As a low income person is small town idaho still worth it? (Boise: hardwood floors, where to stay)

[nm9stheham]

Call me crazy... but I'm looking for cold and snow. The other main candidate areas we are considering are Hebgen Lake, Dubois, WY, and far NW Maine. But yes, those places are not for everybody.

I really can't agree on the home wear and tear. Having owned a place on the Outer Banks of NC for 9+ years, we know more about serious weather beating on houses and so forth than most folks ever will... the saying there is that "even plastic rusts" LOL. Example: I had to replace all the deck railing balusters and lower rails when they were just 10 years old.... the salt and humidity and drenching rains absolutely kills fasteners outside in that area. And, we've been through 4 hurricanes and countless nor'easters in those 9 years. 4' of snow? Not a problem compared to 6-7' of storm surge!

From what I have seen of house wear and tear in even the very snowy snowy western regions, we'll be on Easy Street by comparison. The relative dryness and lack of severe storms makes life a lot, lot easier.

Sorry for the digression, OP!

[Cdarocks]

I am back with a little update. My husband is set on moving. It has nothing to do with the pandemic, or fleeing a place. His father and my mother are in declining health. We would be happy to buy a small condo or apartment and go back and forth, but they don't exist. A long vacation isn't an option either. I am flexible, but my hubs needs to be somewhere with a dedicated, quiet office. One of my university kids is going online for the rest of the year and plans to join us. So, there will be 4 of us and 3 of the crew working from home.



So, we get to join the frenzy.



We have several advantages. We know the area well having lived there for so long. We have loads of family and friends who are willing to drive by and preview properties on our behalf. We have a realtor I have known for years and she knows exactly what I like. But, but, but...this is still going to be really hard and I hate that I have to play this game to get where we need to be.



Also, I am not excited by any real estate I am seeing. City planning seems non existent. Houses and tiny developments are being crammed into any bit of empty field. Oy.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

So you're moving back to CdA? If I remember correctly, you used to live in CdA, but don't anymore. Best of luck--the market is crazy out there. Perhaps things simmer down after snow flies...First snowfall predicted any minute now...

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by Clark Fork Fantast

So you're moving back to CdA? If I remember correctly, you used to live in CdA, but don't anymore. Best of luck--the market is crazy out there. Perhaps things simmer down after snow flies...First snowfall predicted any minute now...

Yup. Winter changes things in the real estate market, especially if it becomes cold and snowy.

If it hadn't been for a December blizzard, I probably wouldn't have gotten my present house on the deal I was able to make. The owners had to get it sold by end of year for tax reasons, and I was the only person who had looked the house over in almost a month.

I'll never forget that visit; once we came inside (a realtor friend had gotten the key), the first thing I saw from the living room windows was a doll that had been forgotten in the back yard.

It was quite realistic and partially covered with blowing snow. It looked like a dead baby for a minute before I was able to recognize it was a doll. Quite a shock!

[Cdarocks]

Originally Posted by Clark Fork Fantast

So you're moving back to CdA? If I remember correctly, you used to live in CdA, but don't anymore. Best of luck--the market is crazy out there. Perhaps things simmer down after snow flies...First snowfall predicted any minute now...

Yes, CFF, we did live there for years. My husband grew up there and much of his family is there. We had most of our children there. Work took us away and we have loved and do love where we live, but family needs are bringing us back for the time being. I agree the market is madness and we are working on how to navigate it.


I wish I could say I was looking forward to the process, but I love the thought that our youngest child will be able to know his family. They are worth knowing!

[nm9stheham]

Good to hear that you are moving for positive reasons, and not having to move due to a job loss in a down economy. This crazy housing market is all over, in any desirable rural or semi-rural setting. Let's hope the coming of winter slows down the number of shoppers and the demand a bit, and some seller's become more tractable.


I sure would be nice for you to find a good rental for a year, to let the market settle down a bit, and allow you to filter through more opportunities. Like so many things, the market and the houses available will always change with time.

[Cdarocks]

Originally Posted by nm9stheham

Good to hear that you are moving for positive reasons, and not having to move due to a job loss in a down economy. This crazy housing market is all over, in any desirable rural or semi-rural setting. Let's hope the coming of winter slows down the number of shoppers and the demand a bit, and some seller's become more tractable.


I sure would be nice for you to find a good rental for a year, to let the market settle down a bit, and allow you to filter through more opportunities. Like so many things, the market and the houses available will always change with time.

Thank you nm9stheham, definitely not due to do a job problem. The job comes with, so we are good there. My initial thought was renting, and even there, the market is not cooperating. There is so, so little available. Additionally, I am familiar with several area rental agencies and they do not have a good reputation. I have no desire to do business with them. In addition to owning homes in N ID, we have rented when building and after selling, and also after returning from a long work assignment overseas. Our best luck was through an individual who had property. Those were great experiences. We were grateful for the roof and they were thrilled to have such quality tenants. The last one let us out of our lease with no penalties when we unexpectedly found a dream property.


We found a lot with a builder and plans yesterday that looked interesting. Nope. He wants a cash buyer only. Not only that, he has about 8 lots to develop and has sold half of them in days. All for cash and all over 500K.


Our realtor does not think it's going to settle down and I think the economy cannot support these prices. But things are different than the last crazy boom. People are bringing their jobs with them. I know we are. How that plays out differently remains to be seen. What is interesting is how the remote job situation is changing buyers requirements in a home. We live in a 3400+ sq ft home (hubs,wife,2collegestudents,1child) with 4 people working from home. Our home is laid out perfectly for this type of lifestyle and we have nearly an acre to enjoy. Not everyone is making the move with us, but we will still have 1 to 3 people working from home, at least for a while. A 3 bed 2 ba on .17 acre is not going to work.


I don't mean to sound like such a downer. I've seen some pretty amazing things. We sold a house in N ID in 08 when nothing was selling for any price. We had neighbors whose houses had been for sale for 2 years. Ours sold in one day; I didn't even have a sign in the yard yet. We bought at the exactly right time where we are now. We didn't know the area at all and only made two trips out to look at real estate. We looked all over the place, but our realtor kept bringing us back to this one area. You want to buy here he would tell us. We didn't know one side of town from the other, and we didn't particularly like anything we saw then either. But we took his advice and bought where he recommended. Boy, was he correct. We bought a building lot one time and thought it was just a typical transaction. We were looking at an open house in the area to see what others were building and chatted with the realtor on site, told him which lot we had bought. "That was YOU guys???" Apparently, the lot we purchased hadn't even been for sale. The neighborhood developer wanted it for himself. Our realtor wouldn't take no for an answer. She went back to the developer multiple times with our offer until he said yes. She didn't even say anything to us about it, just brought the paperwork over and we signed it. Amazing realtor. We even got to bring our own builder as part of the deal.


Amazing things can happen at any time.

[nm9stheham]

Yep, you just have to hit it hard, be patient, and see what you get. It sounds like you guys are pretty experienced in looking for what you want; that is a big help.

Our case is to decide to not 'take the plunge' until another property sold; that is nearing closing, but now.... Every house in ID and WY in which we had any strong interest has sold in the last 3-4 months! And we have been shopping for 3 years! Oh well, back to the drawing board. Now a place in far NW Maine has our eye... you never know what is going to pop up.

If we decide for the Northern Rockies, I have my eye on several empty lots in a few places.... lots that are not listed for sale..... but I won't be shy in looking up the owners' addresses and writing them a reasonable unsolicited offer.

[nowhereman427]

It looks to be that East Idaho - Pocatello, Idaho Falls to Rigby has more affordable homes and new homes in comparison to the Treasure Valley/Boise area where alot of people are moving to.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by nowhereman427

It looks to be that East Idaho - Pocatello, Idaho Falls to Rigby has more affordable homes and new homes in comparison to the Treasure Valley/Boise area where alot of people are moving to.

More affordable, maybe.
But home scarcity down here is extraordinarily severe. I've never seen homes move as fast as they are now in my life.

2 in my neighborhood in a month's time. One was listed for only a week, and the other, which has problems, lasted for 2 1/2 weeks before selling.

Both are homes build in the early 60s that would have taken over a month to sell during more normal times.