Hustle culture, sure. Side hustles, sure. The concept that a game company should pay me to play their game, nope.

I’ve literally never heard a single person bring that idea up. Acting like it’s somehow a widely held belief because that dude said so is idiotic.

Woodworking for Mere Mortals had some great Microjig ads for a while until he ended the partnership

Any chance it’s allergy related? I get hit pretty hard in the spring and early fall with allergies, and it has always felt remarkably similar to the early signs of when I had COVID.

Exactly. I’m not going to pay a fuckload of money for multiple streaming services only to still not see my fucking team every week.

$20 is still pretty cheap for no ads. That’s less than two months of a streaming service

The sunny days in summer in Alaska (all 3-6 weeks of them) are beautiful. The winter is really depressing though, but at least you have mountains and some really cool wildlife (up until you have a bear come back for your trash repeatedly, through more and more elaborate containment contraptions. Fucking trash pandas)

Fuuuuck the NE. Went to college there, and it ruined snow for me. Even Alaska was cheerier in winter than new england

Makes perfect sense. We were fortunate enough to be able to live well below our means at my last duty station and save a lot of money. Glad you’re doing well!

Mainly put some down to lower the monthly payment/total amount of interest on the loan

Definitely. We still put about 10% down, and could have done 20%, but it would’ve drained our savings and kept us from replacing the roof and some aging appliances. Interest rate was close to market average, slightly below, but definitely put home ownership within reach for us

Exactly. Waiving an inspection is the single worst thing you can do while buying a house. Even if you’re a contractor or inspector, having an unbiased third party look at the house without the pressure you’re under can do nothing but positive things for you. Even if you’re waiving repairs or concessions, it gives you a complete picture of what issues exist (and there are always issues, even in new construction), which allows you to paint a realistic picture of what the house will cost you.

All valid points, with the possible exception of your comment about earnings increases against rental costs.

Ultimately, it’s likely a wash with the slight edge towards renting in terms of value. Personally, the psychological benefits of ownership outweigh the downsides. Add to it that once my house is paid off, my cost of living drops immensely, which can be a major factor in an early retirement.

From a practical financial perspective, you are correct. However, owning a property provides long term security. It also insulated you from rising rent prices for 30 years. There is a certain peace of mind that comes with knowing you have complete control over your own shelter. While there are risks associated with that, you can mitigate that pretty effectively provided that

1. you make a smart purchase to begin with. Identify major issues and make a conscious decision whether you want to own those problems, or walk away.

2. Conduct regular, proper preventative maintenance to head off problems before they get bad.

3. Have decent insurance

While someone that rents indefinitely does avoid a lot of the risk of ownership, they also tied the cost of their shelter to something outside of their control. Sure, it’s cheaper than owning right now, but how will rent prices in 10-15 years compare to the cost of ownership of a property purchased today?

I get where you’re coming from, but sight unseen in a sellers market is a terrible idea. I commented above about the details of my experience, but there are so many shitty houses with major problems that are evident the second you walk into them. This approach ties up earnest money and can potentially prevent you from being able to jump on a good house.

Absolutely, great points. If possible, go check the house out when it’s raining. Our first visit was during a massive storm, and we were able to verify that there was proper drainage/no water intrusion (crawlspace mold was from some mulch covering a crawlspace vent and some subsequent seeping).

Our roof was original, 20ish years old, and had some minor damage. No leaks or evidence of previous leaks, but we had it replaced a few months after moving in before it became a problem. We knew about it ahead of time and could budget accordingly, and could take the time to shop around for a decent price from a reputable company.

Side note: GO IN THE CRAWLSPACE OF EVERY HOUSE YOU LOOK AT. We waved off of at least a dozen houses because there were massive issues that I found in the crawlspaces (standing water, major cracks, infestations, temporary jacks holding up the house, you name it). Everything else can be perfect, but if the foundation is fucked, so is the house. Don’t waste money on an inspection if you see major issues. If you can see it with an untrained eye, it’s already expensive.

I agree. Our HOA has a website with unofficial copies of the bylaws. After reading those and driving around the neighborhood, it was pretty obvious that they didn’t enforce much of it outside of keeping trash off the lawn. Talked to a few people that lived in the neighborhood to confirm, and it’s reasonable enough as far as HOAs go. Still not my preference, but it’ll do for 10-15 years

Good luck man, hope you find something soon! Inventory will probably drop next month, but like you said, most people aren’t going to move right after school starts, so competition should be lower.

Stick to a firm budget, and don’t go over it. We had a firm ceiling of $400k, looked at around 40 houses, and put in 7 offers before ours was accepted. It was listed for $375k, made an offer for $385k with a 24 hour expiration. Appraisal came back at $412k. We closed about 6 months ago, and it took us 7 months of looking at multiple houses every week to get to it. We were also using a VA loan, which turned some sellers off due to the added time for the VA appraisal and potential to either force them to fix things that aren’t an issue for most people, or back out of the contract.

My wife was pregnant at the time (and miscarried two months later), so I get the added pressure of trying to find something NOW. Don’t dig yourself into a hole that you can’t climb out of for thirty years because of that pressure.

We got lucky with this one because the previous owners were going through a nasty divorce. I get the frustration, and it was disheartening as fuck constantly being outbid, especially after you like a house enough to tie yourself to it for decades. Our realtor was great, and knew most of the agents in the area, so he was able to get us some inside info on a few of the houses we looked at. If your agent isn’t being transparent with you, find a different one.

Treat the search as a business transaction. You have a list of criteria, you’re reviewing options within your budget that meet the highest number of your needs. If it doesn’t meet your nonnegotiable criteria, don’t bid. The most important one of those criteria should be that you like the house. Have a checklist to run down in your walkthrough (roof, crawlspace, foundation, visible water damage, age of HVAC and major appliances that will convey, etc), and try to weed out as many major issues as you can before paying for an inspection.

It’s tedious, extremely frustrating, and disheartening. Eventually, you’ll find one. You may have to compromise on some things, and it’s ok to gradually improve the house after you buy it. Just make sure the basics are solid. Also, allocate way more time for painting than you think it’ll take, especially if you’re doing it without help. Everything will take longer than you think, be patient with yourself.

Be stubborn as fuck during this process, and be willing to walk away. I get that you want to get out of a lease (I rented for years, and it sucks compared to owning), but once most sellers are motivated to get shit done once they’re under contact just as much as you are. They don’t want to start the process over again either, especially because if a major issue is uncovered during an inspection, they are legally required to disclose it (my realtor threatened their agent with this fact over some mold in our crawlspace when the seller wanted to walk away instead of fixing it. He told them that he has access to their system and would personally make sure the next offer received a copy of the inspection report and would report the agent if they didn’t disclose it).

The seller is required to provide a package with all HOA bylaws within 5 days of accepting an offer, at least in my state. If you disagree with anything in the HOA rules (or any other reason as long as the HOA is cited as the reason), you can back out of the sale with no earnest money forfeited.