Well, in Weinerville you could probably afford a very nice house--all the professors here seem to double as real-estate moguls--and have a tan in February on top of it! On the other hand, you can't buy the daily New York Times here.
What kind of tag line is "Live Like A Millionaire!" on a home that costs 2 million dollars?
As far as disturbing tag lines go, I think Garry Gilmore's newest line wins. Brrrrrrr.
FL--I ain't gloating.
Livable houses in North Dakota start at $2,000.00. With your savings you can buy a sunlamp.
They sold off the very nice 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment I was living in in Chicago, which had impossibly high ceilings (believe me, I realized how high when I tried to change the lightbulbs) and a beautiful kitchen and some architectural feature that is not a turret but that I always think is called a turret, for $250,000. So it's not that bad.
Of course, this vexed me, cause I had to move, but then I moved into an awesme neighborhoo, and am no longer vexed.
Location, location, location. What you want is to find a place that's desirable for you, but wouldn't be for most people -- where the price goes down because of something you wouldn't care about. Have you thought of talking to realtors about towns with rotten lousy school systems? (Not that school systems mightn't possibly be of concern sometime in your future, but not in the ~5-year horizon.)
Or maybe a gay neighborhood. No kids, immaculate lawns.
Don't worry -- the housing market is beginning to fall apart. Just hold on 6-18 months and you'll be able to pick up panic selling bargains as people with interest-only mortgages need to start paying down the principle on their loans and find all-the-sudden that it's hard to flip the property for big gains.
I'll be amazed (and very happy) if prices around me come down. Though they'd have to come down a lot for things to become affordable.
Don't worry -- the housing market is beginning to fall apart.
I feel like a ghoul, but I'm hoping this happens. We've got two kids sharing a bedroom, and would love to buy the apartment next door to expand into, but it isn't going to happen unless something serious happens to the market.
I feel like a ghoul, but I'm hoping this happens.
Me too. Housing Vultures Anonymous, anyone?
God, I hate being all responsible and stuff. I could afford to buy if I were willing to do one of those interest-only adjustable loans but since I know that's absolutely insane I refuse to do it. So, I get to watch all of my friends buy since they're all financial crackpots and I insist on being fiscally prudent. I feel like a total bitch but I can't wait for the schadenfreude...
Houses in Weinerville are great investments! No bubble here.
"Hi, my name is Lizard, and I have a detailed plan for bribing the disabled senior citizen next door into moving out of her rent-controlled apartment as soon as I can afford to buy it from the building sponsor...."
I bought in 3 years ago. I wish I had the discipline/confidence in my convictions to sell and move into a rented house for a year or two. 'Cuz something's coming.
Becks, we might should pool our income for the blogosphere's first joint-home-buying partnership. With any luck, it'll be big enough that we won't even have to see each other, except online.
Yes, Ogged, if you were living with a woman you wouldn't want to run the risk of seeing her.
(NB Nothing specific about Becks meant there)
I was trying to ease Becks into it, Weiner.
I like the 'might should' -- I'm now visualizing ogged whittling on his porch in Vermont, eating apple pie for breakfast.
Well, typically I appropriate regionalisms just to cause Weiner consternation, but if it makes other people happy, bonus!
Huh -- that sounds totally New England to me, but apparently not to the linked map.
Hey Weiner, you weren't serious when you said that Lubbock doesn't get the Times, right?
If we all bought a house together we could probably pitch the resulting reality show to, uh, to, ummm...
To what network would we be pitching that?
There has to be a huge audience for a bunch of dumpy nerds typing all day.
So, Ogged, would this be a joint partnership or are you looking to be a kept man?
Joint, Becks. The point was to pool our income.
Armsmasher--well, it's not like I want to get the Times on paper anyway. You can get the Sunday edition, though a friend who went to a gas station looking for it was told, dead serious, "We don't get no New York news here." (This effete East Coast elitist academic is from Iowa.)
This effete East Coast elitist academic is from Iowa.
Heh. That describes a good chunk of my extended family. Plus Tennessee.
Tempting. And, indeed, we would probably only see each other online as I would first need to find Oggedsville to locate our house. I have a mental image of a big game of Marco Polo.
a big game of Marco Polo
Yes, we have silks and spices and exotic locals. Let me know when you're nearby, and we can go house shopping!
There has to be a huge audience for a bunch of dumpy nerds typing all day.
Yes, but some of the typists would be chicks. At least one of them BarelyLegal™! How could it miss?
Real World XXXIV: The Mineshaft
Yes, but we almost never fight. We'd have to get B and Farber in on the deal if we want to sell this. Unless all the commenters with ovaries like to type in their undies.
Yes, but we almost never fight.
"God, how can you listen to this stuff? It's so earnest!"
"What does that even mean?"
Fisticuffs ensue.
Who doesn't like to type in their undies?
We'd have to get B and Farber
Or Brad, abc123, T/om H/ilde - hey, the possibilities are limitless.
You might be on to something here. I call the big bedroom.
Fisticuffs ensue.
Training for which involves handlebar mustaches and giant triangular weights.
Ogged: "God, how can you listen to this stuff? It's so earnest!"
Weiner: "I don't think that word means what you think it means."
Labs: "It means my cock."
Farber: "If you bothered to read my blog, I explained earnestness last week."
Chopper: "Dude, quit being such a whiny girl about people reading your blog."
B: "I guess it makes me a humorless bitch to merely point out the sexism inherent in that 'whiny girl' statement?"
apo: "Probably. Good thing you're cute. And watch those split infinitives."
w-lfs-n: "YOUR MOM is a split infinitive."
[Fisticuffs]
Dunno, apostropher, from what B said she'd have had to do more than merely point it out to avoid being a humorless bitch. She wouldn't split an infinitive like that.
[First one kicked out! yay!]
You could have weird discussions about the unreality of being on a reality show. I think it should go sort of meta. Then you could have other reality tv show people from different shows come to visit. I think the folks from Cooking under Fire would be a good addition, because you'd get good food.
Then you could have other reality tv show people from different shows come to visit.
Yeah, for our At-Swim-Two Birds reading group.
A friend and I were just emailing about TV shows and I accidentally promised to TiVo "Everybody Hates Christ" for her.
Now that's a pilot I would watch.
Followed by the season premieres of Gilgamesh's Island, Everybody Loves Ra, and Buddha the Vampire Slayer.