Housing Cost Decision

[CBnCO]

We currently live in the Denver metro area and housing prices have done nothing but go up over the past several years. Fantastic if you are a homeowner; but, this presents challenges for us. We'd love to downsize to push us a little closer to FIRE; but, it's impossible to find anything else much cheaper in our current area that we like. So, we are faced with the decision to stay put and keep working or to make a move to somewhere less expensive. As a frame of reference, our house is worth about $550K and we have about $250K in equity. I'd love to find a home in the $200K-$250K range and pay cash for it; but, this just doesn't exist here. Frankly, I think $550K for house is crazy (sorry for those of you in the Bay Area or Manhattan!); but, it's easy to find affordable housing in far off places online; but, another thing entirely to pick up and move...hmmm.

I wonder how many out there have faced a similar dilemma or have considered whether you would move to a another location to cut expenses and/or make FIRE possible now or much sooner???

[MrsDinero]

That is exactly what we did.

My husband and I (before we married), lived in the  MD/DC/VA area for almost 20 years.  It is a very HCOL.  We both loved living there because of all the things to do and you get 4 seasons.  One thing we (I) really hated was the amount of money it cost just to live there.  After a lot of going back and forth, we decided the only way we would be able to really get financially ahead was to leave.  It was not easy to leave all our friends and what was our home for most of our adult life.

We made a list of what we wanted, no state income tax, good healthcare, easy access to outdoor activities, etc, and spent some time googling.   It took a couple of moves before we settled in New England.  We are realistic enough to know that we might move again (we are in our 40s and still working), but until that happens we are saving a lot and living a life we love. 

[AZDude]

We currently live in the Denver metro area and housing prices have done nothing but go up over the past several years. Fantastic if you are a homeowner; but, this presents challenges for us. We'd love to downsize to push us a little closer to FIRE; but, it's impossible to find anything else much cheaper in our current area that we like. So, we are faced with the decision to stay put and keep working or to make a move to somewhere less expensive. As a frame of reference, our house is worth about $550K and we have about $250K in equity. I'd love to find a home in the $200K-$250K range and pay cash for it; but, this just doesn't exist here. Frankly, I think $550K for house is crazy (sorry for those of you in the Bay Area or Manhattan!); but, it's easy to find affordable housing in far off places online; but, another thing entirely to pick up and move...hmmm.

I wonder how many out there have faced a similar dilemma or have considered whether you would move to a another location to cut expenses and/or make FIRE possible now or much sooner???

I was born in Arizona, but hated the heat. Eventually we picked up and moved to the San Diego area. Houses there were running $700K+ for anywhere decent. Although I regret it, we did move back to Arizona and bought a house for $225K. I have toyed with the idea of moving back, but that will probably never happen.

[ysette9]

rankly, I think $550K for house is crazy (sorry for those of you in the Bay Area or Manhattan!)

From the Bay Area here: I tend to agree with you that paying $550K for a house in the Denver area is crazy. Housing prices here are high because we have a limited amount of land in a desirable area to live where there are lots of high-paying jobs. Denver has good jobs, though not in the same number, and it is a nicer area to live than most of the middle-of-the-middle and certainly the east coast. However, there is SO MUCH LAND in that state that there is zero reason that prices should go up so much. They can just build more to meet the demand, unlike here in the Bay Area where we are hemmed in by mountains, bay, and ocean.

[hollyluja]

We're in a similar situation in Portland.  Our jobs pay enough extra here (vs a smaller/cheaper town) to make it worth the higher house prices prior to FIRE.

We were just going to stay put in our 1000 sq ft house, but I'm expecting twins in a week which will bring us to four kids total!  So we're trying to decide whether to buy a bigger house in this area which we could "afford" but would push out FIRE date, or move to a 'burb and do a longer commute for the ~5 yrs it would take to hit FIRE.

We've gotten really attached to biking and walking and public transit in this sweet neighborhood, and it would be hard to give that up for a car commute.

It's extra frustrating when even at the $550K price point you don't look at it and think "gee, that looks like a half-million bucks!" 

[Dicey]

I think that as more states openly legalize pot, the pressure on CO real estate will let up and prices will ease back.

If you think this is a true market peak, you could always sell and rent for a period of time. Trouble is, you have to be right at least twice and moving is a pain in the ass.

[ltt]

Can you go outside the Denver metro area?