Thinking about that number as a ceiling really made me reconsider buying a house.
For the past five weeks Iβve been researching and giving a lot of thought towards buying a house or buying land and building my dream off-grid cabin. I spent several weeks driving the back roads, studying the land quire dissatisfied with what I found. Everything anywheres near the city is quite built up with yuppie neighbors nearby while everything rural is much too long of a drive to work. Most of the houses on the market where much too big and fancy for my tastes and would involve costly commutes and enormous electric and heat bills to keep warm β for what I asked myself.
Why do I stay in New York? Itβs because my job pays really good money and I love the work. I have a great team and we get great things done. My increasingly elderly parents are going to need more help in the coming years, and I want to spend more time with them before they are gone for good. Starting my life over in a completely new area would be difficult at this point with all the connections I have locally. Iβm in my peak earning years now and it would take too long to recover if I had start all over again. But hereβs the thing, I could take state βretirementβ at age 55, at which point my parents likely will have passed on as both are in their mid to late 70s. Wonβt get as much benefit if I stay longer but everything in life has trade offs. And Iβm not planning a real retirement β more like Iβll be looking for a second job besides all the work building my homestead.
Buying a house sounds like such a great idea on paper until you add up the costs. You donβt get back what you pay in rent but also you donβt get back fuel spent commuting to a distant home, the cost of electricity and heating fuel, the interest paid on a loan or profits missed by not buying and holding stocks and bonds. You donβt get back the money and time spent maintaining the home or the lawn mower. Repairs come out of your own pocket, and arenβt buffered over time by your rent. And thatβs just the obvious costs.
A house is a big fixed asset, itβs highly dependent on the nature of the neighborhood and local housing market, itβs badly diversified and difficult to get rid of quickly. A cheap apartment allows me to invest and make a better return then a home. Moreover these days with the SALT cap at a measly $10k by the time I do the standard deduction at $6.5k itβs hardly worth it as Iβm certain to hit the SALT cap between the income tax I pay and whatever property tax I would owe. The mortgage tax deduction sounds great, but you are still paying all that interest, and itβs a deduction to your total income when calculating taxes and not a credit. So your still paying the interest in full just no taxes on it. Itβs a lot cheaper to buy a house with cash.
The thing is if I donβt buy a house, I can leave New York State relatively quickly when either my job ends, I choose to retire and/or my parents pass away. Currently as I rent month to month, thirty days and I can be gone. Even a lease is just a year, and can be broken for at most a few thousand bucks. Probably less as youβll need time to move. A house would take far longer to sell and be at a bigger loss than a cheap apartment. Even if I spend $150,000 in rent over the next fifteen years, when you look at all the non-refundable costs of homeownership and commuting it is cheaper to rent.
And if I move out of New York State, I can get away from all the silliness that the state represents. Iβm a Democrat and a progressive but Iβm damn well aware of all the work arounds you go through to live in Upstate. In a rural part of a Midwestern state, I could build a nicer house with vastly more land for a fraction of the price without all the stupid things. I could even have burn barrels for burning whatever garbage I want ventilated by my AR-15. Yes, even plastic if I so choose. Have a big diesel pickup without emissions controls, build that off grid cabin with far fewer permits and spend much, much less in taxes. Have neighbors who share my values, not cidiots with the EPA and the local police department and code enforcement officers on speed dial.
Iβm not against the Democratic agenda by any means in an urban state like New York. We got to control pollution when there are so many people crammed into so little space. We need to take action on climate change which mostly comes from urban states, we should work to help the poor and educate the children. There is some real poverty in our cities. Good mass transit is important for a quality of life in our cities, as are urban parks and recreation centers. But thatβs not the life I want to live. I crave the freedom of rural life, with my off grid property in a state and community that respects my values.
Plus while I say Iβm ready to give up my life of traveling and living in a walkable and bikable neighborhood, I really am not. I enjoy riding my bike to work, even in the cold, it clears my mind and the Normanβs Kill Gorge and riding along the Hudson River really soothes it. Itβs helps to keep me healthy along with eating good healthy food. I also may say Iβm tired of traveling and camping but I still kind of want to keep doing it for a few more years before settling down to homestead. As much as I idolize the farm life, I love spending time in the wilderness and traveling the back roads and not just place to place. I like my weekends a bit too much at the Potholers to give them up.
Iβve learned a lot over the past five weeks about buying a home and buying land and building a home. Iβm not giving up on the learning process and asking questions of friends for advice but I am suspending my active search for land or buy a house. I might still head down to Kingston to check out those pre-fab cabins but Iβve decided largely against them due to somewhat dubious resale value but I might look at a local vendor for a small pre-fab cabin or do shed to cabin in a state with fewer code restrictions. Information is free, I donβt have to take calls and can delete emails. It would be fun to combine with a day hiking in the Catskills this summer or even exploring parks in Kingston. I donβt get that way enough these days.
There will be those who say if I continue to procrastinate Iβll never own my own land or Iβll be too old to do anything with it. Itβs possible I will die in the mean time or have only a few years in retirement. But I came to the profound realization that once youβre dead, you have no regrets. Itβs not that Iβm giving up on a dream but that Iβm working towards it and becoming the person I want to be takes time. I need to keep building up my physical shape by exercise and diet, keeping up with doctors visits and riding my bike whenever possible. I need to develop further marketable skills, learn more about buildings and off-grid technology. Read everything I can learn about homesteading and farming. And keep growing in all positive ways possible as I work towards my ultimate goal of owning my own land.
