Adam and I should be buying a house in Salem, but weren’t not. Don’t tell me about that cushy tax credit, I know about it. I’m looking — really I am! — but how am I supposed to ever leave my cheaply-rented 1920s cottage with red-and-white checkered kitchen floor and arched doorways. It’s all I’ve ever wanted in a house.
Except for the bathroom.
The bathroom is a dealbreaker.
The actual bathroom, not pictured here, is pretty tiny, which isn’t a problem, but only has a shower, which is a problem.
I’m a bath fiend who hasn’t taken a bath since I went to Breitenbush hot springs in March.
Well, I have the most amazing landlord in the world because he is actually going to build a second bathroom onto the back of our tiny rented abode so that I can get a tub.
He even picked up a claw foot tub to put in there — and let me sit in it for a while before moving it back to his workshop (his dad refurbishes such tubs and thus isn’t deterred by a little thing called rust).
In praise of Small Houses! All hail the tiny house! Glory be to the not-so-big house!
We won’t be moving any time soon…
So jealous! Though I understand about how you probably should be buying, you are right about that house. I wish I could rent that house, sounds awesome!
But when you do buy that house, my friend Elisa and I will show you the different neighborhoods and schools in Salem!
For anyone who is looking, check out 3160 Holiday Dr. for a great mid-century modern house with a backyard sports court. Only a half block from the best elementary school in Salem. No grass — just raised beds for growing your veggies. Two asia pear trees and an apple tree and raspberries in the back. A great house for your kids or your grandkids. Oh and it has an extra large tub in the master bathroom. Big enough for two. It’s selling at a bargain price.
Well Emily it looks like you got a little pitch there for a house. If you are happy that’s all that matters. The rest of it is irrelevant. Go with what works for you.
Who knows…maybe when you are ready you can buy your current rental from your landlord!
Nice spam, there, Amecameca.
Amen to the small house thing. We have a 1200 sq ft three bedroom 50′s ranch. And in discussions at work about homes, you’d think I told people we lived under the bridge in a cardboard box!
It’s just right for the two of us and our pups. I don’t spend much time cleaning it at all.
You should ease up on yourself in the “we should be buying” department. Home “ownership” (mortgage debt) is way oversold in this country. Unless you’re getting hosed on the rent, you are most likely doing much better renting than you would be in buying right now — homes in Salem are still very overpriced relative to historical rent/sale price comparisons. And the market is overbuilt, and there are plenty of foreclosures (with more on the way — lots more) so there’s no chance of getting stuck with a big rent hike.
Sounds like you have it made — a good landlord who is going to remove your primary objection to the place you’re at. I would say you should not spend another minute with a nagging “but we’re supposed to be buying.” That’s real estate propaganda talking. The reality is that most people, particularly younger ones like yourselves, struggle with a media-generated (advertising-driven) pseudo-reality that constantly shows them a very distorted view of what people can actually afford. The typical “middle class” house on TV and in ads is actually a very wealthy household, for example, when you look at the furnishings. Look at any magazine ad and you see a very young woman or couple fresh out of college in a beautifully appointed home — that subtly works on your subconscious, making you think you’re doing something wrong if your stuff doesn’t look like that. (Another great reason to kill your television.)
I just looked up that house above — a Walkscore of 42 (“car dependent”) … in other word’s, it’s in sprawlville and you’d be pretty much stuck at the mercy of gas prices from now on. Homes like that are going to be trouble in the years to come — very expensive to heat and cool, totally dependent on having automobiles at the ready.
There is a lot of pressure to buy a house if you are in a position to. We are, but we’re still not. Our search is effectively off — but being a veteran open houser (with a mom who still goes every sunday though she hasn’t moved in 24 years), I won’t stop looking recreationally. I love seeing how people live.
I once interviewed the leader of the Small House Society, Greg Johnson, of Iowa City. He’s been living in a house 10 by 8 feet small since 2002. While I won’t ever go to those extremes, I can say that there is beauty in small homes, especially in the little historic ones in Salem.
I am thankful for the advice and opinions listed here. I actually have people emailing me from time to time to ask for real estate advice. Maybe what Salem needs now is a really good, non-affiliated housing blog.
By the way, my landlord is an amazing man. I think my husband and I both have dad crushes on him…
Aw, Dad-crush. That’s cute. =-)
You’re so right on the social/cultural push to home ownership. At work there’s a single guy, late 20′s. Loves hanging in his apartment, playing video games, going to the gym. Seems pretty happy. People are ALL OVER HIM to buy a house, buy anything, buy now! I keep turning to him and saying, “Don’t fall for it. Sounds like you’re happy. Keep your options open.” People think I’m crazy for that opinion.
Even in the BEST of circumstances, a home is more work and responsibility than an apartment. And if you don’t have a very specific reason for wanting that additional work and responsibility, then don’t take it on. It’s pretty simple.
Even now, though, I hear some of these same people talking about using their homes as piggy banks. “Buy cheap now and then when things perk up take out a home equity loan!”
Why… just so you can OWE more?
A lot of “homeowners” (= people in debt up to their eyeballs) are very uncomfortable around happy renters. Not only do they stew in worry about their mortgage, but they worry that happy renters might create more happy renters and then who will buy their house so they can “climb the housing ladder” as the real-estate complex likes to call their cash-draining treadmill.
LOVESalem HQ is located in a house that we bought in a short sale from a young couple who never should have bought a house. They bought in 2005, in the peak of the real estate frenzy, with TWO adjustable rate mortgages (100% financing) — two years later, when their ARMs reset, they got hammered and a short spell of unemployment destroyed any hope for refinancing (not to mention the cash costs of refis would have sunk them anyway). So they had their credit destroyed and are back renting, minus all the closing costs and commissions that they paid for their brief idyll as “homeowners.” Because they could just barely afford the house (and were no doubt following the constant refrain of Buy Now or Be Forever Priced Out!) they couldn’t make any of the improvements that are starting to make the house really nice.
A Salem housing blog from someone disinterested is a great idea — the only problem is that, despite the last 20 years of real-estate frenzy, housing is actually pretty boring. At least when you do it right. Buying a house you can afford and staying in it long enough to recoup your investment while you get on with more interesting things would mean, among other things, a much, much smaller real estate industry — so the only people who have the motivation to blog about housing are usually those selling it, financing it, or otherwise profiting from the buybuybuy real estate bubble mentality.
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