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
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https://scontent-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/...f7&oe=5428B326
https://scontent-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/...bb&oe=54152D0D
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^ 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