childhoods. I feel sorry for the kids nowadays.
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