$2300 for a 2BR is still pretty nuts. My mortgage on a building with 2 2BR units is only $1800, and that's with FHA PMI and escrow for hefty NH property taxes. This is about 45 minutes from Boston.
Although I look with envy at my parents, who pay about $1000 in property taxes a year, and a mortgage that was about $600 before they paid it off, on a house with 50+ acres of land. With that much land (and with only a single neighboring house in sight), you can do pretty much do what you damned well please. This is about 4 hours away from Boston.
I could make quite a bit more money than I do now if I moved to NY, Boston, Seattle, California, or wherever, but if I'm increasing my salary by 50%, while doubling or tripling my cost of living expenses, and I have to live crammed into an urban area with people everywhere, that seems like a shitty deal. I'm hoping I can stick it out long enough for most people to realize that you can be just as effective as a software engineer when you're not breathing the same stale oxygen as your coworkers.
We're talking about parties. In those cramped urban areas, it's way easier to get people together on a Wednesday night when they live in the same building.
Also, mortgages in most places are cheaper than rents. We could get a 4 BR townhouse in the middle of Baltimore for $1800.
Depends on the neighborhood. It's high to average for my area. Chicago varies from 400-3.5k. (It can go higher than 3.5k but thats incredibly unusual) I think I have something like 800 square feet.
Most of the units are 2br, as that most of the buildings are built for families.
Although I look with envy at my parents, who pay about $1000 in property taxes a year, and a mortgage that was about $600 before they paid it off, on a house with 50+ acres of land. With that much land (and with only a single neighboring house in sight), you can do pretty much do what you damned well please. This is about 4 hours away from Boston.
I could make quite a bit more money than I do now if I moved to NY, Boston, Seattle, California, or wherever, but if I'm increasing my salary by 50%, while doubling or tripling my cost of living expenses, and I have to live crammed into an urban area with people everywhere, that seems like a shitty deal. I'm hoping I can stick it out long enough for most people to realize that you can be just as effective as a software engineer when you're not breathing the same stale oxygen as your coworkers.