why is it so hard...
 

...To find a nice, reasonable priced place to live?

OK so my boyfriend is 21 and I just finally turned 20 and we've been looking for a nice place to live.. Granted, he is in school full time and only has the time to work on weekends.. I work my butt off and told him.. I''ll pay the rent, you pay food.. that way, I still have money left over for my whatever.

It just seems that the only places we can afford is either a basement or condo in a bad neighborhood:mad:

That's not fair!! I'd really like a townhouse.. This way, Kayah will still have lots of room to run around.. and we'll have the privacy that we want.

The only townhouses we can afford are waaay out in the suburbs.. and Jakub (the bf) goes to school in downtown:rolleyes:

ahh I'm just so sad..
another reason I wanted to move, Is because, as some of you know, we're living with Jakub's parents right now.. and they have spoiled Kayah waaaaaaayy too much.. way beyond my liking.. but there's really nothing I can say to them:mad: :mad:
Anywho, I want to get another futbutt.. cause it just seems like Kayah's so bored by herself.. but I don't want them to do the same to this puppy..

why oh why??!!

sorry guys.. thanks for listening

How much do apartments or townhouses go for in Chicago?

Me and my hubby just bought a new home and mannnn houses are expensive nowadays :confused:

for something clean and decent.. about 2,000.. now, of course, that's renting

Try living in California! Even with the housing market slowing wayyy down, I still am a looonnnggg way from being able to buy a home. And I make a decent amount of money. I pay the same for my 2 bedroom apartment as my cousin pays for her 1800 squarefoot brand new home in Tennessee...err, I need to move!

Wow, thats quite a bit, I thought for sure California was more expensive!

maybe we should move to Cali??!!:D
How's the Achitechure buisness over there?

(that's what Jakub's studying)

Any type of building is slloooowww right now. I used to work for a plumbing company that did new homes, and both my mom and I had to leave because there was no more work for us! Everything has just slowed down a ton, and there are A LOT of foreclosures on homes right now.

geez I don't have a answer for you! You are in a tuff situation sweet-a-kins!
Have you been saving while living with the inlaws?

I wish you could get pebbles! You would just love her, she is such a fiesty baby girl! she has a attitude that she is a princess! too funny!

I'm sorry :( Renting in a city is so tough. When I lived in Boston, I paid 2600/mo to live in a nice complex.

But the following year, we found a nice apartment in Somerville which is 20 minutes outside of Boston for around 1500/mo.

Do you look on Craigslist at all?

Wow that is alot....you can come down here and buy a real nice home for 2,000 a month.

I've been saving for a while now.. it just never seems like enough..

I wish I could get Pebbles too.. She's so cute:( But I don't want her getting overweight, too:mad: and that's what they'll do to her

I have looked at Craigslist.. but most of those places are in downtown.. and I hate downtown traffic.. right now, we live in a suburb about 30 minutes away from there.. so Jakub just takes the train..

But anything further than where we are is too far.. considering we have a "park and ride" right here

That wouldn't be a good idea.. I might be tempted to "borrow Bailey":p :D

Isn't it awful!! We do have a townhouse and we have totally outgrown it and need a small single family house. They don't have any of those out here, everything is a McMansion with a jumbo mortgage. They say you should spend 25% of your income on your house - well we spend more than that and we make a decent amount for our age and that's just on a single mortgage for a townhouse. I know everyone in the SF homes in my neighborhood are NOT doctors and lawyers, so that probably means those houses are creatively financed. How do they expect people to afford these? And they wonder why the housing market is crashing? Only when people could keep taking equity out of their houses could they survive. The days of the cash-out refi are done. People need to learn to live within their means and then maybe these home builders would get a clue. We bought at the top of the market of course, and 4 years later our house is worth about what we paid for it. :rolleyes: So much for "moving up"

For those curious - I'm FAR western suburbs. Townhouses are $200-250. "Starter" houses are $280-$300. Most of the houses in my town are $320 and way, way up. There are 2 new subdivisions in the "low 400's" No one makes enough money to afford these and they refuse to build smaller homes. I don't want a 3000SF house. The only smaller homes are 50+ years old and need tons of work, yet cost nearly as much as the new ones!!!

Chicago's housing market isn't even based in reality. New 1 bedroom condos cost $250,000. People pay $1500/month to share a studio dorm style with a roommate. It's sickening.