Gents,
Appreciate all the feedback. Every reply to this thread expressed helpful information and truth/ facts- I am grateful.
The US housing market has significantly changed. Post COVID, it is hard to really grasp how the housing market could shift so much. Shifting in major metropolitan areas with lots of growth- to be expected. But in rural places with little professional options for many has seen massive price increases.
Even places like the greater Chicago area, which has had ten consecutive population decreases has seen massive price increases over the past year. I was transferred to Chicago in 2004, and transferred out in 2006. The home tried selling the home we had in Chicago for 15 years, without a workable offer. It sold last summer at full price. Zillow states the home has appreciated another 12 percent since last summer. Mind blowing.
I search for homes based on a job vacancy, west of the Mississippi, low state taxes, and affordability. Just about every desirable home in most every state west of the Mississippi is a "hot property". Times have changed. Long term- time will tell. Right now, with rates at or above eight percent, every desirable home is a Sellers market.