Fri 15 Sep 2006
Most affordable homes
Posted by Steve under Money, Real Estate
As a renter in Los Angeles who doesn’t foresee any opportunities to buy a home in the near future, I often wonder if it makes sense to keep living here. Don’t get me wrong, I love it here–the weather is great, there are a million things to do, my friends and family live here, and OJ moved to Florida–but I often wonder if I could just as easily learn to love living somewhere else.
CNNMoney just posted a list of the top 25 cities with the most affordable homes. #1 on the list was Reading, PA with a median home sale price of $42,850. Now, I don’t know a thing about Reading, PA–it could be hell on Earth–but the thought of buying a home for $42K makes me want to cry. Hell, I saw a homeless dude selling a cardboard box on Hollywood Blvd. for $50K last week. True, it was a nice box–one of those big screen tv boxes–but still.
Looking at the rest of the list, I see that most of the cities on there don’t exactly have a reputation of being “happenin’ places.” Oh, and many of them get snow–a lot of snow, which scares this native Californian. So, for now, I guess I’ll keep writing those rent checks and keep hoping the bubble bursts.

September 15th, 2006 at 5:07 pm
The question becomes a matter of lifestyle. Personally I like living in the center of things and the price I’m willing to pay for being there is comesurite with that. In the end it’s what is important to you.
As for bubbles bursting; I’m sure it will happen soon enough in Cali and in other parts of the world. I’m saving up for when it does.