Move to Boise....house FOUND!!!

Yeah it's happening everywhere. I'm in Auburn-just West of Lake Tahoe and East of Sacramento. The housing market is insane. Work from home has changed the landscape dramatically. @goffredo isn't the only one. We've absolutely lost our trails and peaceful town. It's inundated constantly from travelers, weekenders, etc. I blame instagram, lol........ But in the same aspect, the economy is off the rails booming (pre-shutdown) and our equity is drastically up. We were looking last year at future relocations and I think I had asked the question in a post. It got pretty heated politically which was interesting. But cast that aside , there are so many different market factors playing into all of this. I could literally jot down five pages in this post about it. But I will say every state is seeing a pretty significant migration; East Coast and West coast. I personally have several friends and family and acquaintances across the Western states and Midwest that have moved in the last few months to:
Idaho
South Carolina
Kentucky
Arkansas
Idaho was the hot list for a bit. I'm seeing a large swing in peoples conversations to the South.
And I'm sure the Hill country in Texas is going bonkers with all the tech industries leaving the silicon valley for tax favorable states.




It's mind boggling. Sadly, I'm old enough to have ridden out several recessions now and at least 3 housing market crashes. Each time I thought to myself, "these prices and pace aren't sustainable," and I was right. I feel the same way now, see the same tell-tale signs.......however, the tech industry has changed everything and really kept a lot afloat for bit. Property sales (now that people can work from home) is supporting a lot of cities and districts revenue from the property tax, that is hiding the retail sales tax slumps. Again, imho it's not sustainable. The flipside? I'm not Warren Buffet and I'm not clairvoyent and it took me three times to see a pattern

I'd rent for a time if you find a good stable long term lease and make an informed decision on the area, neighborhood, schools, etc. Wait till the market corrects and make a killing.

 

There is, but I'm not telling anyone.
I love the Lake but it's inundated so bad in the summer it makes it stressful to enjoy anymore. I usually don't go into the basin very much anymore.

I feel your pain. I grew up in Meyers and we never leashed our dogs or worried about trivial crap. I have a lab now that can't get 10' outside of my driveway before people lose their minds and call. My wife was doing yard work the other day and he wandered next door. Somebody driving by saw him walking on the side of the street, stopped and put him in their car. They then drove across town and looked at the phone number AND address on his collar and called me to come pick him upI asked them to bring him back, which they did, thank god.

I'm hoping all the transplants have two cold winters of shoveling snow in Tahoe and freak out and dump their properties to move somewhere warm.

 

Wow, this blew up more than I thought it would. Thank you all for showing me....it’s everywhere. As some have mentioned I too see the signs of another housing crash.....and I’m only 28. This looks just like 2008. Interest rates go super low, people buy super high......tons of people subsequently default on their mortgages and get foreclosed on and we have tons of cheap property around for the few that have the money to buy it. Working on a rental option now and continuing to look at properties as well. Like a lot of you said....rental would not be the worst thing because the equity I walk away with from my house will just be sitting in the bank

 

Trying to time the market is impossible, but the Boise area has been expanding greatly in recent years. I think Covid/working remote just accelerated a trend already in play. Not sure they'll see much of a dip if/when it comes at a national level.

I do think we've seen a big trend amongst the sheeple to buy homes and "be seen" in the mountains. Hopefully the urban lifestyle becomes the next trend in the following years and they go scampering back to the cities.

 

It is absolutely a seller's market right now, and not a good time to buy a home. If I were pressed like the OP, I would definitely rent for awhile, get my feet on the ground and get to know my new community. This will give you a better idea of where you want to live now, but also explore the school systems for where that expected one will want to grow up. Housing markets swell and recede like the tides. That old adage about buy low and sell high, still applies. Timing the market is tough and requires extreme patience. You may have some equity in your current house that needs to be reinvested before capital gains kicks in. But, you should have some time to sort things out. In extremely hot markets, very good buys and great houses, often never are advertised. Moving to the area, and getting to know more people in Boise, should give you better access to those non-advertised deals.

My $0.02 about growing towns.... I live in Bend. The population when I moved here in '98 was ~35,000. We are approaching 100,000 now and the median home price has quadrupled in that time. I could fuss about it being because of Californians, Seattle-ites, or Minnesotan's, bringing their big city money and ruining things for those of us who were already here. But, I have to remember that I wasn't born here either and the same may have been said of me in 1998. We've gone through 2 real estate booms during those years. In '05-'06, lots of folks were buying investment homes and were treating real estate like day trading stocks. Well we know what happened, the music stopped and those who had overbought, found themselves upside down. Many lost their shirts and walked away from homes when the market fell. Shrewd investors were ready when the bust happened, and snagged up those foreclosed homes for pennies on the dollar. Will this happen again... maybe? I know quite a few folks who make a handsome income, but still are living paycheck to paycheck because they are being held hostage by a big mortgage. It really is about living beneath one's means.

 

Yep! Pray for Heavy snow and 40 below!

 

I don't think that could have been stated any better or more accurately.

 

I think those thoughts were cleaned up a little!!

 

I am not trying to go down a worm hole of 2020’s actions causing reactions and I don’t want to call out peoples states because the people in this forum from said states might not like it and they are good individuals. That’s all.

 

Sadly, Texas isnt any better. Someone above me said it best, people moving to here from places they hate to come and vote to make it like the places they hate. I need to buy a house, but the market is just insane right now. I think Ill keep saving and riding this rental out awhile.

Good luck, OP. I hope you get your home.

 

This^^

I’ve seen it before..people move in blindly and after 1-2 years many move back. Wait it out prices will come down!

 

Big difference was in 2008 banks were loaning money to everyone, now they are strict and you need 20% down. Right now, people buying have the means and mostly city money with high paying jobs than can now relocate because of WFH i.e finance, tech, etc... However this applies as long as WFH, one day companies will start asking their employees to go back to work to the office. Not now but maybe in 2 years once the whole covid is behind us. Meanwhile prices will keep going up as long as % are low. just my 0.02

 

I would be one of those people. So appreciate no finger pointing, I know we suck.

Born and raised in the Bay Area, have a decent job in finance. But have a family of 5 living in a 2 bedroom duplex. Had my first kid while still in college so was never able to actually build a “nest egg” have always had to live hand to mouth. I will never be able to afford my hometown of Santa Cruz and it sucks. Unfortunately all of this causes people like me to move to other states and screw things up for the locals there like my town has been screwed up from all the money coming from the Silicon Valley.. it’s a total case of sh!t rolling down hill.

At least I like trucks and guns and don’t want another California wherever I go.

 

We lucked out with our house. We figured out the realtor we were using was working with a seller behind our back. We found a realtor from Smithville and when the first house we wanted fell through, she had somebody's vacation home that she was managing and asked them if they'd be willing to sell. It ended up be $50k less than the original house we wanted and in a lot better condition, plus a better fit for us. It never went on the market where somebody surely would have bought it out from underneath us. We used a VA loan, which set us back about 5 months because the banks VA appraiser had some of the VA rules wrong (he had to get retrained). It was a pain in the ass but it all worked out for the better. My wife had already accepted a job here (thinking that we had the first house in the bag) and ended up doing a one-way 1.5 hour commute 5 days a week. Now it's a 6 block commute so she no longer hates me.

You might look at some local realtors (not the big name ones) that have been in the area you are looking at for most of their lives. If it's a smaller town, they have small town connections and may be able to find you a home that somebody is willing to part with before it hits the public.

 

That’s why buying up some condos in the city on the cheap right now should be profitable in a few years.

 

I have family in the Bay Area..and yeah they struggle..and rent is the killer! Been there several times and love visiting!! Just way too many people!

 

Man . . . this is rough. I have a plan in the back of my mind to leave orange county one day and move to one of the cities mentioned above that is . . . "hotter than hell and flatter than a pancake" . . . but I see prices soaring, and people are building there like CRAZY as well ! F-Me!!!! I've even started telling people 'Said City' is full of tweakers, vagrants, and has a high crime rate . . just so they don't go . . . Lame I know.

 

My main criteria for my next home is to not be able to see/hear neighbors within a half of a mile in any direction. I realize that means I gotta buy a huge chunk of land, but thats the only way to get away from the nut jobs...

 

Looking like we are going to have to build. Time to try and find a builder and an available lot!

 

That is not a bad idea...I bought a house in 2006 because I was impatient. I had been looking for months, tight market, sellers market and I overpaid for a house because I was getting desperate (turned out to be a huge mistake for a lot of reasons). Ironically, there was a couple who I beat out buying the house that ended up buying a house in the same neighborhood and overpaid WAY more than I did, so that made me not feel as stupid...

My best advice is to be patient, don't get desperate like I did and you'll find something that works (if its building a new house, then so be it...)

 

As others mentioned, this is happening all over the country. People are using the work from home change as an opportunity to move to other places. Factors include weather, taxes, politics, scenery etc. People are moving. The record low interest rates are also encouraging a lot of first time home buyers. The county I live in has 500k residents and as of Friday only 700 houses on the market at ANY price range.

Building is just as bad. It's not a good time to build.

 

I can build a 3-4 bed, 2-3 bath house with 3 car garage for 360-380k+ lot cost of about 20-22k, so.......as long as I can find a lot in a development, that’s looking like the way to go.

 

I've bounced all over the US taking the next step up in my career. I've always made it a point not to take jobs in big cities though so we've never had much of an issue buying and selling houses. I did an interview in Albany, New York once and I shot that job down after looking at housing costs. I couldn't imagine living in areas like that.
I'm in rural Alabama now and the housing costs and availability are really good right now. And I love the redneck lifestyle around here.

 

Look at agricultural banks like Farm Credit. They tend to have better options for building new. I am going through that process now and the local Credit Union loan officer had no idea what a pole barn was. Farm Credit gave me a lower rate, required less money down, and understood what a price of an acre should be.

Just food for thought. Definitely will to discuss further if you want

 

Turning down any job is not likely to be an option in this economy...

 

Idaho real estate is pretty wild right now. I live in eastern washington and North Idaho sounds similar to Boise market. I personally know several washington families trying to escape our state regime by heading across the border. Lots of people all over the country thinking same thing...

Good luck, keep at it.

 

Yep, Austin us nuts but has been for a while. My brother sold his little bungalow on the south side as he was putting the for sale sign in front yard. He moved to the NW side and just bought a small ranch in hill country. I am waiting to see how much over list and how fast his house sells. Hill country land has gone up by phenomenal amounts in last 10 years.

 

Just waiting for my daughter to graduate high school and then goodbye to New York Shitty, taking my ball and going down South to play.
And bringing NO NY viewpoints you would think that one has there and bringing it along.
Don’t New York my Florida , lol!

 

That’s why we were looking East. I figured everybody was heading West of Austin... Now people are heading here too. It’s just crazy. In less than five years of ownership, our home is worth almost double what we paid for it.