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Section 2 - Chapter 5
Housing That Costs Less
Maybe the town you are house-shopping in was chosen by your employer, or by circumstance. Maybe you need to be near family. If you can't choose an inexpensive town to live in, or even if you can, there will be some homes that are less expensive than others. This has to do with the type and age of the houses, the areas of town, and the financing available for those particular housing types.
This chapter, then, is about looking at all the options available to find the one that will save you the most money while still satisfying your needs. What are your needs? Do you need several bedrooms, a big yard, proximity to work? You'll refine your thoughts on this question as you go through the home hunting process. Take a few notes along the way.
In many cities now, there is the real estate saying: "Drive until you qualify." Often the homes will be cheaper the father away you get from the center of town. To look further away is a means to save thousands of dollars, then, or to get more house for the same money. Just be sure to consider the gas and time you'll spend going to and from work and stores.
There are also commonly areas of a town that are cheaper than others. In some towns, this is near the center. The problem is that these areas are sometimes dangerous areas. We are living in Tucson at the moment, and there are parts of town that we wouldn't live in at any price.
Sometimes, especially in small towns, there are less expensive parts that are just not as pretty, or as convenient to amenities. You have to decide for yourself how much it is worth to live in more "prestigious" parts of town, but at least look at all the options. Often, an inexpensive but rough area of town is being renovated house by house, and will become a great neighborhood.
Here in Pima county, they have a nice police website where we can see the crime statistics broken down block-by-block. Not many places will have that kind of information, but the police will usually be open about where it is safer or more dangerous if you ask them. You will also notice clues as you explore a town. Here, you start to see bars on the windows where the burglary rate is higher.
In most areas, brick homes cost more than wood frame homes. Modular homes cost even less than these, condos sometimes less than modulars, double-wide mobile homes even less, and single-wide mobiles less than just about anything short of living in a recreational vehicle. To save thousands of dollars, consider carefully what you need to be happy in a home, and look for the least expensive type of home that can provide that.
If you don't mind working on your home every weekend, for example, you can buy a fixer-upper and possibly save tens of thousands of dollars. Most modular homes have better insulation and are as comfortable as any old wood frame house, so consider these if they are available. There may be housing types you haven't considered. If you like to really live simply and cheaply, you can consider mobile homes, which are covered in the next chapter.
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