Rent a room somewhere as cheaply as possible and save as much as you can. You don't earn enough to buy a house in your area even with roommates once you add in all the extra costs involved in ownership. And living on a boat (I''ve done it) can cost quite a bit for slip fees and maintenance beyond just the cost of the boat. And having money that could be invested and earning locked into A depreciating asset like A boat is usually A bad idea. A small studio or one bedroom, or a roommate situation, would be best imho and allow you the greatest flexibility and savings.
As for moving that depends. Can you earn the same or more somewhere with lower housing costs? Somewhere that you would actually like? If not then it may not be worth moving just to save on housing costs.
I am in agreement. My boss keeps telling me to buy real estate, but I don't think it is a really great investment in my situation.
The only reason I am considering the boat is I think it would add to the quality of my life. I grew up on the water. My father is a charter fishing captain. I love to fish and I paddleboard for 1-2 hrs 3-5 days a week year round. To me living in a condo, watching football games on a big screen and manicuring my lawn is my worst nightmare. Thinking about it gives me anxiety. I know some people love it, but not for me. I'd rather be sleeping on an air mattress eating ramen noodle and white perch I caught off my bow. But the reason I'm here asking people for advice is because the only thing that gives me equal anxiety is making a bad financial decision. It's more of a pride thing than anything else, but I'm really scared of 10 years from now listening to people tell me "Wow, that was a terrible financial decision you made. I thought you were a little smarter with money."
The place I am considering moving is Wilmington, NC. I know I would like it better than where I am currently. Only reason I haven't moved yet is I haven't found a job yet. Also my current job gives me a lot of good connections for getting some boat work done really cheap.
Regarding options 1-3:
How much do you have set aside for down-payment if you decide to buy (home or boat)?
How long are you planning to live there?
Regarding option 4:
You have the order wrong, get the new job first and then move. How big of a paycut would you see going to a LCOL area? What impact would it have on your career (ability to progress upwards?, more than one employer in the area if the first job doesn't work out?, etc?).
If I liquidated all of my investments (except IRA), and borrowed from friends and family. I could probably come up with ~$50k. Honestly I don't know how long I'll be here. All I have a feeling for is I don't want to be here forever. Or specifically I don't want to raise my kids in this town. Too wealthy.
Ideally I would like to work for myself someday. But being an INTP I'm great at identifying and solving problems and terrible and following through with anything, so partnership is really my only option. What that looks like, I don't know. I have lots of interests and I don't really care which industry its in or what service/product I provide. I live frugally not so I can retire early, but rather to have the time and money to pursue business ventures.
Can you move somewhere where housing is cheaper and/or income is greater? I agree that home ownership doesn't sound like a good option in that location for you at this stage.
By my crude calculations, a $15k boat could be better than renting if you're at it for about 4 years or more. That's the very cheapest boat in your range. An $80k boat doesn't even bear thinking about in this context.
Since you are thinking about it, it sounds like you could be walking into a seductive boat trap (hedonic treadmill) if you get even the cheapest one now. Better to put boat ownership out of mind until the time-value of your money is much lower. You can only get the benefits of compunding if you let it compound.
I'm dreaming of a liveaboard boat for myself one day, but not until I FIRE in about 10-15 years so I can sail the world at the same time. Now that is a reason to keep dragging myself to work on Monday mornings!
These are wise words. My struggle is I work in the industry. I
design CAD Monkey multimillion dollar yachts for a living. Me going out and buying a cheap production boat would kill my pride a little. It would be like a guy that restores classic vehicles for a living driving around in a Dodge Stratus. (No offense. I was a Stratus driver for a couple years.)