Property values in Dayton are our best kept secret. I posted about this before a couple of years ago. The real estate bubble bursting did not affect our values tremendously but has caused a surplus in vacant housing. We have another wave of foreclosures coming. Adjustable rate mortgages that are going to reset at a higher interest rate in the next two years. Then there are all those "interest only" loans that are going to affect the owners of the mcmansions in the suburbs. I would urge anyone to refinance if possible and lock in at a fixed rate and would always recommend 15 years over 30 years. If you have at least 20% equity in your house then a home equity loan used to pay off the first lien holder could save you thousands $$$ in refinancing fees and reduce the term left on a 30 year loan to 20 years.
I'm telling this to the world now and I will continue to over the next few years because we are poised to recover faster than many other parts of the country if people know about our low property values. You can buy decent houses here for less than $40,000. Old houses, big houses, fine houses. Why so cheap? Besides the fact that there are so many empty houses in the area, they are stripped of copper and heating systems in many cases. To fix them up yourself may cost as little as a few thousand $$$. To pay someone may cost $20,000. Not bad for a fixer upper. Most are in solid shape. Here is the real news though. In two years when the banks start loaning mortgage money they are going to go back to the old rules. That means 10% to 20% down on a house. It is going to be easier to save 20% for a house valued at $80,000 or less than for one that is $200,000. What about jobs? We need more well paying jobs here because we have lost many manufacturing positions (just like every where else) but if you ever had the inclination to start your own business, this is certainly the place to be. We have affordable housing and a cost of living that is below the national average. We are located almost equidistant between Indianapolis, Columbus and Cincinnati. If you own a home in New York City then you could sell it and retire here in a much bigger house!
From log house to farmhouse. Farmhouse to townhouse. Townhouse to apartment house. Apartment house to crack house. Crack house to our house. Our house to our home.
Very good post, as usual. If you could afford to buy some of the houses in Dayton that are very reasonable which ones would you pick and why?
ReplyDeleteI would buy houses in my own neighborhood because it would make my neighborhood better. Why fix up another neighborhood when there is so much more I can do for my very own?
ReplyDeleteI live in quincy Ill if you ever get time, go look it up, nice house well some beautiful old ones but unfortuntly in the last 5 to 10 years alot of them have been lost to development, while I am not against development, if you could have seen what was there before........makes my heart break. Our last mayor was into fix it or flatten it. yeah lots of empty lots.
ReplyDeleteHello Gary! I just found your site. My wife and I were looking at some of the houses in Dayton, but we ended up getting an old house in Middletown Ohio. I think we also have the same kind of problems with the neighborhood. Our steet isn't as nice as South Main, but I hope that fixing up my house may help. I was thinking of doing the same thing, buying up some cheap old houses and fixing them up myself, that are on my street. I think a lot are rented out. Wish me luck on fixing up our old house!
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