Some ‘Cures’ for ‘Home Sick’ Sufferers

In the article, people complained about not being able to find anything under $200,000. But in the same day’s Second Real Estate section, the average house sale in dozens of ZIP codes was under that price, sometimes considerably less. There were only nine of the 30 districts surveyed that didn’t have homes under $200,000. Less than one-third.

Instead of moping about how the world is passing them by, these people would be much better off spending their time and energy taking a real estate course at their local community college. The courses are cheap, convenient and excellent for building one’s confidence. At least, carefully reading the Real Estate Section each week will teach important strategies toward attaining a home.

My husband and I are both blue-collar workers. We don’t come from a privileged background, and our down payment was saved slowly. We bought a house last November for $142,500. It has three bedrooms, an R-2, 50x150-foot lot and very little paint. We closed the deal for just under $17,000 and pay $1,200 per month. (It will increase by 7.5% annually, but is a fixed-rate loan.)

It’s not like our old neighborhood, where we could afford to rent but not to buy. To attain a goal, one must make sacrifices, but sacrifices build character. Scraping paint builds it even faster.

SUSAN JANSON

Inglewood