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Did you get stuck in your starter house?
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amother
Slateblue


 

Post Sun, Nov 12 2017, 6:24 am
Did you buy a starter house and actually move out or extend or did you end up busting out of it.....I have three kids- the oldest is in kindergarden. I can afford a starter house now but im scared ill end up stuck in it way to long. The problem is that im in the tristate area where housing is going up faster than I can save for a bigger house.....
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Ruchel




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Nov 12 2017, 6:26 am
Mmmm. A close relative is real estate and I had to google the concept. No, it doesn't look like something to do, buying something you find lacking.
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justmarried:)




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Nov 12 2017, 6:27 am
Buy a starter house
You won’t regret it
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amother
Powderblue


 

Post Sun, Nov 12 2017, 6:29 am
I was like you 2 years ago. BH we bought a starter house a year and half ago and hope to either sell and move or extend in 5-10 years. I'm so grateful because my house is now already worth over 50k more than when we bought it, IOW we wouldnt have been able to save that much in this time and would have lost out on buying in this area.

If you move farther out, you might be able to afford a larger home in a not-so-hot area. Some people prefer doing that.
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Rubber Ducky




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Nov 12 2017, 6:33 am
The only way you really can lose with a starter house is if the market goes down, but down markets don't stay down forever.
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amother
Indigo


 

Post Sun, Nov 12 2017, 6:33 am
amother wrote:
Did you buy a starter house and actually move out or extend or did you end up busting out of it.....I have three kids- the oldest is in kindergarden. I can afford a starter house now but im scared ill end up stuck in it way to long. The problem is that im in the tristate area where housing is going up faster than I can save for a bigger house.....


when you buy a 'starter house' assuming the real estate market continues to rise you are saving for a bigger house.

The equity in your house is savings.

you have to run the numbers.
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amother
Lilac


 

Post Sun, Nov 12 2017, 6:37 am
We bought a starter house. Technically we can stay in it. Unfortunately the neighborhood changed. We can find an affordable house in the neighborhood we want. I wish we would have pushed ourselves for another $50,000 14 years ago, we would have done way better. Now its atleast $250,000 more and my house only went up $100,000. We are stuck. I don't regret buying, atleast I own a house.
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amother
Natural


 

Post Sun, Nov 12 2017, 6:39 am
amother wrote:
I wish we would have pushed ourselves for another $50,000 14 years ago, we would have done way better. Now its atleast $250,000 more and my house only went up $100,000. We are stuck. I don't regret buying, atleast I own a house.

Lol ONLY went up $100 k?????
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amother
Powderblue


 

Post Sun, Nov 12 2017, 6:45 am
amother wrote:
Lol ONLY went up $100 k?????
not this amother, but

As compared to the areas she wants to live in which went up 250k.
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MiracleMama




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Nov 12 2017, 6:54 am
You could end up stuck in a "starter house" longer than expected, this is true. But even so are you not still better off than continuing to throw away money on rent or buying something bigger and out of budget that will strangle you financially and make life so stressful?
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Teomima




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Nov 12 2017, 7:54 am
So my example won't exactly for the situation you describe, but it's the "Israeli" version.
Nine years ago we bought our apartment and I had no intention of it being our final home. I knew we'd probably never be able to afford anything larger (we get used to squeezing into smaller spaces here) but the market in Jerusalem is so competitive that if we didn't buy when we did, we probably never would have been able to afford anything.

Not a day goes by that I am not grateful for our decision. Owning offers so much more security than renting, and even if we end up here forever, well, worst things have happened.
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amother
Seashell


 

Post Sun, Nov 12 2017, 7:55 am
We bought a starter house 8 years ago. We had 2 children (our oldest was 3). We are now bursting at the seams b''h. Our home has doubled in value (from 500k to 1 miliion). We are tapping in to our equity in order to build an expansive addition. Go for it!
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amother
Purple


 

Post Sun, Nov 12 2017, 8:10 am
We are also in a starter house in a very desirable neighborhood. So far the value of our house has gone up around $40k in 3 years, so we can sell it for more than we paid (market value)- not a bad investment. I would love to wait until the value goes up more and then refinance, borrow money against value, and expand the house. Baruch HaShem our mortgage is very small- around 1k per month, and we can technically restructure it so that it’s less. (Now that property value has gone up, it’s lower risk. So we can take out a different kind of mortgage.) I don’t know if that means buying a starter house was a good plan, in the long run, but I think for now it was a good financial decision.
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shabbatiscoming




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Nov 12 2017, 11:42 am
This concept of a starter house, is it a new concept? Im just thinking about when I was growing up, all the people I knew, my friends, my parents friends, stayed in the same homes for 30 years and more. We bought last year (in Israel) and I hope to never have to move again.

OP, as others have said, even if you do end up busting out of the house, it will be yours and you wont be throwing away rent money every month. Something to think about.
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amother
Blonde


 

Post Sun, Nov 12 2017, 11:49 am
We bought a starter house when we had 1 1/2 kids and stayed in it until we had four. We now sold it and bought a much bigger home. We made about $70k in profit on that house (but at one point we were 'in it' for about $80k more than we could have sold it for at that time because the market fluctuates). I say go for the starter house that you could afford and you can always move in the future. Absolutely do not spend more than you could afford...
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amother
Red


 

Post Sun, Nov 12 2017, 1:21 pm
I bought a starter kid when my first was born. I stayed for 2 years till the neighborhood changed and we didn't like it. Sold for 30k more and built a house in a new area where it was cheap for the house we got (3000 sq feet. 5 bedroom/4 bathroom) I rent out an apt and the mtg is the same as the old house. If I would sell now I can make probably 300k more than I bought for.....I am happy I took the plunge on the first house or I would never be where I am today.
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Amarante




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Nov 12 2017, 1:26 pm
shabbatiscoming wrote:
This concept of a starter house, is it a new concept? Im just thinking about when I was growing up, all the people I knew, my friends, my parents friends, stayed in the same homes for 30 years and more. We bought last year (in Israel) and I hope to never have to move again.

OP, as others have said, even if you do end up busting out of the house, it will be yours and you wont be throwing away rent money every month. Something to think about.


Relatively new. When I was growing up as well, people lived in the first house they bought. It was generally a bit of a stretch when they bought and then income caught up with payment and eventually housing costs were a small percentage of income.

People celebrated paying off the mortgage in 20 years. When the mortgage was paid off, they could start putting away more money for retirement or lead a less restricted lifestyle- I.e. travel a bit or whatever.

But in general, the reason homes were thought of as such good investments was because your housing costs went down as you got older and retired. So in old age, you didn’t have to worry about affording a roof over your head.

Of course people were satisfied with less opulent houses. I watch a show called House Hunters and am generally amazed by the expectations these young people have for their homes and how they must have large spa like master baths, “gourmet kitchens” and other finishes that my parents would have thought of as luxuries. I remember when my aunt moved to a relatively large house in the suburbs and it had a master bath which was the height of elegance but now would b3 sneered at because it only had one sink, a small shower and a toilet. :-).
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bookworm10




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Nov 12 2017, 1:32 pm
We bought a starter house around 4 years ago with 3 kids. Its small, and definitely not big enough for forever, but its ours.

The market exploded and our house went up about $250K in value. Unfortunately, so did larger homes. However, we now have equity in our home so that we can move to a larger home and afford the mortgage payments.

I say go for it. In this market you really cant lose. The values of homes keep rising and as you pay your mortgage you are essentially putting your money back into your own pocket.
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amother
Purple


 

Post Sun, Nov 12 2017, 1:33 pm
This is si encouraging!! I always wonder if our starter house was a big mistake. Now I feel better about our decision!
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cozyblanket




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Nov 12 2017, 1:49 pm
Do NOT buy more than you can afford. Don't stress your finances like that.

Buying something that u can live in for about 10 years is better than renting. Even if you are a bit squished at the end.

Hatzlacha!
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