Tell us how you screwed up in 2009

[AlHayatZween 2]

the problem with owning a house is that you have to fix stuff when it's broken.

[scandal 951]

Thankfully the suburbs of chicago are pretty diverse. You can find VERY cheap and VERY expensive in the same neighborhood. Taxes range from about 2k to 13k in a 20 mile radius though so we are definitly looking somewhere where taxes are nice and cheap, and where schools are good.

I agree that owning is alot more headache and risky, but we are not taking anything that we cannot handle. My logic is it needs to be afforded on one income, in case either of us lost our job. A house for about 150k is what were leaning towards.

I agree. The Chicagoland area offers one of the best real estate markets in the country, imho. It's one of the primary reasons I relocated here and bought my home here, after living in the SF Bay area. I just got sick and tired of overpriced housing markets.

You do need to be careful about picking the right suburb, as you say there are dramatic differences. E.g. Oak Park and River Forest are fairly well to do with median home prices around $300K. Right next door however are Maywood and Bellwood with significant gang and crime problems and median prices below $100K! Caveat emptor.

Quality houses below $150K are still going to be tricky to find, even after the recent price drops. You'll certainly find foreclosures and fix-up houses in that price range, but if you want a hassle free house with an easy closing in a good town, good school district - I think $200K+ is probably more realistic. Still much cheaper than Boston, NY, DC, or west coast cities for comparable housing stock.

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

I know what you mean Scandal. I live in a nice area however 2 miles away is gangs, drugs, and violence where u can buy a house for 20k. Were looking at Oak Forest/Tinley Park area if your familiar. Decent schools, decent taxes, moderately priced houses.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I know what you mean Scandal. I live in a nice area however 2 miles away is gangs, drugs, and violence where u can buy a house for 20k. Were looking at Oak Forest/Tinley Park area if your familiar. Decent schools, decent taxes, moderately priced houses.

2 miles away for 20K?? Wow.

[Susita 175]

2 miles away for 20K?? Wow.

You can only get a nice shed here for 20K Gotta love NY

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

You can only get a nice shed here for 20K Gotta love NY

I doubt you could even find a shed for that price.

Out here in Jersey, even a POS craphole in a POS school district like New Brunswick or Plainfield would set you back over 150k.

[Susita 175]

I doubt you could even find a shed for that price.

Out here in Jersey, even a POS craphole in a POS school district like New Brunswick or Plainfield would set you back over 150k.

If you install it yourself

Luis & I were considering buying a house but we had the same problem - POS neighborhoods were all we could really afford without going out of our price range. So we just stay where we are & keep saving.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

If you install it yourself

Luis & I were considering buying a house but we had the same problem - POS neighborhoods were all we could really afford without going out of our price range. So we just stay where we are & keep saving.

There is tremendous value in renting and being close to everything like you are. I live in a "suburb" that has mushroomed to over 55k residents, very conveniently located. I own a townhouse but can not afford to upgrade to a single family in this town. To do that, I'd have to move closer to the state line with PA... and give up the convenience and drive for hours every day.

[natty bumppo 297]

screwed up in 2009 ...

I stayed in houston ... g_d I miss the mountains ...

[Susita 175]

We're in Long Island and are in the suburbs too. An apartment like ours normally goes for upwards of $1500 a month plus utilities since we have half of an entire house, but we get it for a steal b/c the landlord is my mom

So we just keep saving, I'm hoping we get a nice foreclosure or bank owned property and fix it up. So many plumbers, electricians and construction workers in my family we would have it made. Maybe in another year or two.

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

I should say the houses that you can find for 20k are in the middle of the ghetto, and the size of a shed

[NickD 203]

Screwed up in not buying a new ladder, was putting up Christmas lights on our home, must of went up and down it over 50 times, the last time it collapsed and I went crashing down 13 feet to hard concrete. Didn't break anything but tore tendons in my left knee, taking a long time to heal. Wife thinks I am hardheaded because I refuse to take pain killers, want to know if I am further hurting my knee or not. But that set me behind in many projects.

I do love owning my own home, can do almost anything I want to, but could do a lot more if living out in the country. This place is way too large for just my wife and me, her daughter is off to college so we have three empty bedrooms. Did live in the country before with a full size tractor and a six foot snow blower on it, could clear a tenth mile driveway in no time flat. And we could use all the water we wanted with my own well and seepage bed. So I am looking, think I am getting to old to build my own place like I did years ago, and especially when my old ladder broke, but certainly can do all the interior work yet. Would also like to have a five car garage.

I miss my tractor, seem to be using a hand rake now, but I think my wife would prefer to live in a condo and pay someone else to do that outside maintenance, hell, that is great exercise. Yeah, I got her a treadmill, could I say that has added to the dust collectors in our home?

[ValerieA 350]

note this is the first time a woman has admitted to forgetting a time her husband screwed up!

She is merely speculating that she will forget, really. She hasn't forgotten yet. And we will simply remind her of this infraction for the 2010 thread.

[Nizzy 1]

Screw up No.1 was not seeing the "We've got to let you go" speech coming from a mile away.

Screw up No.2 we won't go into, but it's somewhere on FML.com

Screw up No.3 was not using my PTO to have a holiday while I had a job, thus leaving my 4 weeks of involuntary time off as my "holiday" for the year.

Ditto on your No. 1...sigh...I left banking to do what I love and got laid off less than 2 months into it...

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

I screwed up 2010 by wasting time reading a stupid thread about how you all screwed-up.