Im in the MidWest too, renting. I coulda shoulda woulda but never did, i didnt "think" i was ready. Now shoebox starter homes are outta my price range, ppl paying 20-40% more than asking, with cash down payments and such. Im not out of it yet, but my commute is gonna expand.
Anyway, caught a vid last week on the Hill YT and they profiled a house in MD that was outdated and in need of repair, that went for almost 500k, when asking was 240k. The gist of the story was Investment Firms coming into areas and buying up homes, driving prices higher from bidding wars. Ive read alot of stories from my hometown Sub about housing, on top of what im seeing. Even crappy Condos that coulda been had for 120k 5 years ago are now over 200. Its quite insane.
In one older Upper class 'Burb with well financed schools/services, im seeing nice homes sitting empty with signs up saying "Rebuild what you want" or something like that. Id seen this before in this area, but it was rare. Folks would donate the house to the FD for training and rebuild, but those were desirable lots and made sense, if ya could afford it. The 2 i saw in the last week were "nothing special" lots, one was sandwiched between other houses on a small lot. Both looked fine from the outside, no noticeable dilapidation. And there's more construction in that area than ive seen in the last 6 years. A landlocked, well established older neighborhood.
The bubble's gonna burst. I watched a FrontLine about the 08 Crisis and they specifically mentioned that it WILL occur again, due to Economic Theory and such things im not well informed on. Itll take the market 100 or so years to wash out that Clinton Bill that allowed those risky mortgages to be combined and sold the way they were. Seemed compelling, and honest. And seeing things in my area, an inevitable reality that a crash is looming. Save your money, i guess.