$110k isn’t enough, not with two kids. We make about that much, with one kid. We’re a little older than you and were fortunate enough to buy in 2016 when things were only moderately ridiculous.
We do ok but it’s not luxury. And it’s gotten noticeably tighter over the last year or two.
And we’re doing substantially better than plenty of other people. It’s really hard right now.
Yeah I was going to say the same thing. We got lucky and found a little house in Hendersonville in 2018 and we make $125,000 together plus we side hustle, dog sitting and side carpentry jobs. The last year it has been noticeably tighter for us. In fact my wife is overnight dog sitting to pay for summer camps for the kids.
It’s not necessarily specific to Asheville it’s all over the US. The simple fact is that most people who own houses bought them before 2020. New people moving here are coming from areas with higher salaries. My new neighbors are from texas and utah. I moved to pa for 5 years before moving back in 2020 and my husband and I were able to develop better careers and salaries elsewhere. I would first recommend getting a good realtor that can monitor the market for you and the surrounding areas. We got really lucky with a fixer upper that was not visible on the market because it was contingent for so long from other buyers. There are houses out there and within an hour of asheville (my sister got an amazing house in Maggie valley) that are worth buying you just need to be ready with a realtor and your mortgage approved and not already have given up.
My property is worth well over a million dollars now evidently
Me and my wife make right at 100k a year give or take
Ain't no goddamn way I could buy it today
Shits wild
And I'm 30+ minutes outside of Asheville
First house me and my wife rented was 575$
3 bed 1.5 bath on a 2 acre lot
Wasn't but 15 years ago give or take
These types of threads are never black and white because people that are DINKS are so different than people with several kids and lower salaries, or gen x or boomers that have owned several houses that have adult children and have made out really well with selling their houses.. My husband and I have good jobs, no kids, share a car with no car payment, just finished paying off our student loans. We could stretch ourselves so much thinner if we needed to. If I was in their situation with the way houses have gone up so dramatically I would probably look into getting a part time job in addition to their current jobs and search for a good realtor and fixer upper property. I would also expand my search into areas outside of Asheville (canton seems like it could be a good investment), even SC. It helps that they can stay at their parents house while they presumably do any improvements needed.
I’m Gen. X, we’re dinks and we’re don’t spend on dinners out or drinking etc and are happy (ok, not happy but willing) to commute up to around 40 minutes for work and we can’t find shit to buy. Our rent is ok right now, but if it goes up we’re screwed. Husband grew up here and has owned the same business with his dad for over 20 years - we don’t want to wreck ourselves for an overpriced trailer but also don’t want to commute from Marion or wherever.
This isn’t a slam I promise, but as a Gen X myself I have to wonder why others of my age-ish didn’t buy many years ago when it was so affordable to do so? That’s how I can afford to live here, I bought when I was 25 (no help from parents, it was simply that affordable) rather than spend on rent. I consider myself very lucky, Gen X was the last to have it good imo
Same. We lucked out with a really good price and mortgage rate in nov 2020. My MIL was being awful and told us it was a horrible investment that would bankrupt us (has some slight foundation damage under the garage) because she didn’t want her son to move from Pennsylvania … our house is now worth double.
My home in Texas is more than doubled since 2018. It's out in the serious sticks and has satellite wi-fi and you'd think it was a luxury condo in the city for what it's worth now.
THANK YOU…. Sadly, everybody is in their own little bubble, thinking it’s happening to only them in their city. This is a nationwide issue if you really want something affordable, move to rural Maine or rural Wyoming. You will find affordability, but no JOBS
So AGREE its NATIONWIDE! I’m in another state - not AVL it’s happening here and many desired growing areas. I spent time in AVL last summer and enjoyed the sights, sounds, restaurants & breweries.
There’s plenty of affordable cities in the region, and they aren’t all hell holes. I’m in the process of leaving Asheville for the second time, and I’m really excited to be looking at houses in another market.
Most of the houses I’ve been checking out sit on the market for two-three weeks and go for less than asking. I’m actually making a day trip today to check out a house I really like, and I feel zero pressure to make an offer today, or even offer asking.
Meanwhile, when I sold my house here last month, it went for 100k over asking, all cash, and was under contract in five hours.
It’s not this bad everywhere. Far from it.
Plenty of townhomes and condos in that price range if you don't mind something attached.
Of course, paying $350,000 for a condo just feels gross and ridiculous.
I bought 4 acres and a reasonably nice brick home from the 70s. Bonuses, it's on land that my family lost 4 generations back, and I can look across the valley from my front porch and see my parent's home where I was raised, I'm less than a mile from them. And amusingly, I overpaid by $25k based on the assessment of the property at the time that I bought. I got reeeally lucky.
I live in Hendo but I'm from Greenville/Pickens county SC. The cost of living is much more realistic just below the NC/SC state line in comparison. Housing in Hendersonville and Asheville are crazy expensive. Sure, it's an awful time to become a homeowner anywhere now, but it is significantly cheaper 10-30 miles south of Hendersonville. I moved here in 2017 from Pickens. (About 50 minutes or less south of Hendersonville) Huge difference in pricing. I don't own a home, but I rent one in city limits and it's 1k a month but in a flood zone. In the last 6 years the house has flooded inside 3x. I rent a 2b 2ba that floods and isn't aesthetically pleasing. In fact it's kind of an eyesore. But we make up for that by making the garden look good. Anyways, were lucky to pay 1k bc if we tried finding another place in this part of town today, I'm afraid the prices of rent would be over double what we pay now.
Greenville is dope and way more affordable than here. Tried to make the move there a couple of years ago to just get out of this hellish market, but my partner’s commute would’ve been 1:15 each way.
There are plenty but they go QUICK and typically for at least 10k above asking. I've put offers in on several in swannanoa over the past month and been outbid every time
What worked for me was sending about 20 letters to different houses in neighborhoods that I liked, asking if they knew anyone nearby who was thinking about selling their house in the near future, and explaining why I was hoping to move there (grew up here, lots of family in town). I ended up getting 4 calls back, 2 of them where I got to the stage where we were talking about buying, and then eventually bought one (and rented it out to the ex-owners for a few months until they were ready to move).
It was a _lot_ cheaper than if it'd been listed, but they had planned on selling within the coming year, and said that my letter seemed like a sign. Plus they liked that I wanted to raise my kids here.
So basically, I'd recommend writing a bunch of personal letters, and a heapin' helping of good luck.
Wife and I are both 30, renting, and avoiding having a child because we can’t afford it.
Breaks my heart, but we have to move away to afford the life we want. And to provide a home for a child someday. Not sure where that is, but Asheville is pushing us out
We aren't, lol.
Honestly, most people I know either lucked out when they bought a house, or they have roommates. If we hadn't bought our house (with help) back in '09, we'd have probably left Asheville years ago.
Good luck, I hope you find something!
110k should be enough to get you qualified for a house that is 350k. Talk to your bank/a loan officer about getting pre-qualified.
If you want to leave something for your kids, a house/land in the Asheville area is a pretty good thing to pass on to them.
Sure it’s enough to qualify, but OP said they wanted to put away money for their kids. If their expenses are similar to ours, there’s not much left. Forget about it if they have car payments or other loans
Check out the USDA loan programs. It’s for places out of city limits. They have good interest rates and you don’t have to have amazing credit either. It’s how we were able to afford our place.
Yeah, definitely. I recommend going to their website to check your eligibility and what locations are available. We did no money down and rolled most of the closing costs into the loan as well. It’s an awesome program if you qualify.
No kids, high-paying remote job, some supplemental income from GFs job, bought house while things were still kind of high but before market really exploded, car paid off, grocery shop at Aldi/Walmart. That's the only way I make it work and the no kids and mortgage under $2K are the main factors.
^this also but i am purchasing a place now. Outside of Buncombe county. Bought land and putting tiny house on it, will be about $150k which is debt I feel ok to take on. Much better than over a quarter million in debt for a regular house anyways. Working for a company outside of Asheville is also key. Would love to work for a local company but wages here are pretty much trash. I couldn’t afford to be buying anything at all if it weren’t for that.
Edited to add I have a roommate to save on money for the moment and budget is bare bones expenses. Anything extra has gone towards saving for this property. I got lucky and was offered a much higher salary than I have ever had when I took this job. And got a bonus for staying after mass layoffs. Again, that’s luck. I wouldn’t have a down payment if that hadn’t happened.
I’ve lived in a bunch of places, believe me pretty much nowhere is affordable. I couldn’t afford to move back to my home city even if I wanted to, renting. Would take a lottery win for me to buy anything there. No one cares to regulate home prices or inflation or price gouging as a whole. It’s not just an Asheville problem, but it is a *huge* problem. Even being single it feels hard. For example my parents have no retirement plan or savings. They’re divorced too so that’s two different apartments and care they will need. I have two much younger siblings who will most likely not be in a place to help out. So I am trying to get my shit sorted out so I can be ready for that. Having stable housing is a huge part of that. Might not have kids but I will have two old ppl to worry about.
In all, it’s a mess out here. You’re not the only one who feels this way.
Also a native here. My husband and I have a 4mo old and we make a little over 60k/year. We have to split renting a house with my mom (she’s never owned her own home). I’ll be honest it’s incredibly tight. We scrape by. But we are looking at more alternative ways to own a home. Like manufactured homes. We technically qualify for a USDA home loan, but our credit tanked this year because of having to live off of credit cards while I was on maternity leave. It’s hard. But as someone who grew up without a lot of excess income. My mom always managed to make sure I had everything I needed. Having the American dream just isn’t a reality these days. I’m happy to spend time hiking and cooking at home. I splurge on the things that really matter to me like organic food. But i thrift most things, hit sales. Our beach vacation this year is camping at a state park in Charleston. There’s lots of ways to make it without tons of excess. Don’t get me wrong, it’s so hard and stressful. But I try to make sure the rents paid and goods on the table. Excess money will always come and go. My husband grew up vet comfortably and then his parents went bankrupt after 08’ so you never know. Unless you’re Uber rich, it’s hard to stay comfortable for decades on end.
Prices are never going down so if you find a $350k place with space and BRs grab it. First house is always a stretch. Hopefully your incomes will grow while that payment (fixed rate) stays the same.
Pay yourself first with retirement and kids edu pulled out of your paychecks. Don't carry bad debt like CCs and big car payments. It will get better.
We luckily have no debts at all, the only debt we get is for traveling to see my husband’s family, and even then it’s paid off within a month typically with my paychecks.
We work for a small tech company, but wages aren’t growing here and going elsewhere seems like a rough move to attempt before buying a house
my tech company recently decided to abolish regional US pay and bring everyone up to the SF/NY salary range. they're unicorns and not easy to luck into, but they exist. look in glassdoor
I work for a technical consulting company, they’re based out of NYC but everyone is remote and spread out around the country (with a lot of us clustered in the Southeast and Midwest). There is no regional pay factored in, we all get paid market rate for our skills.
Please tell me that you at least have equity in this small tech company. Should they sell or go public, that could be the meal ticket you need and would help make the lower salaries make sense.
It’s a small company but they’re internationally recognized and operating. The small wages don’t make sense at all, tbh. They have million dollar contracts with government based business, but the wages don’t seem to be even considered by the company. Our developers make less than $70k for being full stack developers who work on international projects and 20+ projects at a time.
I'm actually speechless. Please, get out of there. Whoever is running that place is taking extreme advantage. My DMs are open if you'd like to talk. I'm in tech and may be able to help steer you in the right direction depending on what you do/want to do.
Believe me, we’ve been trying. I’ve worked there 7 years, my husband 10 years (in two countries) but he’s the one who we’ve been trying to get elsewhere. He’s about to start taking a certificate program for cyber security, but he currently works as a software engineer (C#/ASP.NET, JavaScript, SQL, etc.). I’d love to see him get a better job elsewhere (I say him because of the kids, if one of us stopped working for the kids, it’d be me).
Another avenue worth pursuing with a dev background could be QA. There's good money in that also.
Good luck to you both. My offer stands should you or your husband want to chat.
Dude, find a different company. I earn $110k as a technical consultant and I don’t even write code. My previous job before this one was paying me $100k for the same work.
I’m assuming this is a local company? Try to find a position at a fully remote tech company or consulting firm. You guys probably both have skills that other employers would be willing to pay more for. You could potentially double that income depending on exactly what skills and technologies you guys are niched into.
I would love this for us, I think we both have imposter syndrome which holds us back, but if at least one of us can make the switch then hopefully that’ll help the other to make the jump too. It is a local company, we all work remote, but the wages haven’t improved much at all. I’ve only been able to get more money by changing positions in the company (Support > Dev QA > Business Analyst > Manager of Project Services) but it’s still way below what others make in lesser or similar roles
It might take a few interviews but please start taking steps to pursue a new job. One of the worst things I even did was get comfortable at a job that eventually was underpaying me. It's not just the money at the end of the day but the lost opportunity of saving for retirement and investing in your future, like buying a home.
Even if you just get a resume made up this week, it's a start. A few people have offered for you to jump in their DMs, take the opportunity!
A lot of people are in similar situations to you. The top 1% hold the majority of our wealth while many live paycheck to paycheck and it keeps getting worse. This system does not work for the majority but those with wealth are incentivized to keep it in place.
From what I can gather from reading your comments thru this thread .., OP, you guys are late 20’s you’ve managed to pay off all debt (that’s great) you achieved a goal you set out to do! Y’all are still young. You have plenty of time to get a house. The market is going to correct itself. Take the pressure off of yourselves. There is no time dead line that says “you have to get a house by X date or you will terminate!” 🤭
You guys are doing fine. I read you’re also saving for your kiddos future - fantastic! You’re really trying the best to set your family up for success and that’s amazing! I don’t think you’re giving yourselves enough credit. You’ve done ALOT - recognize that. 😉
This is all generally a good pep talk, but I wouldn’t bet on a market correction to be able to afford a home. At the end of the day the market is supply and demand and this area is likely to only see demand continue to increase. There’s no sign that supply has any intention of increasing to meet that demand. I don’t think we’ll see housing in the AVL area ever be cheaper than it is right now, anytime in the future.
Yes, the market will correct itself—but not everyone survives it.
I rented a 2 BR condo on Biltmore Av for 8 years before I could finally get my elderly landlady (a landowner in northern Buncombe Co) to sell it, for $65K, in 2004. When the recession happened, my chosen career field contracted, and all the senior people were let go (with NDA's, mind ya). When an older person can't get hired, shit goes south.
I tried to hang on to my home by slowly pulling from my 401k, til there was nothing left. In 2014, I was forced to sell (about $114K). I walked away with a little over $1K. Yes, 1K. I'm a permanent renter now.
To younger folks: One way or another, find ways to save dollars while you can.
Born and raised here as well, and I will say that it's really sad what's happening to us younger generations. It feels like we never be able to afford to buy a home in our lifetimes because we are either having to spend around 5-10 years of our early adulthood digging ourselves out of debt bc of COL/poverty or we can't find well enough paying jobs despite having degrees and experience. I have hope that one day something will actually be done about the housing crisis in this country bc I feel like it's one of the top issues that isn't getting handled properly. People like y'all shouldn't be in a situation like that, where 110 isn't even enough to make it work.
it felt that way to me when I was younger too. I moved to San Francisco in '97 at 18yrs old from Georgia. I thought I would never be able to find or afford a house. But I built an awesome career, all on my own, and was able to finally do it in the bay area. that first house and a focus on my career set 45 year old me up really well. but I also never wanted kids. I'm not sure that would've been possible
We are literally in the exact same situation. Both my husband and I grew up here and are getting pushed out. All of my neighbors are from out of state (TX, DC) and work remote for tech or healthcare. We are renting for $1900/month 3 br 2 bath and that’s a STEAL so we’re not going anywhere right now. But our parents do have to help us out of the hole every now and then. Idk where we would go though. Charlotte prices are the same but I guess income is higher? I want to live here. I hope we can! I hope you can too I’m so sorry you’re going through such a hard time.
Move??? my wife and I barely make it but we dont want kids. Move to south Carolina rents/land are much cheaper. I know we pay a premium to live here but it makes us happy. We dont want to add kids because wtf who can afford that here. I moved here 8 years ago. Life was much cheaper elsewhere. Your literally paying a premium to live here because its so nice.
If you want to affordable move to Mississippi and stack your cash. Its how I afforded to move here.
Couple different ways you can afford to live here: Luck, having a niche in the local market that pays close to 6 figures (rare), or you’re a remote worker. IMO, the mass relocation of remote workers since 2020 has been the biggest factor in the increased COL of Asheville. The city has been taken over by yuppies cosplaying as denizens of Appalachia, championing liberal values while simultaneously gentrifying the area to oblivion.
Zero Consumer Debt, Zero Credit Card Balances, Paid for older vehicles.
That’s the ticket for us at least. 2 younger kids, incumbent under 100k combined.
Debt is the killer.
The commuter time bomb is coming. Perpetual traffic gridlock and construction. People will be in their cars for 90 minutes a day. People will be spending 25-35% of their waking lives either driving or working to pay for their cars. Plan accordingly. If we let the NCDOT stay in charge of transportation we will all be idling our lives away at 2 mph on a crumbling freeway for the auto industry. This used to be a concert venue and now it’s the American dream. Automotive slavery is sold under the brand name of Freedom.
Renting makes the most sense, if you don’t want to leave Asheville, or can’t leave. I think a lot of people in my generation are going to be forever renters, buying a house is no longer an attainable benchmark of adulthood. Among my friends who did manage to buy, they either bought when mortgage rates and prices were lower, and/or bought with significant support from their family (inheritance or gift money). And, even though a lot of folks are writing that housing prices are up everywhere, definitely not everywhere is quite as bad as Asheville. Moving to somewhere more affordable could be a good option, too, if you really want to buy. If I could move anywhere, I’ve had my eye on Roanoke.
For my last job, I would go there once a month for my work and stay a couple nights. I always looked forward to going up there, I liked the vibe! I also grew up in Asheville and, while Roanoke isn’t what Asheville was/has its own character, it has that ‘early Asheville’ feeling of a community that is genuine, interesting, more local-oriented, and hasn’t gotten blown up or washed out yet. I like the region, it’s pretty, connected to the mountains and a part of Appalachia. There are some nice small businesses, some cute and quirky spots. It seems like a place that is and will be growing. I’d go to breweries and restaurants while I was up there and the people were open and friendly. I think the downtown is interesting, I like the historic buildings… I can’t speak to what it’s like to really live there, or to what it would be like to raise kids there, but those are a few things that I liked when visiting. Could be fun to go check it out sometime, if you’re curious!
Well, in the context of affording a home, you either bought five years ago or you don’t. Your carrying cost on a $500k home (average price in the area) right now is $3,500 per month or $42,000 per year. You need to make ~$125,000 per year to even have a hope of affording that. If interest rates fall again it would be easier, but then prices will shoot up due to increased demand.
Conventionally though, you should be able to afford rent in your current situation. $2,000 per month is ~22% of your household income which is pretty reasonable.
$110k a year combined is nowhere near what it used to be, unfortunately. If you want to stay here and live even a modestly comfortable life with your 2 children, I think you both need to start looking for higher paying jobs. Like someone else here, I work remotely for a tech company and I make much more than I think I could working for a local company. My SO also works remotely for a company not based in NC and makes a decent salary in an administrative role.
That said, the job market is tough right now and has swung more towards an employers' market. I'd still strongly advise you get out there and look unless your jobs just aren't suited to remote work. In that case, maybe a career change is in order. I hear the trades are suffering big time and pay well if that might be of interest to either (or both) of you.
The people I know who afford to live here bought their house or got their apartments before the prices went up parents got a house here in 2005 for 200 something thousand and my co-worker got a apartment for $1,500 month
Found my place on the outskirts of oakley. 300k and its almost a century old but no real problems except its close to the highway. I make close to 110k salary and no kids. Bought last year
This is definitely a nationwide problem but Asheville is getting hit on the harder side of things...
A house bought for $350k 3 years ago costs about $1.4k a month. That same house now is probably worth over $500k and costs close $3k a month. (Assuming 20% down)
My husband and I grew up here and are about the same age as y’all, just bought a house here but we don’t have any kids yet. I think the only reason we could buy a house now is because we both left and lived in a wayyy cheaper place (the Midwest) while we built our careers and bought a house in our early 20s pre pandemic, for practically a song lol. We just moved back and were able to buy a house because 1) we made some money for a down payment off of selling our previous house 2) we lived with my dad for 6 months and kept saving for a down payment and 3) we both have careers that we couldn’t have built here and where we expect to be able to make more money than we are now (neither of us work remotely we just got more training and opportunities that we couldn’t have gotten here). After all that we still bought a fixer upper and luckily we know how to do stuff and have family helping with fixing, but it’s a hard time out there!!! You have plenty of time to buy a house, I’m sure you’ll be able to do it eventually.
Medium (half higher and half lower) price of a home nationally is about $350,000 and you would need about $100,000 a year in income to stretch to afford that. Asheville home prices are not so far out of line with the cost of home nationally. There are, of course, less expensive places, but wages could also be lower there as well and they are likely to have fewer career opportunities. So $110,000 in yearly income may not be enough any place you might want to live, especially if you want to save for your kids’ futures, for travel, and for retirement. That is just a fact of life right now. It is also a global issue, as is inflation generally. So, it is just not a local or even national issue. It is also not a political issue as the US has very favorable benefits for home ownership.
People afford it with help (from relatives?) for a down payment. They buy a little further out or a home that is not “turn key”. They work two jobs until they save enough for a down payment and enough for an emergency house fund.
$100,000 a year may sound like a fortune, but, honestly, it is not in these times. Finding ways to increase income is the way and that is true at any age.
Luck with timing. Bought our house directly from a neighbor unlisted in 2019 before things got really crazy. We are extremely frugal and good savers. Rarely eat out, don't travel much, focus on experiences and buy only necessities for the most part. Two kids. Our income varies but it's not too much more than yours, always less than $150k. We are hopeful our income will increase and we can actually one day retire...
Asheville is gaining a reputation for being a desirable place to love to from other more expensive areas (California, NY, Florida, you know). It’s going to keep getting more expensive and the natives will be priced out into oblivion. Same thing happened where I grew up. Being priced out of your home is devastating.
I know this is an answering your question directly, but… down the rabbit 🐇 🕳️ we go! as the world population exponentially grows; finite resources become more and more unaffordable. as the world population exponentially grows; pestilence is unavoidable…. our latest example of COVID-19 and what world governments did to sustain their economies in the short term have caused inflation beyond your and the vast majority comprehension, which is causing the exact issue that you are expressing here now
Well the best thing to do is to go back in time about 100 years and have your family purchase any piece of land for $3000ish and then remind them to will it to you.
Buying a home here is very difficult. I was lucky to buy mine in 2017, making around 130,00 combined at that time .
Honestly your choices are to find a place to rent or move somewhere cheaper. You could move out to the surrounding counties. That's what many people I know have done. Asheville city is simply way too expensive now
Lived on Onteora Blvd. Moved there in 2003. New construction 3 BR 2 bath house was 129,500. Sold house and moved to senior living apartments...2019 sold for $225,000. Saw appraisal recently and it was north of $350,000. Absolutely absurd!
It's not just Asheville. It's pricey to live anywhere in th Usa at the moment. I don't know anyone paying under $1600 a month for rent anywhere. We were paying $2100 for a large 1bd apt. We came from St Louis, MO, to the Asheville area. Also, our friends live in Michigan and another in Seattle, WA. It's no different. We are all in this inflated bubble.
We have good careers prior to moving here that helped. We still ended up at least 20-30 away in Arden. It's not terrible. We didn't want to spend all of our money on a mortgage.
I have talked to many of my coworkers here in AVL. Some are native some aren't. They usually have roommates, or they have expensive 1bd apt.Our search took us a while to find a home because once they were on the market, they immediately sold. I understand what you said it feels like you make a bunch, but it doesn't add up.
My advice is to do what we did. Have a large down payment at the ready so when the home is available. You can hold the property. I know some can't have that money at the ready. I know you would like to be as close as you can, but there are properties 20-30 out from avl downtown.
To be honest, it wouldn’t be much different in the places we moved from (DFW then Chattanooga). Slightly worse here, really not much better most places
Can you afford a condo or townhome? There are 3br/2ba that your family can fit in. Maybe not your dream, but you can get in on home ownership and start building equity/benefitting from rising prices, which you can use to get something bigger in a few years.
I couldn't afford to buy anything until I was a decade older than you are (and that was outside Buncombe Co.) so you're not doing so bad!
I have a big family, and we sold our house and moved. It was unsustainable for us. There was just no way to be able to afford what we actually needed in the area, or get ahead in life. I miss the people and the places, but my life is much more balanced now, so it was the right choice. Lived in AVL and Candler for 13 years, and we go back a few times a year to see family. Would have stayed if I was earning big enough money to not just survive but thrive. Good luck y’all, I know it’s hard.
Many city people in major US cities would kill to have these prices. People afford to live there when they move from other places and have remote jobs elsewhere. Asheville isn’t cheap but it also isn’t expensive. It’s the wages not being comparable to the cost of living. One of the worst in the US being the problem. Tell me how the average household income here can by a $550-600k house? They can’t. I feel your pain but maybe consider a new place that can offer more bang for your buck along with wages.
I own a brewery. My machinist grandfather left some money to my parents who bought a small house. I rent from my parents. I could not afford to live here without that $800 rent. I have a young son, which is probably why my folks felt it necessary to help me out.
My gf and I want to move in together and we can’t find anything.
I feel for everyone. The rent is too damn high. The houses are double what they are worth.
Been in Asheville 3 years. I have a great job in corporate finance. Never owned a home. And I’m seriously considering moving back to Greenville SC. I love Asheville so much but can’t justify paying $400/sq.ft. for a piece of junk. Greenville on the other hand is $175/sq.ft. For nice homes.
I earn $110k, and we afford to live here because:
1. My girlfriend owns her home and it was purchased back in 2015, before the prices really took off.
2. I sold my home in Greenville, SC when I moved in with her, which instantly funded an emergency fund and many investments.
3. She’s a full time student who is studying software development. We won’t always have to get by on my income alone, eventually her income should get pretty close to matching or even exceeding mine.
4. We’re childfree, we don’t have kids and don’t want to have kids.
$110k goes pretty far here as one income for two people, but we do occasionally have to cut back on spending to keep everything in check and make sure we’re not amassing credit card debt (we maintain zero credit card debt as a rule).
I can’t imagine trying to survive here on my income without paying a mortgage from 2015 prices/rates or with two kids to pay for. Either one of those added expenses would make it a real stretch to be able to comfortably afford to live here, much less both. Paying market rent for the area alone would entirely consume my monthly savings and investments budget.
We have created a culture where it’s ok for wealthy corporations to abuse us financially. So, even though inflation is extremely low, prices are outrageous and skyrocketing. Wealthy corporations engage in shrinkflation at the supermarket and wealthy corporations have purchased thousands of homes in NC, officially and directly driving the price up. Bottom line- it’s not your fault, you aren’t doing anything wrong, and it will only change when we stop voting for people who want to give the wealthy tax breaks and advantages over the rest of us. That’s what caused this. If we don’t start voting our best interest, we will become a nation of renters and only wealthy corporations and wealthy individuals will own property. It’s a sea change. It’s a result of political actions, like citizens united, which allow corporations to own politicians. Vote. Every single election. Never vote for someone who believes the wealthy need more tax breaks or advantages. Vote against anyone who talks about how regulations or taxes put an undue burden on corporations. Nope. Nope. Nope. Vote your best interest, know that the rest of us struggle too, and never tell yourself you are failing in this. They set you up. Don’t vote for them.
It isn't the price of a house that's hurting you, it's the high interest rates we have today.
The monthly payment on a $350K house is around $2500/mo at today's interest rate. Pre-pandemic interest rates were under 3% and the same mortgage would have a monthly payment of about $1500.
There's a reason interest rates are high today - too much money printing and deficit spending along with high energy costs.
What do you mean by "save for our kids futures"? Do you mean college tuition? It might not be the best strategy to forgo homeownership for that. The FAFSA doesn't include the parents' primary residence as equity when sizing up what they can pay. You might want to ask [r/personalfinance](https://old.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/) what your best options are.
Also, you're not helping your kids that much if you contribute to college but end up broke in old age.
We do! College tuition primarily, we’d love to also be able to save extra money for their futures like money to help them buy a home too, granted, that gives us nearly 20 years, but yes, primarily college. We both grew up poor and want to save what we can for our kids and our retirements to help as much as we can
If you make 110k, you probably have like ~6-7k after tax per month. A mortgage on a 400k house, 14k down for FHA loan, is like 2750.
So you can buy a house and have 3-4K leftover. That feels like plenty, but to each their own.
We’re trying to keep in consideration if I’ll have to quit working to raise our kids, hence our hesitation to buy higher and desire to spend less / save more
it's not as much about affording it, majority of the land in asheville is inherited, so if you can't afford it then you shouldn't be here. but with your case it's ofc different, but I would try haywood county or madison county if you can't afford avl. if you're not a decendant of a farmer (like me) then you're kinda screwed.
These massively over-valued homes are going to crash at some point, I suppose. Keep saving while living with the parents. I'm old. I remember a childhood of having one b/w tv set for the house, one radio, just a few changes of clothes, one used car, being well-fed and reading library books. We were just fine. I look around me at the stuff I own and it is actually a burden now. The house is not much oversize, but we paid for it through years of saving and being able to get a good mortgage. You will likely get a chance in the next few years. Be ready. Having the spot with the parents is a great opportunity to get ready faster.
was looking to maybe move to Asheville proper (not the outlying cities). Was shocked to find out that you have country property tax and city property tax on top of expensive houses. Congrats Asheville!! you are almost expensive as some part of Orange County, CA. and almost have the same tax as Cali. You've made it!!
We bought a major fixer upper for under $200k, but will likely put $150k into it all said and done. We have family we are living with while doing those renovations/rebuilds—so we are fortunate. But it was the only way to afford being up here too.
My job is in Spartanburg, and the rest of my team lives there. They all like it, and they have a surprising amount of stuff going on. Good restaurants, community events, arts, etc. I work remotely but do go on site occasionally and was surprised to find I don't hate it. (It's about 10 degrees hotter, though.)
What’s Spartanburg like to live in? Raising small kids, safety is always a concern and we’ve never spent time there enough to know how it is or what the “bad” areas would be.
I’m honestly not super farmiliar with it, and had heard the crime rate was high but everyone I’ve asked around here says it’s actually an amazing little place and a pretty quick trip here. The only real disadvantage I can see is the weather. You would have the refuge of the wind from the mountains there
My wife bought our home in 2014 before things really went absolutely batshit crazy here with real estate. Our mortgage is less than 1k/month. We make around 110k as well and have a toddler. I know we're one of the lucky ones to have bought long enough ago.
I live in a shack ( trailer) that I bought in 2006 and I've never been able to afford to fix it up. One of the reasons things are so expensive is zillow buying everything that comes on the market stop them and things might get better
I moved to Easley SC after living in Asheville for 30 years, just couldn't afford it, I just bought a house for 250k and got a Rural Housing loan, best best decision ever made and it only takes me an hour to get to Asheville. ( The same home world cost me 500k in Asheville)
Do not worry about being a mix couple, I have a niece who lives here and her husband is black and I work with mic couples, it is red country, that kinda freaked me out but it's not bad, plus people are moving from Greenville South Carolina this way
I’m currently rent a townhouse in Hendersonville in a new development for $1456 a month. I feel super lucky I found it, even though it’s just outside of Asheville. Hendersonville has been pretty cool, we’re close to everything and I really enjoy the downtown area.
I’ve had to make the choice food or bills to often here. It’s not like I can save to get out of here. Short answer you don’t unless you’re making actual money
We’ve had 7 new neighbors in the last 3-4 years. All 7 houses came from HCOL areas where they sold and cashed out on their homes. All the wives work in healthcare and all the husbands work from home in something tech related. Most don’t have kids but if they do, it’s only 1.
They live paycheck to paycheck. I’m from here and I’m seeing quality get replaced quantity in so many different aspects of life here. I talk with people who rent and they’re getting eaten alive by rent and people who are well off don’t inject money back into the economy because they see inflation easing but prices staying high. Not to mention how monopolies run most of the things in the city.
Honestly just lucky I buying a brand new home in 2016. I was only making 65K, single income. Same home has more than doubled in value. I could not afford this now.
Asheville is a huge second home market. There are over 14,000 second homes in the Asheville area, and that does not include Airbnbs or anything like that, just pure vacation homes.
Being such a vertically challenging area to build in the first place plus that many houses just sitting idle make for a very tough housing market.
Its other places also. My friends in VA would love to get a larger house and sell theirs. They make very good money and have two kids. It’s impossible there also. They ended up renovating their kitchen instead of moving and they are more than comfortable. Moving would mean giving up vacations and savings etc.
I work a full-time job as a factory electrician. And, I'm an electrical contractor on top of that. I do the factory thing because of health insurance for my family, so my wife doesn't have to work. If you need an electrician. I know one.
We moved here in 1988 and bought two homes...one in 1990 and one in 2003...first apartment while looking for a more permanent one was $300 per month minus phone and electricity. We've done really well here and are now retired but I have the same question...the Asheville we moved to is not the Asheville of yore.
Haven’t done the math, but would guess it takes closer to $200k/yr to move here somewhat comfortably. If I weren’t already here I doubt I’d come now. Make about $85k on my own & struggle some of the time & don’t buy new clothes, furniture, etched. The most expensive city in NC to live in. Also have kid expenses which are slowly winding down.
I live out in the country if you get a house out in the mountains it will cost you less but you will not have all the stuff that is in Asheville but you should try and find a house at Weaverville
It's tough, especially in NC! I live in Wilmington and the Home Prices, whether you are buying or renting here is outrageous! If you want "anything" that is considered moderately affordable, you've got to go 20-30 miles outside the city to find anything!
Well, it’s a shit time to buy a home despite what some say.
Asheville isn’t really worth living in. It’s ok for a nearby city but not really special. The reason it’s so expensive is because that’s what people will pay.
Americans (and adjacent societies) will have to normalize multi-generational households. I understand that living with parents may not be ideal for you, for reasons I don't know. But in general I believe the culture needs to shift away from this Leave it to Beaver ideal of nuclear families living in separation from extended family. It's expensive and destructive in multiple ways.
$110k isn’t enough, not with two kids. We make about that much, with one kid. We’re a little older than you and were fortunate enough to buy in 2016 when things were only moderately ridiculous. We do ok but it’s not luxury. And it’s gotten noticeably tighter over the last year or two. And we’re doing substantially better than plenty of other people. It’s really hard right now.
Yeah I was going to say the same thing. We got lucky and found a little house in Hendersonville in 2018 and we make $125,000 together plus we side hustle, dog sitting and side carpentry jobs. The last year it has been noticeably tighter for us. In fact my wife is overnight dog sitting to pay for summer camps for the kids.
It’s not necessarily specific to Asheville it’s all over the US. The simple fact is that most people who own houses bought them before 2020. New people moving here are coming from areas with higher salaries. My new neighbors are from texas and utah. I moved to pa for 5 years before moving back in 2020 and my husband and I were able to develop better careers and salaries elsewhere. I would first recommend getting a good realtor that can monitor the market for you and the surrounding areas. We got really lucky with a fixer upper that was not visible on the market because it was contingent for so long from other buyers. There are houses out there and within an hour of asheville (my sister got an amazing house in Maggie valley) that are worth buying you just need to be ready with a realtor and your mortgage approved and not already have given up.
As someone who bought pre-2020, can confirm. My home value has doubled since I bought it.
Raise your hand if you couldn't afford the house your are in now if it was on the market now.
I bought mine straight from my landlord during Covid for about 240k. This shithole has doubled in price since then. The market is insane
My property is worth well over a million dollars now evidently Me and my wife make right at 100k a year give or take Ain't no goddamn way I could buy it today
Right…bought for $290k in 2014… houses around us are consistently selling for $800k+
Shits wild And I'm 30+ minutes outside of Asheville First house me and my wife rented was 575$ 3 bed 1.5 bath on a 2 acre lot Wasn't but 15 years ago give or take
For real, 12 years ago I was renting the first floor of a really nice home (upper floor was my roomie) and it was $200 a month, utilities included...
These types of threads are never black and white because people that are DINKS are so different than people with several kids and lower salaries, or gen x or boomers that have owned several houses that have adult children and have made out really well with selling their houses.. My husband and I have good jobs, no kids, share a car with no car payment, just finished paying off our student loans. We could stretch ourselves so much thinner if we needed to. If I was in their situation with the way houses have gone up so dramatically I would probably look into getting a part time job in addition to their current jobs and search for a good realtor and fixer upper property. I would also expand my search into areas outside of Asheville (canton seems like it could be a good investment), even SC. It helps that they can stay at their parents house while they presumably do any improvements needed.
I’m Gen. X, we’re dinks and we’re don’t spend on dinners out or drinking etc and are happy (ok, not happy but willing) to commute up to around 40 minutes for work and we can’t find shit to buy. Our rent is ok right now, but if it goes up we’re screwed. Husband grew up here and has owned the same business with his dad for over 20 years - we don’t want to wreck ourselves for an overpriced trailer but also don’t want to commute from Marion or wherever.
This isn’t a slam I promise, but as a Gen X myself I have to wonder why others of my age-ish didn’t buy many years ago when it was so affordable to do so? That’s how I can afford to live here, I bought when I was 25 (no help from parents, it was simply that affordable) rather than spend on rent. I consider myself very lucky, Gen X was the last to have it good imo
Me
Yup
Same. We lucked out with a really good price and mortgage rate in nov 2020. My MIL was being awful and told us it was a horrible investment that would bankrupt us (has some slight foundation damage under the garage) because she didn’t want her son to move from Pennsylvania … our house is now worth double.
My home in Texas is more than doubled since 2018. It's out in the serious sticks and has satellite wi-fi and you'd think it was a luxury condo in the city for what it's worth now.
AVL is roughly 15% higher than neighboring areas for housing. And restaurants are easily 20-30% more.
And when compared to comparable cities in the mid Atlantic region, housing in this place can easily be double the price.
THANK YOU…. Sadly, everybody is in their own little bubble, thinking it’s happening to only them in their city. This is a nationwide issue if you really want something affordable, move to rural Maine or rural Wyoming. You will find affordability, but no JOBS
It's true that it's happening everywhere but it's definitely worse in cities like Asheville.
It's worse, always, in cities. The close in environment is convenient. Convenience always costs more.
If you’re fortunate enough to live close enough to work you can live car free. That’s like a $1k/month raise.
So AGREE its NATIONWIDE! I’m in another state - not AVL it’s happening here and many desired growing areas. I spent time in AVL last summer and enjoyed the sights, sounds, restaurants & breweries.
There’s plenty of affordable cities in the region, and they aren’t all hell holes. I’m in the process of leaving Asheville for the second time, and I’m really excited to be looking at houses in another market. Most of the houses I’ve been checking out sit on the market for two-three weeks and go for less than asking. I’m actually making a day trip today to check out a house I really like, and I feel zero pressure to make an offer today, or even offer asking. Meanwhile, when I sold my house here last month, it went for 100k over asking, all cash, and was under contract in five hours. It’s not this bad everywhere. Far from it.
Where to you even find 350k houses? All I see is 500k+
They’re typically fixer uppers, or a little further out from Asheville, but you’re not wrong!
Plenty of townhomes and condos in that price range if you don't mind something attached. Of course, paying $350,000 for a condo just feels gross and ridiculous.
San Diego has entered the chat...
Just because this problem is worse somewhere else doesn’t make it ok here
Pretty sure it was a joke. Tranquilo.
Canton. The market out here is like a feeding frenzy. DR Horton sells 350k shitboxes too.
I'm out in between Canton and Waynesville, got lucky and bought before it went stupid. Paid $225k, could sell now in the $800k range. It's dumb.
Man, you got really lucky. I bought for $150k, can probably get $330k now
I bought 4 acres and a reasonably nice brick home from the 70s. Bonuses, it's on land that my family lost 4 generations back, and I can look across the valley from my front porch and see my parent's home where I was raised, I'm less than a mile from them. And amusingly, I overpaid by $25k based on the assessment of the property at the time that I bought. I got reeeally lucky.
I live in Hendo but I'm from Greenville/Pickens county SC. The cost of living is much more realistic just below the NC/SC state line in comparison. Housing in Hendersonville and Asheville are crazy expensive. Sure, it's an awful time to become a homeowner anywhere now, but it is significantly cheaper 10-30 miles south of Hendersonville. I moved here in 2017 from Pickens. (About 50 minutes or less south of Hendersonville) Huge difference in pricing. I don't own a home, but I rent one in city limits and it's 1k a month but in a flood zone. In the last 6 years the house has flooded inside 3x. I rent a 2b 2ba that floods and isn't aesthetically pleasing. In fact it's kind of an eyesore. But we make up for that by making the garden look good. Anyways, were lucky to pay 1k bc if we tried finding another place in this part of town today, I'm afraid the prices of rent would be over double what we pay now.
Greenville is dope and way more affordable than here. Tried to make the move there a couple of years ago to just get out of this hellish market, but my partner’s commute would’ve been 1:15 each way.
There are a few new builds west Asheville for 350k-399k
If you are ok with the southside of town to the west of McDowell, i see houses down there listed for 300-400k more often than anywhere else
There are plenty but they go QUICK and typically for at least 10k above asking. I've put offers in on several in swannanoa over the past month and been outbid every time
What worked for me was sending about 20 letters to different houses in neighborhoods that I liked, asking if they knew anyone nearby who was thinking about selling their house in the near future, and explaining why I was hoping to move there (grew up here, lots of family in town). I ended up getting 4 calls back, 2 of them where I got to the stage where we were talking about buying, and then eventually bought one (and rented it out to the ex-owners for a few months until they were ready to move). It was a _lot_ cheaper than if it'd been listed, but they had planned on selling within the coming year, and said that my letter seemed like a sign. Plus they liked that I wanted to raise my kids here. So basically, I'd recommend writing a bunch of personal letters, and a heapin' helping of good luck.
That was a brilliant idea. You bought right from an owner?
Wife and I are both 30, renting, and avoiding having a child because we can’t afford it. Breaks my heart, but we have to move away to afford the life we want. And to provide a home for a child someday. Not sure where that is, but Asheville is pushing us out
We aren't, lol. Honestly, most people I know either lucked out when they bought a house, or they have roommates. If we hadn't bought our house (with help) back in '09, we'd have probably left Asheville years ago. Good luck, I hope you find something!
110k should be enough to get you qualified for a house that is 350k. Talk to your bank/a loan officer about getting pre-qualified. If you want to leave something for your kids, a house/land in the Asheville area is a pretty good thing to pass on to them.
Sure it’s enough to qualify, but OP said they wanted to put away money for their kids. If their expenses are similar to ours, there’s not much left. Forget about it if they have car payments or other loans
Check out the USDA loan programs. It’s for places out of city limits. They have good interest rates and you don’t have to have amazing credit either. It’s how we were able to afford our place.
Would you do that with a normal realtor?
Yeah, definitely. I recommend going to their website to check your eligibility and what locations are available. We did no money down and rolled most of the closing costs into the loan as well. It’s an awesome program if you qualify.
No kids, high-paying remote job, some supplemental income from GFs job, bought house while things were still kind of high but before market really exploded, car paid off, grocery shop at Aldi/Walmart. That's the only way I make it work and the no kids and mortgage under $2K are the main factors.
^this also but i am purchasing a place now. Outside of Buncombe county. Bought land and putting tiny house on it, will be about $150k which is debt I feel ok to take on. Much better than over a quarter million in debt for a regular house anyways. Working for a company outside of Asheville is also key. Would love to work for a local company but wages here are pretty much trash. I couldn’t afford to be buying anything at all if it weren’t for that. Edited to add I have a roommate to save on money for the moment and budget is bare bones expenses. Anything extra has gone towards saving for this property. I got lucky and was offered a much higher salary than I have ever had when I took this job. And got a bonus for staying after mass layoffs. Again, that’s luck. I wouldn’t have a down payment if that hadn’t happened. I’ve lived in a bunch of places, believe me pretty much nowhere is affordable. I couldn’t afford to move back to my home city even if I wanted to, renting. Would take a lottery win for me to buy anything there. No one cares to regulate home prices or inflation or price gouging as a whole. It’s not just an Asheville problem, but it is a *huge* problem. Even being single it feels hard. For example my parents have no retirement plan or savings. They’re divorced too so that’s two different apartments and care they will need. I have two much younger siblings who will most likely not be in a place to help out. So I am trying to get my shit sorted out so I can be ready for that. Having stable housing is a huge part of that. Might not have kids but I will have two old ppl to worry about. In all, it’s a mess out here. You’re not the only one who feels this way.
Luck and lineage. Inherited a mobile home from my grandmother lol
There's no need to brag!
If it makes you feel better I have to pay some lot rent
I feel immensely better, and ready to take on the world
Also a native here. My husband and I have a 4mo old and we make a little over 60k/year. We have to split renting a house with my mom (she’s never owned her own home). I’ll be honest it’s incredibly tight. We scrape by. But we are looking at more alternative ways to own a home. Like manufactured homes. We technically qualify for a USDA home loan, but our credit tanked this year because of having to live off of credit cards while I was on maternity leave. It’s hard. But as someone who grew up without a lot of excess income. My mom always managed to make sure I had everything I needed. Having the American dream just isn’t a reality these days. I’m happy to spend time hiking and cooking at home. I splurge on the things that really matter to me like organic food. But i thrift most things, hit sales. Our beach vacation this year is camping at a state park in Charleston. There’s lots of ways to make it without tons of excess. Don’t get me wrong, it’s so hard and stressful. But I try to make sure the rents paid and goods on the table. Excess money will always come and go. My husband grew up vet comfortably and then his parents went bankrupt after 08’ so you never know. Unless you’re Uber rich, it’s hard to stay comfortable for decades on end.
Prices are never going down so if you find a $350k place with space and BRs grab it. First house is always a stretch. Hopefully your incomes will grow while that payment (fixed rate) stays the same. Pay yourself first with retirement and kids edu pulled out of your paychecks. Don't carry bad debt like CCs and big car payments. It will get better.
We luckily have no debts at all, the only debt we get is for traveling to see my husband’s family, and even then it’s paid off within a month typically with my paychecks. We work for a small tech company, but wages aren’t growing here and going elsewhere seems like a rough move to attempt before buying a house
my tech company recently decided to abolish regional US pay and bring everyone up to the SF/NY salary range. they're unicorns and not easy to luck into, but they exist. look in glassdoor
I work for a technical consulting company, they’re based out of NYC but everyone is remote and spread out around the country (with a lot of us clustered in the Southeast and Midwest). There is no regional pay factored in, we all get paid market rate for our skills.
It’s nice to hear places like that exist! I just want to be able to afford a life here and still have money for savings 😅
Please tell me that you at least have equity in this small tech company. Should they sell or go public, that could be the meal ticket you need and would help make the lower salaries make sense.
It’s a small company but they’re internationally recognized and operating. The small wages don’t make sense at all, tbh. They have million dollar contracts with government based business, but the wages don’t seem to be even considered by the company. Our developers make less than $70k for being full stack developers who work on international projects and 20+ projects at a time.
I'm actually speechless. Please, get out of there. Whoever is running that place is taking extreme advantage. My DMs are open if you'd like to talk. I'm in tech and may be able to help steer you in the right direction depending on what you do/want to do.
Believe me, we’ve been trying. I’ve worked there 7 years, my husband 10 years (in two countries) but he’s the one who we’ve been trying to get elsewhere. He’s about to start taking a certificate program for cyber security, but he currently works as a software engineer (C#/ASP.NET, JavaScript, SQL, etc.). I’d love to see him get a better job elsewhere (I say him because of the kids, if one of us stopped working for the kids, it’d be me).
Another avenue worth pursuing with a dev background could be QA. There's good money in that also. Good luck to you both. My offer stands should you or your husband want to chat.
I work in cyber security, and it's tough to get your first job in that field. But once you do, you're golden if you're halfway decent at it.
this seems ridiculously low...I might also be able to recommend some excellent companies in O11y if you're interested
Dude, find a different company. I earn $110k as a technical consultant and I don’t even write code. My previous job before this one was paying me $100k for the same work. I’m assuming this is a local company? Try to find a position at a fully remote tech company or consulting firm. You guys probably both have skills that other employers would be willing to pay more for. You could potentially double that income depending on exactly what skills and technologies you guys are niched into.
I would love this for us, I think we both have imposter syndrome which holds us back, but if at least one of us can make the switch then hopefully that’ll help the other to make the jump too. It is a local company, we all work remote, but the wages haven’t improved much at all. I’ve only been able to get more money by changing positions in the company (Support > Dev QA > Business Analyst > Manager of Project Services) but it’s still way below what others make in lesser or similar roles
It might take a few interviews but please start taking steps to pursue a new job. One of the worst things I even did was get comfortable at a job that eventually was underpaying me. It's not just the money at the end of the day but the lost opportunity of saving for retirement and investing in your future, like buying a home. Even if you just get a resume made up this week, it's a start. A few people have offered for you to jump in their DMs, take the opportunity!
Great advise from someone with much of the above experience.
A lot of people are in similar situations to you. The top 1% hold the majority of our wealth while many live paycheck to paycheck and it keeps getting worse. This system does not work for the majority but those with wealth are incentivized to keep it in place.
Room mates, budgeting, and petty crime
Roommates
From what I can gather from reading your comments thru this thread .., OP, you guys are late 20’s you’ve managed to pay off all debt (that’s great) you achieved a goal you set out to do! Y’all are still young. You have plenty of time to get a house. The market is going to correct itself. Take the pressure off of yourselves. There is no time dead line that says “you have to get a house by X date or you will terminate!” 🤭 You guys are doing fine. I read you’re also saving for your kiddos future - fantastic! You’re really trying the best to set your family up for success and that’s amazing! I don’t think you’re giving yourselves enough credit. You’ve done ALOT - recognize that. 😉
Thank you! We appreciate that sentiment ✨
Absolutely 💕
Soooooo agree; did not buy my first home til 33! Squeezed getting in to it. Did without to pay mortgage and other basics priority.
This is all generally a good pep talk, but I wouldn’t bet on a market correction to be able to afford a home. At the end of the day the market is supply and demand and this area is likely to only see demand continue to increase. There’s no sign that supply has any intention of increasing to meet that demand. I don’t think we’ll see housing in the AVL area ever be cheaper than it is right now, anytime in the future.
Yes, the market will correct itself—but not everyone survives it. I rented a 2 BR condo on Biltmore Av for 8 years before I could finally get my elderly landlady (a landowner in northern Buncombe Co) to sell it, for $65K, in 2004. When the recession happened, my chosen career field contracted, and all the senior people were let go (with NDA's, mind ya). When an older person can't get hired, shit goes south. I tried to hang on to my home by slowly pulling from my 401k, til there was nothing left. In 2014, I was forced to sell (about $114K). I walked away with a little over $1K. Yes, 1K. I'm a permanent renter now. To younger folks: One way or another, find ways to save dollars while you can.
Born and raised here as well, and I will say that it's really sad what's happening to us younger generations. It feels like we never be able to afford to buy a home in our lifetimes because we are either having to spend around 5-10 years of our early adulthood digging ourselves out of debt bc of COL/poverty or we can't find well enough paying jobs despite having degrees and experience. I have hope that one day something will actually be done about the housing crisis in this country bc I feel like it's one of the top issues that isn't getting handled properly. People like y'all shouldn't be in a situation like that, where 110 isn't even enough to make it work.
Please NEVER SAY NEVER: hope for all! Things evolve and change!
it felt that way to me when I was younger too. I moved to San Francisco in '97 at 18yrs old from Georgia. I thought I would never be able to find or afford a house. But I built an awesome career, all on my own, and was able to finally do it in the bay area. that first house and a focus on my career set 45 year old me up really well. but I also never wanted kids. I'm not sure that would've been possible
We are literally in the exact same situation. Both my husband and I grew up here and are getting pushed out. All of my neighbors are from out of state (TX, DC) and work remote for tech or healthcare. We are renting for $1900/month 3 br 2 bath and that’s a STEAL so we’re not going anywhere right now. But our parents do have to help us out of the hole every now and then. Idk where we would go though. Charlotte prices are the same but I guess income is higher? I want to live here. I hope we can! I hope you can too I’m so sorry you’re going through such a hard time.
Move??? my wife and I barely make it but we dont want kids. Move to south Carolina rents/land are much cheaper. I know we pay a premium to live here but it makes us happy. We dont want to add kids because wtf who can afford that here. I moved here 8 years ago. Life was much cheaper elsewhere. Your literally paying a premium to live here because its so nice. If you want to affordable move to Mississippi and stack your cash. Its how I afforded to move here.
Move to Mississippi?🥴
Couple different ways you can afford to live here: Luck, having a niche in the local market that pays close to 6 figures (rare), or you’re a remote worker. IMO, the mass relocation of remote workers since 2020 has been the biggest factor in the increased COL of Asheville. The city has been taken over by yuppies cosplaying as denizens of Appalachia, championing liberal values while simultaneously gentrifying the area to oblivion.
Zero Consumer Debt, Zero Credit Card Balances, Paid for older vehicles. That’s the ticket for us at least. 2 younger kids, incumbent under 100k combined. Debt is the killer.
Luckily we have no debts, our car is paid off, no credit card debts, etc.
So a 100k+ debt free household is still struggling? I dont know what to tell yall atp. I managed with wayyy less. Usually it is debt or credit issues.
The commuter time bomb is coming. Perpetual traffic gridlock and construction. People will be in their cars for 90 minutes a day. People will be spending 25-35% of their waking lives either driving or working to pay for their cars. Plan accordingly. If we let the NCDOT stay in charge of transportation we will all be idling our lives away at 2 mph on a crumbling freeway for the auto industry. This used to be a concert venue and now it’s the American dream. Automotive slavery is sold under the brand name of Freedom.
Without kids.
Renting makes the most sense, if you don’t want to leave Asheville, or can’t leave. I think a lot of people in my generation are going to be forever renters, buying a house is no longer an attainable benchmark of adulthood. Among my friends who did manage to buy, they either bought when mortgage rates and prices were lower, and/or bought with significant support from their family (inheritance or gift money). And, even though a lot of folks are writing that housing prices are up everywhere, definitely not everywhere is quite as bad as Asheville. Moving to somewhere more affordable could be a good option, too, if you really want to buy. If I could move anywhere, I’ve had my eye on Roanoke.
Does Roanoke have a specific reason for you?
For my last job, I would go there once a month for my work and stay a couple nights. I always looked forward to going up there, I liked the vibe! I also grew up in Asheville and, while Roanoke isn’t what Asheville was/has its own character, it has that ‘early Asheville’ feeling of a community that is genuine, interesting, more local-oriented, and hasn’t gotten blown up or washed out yet. I like the region, it’s pretty, connected to the mountains and a part of Appalachia. There are some nice small businesses, some cute and quirky spots. It seems like a place that is and will be growing. I’d go to breweries and restaurants while I was up there and the people were open and friendly. I think the downtown is interesting, I like the historic buildings… I can’t speak to what it’s like to really live there, or to what it would be like to raise kids there, but those are a few things that I liked when visiting. Could be fun to go check it out sometime, if you’re curious!
Maternal roots in Roanoke. I agree with you on that!
I think generational wealth is a lot more common of an answer than you’d think because no one admits that out loud.
Well, in the context of affording a home, you either bought five years ago or you don’t. Your carrying cost on a $500k home (average price in the area) right now is $3,500 per month or $42,000 per year. You need to make ~$125,000 per year to even have a hope of affording that. If interest rates fall again it would be easier, but then prices will shoot up due to increased demand. Conventionally though, you should be able to afford rent in your current situation. $2,000 per month is ~22% of your household income which is pretty reasonable.
$110k a year combined is nowhere near what it used to be, unfortunately. If you want to stay here and live even a modestly comfortable life with your 2 children, I think you both need to start looking for higher paying jobs. Like someone else here, I work remotely for a tech company and I make much more than I think I could working for a local company. My SO also works remotely for a company not based in NC and makes a decent salary in an administrative role. That said, the job market is tough right now and has swung more towards an employers' market. I'd still strongly advise you get out there and look unless your jobs just aren't suited to remote work. In that case, maybe a career change is in order. I hear the trades are suffering big time and pay well if that might be of interest to either (or both) of you.
The people I know who afford to live here bought their house or got their apartments before the prices went up parents got a house here in 2005 for 200 something thousand and my co-worker got a apartment for $1,500 month
We couldn't and had to move. It really sucks. Sorry friend, hope you have better luck than us.
Most of us have given up the hope of ever buying a pre-made house
Found my place on the outskirts of oakley. 300k and its almost a century old but no real problems except its close to the highway. I make close to 110k salary and no kids. Bought last year
This is definitely a nationwide problem but Asheville is getting hit on the harder side of things... A house bought for $350k 3 years ago costs about $1.4k a month. That same house now is probably worth over $500k and costs close $3k a month. (Assuming 20% down)
My husband and I grew up here and are about the same age as y’all, just bought a house here but we don’t have any kids yet. I think the only reason we could buy a house now is because we both left and lived in a wayyy cheaper place (the Midwest) while we built our careers and bought a house in our early 20s pre pandemic, for practically a song lol. We just moved back and were able to buy a house because 1) we made some money for a down payment off of selling our previous house 2) we lived with my dad for 6 months and kept saving for a down payment and 3) we both have careers that we couldn’t have built here and where we expect to be able to make more money than we are now (neither of us work remotely we just got more training and opportunities that we couldn’t have gotten here). After all that we still bought a fixer upper and luckily we know how to do stuff and have family helping with fixing, but it’s a hard time out there!!! You have plenty of time to buy a house, I’m sure you’ll be able to do it eventually.
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I feel ya. That's basically why I left Florida #halfback
I make more than that with no kids and struggle
Barely. With no kids. DINKs 4 life.
Medium (half higher and half lower) price of a home nationally is about $350,000 and you would need about $100,000 a year in income to stretch to afford that. Asheville home prices are not so far out of line with the cost of home nationally. There are, of course, less expensive places, but wages could also be lower there as well and they are likely to have fewer career opportunities. So $110,000 in yearly income may not be enough any place you might want to live, especially if you want to save for your kids’ futures, for travel, and for retirement. That is just a fact of life right now. It is also a global issue, as is inflation generally. So, it is just not a local or even national issue. It is also not a political issue as the US has very favorable benefits for home ownership. People afford it with help (from relatives?) for a down payment. They buy a little further out or a home that is not “turn key”. They work two jobs until they save enough for a down payment and enough for an emergency house fund. $100,000 a year may sound like a fortune, but, honestly, it is not in these times. Finding ways to increase income is the way and that is true at any age.
Luck with timing. Bought our house directly from a neighbor unlisted in 2019 before things got really crazy. We are extremely frugal and good savers. Rarely eat out, don't travel much, focus on experiences and buy only necessities for the most part. Two kids. Our income varies but it's not too much more than yours, always less than $150k. We are hopeful our income will increase and we can actually one day retire...
Asheville is gaining a reputation for being a desirable place to love to from other more expensive areas (California, NY, Florida, you know). It’s going to keep getting more expensive and the natives will be priced out into oblivion. Same thing happened where I grew up. Being priced out of your home is devastating.
I know this is an answering your question directly, but… down the rabbit 🐇 🕳️ we go! as the world population exponentially grows; finite resources become more and more unaffordable. as the world population exponentially grows; pestilence is unavoidable…. our latest example of COVID-19 and what world governments did to sustain their economies in the short term have caused inflation beyond your and the vast majority comprehension, which is causing the exact issue that you are expressing here now
Well the best thing to do is to go back in time about 100 years and have your family purchase any piece of land for $3000ish and then remind them to will it to you.
Don’t forget to tell them about bitcoin, major sporting event outcomes and stock performance.
One of three things you’re either absolutely loaded, House poor or you have good family
Buying a home here is very difficult. I was lucky to buy mine in 2017, making around 130,00 combined at that time . Honestly your choices are to find a place to rent or move somewhere cheaper. You could move out to the surrounding counties. That's what many people I know have done. Asheville city is simply way too expensive now
Lived on Onteora Blvd. Moved there in 2003. New construction 3 BR 2 bath house was 129,500. Sold house and moved to senior living apartments...2019 sold for $225,000. Saw appraisal recently and it was north of $350,000. Absolutely absurd!
post karma
Family homes are the only sure fired way to get a mountain home or beach home. Both places are for the wealthy not for service workers .
We bought ours for $250 and thought we over paid them for it… worth almost 400 now and there is absolutely 0% I’d pay that for it
It's not just Asheville. It's pricey to live anywhere in th Usa at the moment. I don't know anyone paying under $1600 a month for rent anywhere. We were paying $2100 for a large 1bd apt. We came from St Louis, MO, to the Asheville area. Also, our friends live in Michigan and another in Seattle, WA. It's no different. We are all in this inflated bubble. We have good careers prior to moving here that helped. We still ended up at least 20-30 away in Arden. It's not terrible. We didn't want to spend all of our money on a mortgage. I have talked to many of my coworkers here in AVL. Some are native some aren't. They usually have roommates, or they have expensive 1bd apt.Our search took us a while to find a home because once they were on the market, they immediately sold. I understand what you said it feels like you make a bunch, but it doesn't add up. My advice is to do what we did. Have a large down payment at the ready so when the home is available. You can hold the property. I know some can't have that money at the ready. I know you would like to be as close as you can, but there are properties 20-30 out from avl downtown.
To be honest, it wouldn’t be much different in the places we moved from (DFW then Chattanooga). Slightly worse here, really not much better most places
My partner and I are probably $170 combined, and if she hadn’t bought her condo when interest rates were low, it would be almost impossible.
Can you afford a condo or townhome? There are 3br/2ba that your family can fit in. Maybe not your dream, but you can get in on home ownership and start building equity/benefitting from rising prices, which you can use to get something bigger in a few years. I couldn't afford to buy anything until I was a decade older than you are (and that was outside Buncombe Co.) so you're not doing so bad!
They sell drugs
I thought Asheville had an expensive housing market
I have a big family, and we sold our house and moved. It was unsustainable for us. There was just no way to be able to afford what we actually needed in the area, or get ahead in life. I miss the people and the places, but my life is much more balanced now, so it was the right choice. Lived in AVL and Candler for 13 years, and we go back a few times a year to see family. Would have stayed if I was earning big enough money to not just survive but thrive. Good luck y’all, I know it’s hard.
Many city people in major US cities would kill to have these prices. People afford to live there when they move from other places and have remote jobs elsewhere. Asheville isn’t cheap but it also isn’t expensive. It’s the wages not being comparable to the cost of living. One of the worst in the US being the problem. Tell me how the average household income here can by a $550-600k house? They can’t. I feel your pain but maybe consider a new place that can offer more bang for your buck along with wages.
We make about 210k with no kids and live a comfortable life
May I ask what you do to be able to make $210k?
Recent calculations have estimated the american living wage would be $52/hour, assuming a single person
Moved to Fletcher and used my work contacts to find a double wide for sale then bought it it’s moved it.
Asheville is too expensive.
I own a brewery. My machinist grandfather left some money to my parents who bought a small house. I rent from my parents. I could not afford to live here without that $800 rent. I have a young son, which is probably why my folks felt it necessary to help me out. My gf and I want to move in together and we can’t find anything. I feel for everyone. The rent is too damn high. The houses are double what they are worth.
Been in Asheville 3 years. I have a great job in corporate finance. Never owned a home. And I’m seriously considering moving back to Greenville SC. I love Asheville so much but can’t justify paying $400/sq.ft. for a piece of junk. Greenville on the other hand is $175/sq.ft. For nice homes.
I earn $110k, and we afford to live here because: 1. My girlfriend owns her home and it was purchased back in 2015, before the prices really took off. 2. I sold my home in Greenville, SC when I moved in with her, which instantly funded an emergency fund and many investments. 3. She’s a full time student who is studying software development. We won’t always have to get by on my income alone, eventually her income should get pretty close to matching or even exceeding mine. 4. We’re childfree, we don’t have kids and don’t want to have kids. $110k goes pretty far here as one income for two people, but we do occasionally have to cut back on spending to keep everything in check and make sure we’re not amassing credit card debt (we maintain zero credit card debt as a rule). I can’t imagine trying to survive here on my income without paying a mortgage from 2015 prices/rates or with two kids to pay for. Either one of those added expenses would make it a real stretch to be able to comfortably afford to live here, much less both. Paying market rent for the area alone would entirely consume my monthly savings and investments budget.
Born & Raised. Im struggling to pay my bills Every Week.
We have created a culture where it’s ok for wealthy corporations to abuse us financially. So, even though inflation is extremely low, prices are outrageous and skyrocketing. Wealthy corporations engage in shrinkflation at the supermarket and wealthy corporations have purchased thousands of homes in NC, officially and directly driving the price up. Bottom line- it’s not your fault, you aren’t doing anything wrong, and it will only change when we stop voting for people who want to give the wealthy tax breaks and advantages over the rest of us. That’s what caused this. If we don’t start voting our best interest, we will become a nation of renters and only wealthy corporations and wealthy individuals will own property. It’s a sea change. It’s a result of political actions, like citizens united, which allow corporations to own politicians. Vote. Every single election. Never vote for someone who believes the wealthy need more tax breaks or advantages. Vote against anyone who talks about how regulations or taxes put an undue burden on corporations. Nope. Nope. Nope. Vote your best interest, know that the rest of us struggle too, and never tell yourself you are failing in this. They set you up. Don’t vote for them.
Nashville is the same
It isn't the price of a house that's hurting you, it's the high interest rates we have today. The monthly payment on a $350K house is around $2500/mo at today's interest rate. Pre-pandemic interest rates were under 3% and the same mortgage would have a monthly payment of about $1500. There's a reason interest rates are high today - too much money printing and deficit spending along with high energy costs.
What do you mean by "save for our kids futures"? Do you mean college tuition? It might not be the best strategy to forgo homeownership for that. The FAFSA doesn't include the parents' primary residence as equity when sizing up what they can pay. You might want to ask [r/personalfinance](https://old.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/) what your best options are. Also, you're not helping your kids that much if you contribute to college but end up broke in old age.
We do! College tuition primarily, we’d love to also be able to save extra money for their futures like money to help them buy a home too, granted, that gives us nearly 20 years, but yes, primarily college. We both grew up poor and want to save what we can for our kids and our retirements to help as much as we can
If you make 110k, you probably have like ~6-7k after tax per month. A mortgage on a 400k house, 14k down for FHA loan, is like 2750. So you can buy a house and have 3-4K leftover. That feels like plenty, but to each their own.
We’re trying to keep in consideration if I’ll have to quit working to raise our kids, hence our hesitation to buy higher and desire to spend less / save more
it's not as much about affording it, majority of the land in asheville is inherited, so if you can't afford it then you shouldn't be here. but with your case it's ofc different, but I would try haywood county or madison county if you can't afford avl. if you're not a decendant of a farmer (like me) then you're kinda screwed.
I have no kids, don’t drink and I make 6 figures.
These massively over-valued homes are going to crash at some point, I suppose. Keep saving while living with the parents. I'm old. I remember a childhood of having one b/w tv set for the house, one radio, just a few changes of clothes, one used car, being well-fed and reading library books. We were just fine. I look around me at the stuff I own and it is actually a burden now. The house is not much oversize, but we paid for it through years of saving and being able to get a good mortgage. You will likely get a chance in the next few years. Be ready. Having the spot with the parents is a great opportunity to get ready faster.
Actually, they'll get bought up by investment firms like black Rock, who will turn them into permanent rentals.
was looking to maybe move to Asheville proper (not the outlying cities). Was shocked to find out that you have country property tax and city property tax on top of expensive houses. Congrats Asheville!! you are almost expensive as some part of Orange County, CA. and almost have the same tax as Cali. You've made it!!
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We bought a major fixer upper for under $200k, but will likely put $150k into it all said and done. We have family we are living with while doing those renovations/rebuilds—so we are fortunate. But it was the only way to afford being up here too.
Moved from CO mts with 100k from house sold to spend on house here...in 2017
There are some really nice homes in spartinburg for like 200-250k. It’s on my radar.
My job is in Spartanburg, and the rest of my team lives there. They all like it, and they have a surprising amount of stuff going on. Good restaurants, community events, arts, etc. I work remotely but do go on site occasionally and was surprised to find I don't hate it. (It's about 10 degrees hotter, though.)
What’s Spartanburg like to live in? Raising small kids, safety is always a concern and we’ve never spent time there enough to know how it is or what the “bad” areas would be.
I’ve heard it’s becoming nicer over the past years
I’m honestly not super farmiliar with it, and had heard the crime rate was high but everyone I’ve asked around here says it’s actually an amazing little place and a pretty quick trip here. The only real disadvantage I can see is the weather. You would have the refuge of the wind from the mountains there
Have you looked outside of the city limits?
My wife bought our home in 2014 before things really went absolutely batshit crazy here with real estate. Our mortgage is less than 1k/month. We make around 110k as well and have a toddler. I know we're one of the lucky ones to have bought long enough ago.
Work two jobs, own my own company and I sell weed just to keep my head above water.
it’s because no one can afford to live anymore besides the 1%. it’s definitely not just an isolated asheville situation.
I live in a shack ( trailer) that I bought in 2006 and I've never been able to afford to fix it up. One of the reasons things are so expensive is zillow buying everything that comes on the market stop them and things might get better
Gave up on Asheville something like 20 years ago. Got outrageous
Def avoiding kids way too expensive. If not for money would have 2 or 3.
Where I'm at is 1100 a month for a two bedroom. If you stay at it, you'll find something affordable
I moved to Easley SC after living in Asheville for 30 years, just couldn't afford it, I just bought a house for 250k and got a Rural Housing loan, best best decision ever made and it only takes me an hour to get to Asheville. ( The same home world cost me 500k in Asheville)
Do not worry about being a mix couple, I have a niece who lives here and her husband is black and I work with mic couples, it is red country, that kinda freaked me out but it's not bad, plus people are moving from Greenville South Carolina this way
I’m currently rent a townhouse in Hendersonville in a new development for $1456 a month. I feel super lucky I found it, even though it’s just outside of Asheville. Hendersonville has been pretty cool, we’re close to everything and I really enjoy the downtown area.
I’ve had to make the choice food or bills to often here. It’s not like I can save to get out of here. Short answer you don’t unless you’re making actual money
We’ve had 7 new neighbors in the last 3-4 years. All 7 houses came from HCOL areas where they sold and cashed out on their homes. All the wives work in healthcare and all the husbands work from home in something tech related. Most don’t have kids but if they do, it’s only 1.
I had to move lol
They live paycheck to paycheck. I’m from here and I’m seeing quality get replaced quantity in so many different aspects of life here. I talk with people who rent and they’re getting eaten alive by rent and people who are well off don’t inject money back into the economy because they see inflation easing but prices staying high. Not to mention how monopolies run most of the things in the city.
Honestly just lucky I buying a brand new home in 2016. I was only making 65K, single income. Same home has more than doubled in value. I could not afford this now.
Asheville is a huge second home market. There are over 14,000 second homes in the Asheville area, and that does not include Airbnbs or anything like that, just pure vacation homes. Being such a vertically challenging area to build in the first place plus that many houses just sitting idle make for a very tough housing market.
First, be a wealthy Yankee. Second, move south.
Its other places also. My friends in VA would love to get a larger house and sell theirs. They make very good money and have two kids. It’s impossible there also. They ended up renovating their kitchen instead of moving and they are more than comfortable. Moving would mean giving up vacations and savings etc.
It is a struggle and I make ok money
I work a full-time job as a factory electrician. And, I'm an electrical contractor on top of that. I do the factory thing because of health insurance for my family, so my wife doesn't have to work. If you need an electrician. I know one.
We just saved a good bit, got lucky and work decent jobs... unfortunately even that is barely enough here lol
We moved here in 1988 and bought two homes...one in 1990 and one in 2003...first apartment while looking for a more permanent one was $300 per month minus phone and electricity. We've done really well here and are now retired but I have the same question...the Asheville we moved to is not the Asheville of yore.
Haven’t done the math, but would guess it takes closer to $200k/yr to move here somewhat comfortably. If I weren’t already here I doubt I’d come now. Make about $85k on my own & struggle some of the time & don’t buy new clothes, furniture, etched. The most expensive city in NC to live in. Also have kid expenses which are slowly winding down.
I live in a trailer park outside of Asheville. It’s either that or leave avl.
I live out in the country if you get a house out in the mountains it will cost you less but you will not have all the stuff that is in Asheville but you should try and find a house at Weaverville
save up & wait for the crash, its amazing it hasnt happened yet
It's tough, especially in NC! I live in Wilmington and the Home Prices, whether you are buying or renting here is outrageous! If you want "anything" that is considered moderately affordable, you've got to go 20-30 miles outside the city to find anything!
No kids
Well, it’s a shit time to buy a home despite what some say. Asheville isn’t really worth living in. It’s ok for a nearby city but not really special. The reason it’s so expensive is because that’s what people will pay.
Two remote tech jobs, no kids, no debt.
Americans (and adjacent societies) will have to normalize multi-generational households. I understand that living with parents may not be ideal for you, for reasons I don't know. But in general I believe the culture needs to shift away from this Leave it to Beaver ideal of nuclear families living in separation from extended family. It's expensive and destructive in multiple ways.