We sold our house 6 weeks ago or so ago (significant cash out) and moved across the country, and we decided to rent for a bit and gamble that the market would collapse more. But we hate renting and we are already capitulating and putting an offer on a house we found and love. Even with our cash the mortgage will be about the same as before, due to the interest rates. So now we will be gambling that the interest rates will not continue up for long, and that they will decrease below their current level within a couple years. It feels wrong from an investment perspective, but it feels right from a life decision perspective, and it feels right from a security perspective (owning a place we can secure, and where we can grow a garden, etc.), and in the event of a currency crisis it would be bad to be super long cash. Side note: we don't have kids or pets, so it's just my wife and me; and we both have family nearby.
What would you do? And why?
Only if it's rural and to become self-sufficient. Right now, housing prices are going to dip, and locking in to a long contract may be punishing. Also, if we hit a deep recession, be sure first you have job security.
We are looking at a semi-rural, decent sized lot but less than an acre.
You can do a lot with a small lot. I've seen people's semirural gardens where they grew a lot ranging from corn and beans and salad staples to some melons. They definitely had bees. They had no chickens though and you may want chickens but will need space for that. Nice to have fruit and nuts too.
Yeah if we end up buying the one we are interested in, they don't specifically say you can't have farm animals, but they say you can't have anything that is a nuisance, so my guess is that any more than a few chickens or maybe a couple goats would probably be a nonstarter, but maybe that would be enough.
A few chickens can be plenty, and one could always raise rabbits for meat.
"can't have anything that is a nuisance"; well that eliminates having Chuck Schumer in a barn, doesn't it.