How far do you guys commute??

So I am looking for my next house right now and the market is so ridiculous anything right in the city where Ive lived my whole life is just too expensive. 300k basically buys you a shack on a small lot

So considering living a little further out, but Ive never in my life lived outside the big city... the idea is exciting but Im also a younger guy without a family so dont want to be too far from civilization.

Would you guys say that 30 miles from where most of your jobs are is too much? anyone live that far from their main areas of jobs?

Basically I can get over an acre with a newly remodeled 2k + sqft house in a nice area for the same price a 600sqft house on a 4,000sq ft lot costs.. just have to drive a bit more.

any input would be great from other carpet cleaners... nobody knows what it would be like better


The one big benefit is the business wouldnt ever outgrow the space, even up to 5+ trucks would always have more space to build a big pole barn/garage.

Space is good, but I wouldn't drive 60 miles a day.......I'd raise my prices to afford the house close by, before I did.

You could prob charge 30% more and only loose 10% of your customers (good way to weed out the cheap-asses).....so work lees for more money and afford the house and not spend the time or money commuting.

I bought 2.5 acres out of town only 20 miles out and we ended up buying a house in town instead. I would have done it but it wasn't convenient for my wife and kids.

ya its not that easy though,   300k house is already a lot for a small business carpet cleaner..  Im only 31.  

either way ill be able to afford more in 4-5 years but raising prices isnt going to do much,   we already charge very close to what the most expensive companies around here charge...   sometimes a bit less, the cheap asses are long gone and man life is so much easier LOL they really are a pain

putting a lot down so payments will be low,    could stretch and get something more expensive/ pay a lot more per month but probably not worth it right now.  

I agree,   60miles a day is a lot of driving and probably not worth it.      Some of my competitors pay 6-7k per month for their commercial space,  would be nice to never have that overhead but still be able to run the same type of business.

Yea, I know, that's a too simple answer/solution.

Another one would be wait till the next market crash, should be soon lol, and then take advantage of the prime RE when it's more affordable for you.

I bought my first house at 27, and took advantage of a down market, but even so it was a stretch making the payment. It Helped me push, back when I had the energy to do so.

I found my house 24 minutes from town (27 miles). That commute is nothing to be concerned about in my view. It is all highway, not traffic.

In the city, it might take me 24 minutes to get a few blocks. Seriously, my commute to work in town was 30 minutes in dense traffic, so driving a 30 minute highway commute will actually use less fuel and have less stress.

I say "get out of town".....don't see a problem.

That's the difference. And I would expect Seattle area is prob not much different than here?, where it can take 60-90 min. to cover 30 miles, most of the time.

O's are like A Holes, everyone has one, or two like I do.

Ya theres no traffic free routes into town unfortunately... that 30 miles would be 25min for the first 20 miles then could be really long for the last 10

Most days two of my three vans have between 40 to 60 miles to the first job, and average the better part of 200 miles per day each. It's not bad after you get used to it. The drive gives me plenty of time to wake up and relax before the first job... On my three main vans last year we logged a total of 80,000 miles.

well thats good to know, Im still on the fence about how far out I am willing to live

Well, I just did my taxes last weekend and was surprised to see the total fuel costs, of course there was a few months at the end of 2014 where the prices dipped but we were spending less than $ 10,000 for 2014 and we spent over $ 20,000 for 2013, the reason why is on 2013 we would have customers all over Los Angeles ( about 100 miles a day from home, doing 4 - 5 jobs on average and go back home ). While on 2014, that mileage was less than 50 miles on average, so imagine your savings on gas on that commute, if your future situation is similar with mine for 2013, that $ 800+ savings can go toward your mortgage in the city home I imagine ? And you would be less stress and have more time to spend doing fun things in the city instead of being on the road dealing with those jerks

Just buy what you can afford AC. Its better to buy then rentgin right now at least here in AZ