Does owning a house in Jacksonville make sense?

[fieldafm]

For new homeowners(.:cough:. Gen Y people should move here in droves .:cough:.) the data seems to suggest the answer is yes.  Falling home prices(along with great natural assets) make Jacksonville an attractive place to buy a home right now

[Keith-N-Jax]

No if you want to live in a vibrant city.

[simms3]

^^^LoL.  I think it also depends on your mortgage terms and how long you plan on spending time in that place.  There for only a couple of years?  That's a real gamble to buy anywhere.  I love how NYC is a huge red dot amongst a sea of green and beige.  Is it even afforadable to do anything there?  Haha

[Bativac]

I'm 31 and my wife is 29. We bought a house here last year for three reasons:

1) relatively cheap homes compared to other places we wanted to live (Chicago, San Francisco, etc)
2) all of my family is here and we've always lived here
3) I already have a job here

We expect to stay in our house for another 5 to 7 years and get the hell out before I'm 40. While we're still young enough to enjoy all the fun stuff that real cities have to offer.

Jacksonville will always be home...but it's that home with the wobbly staircase that's not worth fixing, and the old roof that needed to be replaced 10 years ago, and the lawn full of weeds with no sidewalk in front that you just get depressed looking at it so you don't bother doing anything with it...

[Springfield Chicken]

As both a Realtor and a recent home buyer I agree that it makes sense to buy but only with the caveats already mentioned.  If you are only going to be in the home a short time then it's risky.  5-7 years or more I'm comfortable with.  You can currently buy single family homes that are livable for less than $100,000.  By the time you homestead it you are only paying property taxes on $50K or less.  (Homes at higher prices are certainly good buys too compared to several years ago, but the trade off with renting gets lower as the price of the home goes up.)  Property insurance on a home like that isn't much and you still get the income tax write off.  It's cheaper than renting.  And I agree about not buying one that is going to suck you dry on repairs while you own it.

[iluvolives]

CNN.com had an article comparing renting vs buying in 13 US cities. Jacksonville was listed as the top city to buy rather than rent based on the average cost of homes compared to the cost of rent.

[MusicMan]

"Relativly cheap compared to other cities I wanted to live in."

That may be the MJ understatement of the year. An old friend of
mine just bought a beat up 1100 sq ft condo on NY Upper West side.
$1.2 million with an association fee of $2500 monthly. 

You can buy a superb home in Springfield , 2500 sq ft 5 bed 2 bath
beautifully renovated on a good block, for $140,000 today!

Or move to Omaha............................

[Springfield Chicken]

You don't even have to spend $140,000 in some cases.  There is a wonderful 2/1 brick bungalow that is fixed up and selling for $55,000.  And another home almost finished except for some cosmetics at $80,000.  Or a duplex that needs some work for $49,000 that would almost pay the mortgage out of the rent and you live in the other side.  Hard to justify renting when you have choices like that.

[manasia]

This is a good thread.

[duvaldude08]

And there are several first time home buyers programs out there. I looked into a program that would provide 10,000 toward closes. As stated, there is no excuse to rent when you have options to buy. Im definately thinking about pruchasing a house or condo next year

[Shwaz]

If you think buying is taboo... Try building in a historic district

[Kiva]

CNN.com had an article comparing renting vs buying in 13 US cities. Jacksonville was listed as the top city to buy rather than rent based on the average cost of homes compared to the cost of rent.

You can definitely buy in Jacksonville and pay less in mortgage than you pay in rent. Mortgage rates are at 30 - 40 year lows (we bought a year ago, and rates have dropped since). We rented for a year when we were first married, but have bought since then.

[cayohueso]

I bought in 2006. The market imploded and now I'm underwater to the tune of $52,000. I will never be able to sell and get out from underneath this liability unless I take a tremendous hit. Even if I sell I will never be able to qualify for a mortgage on one of these "great buys" that all of the vultures a re snapping up so in my case. no buying a house is a crock of shit.

[ChriswUfGator]

It's not more affordable to buy when you realize values are still falling. Wait till it bottoms out first.

[Springfield Chicken]

I'm sorry for anyone who bought in '06 because you are probably under water by a big chunk.  But if you think there are no alternatives you need to know that each situation is different.  We deal with this all day long and in some cases sellers who are current on their mortgage can still do a short sale, negotiate no deficiency judgment or 1099, and depending on the bank, even get cash back to facilitate the move out.  Banks are realizing that a short sale hurts them less in the long run than a foreclosure.  And a short sale with a current mortgage isn't nearly as damaging to credit so we are now seeing some of those sellers who have been out of their homes awhile qualifying for new mortgages.  We are also seeing that some banks are beginning to restructure loans in a way that makes it easier to keep a home.  I know these are not perfect solutions at least it may work for some people.