How much will your income be? That's basically the starting point. There are a lot of comments here from South County areas like Barrington or South Kingston which are great communities/good schools to live but extremely pricey (assuming 800k is a lot to you).

Not just that, but some of the flight paths were incredibly random. Providence to Ireland? Wildly popular with Americans, especially due to decently sized Irish populations located here.

Providence to.....Bergen Norway? Absolutely obscure and got cancelled a few months later due to lack of interest. Norway is a beautiful country, but there was never a market for Norwegians to flood into RI or RI to flood into the second most populated city in Norway

Yes, by now you would have succeded, but your statement earlier about 2012 being profitable after 2007 is misleading. Many people were still selling at a loss back then if they needed to move/divorce/etc and I'm just showing you that the data says otherwise.

I'm not telling people to wait, this isn't 2007. I'm simply stating that your comment about what happened during the Great Recession here is at best misinformed and at worst completely dismissive of the suffering that people went through here in 2007 well into the 2010s.

Here's from when RI was in the top 10 worst list for underwater mortgages (published in 2012): https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/5-states-drowning-underwater-mortgages-flna436089

The original article is no longer available but this snippet covers a bit of the challenge "Some of the states with a high percentage of underwater mortgages had economic problems long before the recent recession. States such as Michigan and Rhode Island have experienced long-term industrial declines for some time. In these areas, drops in home values were only accelerated by the recession."

How are these offers going? At the income caps, it seems like the prices would have to be very low and the offers would have to be very flexible at a competitive market space.

Just wondering as I am hearing that the low down/FHA offers some friends did aren't really a thing anymore in the competitive starter home space. Realtor friends (actual friends lol, not hired) are saying it's pretty much 20% just to compete and I'm seeing data published at 30% cash offers in some parts of the state.

I do hope it is going well, but I am curious to hear from someone who has successfully navigated the program.

This isn't true. I've seen plenty of houses that only recovered in value 10+ years later here from underwater mortgages. RI was one of the worst hit states in unemployment, which was around 7% at the worst period.

People should know that the income caps for this program are around 112k (as it should be) or slightly more with kids. Worth noting there is a cut-off and many dual career couples will make too much.

Hey OP, if you aren't students who need to walk to school I would really open up your options. Like you're noticing, it'a super limiting to try and strictly stay to only two neighborhoods (that are only a few blocks each). If you're students that obviously changes things.

Also, I've seen some pie-in-the-sky listings in Wayland recently and I....just don't get it. It's really not worth close to 3k to live in a small strip half dominated by chains if you have other options. There are much better stretches of community in the city that aren't asking for such consistently absurd rents and I think a lot of locals would agree with me.

It's disgusting. It's especially insulting when you see that the building was purchased for like 350k, so there's rarely a reason other than greed to pull this (unless it's someone newly buying w. high interest/totally gutted and rebuilt).

Meanwhile, I know an equal amount of landlords who are also horrified and choose not to squeeze their tenants(my own living situations included). Hoping you find yourself in a similar spot.

I will say these "3k a month 800+ credit score" listings get absolutely ripped to shreds by the community on Nextdoor for being opportunistic. I've never seen a group of people here turn more quickly on a post lol.

Rhode Island used to be brain drain central. People who are naturally talented and have a lot of potential in the public sector typically move on to greener pastures in municipalities like Boston since RI has a very low ceiling for ladder climbers and is also much less progressive to work for. Also, mind you, talented young politicians like Regunberg barely lose to milquetoast familiar names like McKee and then just take their talents to Harvard instead. Rinse and repeat.

We have some amazing and talented local politicians, but they're primarily at the hyper local level.

Does the LL know they have a pitbull or even a dog? I knew people who had two pitbulls there (fox point), but the landlord was just absentee (it was pet free) and from my experience I'd be willing to guess half of those large breed dogs you're spotting aren't approved on the lease. Same thing my partner experienced renting in Brookline: everyone had a dog because management just cashed checks and let the building fall into disrepair lol.

Agreed, though, its a property insurance and liability issue for many owners to take on.

edit: not advocating lying what-so-ever. Neither of us has ever had a pet, it was just an open secret that others in the building were not approved since it was strictly against the lease

Most people here have never been to/through East St. Louis here and it shows lol.

RISD used to (still does?) have a yard sale. Mostly clothes, but also some odds and ends donated like drawer sets. Don't recall any art supplies themselves, but I'd give it a shot if they hold the yard sale this year.

I can totally relate. thanks for the reminder and positivity around it!

To be fair, I used to ask this a lot when I'd meet people here a decade ago and get some wild answers and it was interesting because only really unique situations gave people the chance to live here and own these places. A lot of entrepreneurs, weird creative types, self employed etc. I once had a detailed conversation with the head of the state department of health in a laundromat back in the day-- absolutely fascinating afternoon waiting for my laundry.

These days, though, the answer is generally that someone works for a white collar job for company located in NYC/SF/Boston in Marketing/Advertising/software engineering. I think people get tired of this and the knee jerk reaction is to downvote.

So in their defense, these jobs rarely existed here more than 5 years ago even though there used to be a random VP here or there who had enough seniority to work from this state.

People in these fields generally are drowning in debt without Dr/big law salaries. For example, the only in-state PA program (JWU) costs over 100k in tuition and URI pharmacy tuition is a lot more for mid-100k salary. The debt and interest accrued during training are really killer and many remote workers make just as much without the debt.

Definitely not mansion money.

These are important questions. My friend wanted to convert to gas years ago and they were told they'd have to run gas lines with their neighbors doing the same to get the utility.

You sound like me when I try to explain to people coming from MA why it's magically so much cheaper to buy a house here.

I think you covered all of your bases except for the pension nightmare.

Oh and climate change and all of our coastal towns at risk of flooding and in flood zoning.

Good to hear! I feel similarly. I just feel like something has changed and I see a lot more people living in despair on the brink of homelessness in my circles. So it is really impacting my view of things here lately, admittedly.

Are you new here? This just gives me the honeymoon stage vibes of a new relationship.

For what it's worth, I'm a long term transplant who is a huge fan of the state, but I've lived in other small cities and other states and if I had ended up there I'm sure I would have had a happy and fulfilling life like my friends still in those places.

I am extremely involved in state and local meetings and the fact is that Rhode Island is just a messy as many other states. They definitely do better than states that have gone far right, but they're kind of iconic as a liberal state that just falls short of well run liberal states. The nepotism here is kind of insane and every appointment seems to be someone "knowing a guy" and giving them yet anothers high powered job in the state due to name recognition. Then getting a 150k salary. Some of these people have made wildly unpopular decisions like Gina and the pension debacle (named nationally as one of the worst restructurings in the county. Absolutely horrifying when you learn the details).

As far as negative press and weather, a lot of it depends on the year. 2015 was a mess where we were stuck in some kind of snow pile every other day and, as the ocean state, we aren't exactly in a position to cast judgement-- we are in a very vulnerable coastal area.

We do have super low crime rates. As someone who volunteers closely with people financially on the edge here, it's abysmal the direction that we are headed with COL adjustments and it makes me worry that decades from now we will see people in abject poverty, much higher homeless populations, and possibly higher rates of crime as a result. It's honestly a direction that the state has taken that keeps me up at night, as one of the best parts of the state has been seeing people thrive in FHA programs or build a great life in the trades. Now every town in the state has been ripe for rapid gentrification.

And I say that as someone who has built their entire life here by choice. Anywhere, USA is going through some tough times politically and economically and RI is not an exception.

When laid back locals speak, I listen. Those are people that have seen some wild ups and downs here and can tell you all about the hole of a downtown pre-1990s, high recession unemployment rates, and boom/bust cycles here with local governments. Those people have seen some shit lol.

I know the morning coffee market well. That Starbucks does open early like 6amish.

I get it, it would be convenient for me but it's also a total ghost town when I get to work that early, so I understand it's a financial pit.

Federal Hill has seen some early spots come and go, like Crepe Cafe, and it'd just be bad business. Even Sin tried a lot of different hours after the pandemic to see what worked best for them.

I think some people move here from more 24/7 major cities and then are bummed that there aren't many 2am eats, early spots, or 24 hour stores but like....this isn't that kind of city and the demand really isn't there.

Lived here for 10 years and have a very fortunate household income. But I just can't stomach paying 4k to rent something that was probably 1700 a few years back.

OP, I think this is pretty steep for craigslist roommates PVD, so you might have better luck reaching out to other young people at your company or in other circles where there's a bit more high income 20-somethings. Reddit is def a good start, but maybe mention it at work that you're looking.

Absolutely. Not only that, but with more work from home the 6am demand has to be even worse than the market was before covid (which wasn't very big for this niche). You don't have the Boston commuters getting up super early or the early office runs looking for that timeslot. I say that as someone who works early in person and it's a total ghost town at 6am apart from the occasional dog walk.

Remote work. Remote work. Remote work. I have friends who commuted 60 miles roundtrip for work to Boston all during the big dig years even, but it required endurance. We're now in this economically unprecedented time where even the country's most remote towns (WY, MT, ID) are digital hubs.

But your example is exactly why the idea of "just move" doesn't work anymore. I "just moved" based on salary and cost of living for my career during the rents you referenced. It takes a few years to get on your feet and then, it's time to "just move" again to the next community, recover from cost of relocation, and get ready to move again when you get priced out again. Rinse and repeat. I consider myself unlucky to be renting still, but lucky to be at a high enough income to still buy here, but that is extremely privileged. Not everyone seeks nomad life, many people crave stability for their mental health and if people have kids, they need predictability, security, community, and consistency.

ProJo just posted about a House Hunters episode where a SF tech couple bought a 6 bedroom 900k+ house on the east side (to be closer to family, tbf). This is the kind of story that rarely existed in Providence outside of surgeons or business owners and the downstream effects mean all the regular folk are bidding up those Elmhurst bungalows from 250 to 500.

I admit I sound a bit jaded, but it's hard to see so much limited housing taken up by people who often never even considered investing in the local economy apart from real estate (since the salaries will never compete with firms in NYC). As a fellow transplant, I think that it is a baseline expectation to work here or simply volunteer your time to enrich the community in some capacity. Locals had no reservations about transplants when I moved here (they seemed to find it endearing and novel), but I think people become guarded when too many people move with the intention of being consumers only.

You can get a PO box and they will sign for any packages of basically any size. The yearly fee has about doubled in recent years, but it can still be a great investment and I love being able to leave town without worrying about bringing my stuff inside or inclement weather.