The advice didn't age well.

[u/late_to_redd1t]

[u/Ok-Primary2176]

I'll never forget when I sat down with my parents and we talked housing prices. They said "why aren't you building something new if the old buildings are so expensive?"

I had to break it to them that a plot of land is not $10k, it's $200-300k. Then add the actual cost of housing construction and you're easily looking at a MINIMUM of $500k for any new construction 

They told me they thought it'd be closer to $100k even after they adjusted for inflation 

[u/thetavious → u/Ok-Primary2176]

One of my dad's biggest regrets is that he didn't buy more land. He (we) had an opportunity where a neighbor was fixing to bail and went around offering all the neighbors a chance at parcels of land before put it on the open market.

At the time we were completely debt free, outside of tax liability, and despite the incredibly generous offer, my dad primarily, just couldn't get on board with putting us into debt. Mom entertained the idea a bit more than him, it didn't happen.

And now he's left with regret. None of us are mad at him, he's the only one mad at himself.

What was the offer? 500 acres at only $500 a pop. That was just what he was willing tk let us have upfront. If anyone else passed, he'd have been willing to lat any of us have a go at it.

This was forested, appalachian, new england land. Prime real estate to preserve. But 250k was a heck of a lot debt to end up in, practically overnight, so it's not his fault for passing on the deal. They'd busted their humps ensuring they were debt free for as long as they had been, and as much better off we'd be with the land, they're still debt free today, so it worked out in the end imo.

[u/prof_wafflez → u/thetavious]

"Local older male regrets not taking more for himself and away from others"

[u/thetavious → u/prof_wafflez]

It was undeveloped forest land that is still undeveloped forest land (luckily). Smokey the bear will see you out.