[deleted]

Thank you for the advice!

You can also use rental income on that property to offset that payment and buy another house after a minimum of 12 months. If you are a first time homebuyer there is no reason not to buy a multi. You get access to better programs to buy that property, a long term investment that will help you down the road and you aren’t paying rent anymore.

Exeter seems to have a lot of dirt bike riders, but I could be wrong.

She’s right.

Because it doesn’t meet your expectations is no reason to continue to pay escalating rent.

The only way to get into the real estate market is start with what you can afford then gradually work your way up from there.

Hell yeah, fuck 12

My coworker bought in CT instead and commutes over an hour to work in RI. He's a single guy so I'm guessing it's affordable for him to do it. So maybe look wider and expect a commute if your roots are in RI.

"particular"

i swear my tongue shorts out when I try to say this 😂

Mike at Patriot is great, many of my clients use him

Get an inspection, don’t rely on sellers disclosures even if they provide them filled out in excruciating detail.

It’s not unusual at all for the disclosures to look very bare, especially if it’s an investor, or many kinds of distressed sales.

The price is whatever the market will bear. They're expensive because people are buying them.

Yep my cop/hazard warning flash is much more frantic than a quick flash flash you can go

Technically I'm not sure there are any legal places to ride in RI.

Untechnically you should go check out Big River Management Area.

It’s predominantly a supply problem. We’re literally 50th of 50 states in housing starts per capita.

1. Our local municipalities fight tooth and nail against any zoning changes that might let more building happen - especially denser/transit oriented developments that might be good starter homes.

2. Our cost of labor is comparable to Boston, while our prices (aka profit margins for developers) aren’t as good as Boston’s - so the math is harder.

3. We also have a labor shortage.

There is no short term fix for those in the market right now, save buying in a marginal neighborhood that you see transitioning so your home value appreciates more quickly.

I can only say people in the legislature are trying to push more regional thinking to alleviate the problem. The fights over Single Family Zoning have real consequences for homeowners impacted and I can sympathize, but they also impact young people who can’t afford a house and stay here.

I am sorry.

It's not just a RI problem.

A lot of people think there is something special here but there isn't.

So the answer to your question is that mortgages got super cheap during covid. But all of the economic stimulus wasn't really needed as much as we thought particularly for white collar professionals. Therefore white collar professionals had money to spend, time on their hands, and low interest rates. This drove prices up. There is also some downstream effect of remote work although Providence isn't really the beneficiary of this in the ways that places in the west were.

Now prices are a bit sticky. They will come down probably but not to 2019 levels unless there is a major correction (which will involve major losses of income etc so might not become a buying opportunity then either). Part of this is that inventory will be artificially depressed because if you are in a home with a 3.25% mortgage why would you be looking to move now if you need to take on a 6% mortgage. Same goes for people who refinanced to low rates.

Also during the runup corporations started buying homes, more than you think. And many individuals buy into get rich quick with short term rental schemes that also depress inventory.

It's all these things. And it's everywhere.

Demand far outweighs supply. People will accuse me of “oversimplifying” by framing it so plainly, when in reality many are overcomplicating the issue by making speculative claims about rental dynamics, investor practices and intentions, etc.

Objectively I think there is a clear case to be made that prohibitive zoning laws keep new construction from happening, and that this lack of new supply being introduced is our underlying failure. If there were more abundance in housing then we simply would not be experiencing such dramatic price spikes, or at the very least the intensity would be diminished.

Rhode Island cities and towns have authority over their respective zoning decisions as well as commanding the finer details via ordinance. The minimum dimensional requirements of homes and their corresponding lots prevent more modest builds and result in construction that is necessarily more expensive. It is important to note that it is wholly possible for structures and lots that don’t meet some of the local dimensional minimums to still be completely safe or useful. The dimensional requirements are arbitrary to a large degree, and are not accommodative of the greater community’s needs.

Beyond setting a price floor in practice, there are also zoning/ordinance limitations at the other end of the spectrum, preventing us from building larger or more numerous units, and limiting the potential use and value of our property. This is the density problem you will hear people talk about all the time. We have a TON of developable land, and a TON of airspace to build upwards, but we are for arbitrary reasons not allowed to use it as we see fit, or in a way that would be most useful to us. We are not building out to the degree we need to. This is strongly evidenced by US census data which demonstrates we are national losers in new residential development in both absolute and per capita terms.

This is where we get into matters of zoning variances, special use, and the associated political bullshit. If you want to build/develop anything of substance around here, you need the blessing of local town officials/representatives who frequently have NIMBY stances, or are trying to “preserve the character of the community” by shooting down ambitious projects. Homeowners think they are preserving the value of their property by disallowing further development, but they’re actually hamstringing their own property rights and values. Is your property worth more if you’re allowed 3 units on your lot by right, as opposed to one? You bet your ass it is, especially in this market climate.

So the new supply is (or always has been?) throttled, and at the exact same time we see basically unbelievable amounts of money pour into the market because of lax lending standards, historically low rates, etc. Snapping up everything that’s decent. Anyone who owned property before and had any sense whatsoever has also refinanced into those low rates. Now you have a population of property owners who will basically never sell because their financing arrangement is so favorable when you look at macro trends. This exacerbates the supply issue further, and actually excites demand at the same time, because you have a rather numerous class of folks who have sizable discretionary income and favorable debt arrangements making it much easier to clear the bar for another purchase.

I could go on about this forever. It’s a massive problem.

Thank u! I was wondering how to tell them apart. Bc there’s also the double flash when your tell someone they can go ahead and turn before you

Prices are high because inventory is low. I don't think there will be a crash but prices will slowly come back down with interest rates being higher. If you are a first time buyer I would talk to a mortgage lender to see if you can qualify for down payment assistance. Even if you don't qualify now they can set you up on the right path for the future.

Thanks - appreciate it!

I just can’t understand how it’s even allowed to charge so much for these homes that aren’t in good shape or at least updated from the 70’s.

My mother in law keeps telling us to buy a 3 family and rent out the 2 floors and us live on the 1st floor but it’s just not what I ever had in mind. I have a toddler and just want to have a backyard he can play in and also do laundry in my own home rather than going somewhere else to do it!

He was 100% full of shit.

I used Medina movers twice in the last 5 years they're great

I was only able to afford my house thanks to an unexpected gift. Its just an ok house and not a forever home. idk how people do it. Granted I'm a single income buyer, so YMMV.

My advice? Set your expectations through the floor right now.

You're not alone. Trust me. I have no clue how people are affording these housing considering the median household income in RI.