Housing

[Lindsey]

Thanks for your input Janet! I'm not sure if the price of mobile homes would decrease here too. The city is expanding quickly so it would soon be part of the city, and the values may go up then. But then of course, so would lot rental. Scott and I found a few just inside the city and lot rentals were close to $600/month!
It's not that I make a whole lot of money either... The only way I could afford it is a 35 year mortgage which is what most people are taking now. Last year first time home buyers could get 40 year mortgages with no down payments, but that's not available anymore. Housing is just insanely priced and you can't get anything decent for less than $400,000. A nice family home with a big yard and garage would cost about half a million. It's just stupid! And it wasn't like this a few years ago either. With the economy being stable here, and so many job openings, everyone is coming and there's no end in sight yet. Even a 500 square foot apartment conversion is at least $200,000. It's basically impossible to buy a house without a second person.
But landlords are reaping the benefits too. If people can't afford a mortgage, they price their rental places JUST BELOW mortgage cost. Our 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom half duplex is costing us $1175 a month right now, but that was from last year's contract. Our landlord is able to raise rent again next month.
ETA: For comparison, our rent is $1175, and the mortgage + lot rental (including water bill) out there would be $1050.