Home Owners Thread
 

I own a home. I paid under 6 figures for it and it gets the job done. I've been working professionally for 8 years now and I make good money.

Now I'm in Detroit and I'm chilling at the hotel. I turn on HGTV (I don't have cable at home) and I was hoping to catch a cool DIY project. However the channel is a never ending loop of young couples crying about not getting granite countertops and picking between a house that is $670,000 which is $70k over budget or the "fixer upper" for $500k and putting another 120k into it.


WHAT THE FUCK DO THESE PEOPLE DO FOR A LIVING?!?!

Thats what the show should be on!

Who pays enough that you can hack $3-5k a month for JUST A MORTGAGE!

IDK around here, and in my field (commercial real estate), it's not uncommon for people to get $65-75k fresh out of undergrad. Throw a few years of raises onto that, then multiply it by two for a couple, and you can buy a fair amount of house.

That said, in this market (DC), a $500k house isn't much of a house.

I bought my house in 2009 while making a considerable amount less than I make right now. I watch these shows and get a little depressed with how they treat shit like marble floors and granite countertops like people like I do with starting a garden or making a table from $50 of repurposed materials.
Yeah, I hate those bitches.

$500k in NC is a 5000+ ft² mini mansion on a golf course.

$350k here in the bay area gets you a 3 bed 2 bath house approx. 1600sq/ft and a small backyard. Yea in SF you need to be making atleast $150k a year to buy a "nice" house.(I understand that is subjective). Rent in downtown SF averages between $2500 and $5k a month for something not roach infested and free of mold. You people on the east coast got it good in terms of housing.

Fucking hate California for how overpriced homes are. I have cousins near the east coast. Paid something like $350k for something that pretty much resembles homes than would sell for nearly a million out here. It's nuts.

102k for mine @ 1700sq foot. 2 acres and a 2 car garage. It's a little older, but I've replaced most everything now.

That first house you described is my house, but I might have a little more yard than you described.
$94k right as values were shitting the bed. I intend to be under 75k left within a year from now.

I was JUST about to say "that's NC/SC/TN prices right there" before I noticed your location.

I'm sure part of it is b/c it's reality TV, but then I'm sure that most of it is b/c hardly anyone here in America seems to know how to live within their means. They'll take on a mortgage for a 4,000 sq foot house while eating on paper plates and sitting in folding chairs in the living room.

All some people care about is the image. And they don't care how far into debt they go, or how far behind they fall in payments, as long as they maintain that image of being successful with a big house and a BMW. Living the dream until the bank calls their number and the repo man shows up.

$500k in Savannah would be a piece of property on the river with a dock all to myself.

thats the truth,
I prefer to live in a small place and be happy i dont have a mortgage to pay, as how the economy is going.
Going to bed with the idea of how much bills and loans you need to pay isnt a nice feeling,

It all comes down to location. My girlfriend and I were very fortunate to have found the property we bought. 1000 sq ft 2 bed/1 bath, 6000sq ft lot, huge front/back yard with a long driveway and a wide two car garage. $240k. Also very lucky to have ended up in the best area in the city. Super quiet, well kept/maintained homes, no fences around the front lawn. Drive through LA, nothing but chain link fences and door bars. Good indication of where not to live.

It did need work, but we've invested roughly $30k or so on our remodel so far. Interior/exterior completely redone, new stucco/window trim, interior completely refinished, new bathroom, new kitchen, furniture, plumbing, etc. Didn't exactly cheap out on the remodel either, just got really good deals from family friends on the labor.

Right now, the property value is back up to $315k based on the previous condition(which was horrible). Homes similar to ours with a fresh remodel are priced around $360k and at its peak was worth $450k.

Our mortgage is below $900/month (taking into account the down payment we had) and our monthly expenses are next to nothing. So, there's no need for us to earn loads of money to enjoy our lives. We have plenty left over at the end of the month that we apply toward the principal of the mortgage. Can't beat paying off a 30 year mortgage in 7.

But, yeah. Having worked in banking, I saw first hand how people buried themselves into these ridiculously large mortgages and high monthly payments. My thought process was pretty simple going into my home purchase. I'd better be damn sure I can afford this payment for the next 30 years.

^ Man you totally lucked out.

I already know that I am going to take out a 30 year FHA loan. Its pretty damn hard to save up the 20% when simply being alive in CA is expensive as it is. I know Im gonna have to pay the PMI but it is what it is.

Californians on average make more.

So California homes on average cost more.

That's pretty much what it all comes down to.

Nobody wants to live in the boonies somewhere on the east coast.

So in return, people will make less and pay less for their house.

Nice theory, but its wrong.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Yor..._capita_income
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Califor...ions_by_income

Hope to never own a house in my life.
I would rather pay someone rent while they send people to fix the roof and pipes and mow the lawn and whatever other terrible work a house requires, and then when I decide to move somewhere else I can just go without being tied down by a house.
I understand that there are people who do not mind or even enjoy housework and being homeowner is their ultimate dream, but I am definitely not one of them.

An acquaintance of my parents' keeps trying to get me to buy 10K$ houses in the ghetto so I could fix them up and sell them for profit, but I would rather kill myself.

Different preferences. I love having my own garage, my own driveway space, etc.

House maintenance isn't much when you stay on top of it.

That's what kills me. That's actually a small living space at that price.

Also, prices are higher in the 818 :(

We can afford our home. Your home pretty much compares to mine. You have about 100 sq ft or so more living space, but my lot is 7k sq ft.

Just been looking around for larger homes and to live comfortably and not stretching out a budget it's just not doable right now, in CA anyway.

I feel like in socal, it is nearly impossible for the younger generation without having a money gift from parents or family. My wife and I both went to college, both graduated with decent paying jobs in a professional services firm by the time we were 23, both went to a CSU (little to no school debt), and we can't even dream about home ownership for at least 5 years. We also don't spend a lot of money on anything besides bills. The reality for us is that we WILL NOT buy a house until we have a sub $1800 mortgage (including the FHA loan insurance stuff), so we would need close to a six figure down payment to get in that range with current prices.

The more I think about it, the more I think we will be renters until shit crashes again, which I believe will happen within the next 10 years. People these days are becoming more confident in intangible securities, companies with "innovative" ideas, commodity prices like gold are decreasing again, and once there is a "scare" again, I feel like houses etc will decrease in value again.

That being said, I don't know a single co-worker with a comparable age who has bought a house without their down payment being a wedding gift from their families. As time goes on it will continue to be harder and harder for the lower class to move up, and there will be a bigger gap between upper and middle/lower.

Average down payments in my area are 50-60k, who in there right mind expects people to have 60k in cash to blow on a down payment?

As for people getting in over their heads, I can see how it happens. When we were getting our pre approval from our bank, they gave us a rather high number based on our credit scores, equity, and down payment. We didn't spend nearly what the ceiling of the amount was while shopping for our second home.

Alright I guess I'll post up a little story or sorts.

Our first house was a townhouse that was 1500 Sq feet, single car garage that was a brand new build. Now it's in the suburbs of Toronto (30-45 minutes out), and it's a younger family area.

Anyways, it was $330K, with a down payment of $35K. It was custom in the sense that we were able to select whatever we wanted to place in it (and pay for it). My wife and I were saving while living with my parents for a few years while we graduated school. I'm thankful that my parents were super encouraging during the process, and did not take a dime from us (even though we would try for the longest time).

So it took around 2 years from signing the papers till we had the keys in hand. We LOVED it! It was our first place! I ended up finishing the basement and learned a lot along the way from my father in law, and from the trades people who I subbed out specific jobs.

Anyways, once we decided to have a child the place felt a bit too small, so we decided to move. We wanted to live in the same area, so we looked at new builds and 1 year old and less houses that were for sale in the area.

We ended up finding a place that we liked that was a about 12 months old, and ponced since my wife was VERY pregnant and we needed as much time to plan things out. The price? $480K. It's a 1900 sq foot 3 bedroom, 3 bath single car detached. Yeah, it was a bit much. But not out of the realm of what we could afford to pay for comfortably. Anyways fast forward a bit, and we sold our townhouse for $422K. Again, this was about a year old at this time. So if you're doing the rough math, we made $120K in equity in a year!

So there really was not much of an increase to our monthly mortgage rates, since we gained a bunch of equity in the process.

Some of you would be shocked to hear how much houses in my area cost. The house across the street from me is a 1650 Sq foot double car garage home that just sold for...
...

.... $560K!?! The record for that same model sold just down the street for $574K!!! The same model house we are currently living in is selling between $530-$550K. It's nuts! We have agents constantly asking us if we would like to sell.

The average cost of a detached home in my town is $520K. I don't get it, I'm just happy that we got in before the madness really kicked off.

We love the area a lot... but to get into a larger house with a double car garage with the amenities (upgrades) that we like, the house would be $600-700K Easy.

We plan to live here for the next 10 or so years, so we will see what happens... Though we regularly check listings in the area, so you never know HAHA!

I posted a bunch of pictures but then I took them down since no one else was posted examples of their homes in the areas with costs associated. I do find it interesting how the cost of homes varies from city to city in Canada, let alone the US. I would KILL for some of the costs that some of you guys pay for a house.

Wow, it's interesting to hear that you guys are experiencing the same thing on the otherside of the world as us.

The wife and I are 30yo and worked and rented in Auckland (largest city in New Zealand) until two years ago when we moved back to her home town and bought. Pay rates in Auckland were 30-40% higher though so the pay cut sucked.

We bought a 10yo 1700ft 3bd 2bth with double garage on a flat 6500ft at the end of a culdesac for a little under US$330k and have spent around US$7k of updating. We went in with over 30% deposit and after 2 years now have 50% equity, and repayments of NZ$300/week (or US$1150/mth). Because we bought well within our means we can live on one income if we need to and i get to keep the S13 and keep taking it to the track.

We had the wife's uncle who is an estate agent in Auckland come visit and valued our place, if in Auckland and in one of the outlying areas, at high NZ$600's. Despite having over $100k in deposit after saving for 8 years we couldnt get a reasonable house in a reasonable area of Auckland. Housing in desirable places worldwide is spiraling so high, yet small town stuff seems to be staying the same.

But it was a good move in the end: it takes me 15min to get to work (as opposed to 45min), we are 1km from the beach, I'm closer to our country's best racetrack and the climate is way better.

My advice: work wherever you get paid the most and rent there, then when you want to settle down, move somewhere quieter and buy there as your deposit will get you more house and less loan.

Foreclosures within 2 miles of my house are damning anything that might RESEMBLE the building of equity.
My aunts live 3 blocks from me in the oldest house in the entire neighborhood and a realtor told them that my grandparents' house would be worth triple what it is in almost any other neighborhood in the city. I am riding this out and dumping all extra cash into principle payments. I will either wait on the market to sell and upgrade or stay my ass right here forever.

Well you have three possibilities.

A. You die. In which case nothing matters.

B. You sell the house.

C. You live there till it's paid off.

In B, if everyone goes "Ok", you either sell it for what you owe, sell it at a price that you "Break Even" from all the money you've spent or you turn a small profit.

In all three you come out ahead had you been renting for 3-10 years. Even if you just barely get out of your loan, you at least built credit and had more living space then renting at that monthly payment would have provided.

At least I keep telling myself that. At $750 a month I am not renting a house with 2 bath, 2 bedrooms, finished basement and detached 2+1 car garage.


In C, once the house is paid off that is $$$ in your pocket each month. I originally had a 30 year mortgage at $480 a month, once I got promoted I refinanced at 3% (from 5%) for 15 years and my mortgage bounced to $750. I have less then 9 years left. So, in the unfortunate event that I'm still fucking stuck here, I'll be 39 with a paid off house. If I move in a few years, I may just keep it and rent it to Norte Dame students as I'm within biking distance of campus.

come to NYC, you'll experience severe sticker shock.

Never. I don't even have any desire to visit anything Pennsylvania North.

Terrible weather, crowded, nazi Governments, over priced. Zero appeal. At least Cali has the landscape and weather.

this is why nc is so nice, cali prices are crazy

heres just some examples of what you can get for that kind of money here in raleigh

http://www.fmrealty.com/real-estate/...Photo=exterior

http://www.fmrealty.com/real-estate/...Photo=exterior

edit: house hunters is on right now haha its an episode in chicago. 1500 sq ft bungalow that pretty much needed an entire remodel for 355k...

Yup. I am in the same boat as this guy. Every person who I know either bought a house or is living somewhere bad ass obviously got a financial boost from their families.

Me and my girlfriend dont have the same luxury when it comes to financial support and to be honest it kind of scares me as to what the future holds, but at the same time I know that this is how my parents started out when they first got here.

2 weeks ago I had a talk with a childhood friend of mine who works at an engineering firm. He too agrees with me with renting being dumb because of the fact that youre essentially throwing money away and making someone else rich off of your own money when you could be building equity.


Im not going to lie. Im not going to move out till my GF and I can afford our own mortgage. Like what I said earlier I truly believe that renting is stupid other than getting you used to the "shock" of making such a huge payment every month. So I will probably be at the earliest 28, but I will have a decent enough downpayment to bring my overall monthly to 2k including utilities + a little extra every month.

So until then ill be saving my money and waiting until

1. My gf finally finishes nursing school.
2. When the housing market is where I like it to be when I buy.

My neighbors just sold their condo (1bed 1 bath, 650 sq ft) for 445k. This is in D.C. though. Probably the craziest housing market second to NYC.

You have to pay to live in an awesome city. Personally, I like having shit to do and I am willing to pay the premium to live within walking/biking distance to all of it.

I actually like seeing what your money gets in your area...

This is what $500K gets you in my area...

It is all based on location, to you 600k may seem like a lot of money, which it is, but there is a vast amount of affluent individuals/families in this world. For example, the average income for my area is a little over $100k/yr.

If you don't have kids/major fiscal responsibilities, it isn't too hard to get approved for a loan that large. My buddy just bought a house for $450k and that is with a 65k/yr salary, no wife/kids and we are both 2 years out of school and make the same income.

See I have no wife or kids, no student loan debt and I make more than that. What did he do, take out a 5yr ARM?


I don't see the point on buying if you are NEVER going to pay it off, that's just a financial burden.

He is likely taking home $3-3,400 a month and at 30 years his mortgage has to be $2,800-3,000.

So best case he lives off $600 a month, worst case he is going into debt each month?

that place looks nice and new, but also pretty small.

am i missing the square footage in the ad or does it just not list it?

It's not listed in the ad. I would say that it's at the most 1600 sq feet, I think it's closer to 1500 sq feet.

you can rent rooms out too. my friends gets 1450 a month renting 2 out of the 3 rooms at his house out.

Paid 100k for 4b/2B/2 car garage. 1550 SQ ft and a big back yard w/ screened in patio. was all redone inside when we bought it and metal roof.

Had options to buy decent homes above and below in the same or less price range. There were a lot of houses on the market at the time, and interest rates were stupid low. ended up buying at 3.75%.... Couldn't be happier to own my own home. even with insurance rates going up a little I still don't pay $800/month and have a 2 car garage for all our toys and tools.

Florida may fail a lot, but property is dirt cheap right now.

Holy crap even for a married couple I would think a mortgage payment that high is outrageous.

If you wanted to open up a long terms savings plan (like 3-4 years at least) What would you guys recommend putting money into? I want something that has a higher APY than a regular savings account.

220k for a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 2 car garage with a large driveway on a cul-de-sac in Pomona back in 2009-10.
Originally was to be an investment to fix up and sell but after a while I started to like the area more and more - quieter, less traffic, parks, shopping, etc.
Father and sister moved out over a year ago and went back to LA and now it's just me and the house.
I'm not going to front, 2k in mortage and bills a month doesn't leave me the same freedom to pursue other interests (cars) that that once had but at the same time I was starting to feel like I was outgrowing wasting money of on fixing old buckets.
Houses in my area are now selling for 400 to 450k. I can't complain.

Property prices in my area are very low currently, it's a great time to buy, really.

This, although about 2 hrs away and a different market, is still a really good example:

While I sit here spending $1,000/mo in rent for a 900 sq.ft. 1/1 apartment and single detached garage, I could be owning my own "NICE" house.

If I had a SO to split bills with, I would most definitely purchase a house. However, I have worked in the foreclosure and bankruptcy field of law for 7 years now (always defending the creditors) and it's a little scary to imagine having that burden. But then again, people here are getting away with not paying their mortgages for years. Like, literally enough time to save enough money for a down payment on a new place.

Also, as someone mentioned about how all people are concerned about is image, you are totally right dude! You would not believe how many people are in bankruptcy with BMW's, or 3 or 4 cars...even 3 or 4 properties.

You can actually get away with a lot right now if you are willing to go through bankruptcy....lien strips and cramdowns are ridiculous

That was the deal when we got married. was "cheaper" to buy than the rent. Less we wanted to rent in a horrible neighborhood. Plus, we are both gear heads so having a garage for our cars to work on was 1 of only two requirements when we were shopping.

2 car garage and at least 2 beds were what we wanted. the company who owned our house and redid it all bought it at auction for 66k, slapped some paint on it and fixed a few things, and sold it. I would have liked to get it evne cheaper, but as it is most of my friends hate how "cheap" our house is.

I see amazing homes in Florida get auctioned for really cheap. Market out there is booming for investors it seems.

Bingo, he is renting it out and gets about $1k a room which will cover about $2k of his mortgage. I have to ask him specifics, he put down around $45,000 that he had saved up.

Not necessarily. It depends on your needs when you think about it. At this point and time, it's just my girlfriend and I. My house/layout is actually very similar to what I grew up in with my parents. Same square footage for the house with the exception of my lot being a couple hundred feet larger. Main difference being that there was 5 of us living under that roof.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they made the master bedroom/bathroom addition several years ago, but I really try my best to live within my means (of course enjoying myself from time to time).

Sort of remember posting these in the premie section, but here's my remodel.

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...s/photo1-9.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...oads/photo.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...s/photo2-9.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...s/photo3-7.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...s/photo4-5.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...ads/photo5.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i.../photo2-10.jpg

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/i...s/photo3-8.jpg

Bar lighting has been finished since then.

Still lots of decorating to do to fill the empty space, but wanted to keep it pretty simple.

Got rid of the wall separating the kitchen/dining room and added the bar instead. Eliminated a hallway closet to make the bathroom bigger.

Both bedrooms were also completely redone, but nothing all that special about them.

I'll hold off on the exterior pics until I wrap up those projects. Having my entire driveway redone, pergolas built, paving sections, outdoor grill, etc. Garage should be pretty neat once I wrap it up also.

Hell I moved from SE Virginia and thought homes were to expensive to buy. Now I live in SoCal and will def NOT buy a house here. No way in the world.

everyone I know that lives in az owns a nice fucking house, but it's az. I will never own a home, there is just too much going on with my money that a house would just fuck up. I make a good ass living too, just shit stacks up, having 2 new cars doesn't help either.

crimson rockett looks nice, must have been lots of work

color scheme isnt my style but looks a lot better than it did before

Werd. Nice updates Johnny.

A little on the cramped side for us seeing as we have a 3 year old and two large breed dogs. Plus she likes to entertain so there is need for space for what we would consider ideal. The most important part is the fact that I don't have a double car garage. :(

real financial freedom is not being sucked into those mortgages.

have the cash flow to be able to put a fat down payment on a million dollar home, and not have to worry about the stresses of paying it off.

With my wife being a real estate agent, It used the shock the hell out of me seeing ppl lease condos for $3000+ per month in DFW. I know some of you guys are die hard about wanting to stick with renting an apt or leasing a house, but man... If you do it right, buying property is WAAAAY more bang for your buck. You just have to stay within your means! For you guys wanting to stick to apt life, look into buying an inexpensive condo. The amount you stand to save in rent spread out over a 30 or even 15 year mortgage could be enourmous. I had a friend buy a nice, updated $90k condo in DFW with a 30 year fixed mortgage. Looked like a nice 1 bedroom apt. Her monthly payments were fucking $300/month. And if she ever changes her mind about staying there, she can rent it out because a comparable apt would easily lease for $900/month. Just wrap your brain around what you could be doing if your housing costs were about a 1/3 of what you currently pay in rent... Secure yourself some down payment assistance & go change your life, for real.

I wasn't going to live at home to save enough cash in order to buy a home cash. I had enough for the 20% down, and we stayed within our comfort zone for spending. Just buy within your means, and you'll be fine...

I'm rather liquid right now, but I'd rather have my money doing more lifting then in my mortgage that I can comfortably make my monthly payments on.

This, it is how I was able to afford a new car, a house, and paying cash for an r32 to be imported. we "qualified" for a lot more than we spent, but being comfortable and really leaving within what we made has been such a blessing.

^^^It shocked me when my realtor wife told me how much house I could qualified for on just my income alone. It was waaay more house than I could have used when I was single. So many years wasted renting & flushing cash down the toilet. For you guys thinking this stuff is too far away for you, you might be surprised. There is a reason why owning property is part of the American dream. It's one of the eaisest ways I know of to build wealth as long as you don't exceed your means.

how do people afford these thing. Good credit.

Damn CrimsonRockett, that's a nice remodel! I would like to one day remodel my house in Vegas.

I grabbed my house when the housing bubble had burst. I was overseas in Okinawa for 2 years and 1 year in S. Korea. I then got stationed in Las Vegas (Sin City). I picked up a 2,942 sq ft house on a 7,405 sq ft lot. It's a 2 story, 4 bd, 3 full bath, 3 car garage, and built in '07 for $171k. My payments are $920 and I rent it out now (because I'm stationed somewhere else) for $1500. I got lucky, but I guess Vegas and Phoenix where big housing boom areas that developed quickly but ended up having a shit ton of forclosures.

I miss living in a house that is mine.......(well it's technically the banks until paid, lol)

I've always thought about having a house with more land than anything though. HOA's suck balls. Vegas isn't too bad though, but it's nothing but desert landscaping. At least it cuts down on the water bills. Now let me tell you about my electric bill during the summer! lol

Good credit does give you $4k a month to pay for it.

I have outstanding credit but No-Fing way to I swing a $130k restoration job.

Dude, I love the interior colors you went with. You have very nice style my friend !

Yeah, it's crazy how different parts of the country or even different cities in the same area vary so much.

I was watching that House Hunters where they were in Chicago and the prices area crazy just compared to Milwaukee (where I live). And I love and HATE Chicago. I love Milwaukee. But on that show there was a POS bungalow going for $350k and a decent one for $400. Heck I can build a brand new amazing house here for $400 just 15 miles out of downtown (in Milwaukee traffic that would be about a 15 minute drive). But then we have areas right near downtown like Fox Point, and Whitefish Bay (or White Folks Bay as it's called) where a house like the one in Chicago would be $500k.

As far as remodeling, I don't quite get their costs. I think for the shows they have a budget and not all factors are built into the cost as they would a normal consumer. THAT or labor is extremely cheap in CA where most of these houses are renovated. One of my clients locally is a top remodeling company and they do bathrooms alone for $60k. And I'm not talking gigantic bathrooms, just nice ones. So again, I don't think the renovation costs quoted on the shows are accurate or if they are they are accurate to CA only.

My wife and I are finally at a point where we want to buy another house and we're looking in the $300k range. Another thing that comes into play that I don't know if anyone mentioned yet is Taxes. We have really high taxes here. We wrote and offer on a house in a very sought after neighborhood (in Milwaukee Co where the taxes are crazy) just a few weeks ago and the taxes were $6700/ year. That made up almost $600 of the mortgage we would have had. Now if we bought a house for the same price in Waukesha Co (next to Milwaukee where we used to live), City of New Berlin where we used to live, the taxes are like $4500. That only adds $375 to our mortgage. Obviously that makes the home more affordable. The only reason we even considered the higher tax home was because of the house being on the most beautiful park in the state of WI (a State that receives multiple awards every year for our parks) and the house being built buy a specific architect, etc etc.

But yeah, buying and affording a house is a big decision. But owning a home has so many advantages to renting. God I can't wait to get out of the place (renting) I'm in now. :rant2:

That is crazy high taxes compared to here. Last year were paid $775/year. The prior year it was 875. My dad built a complete log home on an acre of land and 2500sq ft, and his taxes aren't much more than 1600. It was appraised at over a million, but because he literally assembled it with his bare hands and a friend who is a contractor, it only cost about 350k to build.

And everyone's house on here a thousand times probably but since we're sharing.

Bought it for $230. Took 5 years to remodel it and basically broke even. Which we were actually thankful for since it was right after the bubble burst and people were losing their asses. When we bought the house it was not livable. It had been vacant for a couple years and in really really bad shape.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.n..._1906209_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.n..._2819143_n.jpg
https://scontent-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/..._4874443_n.jpg
https://scontent-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/...f7&oe=5428B326
https://scontent-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/...bb&oe=54152D0D
https://scontent-b-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/..._7995127_n.jpg

^ wow that is really pretty house.

You sir have exactly what I want. A beautiful house, green grass, and LAND!!! I'm envious!

Topic of sharing house. Bought for $171k in Vegas. I want land with my house! lol Had to pull image from Google since I don't have any pics since my ol computer took a crap and lost all my photos.

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r...hine/house.jpg

Nobody here talk about the real numbers and every home owner believe that they "built equity" and can only get richer when signing that 30 years mortgage.

Tell me the real cost of living in that 2 bedroom one bathroom house without cutting on water, heat or electricity usage and then lets compare it with cost of renting similar size apartment.

I can understand if you say "it's an image thing" or "I love to stay home and work in my own garden" or "because my mom said so" but the numbers doesn't add up at least in Toronto. Less and less young couples can afford buying that house yet you want me to believe that in 5, 10, 20 or 30 years you will sell your houses and get even or make profit?

I like to visit my friends in the summer, having a beer or two at theirs backyard but feel sorry for them when the summer is over. Love the possibility of working in your own garage but there is only so much you can do there if you have assholes neighbours.

I don't know who is buying today but I know that most of the people hate math and are not good at it.

Oh taxes... I pay about $2800 a year on property taxes. Though I can't really complain as there's a ton of new schools, parks, and recreational areas around here that are well maintained by the city. At least I can see where my tax dollars are going.

That house looks great by the way... I should dig up a few pictures of our place.

HAHA I wish my taxes were that amount a year. And it's only going to go up once I finish the basement.

Wait what? "Real Numbers" are the figures that you calculate when purchasing a home. Hydro and water are factored into the cost of living for your mortgage when you're getting your loan.

Building equity is applicable only when you are maintaining your current residence, and that the market is strong. It's a lot harder to get approved for a mortgage in Canada because of the new lending laws. Gone are the days of people taking 30-35 years to pay off their homes. 25 years is the longest term you can borrow for, and the CHMC is a heck of a lot stricter as to whom can borrow (and under what terms).

Banks are still somewhat unrealistic as to how the calculate what you can actually afford since they only tie hydro and water, and property taxes to the costs.

"Real cost of living" is what you make it. It's like a lot of people here have mentioned. Live within your means, and you'll be fine. Purchase a expensive home that's beyond your means, just because the bank thought that you can carry the costs, then I wish you good luck, because you will need it.

Just compare the bills: one year renting 2beds 1 washroom (all in) vs one year of owning that house

Mortgage: $788
Water:$26 (includes waste disposal)
Taxes (built into the mortgage payment)
Electric: Paid $137 last month in the heat of the summer

As far building equity.... My house was bought for 100k, the house across the street from me built in 69 (mine built in 89) sold for 130k cash. Last "estimate" according to Zillow puts my house in the $137k today and with the addition of all things the city is putting in (Amphitheater, Train system, and shopping district), it should only improve.

That said, I didn't buy my house for what it will be worth 10/15/20 years from now. I bought it for the market it is in, that my rent is basically controlled by me, and when I'm paying the bills.... I have something at the end.

As for rent, they are putting new apartments at the end of my block (right next to the train station that is already up and running), 1b/1B starting at the 9-1000/month. Same goes for where my sister used to live. (lets not even get into the fact there is no renters insurance in that price or doggy fees for pets)

Sure we have to mow the lawn and change our own air filters and light bulbs, but rent by and large seems to be a great deal for those renting the place out.

PS Zillow estimates we could rent our house today for $1250/month, which even that seems low consider what renting an apartment costs locally.

It should be known that renting is throwing away money.

Makes sense if your a baller or have too poor of credit to get financed. Otherwise financially... Owning > Renting

You should base your house cost 2 1/2 times combined salary. This is a good measurement of what you can afford.

i have an aunt whose into property. she owns a couple shopping centers and plenty of homes that are always rented out. paid for in cash, and usually foreclosed. she always has tenants, and starts to profit after only a year. then i have other friends who have 3 $500k homes, two of which are rented out. another one just bought his first home at 28 years old, and it's a $500k house. He's got the cash to pay it all off now but he decided to put a fat down payment and just finance the rest.

so if you want to live in a very nice house and not have to worry about money, start your own business and be profitable. Lol

I make pretty damn good money and have accepted the fact that I won't be able to buy a house until the next bubble bursts. It's pretty ridiculous when tech bros and people from China not only outbid the asking by at least $50k, but also pay in cash. I'm remodeling my dad's house for him, already put close to $12k into it, and barely made a dent. More power to some of you, but fixer uppers definitely aren't my thing.

On top of that, actually having a shortage of houses for sale in SF and tenants beginning to require a salary and credit score threshold just to rent.

By the way, no one outside of the SF bay area gets to bitch. Ever......

Pretty interesting thread going on.

Me and my fiance have been window shopping houses and areas for the last 6 months or so just to see what we like, dislike need and can live with. And like Exitspeed said, the area that we are from (Milwaukee area) There is a huge range in prices just within a 30-40 minute drive.

Built in 2007
Bought in 2009 for $171k
30 yr fixed rate
Mortgage: $929.45 monthly (includes priciple, interest, and escrow)
APR: 3.63%
Taxes: Covered by my escrow
Insurance: Covered by my escrow
Water: ~$50, includes garbage and sewer(thanks to desert landscaping)
Electricity: ~$60 in cool months and ~$200 in hotter months
Gas: ~$50
Total: $1089-$1229 depending on the month
Zillow Zestimate (lol): $252k

(Not bad for 2,942 sq ft, 2 story, 4 bd, 3 ba, 3 car house)

In the end I'm owning my house and can do what I want with it. Plus I'm currently renting it out right now, so now I only pay the mortgage payment. My renters pay me $1,500 monthly

Bought my house for $240k.

Mortgage, utilities, and property taxes all together are below $1100/month. Average rent in the area is $2,000/month.

Current property estimate is $315k based on the previous condition (prior to remodeling). A freshly remodeled property in my area with similar dimensions is $360k.

$240k + $30k (remodel) = $270k. I'll probably sink in another $30k to the house since I'm having my entire backyard redone, garage interior remodel, and new driveway.

After a year, I'm already up $90k. I can't think of another investment turning such a large profit in such a short amount of time. At the market's peak, it was worth $450k. It's obviously equity at this point, but I'd be stupid to sell it.

Definitely going to collect that rent check though once I have kids and need something bigger. After having worked as a personal banker in an upscale/high net worth area and talking to so many retired folks, the majority of them had made their money in real estate. Most still owned the first property they ever purchased. Sure, times were different back then, properties cost far less than what they do today, but interest rates were close to 20%.

To future home buyers-
Look at how much resources you put into a car (both money, and time doing research, fixing/ect) over a course of a year. You probably could have bought a house. Not all houses are 500k. Ever since I put the car stuff on pause a couple years ago, I've gotten into real estate investing. All of my houses are under $110k and generate profit at a high performance IMO.

Most major markets (DC, NY, LA, Bay, ect) are over inflated again, however in secondary and below markets, there are still an abundance of decent priced foreclosures.

Also, there is more than one way to buy a house. You dont need to get a mortgage through a bank. You don't need an agent taking a cut. Some of the great investors out there got their start with no "real" job or much money at all. When you deal with a sale-by-owner, the two parties can get creative with financing methods.

My first house i bought on the internet through an auction about a year out of college without an agent. I had no idea what I was doing, I just winged it honestly. At the same time I bought a retired east coast drift car, and a new truck. I only needed a couple thousand for the house. Hind-sight it was stupid to buy the truck and drift car, but I wanted to make a point that you really don't need a whole lot of money to do it, and you can get creative with it.

Another point I want to throw out there, do you really need a house? Is owning a home of your own something you really want to do, or is it something someone else told you is a good thing to do? Depending on the market you live in, it is cheaper to rent. That depends on your lifestyle as well. Despite the fact that I own houses, my designed lifestyle is better suited towards renting.

Are there any details missing from that? I had a similar starting salary out of college, but was only approved for a $250k loan at the time.

3-4 years is not long term. The best I've seen is roughly 1%. Even then, you're technically still loosing value assuming inflation is where its supposed to be.

If you're serious about long term, invest your money. Don't save it.

That is so wrong.

double post

How so????

Agreed 100000%

I still live at home for this exact reason. Trying to save up for a nice downpayment and waiting on my gf to finish nursing school. Im not ashamed of it at all. I cringe when I see friends sign apartment leases and see them just simply throw their money away.

Nobody answered my previous posted question though:

If you were going to set up I guess you can say a long term "piggy bank" for a house down payment where would you put your money into? I am looking into something that has a pretty good APY. I am leaning towards a money market account but I dont know if theres anything better or not.

I wish I would have had that luxury. I rented three different places by your age and bought my house at 25.

I can't answer your question really. My wife and I have money in all kinds of places.

When a person pays rent, it is not a waste of money, that is the cost of living. When you make payments for a home using a traditional bank financed method, part of that money does go towards paying off the house, but an equal or more amount goes to the bank, insurance company, the city and other services. Additionally, you take on the responsibility for maintenence. Of course it dpends on the area you are in and whether or not the numbers work out.

You also give up the flexibility of easily relocating. You also pay a realtor 6% and finci all fees. Buying a house can cost $10-20k up front and that doesn't even touch the base cost of the house.

Yes, thanks. That is a big one and it completely depends on how one want to design his/her lifestyle.

there is no one choice fits all.

For some people, being in a place he or she is comfortable with, and have that stable job for decades to come is what he/she wants.
For others, experiencing new places and people and constantly learning new things is life.

Rules of thumb for house buying is keeping your mortgage,upkeep expenses and property taxes below what you would normally pay to rent. Now with that said Silverbullet is right. In a lot of situations these days renting is the better way to. You think you are doing something with the mortgage money because it's going there and not being squandered on rent. Like he said there are expenses some of that money is going to you never get back. Cost of living period. Ya you can try and look at a owning a House as an investment but if you do you are slipping into the same game that has a lot of people underwater now and in the last few years.
Houses are not meant to be investment vehicle. They are meant to be security so you raise a family in a nice neighborhood to send your kids to school. There is a reason a 30 year mortgage was the norm. People did not buy houses to trade up equity. Unless you are professional contractor or real estate person who specializes in buying houses fixing them and flipping them it's pure dangerous for the average consumer or home owner/ would be home owner.
There are exceptions and I know a few have spoken up here. It's just like buying and selling cars. Some can do it most cannot and fact is most should not.

People need to stop looking at houses like piggy banks. It's a roof over your head and a shelter from the storm.
Oh and there are other things to invest that yield much safer profits over the long term. Housing in this market where I live has indeed gone into another bubble. It is not as bad as the previous one but it's a bubble none the less. It will pop. If you are speculating onit you better be pretty smart to know when to pull out before it does.

Now if you went into thinking this is were I am going to live for the next 10-15'years or more and you meet the previous criteria I stated then it's not a bad thing. It may not be as great as you think though either

Surprised none of you nerds posted this yet.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...ator.html?_r=0

Have fun!

I normally agree with your posts, but here I strongly disagree with what you and Silver are saying.

We understand that rent is like a test drive and it's great for people that want that freedom and flexibility, and that's fine. However going back to my original point you can't say that renting and is financially more responsible or is a good business decision to one that can "afford to buy a home" because that is just not so. Looking at owning a home as an investment vehicle on the other hand is one thing. Most of us understand that nothing is guaranteed but paying rent is essentially paying someone else's bill except you have nothing to show for it in the end. Think about it. Yes you can move around and relocate, but you can you leverage your expenses and potentially make $$? Can you remodel, Can you sell? No, most cases no and definitely no. What exactly do you have in the end, your freedom, ok got it.

Also your notion of owning a home as being a security blanket for kids is very single sided and quite frankly just isn't so. There are many people here that still even in today's market flip coin on buying and selling or buying and renting properties for other "investment" purposes. There's a great term here that's huge among business owners, called "It takes money to make money" think about the landlord you're paying your rent check too and get back to me on all those ppl that are using homes as security blankets.

Put quite simply if you make a decision and it is within your means of affordability, the smarter thing to do is leverage what you have in attempt to have more. You can't sell what you don't own and that's the bottom line.

Risky lending has caused the housing industry to fail! Looking forward, If you can afford it after looking at your budgets/income/career, I would 100% say go out and get a house while you can. Now if your lifestyle says the latter, than by all means give that money to the landlord, the person most likely using you as his means to more.

Meanwhile, in Texas...

http://www.piiholozipline.com/UserFi...rs_Cropped.jpg

That's about 40K for the land, in an ideal area.

I actually started a thread about home buying, but I recieved very little help. I closed on my 2500sq ft with 2 car garage and in ground swiming pool. My house had all the up grades in it. I paid 278k, I used my VA Loan. By 2015 I want to be completly of the electric grid, is anyone else of the grid?

We installed a 3kw solar system at home in January but are still tied to the grid (in New Zealand btw). Due to the placement of the panels we should see no bills in summer and in winter it should reduce by 50%.

It should have paid for itself in 11 years, but in 10years if we decide to stay we will extend the house and add another 4 panels and replace the inverter, and hopefully the technology in batteries has advanced enough to allow a bank of batteries to be added to the system cost effectively.

Agree with you. There isn't a financial advisor out there that will tell you renting is financially smarter then owning. People have their own reasons to buy or rent but if you can buy it is smarter.

The same goes for buying vs leasing a car. In the case of a vehicle it made more sense to me to lease with the particular car I own now.

is there already a houses/house mods pic thread?

Wow you so missed important parts of my post. I stated what the original ideal of home owning was I did not state it was the end all be all. I also stated that if you have the ability to flip houses to make money you can.


Fact is most people can't flip houses and make money in fact a lot of times they lose just like flipping cars. Everyone will tell you can't mod a car and make money. Actually some of us do and have. same goes for houses.
Fact is I can make more money off financial investments in less time than owning a house.
Ok and don't get started about financial advisers. Fact is indeed there are financial advisors out there that will tell you that owning a house is not always the way to go.
You guys smoke the pipe of the American dream with the twist of the I want it now of the early part of this century. Fact is there a few markets in the country that have rising equity in most places equity is flat if not still somewhat negative. It does not make financial sense for all people to own homes. Jus like car leases can be favorable to owning the car and making payments.

Stop looking at from one side. Maybe my post came on strong from the opposite but it was rooted in financial awareness and facts. Do you watch the financials markets everyday? I do and I follow housing as well. All I am saying is don't just merrily jump on the idea that owning a house is better. It's not always.

Actually Mel you are wrong here. Read what I wrote above. Oh and your comment about your car lease actually does contradict the first part of your car statement.

I will say again guys stop thinking its written in sand one way. It's not and it's not that simple or cut and dry.

I should add any homeowner is not going to like what I wrote. They bought and own a house to tell them it might not have been the wisest choice of them offends and bothers them. You could say that as well as the homeowner telling the renter he made a bad choice.

Only real difference is if I can make more off investments in ten years than the equity earned from owning a house, while paying less rent and no property taxes or upkeep costs. No realtor fees , no bank fees. Then I have probably put my money to better use than owning.
That is a fact, owning a house does not mean you are not throwing money away. It all depends on needs, costs and markets. Not all is the same in any given region of the country.

My point was to he contradictory.