Wow, there are a bunch of <200K houses in the Midwest, a ton in Ohio in particular. Not much to do there and brutal winters, but I suppose they'd be twice or triple the price if it were interesting there.
So there are inexpensive, well-built houses. You just have to be willing to live in what most buyers would agree are boring states, and avoid major cities like the plague. For example, in Miami, if you put 250K or less, you get decrepit houses in ghetto neighborhoods.
heh...
THF: Where can I buy a house for $250k
People: like 95% of the geographical US.
THF: but, but, those places are BORING!
There are cities that are both interesting and pretty inexpensive. Saint Louis is one (yeah it's kind of dangerous but if you pick the right area you'll probably be fine). Tucson is another. There's at least another 10 and perhaps >50 other cities around this size that are similarly interesting and similarly priced.
If you'd compare prices vs. how interesting places really are, the more expensive cities start to look like bad deals
If you'd compare prices vs. how interesting places really are, the more expensive cities start to look like bad deals
That was my impression after living in London. Yeah, the city is pretty great (esp. when you have money to spend), but lol, not great enough to justify paying $600k for a 700 sq ft flat.
According to the climate change books im reading, poland will benefit agriculturally from global warming so im assuming wherever rural you can buy a house that's not gonna flood when that time of the year comes
Well, since it has been mentioned twice, I'd be remiss if I didn't suggest moving to Tucson and helping concentrate some ERE activity in meatspace. I've been trying to convince others in the ERE City thread. There is a house down my street for sale right now under your budget but with no garage, and new homes being built (very densely) in an infill spot that have garages and aren't much more than you want to spend. I do have to warn you loud cars race around the neighborhood, but I have ideas for that.
I do have to warn you loud cars race around the neighborhood, but I have ideas for that.
Oh, tell me more. Same problem here. Over the past few years, some people have started doing minor drag races down the alley ways using engine modifications that hardly improve resale value. It's not unusual to see cheap sedans with spoilers and broken fenders parked around here.
250k in my hood gets you both a garage and safety ... except from getting run over by the car clowns unless you keep you keep your head on a swivel.
Any good value for money places in Poland you would recommend @zbigi?
Depends on how much you're willing to spend. At around $2k-$2.5k per m^2, I recommend Gdynia - coastal city in Tricity area. You get all the benefits of living in an urban area, but it's also close to nature, lakes, hundreds of miles of sandy beaches. The air is very clean thanks to coastal winds.
If that's too pricy, then cities in the upper silesia region, where I live, are also interesting. It's also a big metro area (over 2 million people), so you get all benefits of that. The flats can start from $600 per m^2. Depending on the location, there might be air pollution in the winter and/or shitty neighbours, so buying here requires some research. The price is hard to beat though. Location-wise, it's 60-90 minutes by car to mountains.
Oh, tell me more. Same problem here. Over the past few years, some people have started doing minor drag races down the alley ways using engine modifications that hardly improve resale value. It's not unusual to see cheap sedans with spoilers and broken fenders parked around here.
250k in my hood gets you both a garage and safety ... except from the car clowns.
Street improvements like chicanes and roundabouts that simultaneously slow traffic and serve as infiltration basins for rainwater is what I have in mind for my neighborhood. It won't make the cars quieter, but the cars seem to be less obnoxious if they don't have long straightaways to go fast. I'm fortunate that Tucson is progressive enough that things like this already have the tiniest foothold here.
In your situation, an obvious choice would be to work remotely from San Carlos de Bariloche, save enough to buy a building, convert it into a backpacker hostel and lead tours into the surrounding area. You can live like a king on a coder's salary, meet travelers from around the world and explore the entire southern region of Argentina and Chile.
Honestly, I'm being flippant. I obviously love the southeast cuz it's home, and if I were king the days of interstate and international mobility would mostly be a thing of the past. Perhaps with the coming de-globalization and the re-regionalization my hopes and dreams will come true that people just stay put rather than moving around based on home price and CoL maps and various climate prediction maps. A redneck can dream.
But seriously, my part of the world just happens to be full; so, you know, look elsewhere.
I'm a huge fan of de-globalization and re-regionalization. As far as I understand it, OP currently lives in South Florida with family. So we aren't talking about him even moving interstate, rather him just moving to a more affordable area of the state. Staying put works better in some situation than others. It's quite easy to advocate for staying put when you have multiple generations of your family that have lived in the same area, that area still has jobs/opportunities and hasn't been overrun by various issues related to collapse, and you also have spent 20+ years "seeing the world" to appease one's own sense of wanderlust. OP doesn't seem to have all those luxuries.
Price is where supply meets demand. The higher the demand and the lower the supply, the higher the price and vice versa. Meaning, look for a place nobody wants to move to and where existing people want to leave. Shortcut: if you've heard of the place, it's probably not cheap.
This assumes that the real estate market is an efficient market. The reality is that residential real estate is one of the least efficient markets out there. There are all sorts of factors that distort supply and demand, so I would not treat it like any type of free market. I do agree that if you are from a different region and you have heard of the place, then it probably is going to be more expensive than alternatives.
I'm a huge fan of de-globalization and re-regionalization. As far as I understand it, OP currently lives in South Florida with family. So we aren't talking about him even moving interstate, rather him just moving to a more affordable area of the state. Staying put works better in some situation than others. It's quite easy to advocate for staying put when you have multiple generations of your family that have lived in the same area, that area still has jobs/opportunities and hasn't been overrun by various issues related to collapse, and you also have spent 20+ years "seeing the world" to appease one's own sense of wanderlust. OP doesn't seem to have all those luxuries.
That pesky 14th Amendment causing problems again, preventing Governor Hristo from erecting a border fence around my state and requiring non-residents to apply for visas to visit.
As for the 20+ years of "seeing the world," it was overrated, I'd like those 20 years back.
Re areas being overrun run by issues related to collapse, perhaps some legislation and cultural norms that STRONGLY encourage folks to stay put might result in people NOT treating places, homes, people, etc. as things to be consumed.
ETA: Oops, forgot the negative in my sentence above; it's been added now.
Last edited by Hristo Botev on Wed May 24, 2023 3:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
@Hristo, no way, the hours I spent driving around the US, New Zealand, and part of Canada have been invaluable. Some of the best money and time I’ve ever spent in terms of memories, understanding where people live/work, etc. I can only imagine this is even more true once I include Europe, Australia, the Caribbean, Alaska, etc.
My parents actually honey-mooned in Bariloche back in the day haha. That’d be ironic if I actually end up living there. Tucson is actually on the list of potential cities. It looks pretty good. I’ve been liking the idea of Montrose or Grand Junction, CO. They’re better protected from water troubles too, as they’re further upstream and less desertified. I think there’ll be no substitute to just renting a room for a few months in each spot as I get better at my wfh job. Maybe it won’t be too expensive with one of those AirBnB month-long stay deals.
Places competing with each other for citizens may honestly be a good thing. Forces them all to offer more to their citizenry.
Human migration is nothing new, we've been doing it for literally millions of years and will likely continue to do it for millions more. This demographic map is telling:
Human migration is nothing new, we've been doing it for literally millions of years and will likely continue to do it for millions more.
This really depends on our politics. Already in the XX century, a large percentage of Earth area didn't have any migrations - the Communist totalitarian states often prevented even people from moving within their own countries, and cross-border migrations were strictly controlled and very rare. So, if the world tilts towards freedom, there'll probably be plenty of migrations, but if we tilt towards totalitarianism, the migrations can end.
Desperate for dollars, Argentina just gave digital nomads another advantage over locals. Foreign bank card holders now get better exchange rates than Argentines. Locals get around 250,000 Argentine pesos for every $1,000, while international bank account holders get over double — 500,100 pesos.
It's likey that the locals do their exchanges on a black market, where the rates are completely different (much closer to reality) that what the government offers. That's what happened through most of communist Poland.
It seems like the issue is a lack of dollars. So yes, people could exchange on the black market but there is still a limited quantity of dollars available. @Ego linked to a NYT article some years ago that talked about how many of the black market couriers had switched from dealing in dollars to dealing in bitcoin. The last paragraph seems to highlight the issue from the local perspective.
For locals, the foreign tourist dollar policy is a Catch-22 situation. There are so few dollars that the government is forced to incentivize foreign consumption locally — given their longer stays and disposable income, digital nomads form a key demographic. “The alternative to not getting more dollars into the country to pay for the debt would be to further devalue the peso,” Luzzi, the economist, said. “This would, in turn, make things even more expensive for locals.
@theanimal, yes, cash or bitcoin transactions make it easier for the merchant to avoid paying taxes whereas credit card transactions make it very difficult to avoid taxes, so I think the government sees this as a win/win. Dollars & taxes. The black (blue) market rate is close enough to the rate the government is offering those with international credit cards. Regular tourists may skip cash altogether.
The international credit card rate right now (Dólar MEP) is 467/usd versus the black market at 479/usd and the official rate of 249/usd.
I would be willing to bet that many of the moderately priced restaurants and hotels/apartments that cater to digital nomads will continue to insist on payment in cash dollars. It is the mid to high end places (and maybe airbnb?) that collects in pesos that will benefit. I wonder if this will lure many businesses out of the black market. Argentina seemed to me like one of those places where the locals would rather go out of business and starve than pay what they owe in taxes. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
