Housing market

This. Nobody is making affordable starter homes. Even townhomes in Ankeny are going for $450k. I would never pay that to share a wall and yard\drive way. There will eventually hit a point where they have saturated this particular niche. You can get really poorly made things from national builders with zero upgrades and its still pushing $300k+. Affordable housing is mostly dead and is a main reason you will see more renovations and houses that are being sold in that lower pricing budget fly off the shelves.

In Urbandale, new homes are $600-$750k for 2,000 sf or less. No idea who is paying almost double for a new house, but apparently people are. Houses that are 20-40 years old that are bigger are going for $300-$450k. Does “new” really drive that much of a premium? I guess so.
 
In Urbandale, new homes are $600-$750k for 2,000 sf or less. No idea who is paying almost double for a new house, but apparently people are. Houses that are 20-40 years old that are bigger are going for $300-$450k. Does “new” really drive that much of a premium? I guess so.
Ya I've worked on those very houses. I'm fairly confident that market will stay pretty steady. Those are decent profit margins and very nice houses. The custom market doesn't seem to fluctuate as much as the cookie cutter stuff.
 
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If your builder who cancelled, somehow knows when rates will go down, and also knows there won’t be a crash preceding the rate drop that kills housing prices and demand (as opposed to now, when prices are at historic highs), then your builder should be running a hedge fund and not building townhomes in Iowa.
Lol I say this at minimum 3 times a week when folks ask me. "If I knew where they were going to be next month I wouldn't be working here, I'd be trading futures from my couch at home".
 
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I've read economists who believe in "trickle down real estate" too - let builders focus on the big/upscale housing, and people will move up from their smaller homes.

That does kind of work. I mean I'm sure you can find examples of that happening. But it's not happening at the rate that people are wanting to enter the market, so it's driving the median home price far outside the capability of the median income.
 
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we did the 30 year. could have gotten better with a 15 year but wanted the lower payments.

And you can always make the larger payments and have the loan amortize like a shorter term loan.

I'd always sell it as a safety net. If you want the 15 year term pay $X. But if things are tight for a month then just make the normal payment.
 
We did a 2.25% for 15 years, now wish we did a 30 year.
Why would you want a longer mortgage? We went 15 our last go round as well, which will have it paid off rite around retirement. But we'd only bought our place a couple years earlier.

I guess if you are young and want a lower payment, you could be putting that money into a retirement account or something.
 
And you can always make the larger payments and have the loan amortize like a shorter term loan.

I'd always sell it as a safety net. If you want the 15 year term pay $X. But if things are tight for a month then just make the normal payment.
Yep, we pay $100 extra each to cut down on term. still cheaper than renting.
 
Why would you want a longer mortgage? We went 15 our last go round as well, which will have it paid off rite around retirement. But we'd only bought our place a couple years earlier.

I guess if you are young and want a lower payment, you could be putting that money into a retirement account or something.
Getting a 15 year was one of the best things I ever did. I paid extra every month and was done in 12 years (this year).
 
Why would you want a longer mortgage? We went 15 our last go round as well, which will have it paid off rite around retirement. But we'd only bought our place a couple years earlier.

I guess if you are young and want a lower payment, you could be putting that money into a retirement account or something.
Could have taken the difference in pmt between the 15 and 30 year into my brokerage acct. Depending on what interest rates do we could pay the house off early. I like the bank paying me 5% while Im paying them 2.25%.
 
The car industry is almost identical. America used to make inexpensive cars. Now they make monster trucks and consumers have $1000/mo payments. But boy oh boy that profit margin.
Doesn't help that domestic brands are overpriced spec for spec. Every time our leases are up, I first look at Ford and Chevy and then compare to our Toyota Highlander and Honda CR-V. We're on our 3rd of each because the price for the Platinum and Touring editions are much cheaper than similar spec'd Explorers and whatnot.

Example:
Toyota Highlander Platinum with all possible options cost me retail $53K.
Ford Explorer Platinum with all possible options retails at $62K.

The Toyota has a few additional perks and the same warranty and reliability (typically a little higher scoring actually).

You can actually get the new Grand Highlander Hybrid Platinum for less than the Explorer Platinum (non hybrid).
 
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Why would you want a longer mortgage? We went 15 our last go round as well, which will have it paid off rite around retirement. But we'd only bought our place a couple years earlier.

I guess if you are young and want a lower payment, you could be putting that money into a retirement account or something.
You can always pay extra or invest the difference in payments. Plus it gives you the flexibility to pay less if you get in a bind.
 
Doesn't help that domestic brands are overpriced spec for spec. Every time our leases are up, I first look at Ford and Chevy and then compare to our Toyota Highlander and Honda CR-V. We're on our 3rd of each because the price for the Platinum and Touring editions are much cheaper than similar spec'd Explorers and whatnot.

Example:
Toyota Highlander Platinum with all possible options cost me retail $53.
Ford Explorer Platinum with all possible options retails at $62K.

The Toyota has a few additional perks and the same warranty and reliability (typically a little higher scoring actually).

You can actually get the new Grand Highlander Hybrid Platinum for less than the Explorer Platinum (non hybrid).
 
I know they still do great and never expect them to change. I think a lot of it is uneducated buyers and/or USA only mindsets. Personally, I want the best vehicle for my hard earned money.

Don’t get me started on how absolutely ridiculous pricing is on a Jeep Grand Cherokee with decent options… and they’re second lowest on reliability ratings just behind Dodge.
 
I know they still do great and never expect them to change. I think a lot of it is uneducated buyers and/or USA only mindsets. Personally, I want the best vehicle for my hard earned money.

Don’t get me started on how absolutely ridiculous pricing is on a Jeep Grand Cherokee with decent options… and they’re second lowest on reliability ratings just behind Dodge.
I do not understand who is buying these vehicles. I see Jeep Grand Wagoneers everywhere around DSM. Those start at $95,000. That's $1,119/month financed at 0% for 84 months, btw. I know there are plenty of people that make enough to afford that. But boy, it seems like there are a LOT of $90k+ vehicles I see on the road between SUVs and pickups.
 

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