The I need to buy a house thread

Okay . . . let's try this again.

Moderators: Shirley, Sabo, brian, rass, DaveInSeattle

Gunpowder
The Dude
Posts: 8525
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:52 am
Location: Dipshitville, FL
Contact:

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by Gunpowder »

mister d wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 10:47 am Sooo ... flipside there is the risk equation isn't the same when you're dealing with higher numbers in certain regions. The last house we sold we took a small loss on because our oldest was about a year out from kindergarten and we wanted to get established somewhere before she started. The Zillow estimate (which isn't nails, but usually directionally right) is now $95K less than what we sold for and there's new construction going in next door, so we probably dodged a massive, can't-get-out-of-this bullet.
Location makes all the difference. In South Florida, even if you own the place some association is probably telling you what you can and can't do. And so many of these houses are just insanely expensive.

We just bought one in a condo in Miami. Turns out there are still noise issues from the gym that's two floors up and this is turning into a huge fuckin' nightmare. I wanted to rent in the area to make sure we really wanted to do this before we bought, but no it'll be fine let's stop throwing away money in rent....
Pack a vest for your james in the city of intercourse
User avatar
BSF21
The Dude
Posts: 5261
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 2:08 pm
Location: Playing one off the Monster

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by BSF21 »

Gunpowder wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 11:03 am
BSF21 wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 10:20 am
Gunpowder wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 10:07 am Yeah the "home ownership as the American Dream!" thing is such a fuckin' scam. I'm convinced it's a trick to get people stuck in places and take away their working leverage.
As opposed to renting or?

I see the value in both, but the idea of someone not controlling where I live, how it's maintained, and what I pay for it is worth it to me to own.
Well let's say you get offered a job in another city, and it's a great job. You are renting. As long as the destination city is somewhere you'd want to live, you're probably taking it and making a lot more money. At minimum you can use it as leverage at your current job (I've done this multiple times).

Even if it's just a job at another part of your city, but it's behind a traffic tunnel or something that makes it an hour commute. If you just bought a house and you can't pay both the mortgage and the costs for the new house until you can unload the old one, you're kinda stuck. And if your employer knows this, I absolutely think many of them would use that against you at some point knowing you really can't go anywhere else.

Nicole's old boss kept asking if we had bought a house yet and I absolutely think that was one of the reasons for asking.
Yea that's predetory and shitty but I'm sure it happens.

Again, I see both sides of it. My situation is a little more unique employment wise and there's not a job in this city you'd get and go "shit well I can't make it there from my home in any reasonable time". To each their own. I was just trying to point out some of the thoughts about the risk of ownership that aren't as bad as people make them out to be.
Dances with Wolves (1) - BSF

"This place was rockin'," said BSF21.

"There is nothing ever uncommon about BSF21."
User avatar
Shirley
The Dude
Posts: 7516
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 2:32 pm

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by Shirley »

Are you still with the conservative chick?
Totally Kafkaesque
Johnnie
The Dude
Posts: 16731
Joined: Mon Mar 18, 2013 7:31 pm
Location: TUCSON, BITCH!

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by Johnnie »

The Sybian wrote: Mon Oct 05, 2020 2:59 pm
sancarlos wrote: Mon Oct 05, 2020 2:40 pm When I refinanced, the appraiser asked me “is there a number we need to get to?” It wasn’t anywhere close to being an issue, but I tipped him twenty bucks for the thought.
In my experience refinancing, buying and selling, the appraisals have always magically come in at EXACTLY the sale price, or in the case of refinancing, the price I purchased.
Just got the email and that is EXACTLY what happened today. Appraised at the purchase price. Weird. And they even want to move closing forward if at all possible. Which is awesome. So...yay! (I'm extremely lucky to have been selling in this inflated market. No way in hell would I get back the money put into the kitchen otherwise. Definitely a lesson learned.)

And I love the dialogue with renting vs buying. There's tradeoffs to both, but I also have to take into account my situation. I'll be retired from the military and collecting both a VA check for disability and regular check for 20+ years of service. With a wife who works and no kids ever.

My rent/mortgage will always be paid so the trade-off is paying for whatever breaks. I'll also be living in a state with an affordable cost of living. And I could possibly take on a roommate given the circumstances.
mister d wrote:Couldn't have pegged me better.
EnochRoot wrote:I mean, whatever. Johnnie's all hot cuz I ride him.
User avatar
sancarlos
The Dude
Posts: 18060
Joined: Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:46 pm
Location: NorCal via Colorado

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by sancarlos »

Gunpowder wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 10:07 am Yeah the "home ownership as the American Dream!" thing is such a fuckin' scam. I'm convinced it's a trick to get people stuck in places and take away their working leverage.
Maybe where you live. The median California home price has more than doubled in the past ten years. ($320k to $706k). Nearly tripled in the past twenty years ($254k to $706k). That's a good investment return. The returns are greater in San Mateo county, where I live.

link to data
"What a bunch of pedantic pricks." - sybian
HaulCitgo
Walter Sobchak
Posts: 4444
Joined: Wed Mar 20, 2013 3:07 pm

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by HaulCitgo »

Johnnie wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 12:35 pm
The Sybian wrote: Mon Oct 05, 2020 2:59 pm
sancarlos wrote: Mon Oct 05, 2020 2:40 pm When I refinanced, the appraiser asked me “is there a number we need to get to?” It wasn’t anywhere close to being an issue, but I tipped him twenty bucks for the thought.
In my experience refinancing, buying and selling, the appraisals have always magically come in at EXACTLY the sale price, or in the case of refinancing, the price I purchased.
Just got the email and that is EXACTLY what happened today. Appraised at the purchase price. Weird.
Maybe just hold for the next recession.
User avatar
The Sybian
The Dude
Posts: 18865
Joined: Tue Mar 19, 2013 10:36 am
Location: Working in the Crap Part of Jersey

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by The Sybian »

sancarlos wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 1:09 pm
Gunpowder wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 10:07 am Yeah the "home ownership as the American Dream!" thing is such a fuckin' scam. I'm convinced it's a trick to get people stuck in places and take away their working leverage.
Maybe where you live. The median California home price has more than doubled in the past ten years. ($320k to $706k). Nearly tripled in the past twenty years ($254k to $706k). That's a good investment return. The returns are greater in San Mateo county, where I live.

link to data
But for someone buying today, that probably isn't going to hold true. House prices in CA can't keep going up the way they have. At some point there will be a correction. Hell, if SF gets hit with the big earthquake, how many millions are sitting on worthless property? Or post COVID if all the tech companies go remote, how many people are going to stay in the Bay Area or Silicon Valley? People will stand to lose fortunes in property value. I don't think home ownership was ever meant to be a nest egg, but a fucked up economic structure made it that way for so many people who bought in the 90s or earlier.

We bought out first house in 2005. It was built in 1950, previous owner bought in 1994, didn't add or renovate anything, and it tripled in value for him. We sold in 2008, and sold it for $15k less than we bought, early in the 2008 bubble. The Zillow estimate dropped by another $50k and didn't come back up until a year or two ago. Second house was similar. I wanted to throw up looking at the increased value every previous owner sold it for when I did a title search last year. The value tripled or quadrupled for some owners. We bought June 2008, so not quite top of the market, but certainly pre-crash. Zillow estimates were $100k below our purchase for awhile, and my town didn't lose value nearly as badly as most of the North East. It really took until the last year or two for the value to get back to our purchase price. We sold over the purchase price, but with the closing deductions, it came out about even. Then you factor in $20k to replace the deck that fell apart, $45k for a new kitchen, $12k for a new furnace and A/C, plus well over $20k for various repairs to plumbing, roof, electrical, painting, siding... then all the realtor fees. We probably would have been better off renting when you throw in the taxes and mortgage interest.
An honest to God cult of personality - formed around a failed steak salesman.
-Pruitt
Gunpowder
The Dude
Posts: 8525
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:52 am
Location: Dipshitville, FL
Contact:

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by Gunpowder »

sancarlos wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 1:09 pm
Gunpowder wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 10:07 am Yeah the "home ownership as the American Dream!" thing is such a fuckin' scam. I'm convinced it's a trick to get people stuck in places and take away their working leverage.
Maybe where you live. The median California home price has more than doubled in the past ten years. ($320k to $706k). Nearly tripled in the past twenty years ($254k to $706k). That's a good investment return. The returns are greater in San Mateo county, where I live.

link to data
Salaries have not doubled and tripled generally, and so it's quite expensive to buy one of those at this point.
Pack a vest for your james in the city of intercourse
HaulCitgo
Walter Sobchak
Posts: 4444
Joined: Wed Mar 20, 2013 3:07 pm

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by HaulCitgo »

Even if you could, would you want to? BSF has got the math right but Syb points out that you cant assume the appreciation on the tail end to offset tax/interest/insurance even you add in a cost to alternative housing. Particularly in a market with recent high appreciation and a disconnect between stock prices and economic activity and a looming democratic federal government. Not only do you have to pay the higher monthly costs for a mortgage vs rent for comprable housing but you also take the risk (and benefit) of suffiently high appreciation to offset not only higher monthly costs but sunk no benefit costs of tax, insurance, interest. Its like you pay more to gamble and this seems like a bad time to gamble.
User avatar
A_B
The Dude
Posts: 23319
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:36 am
Location: Getting them boards like a wolf in the chicken pen.

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by A_B »

Gunpowder wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 2:45 pm
sancarlos wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 1:09 pm
Gunpowder wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 10:07 am Yeah the "home ownership as the American Dream!" thing is such a fuckin' scam. I'm convinced it's a trick to get people stuck in places and take away their working leverage.
Maybe where you live. The median California home price has more than doubled in the past ten years. ($320k to $706k). Nearly tripled in the past twenty years ($254k to $706k). That's a good investment return. The returns are greater in San Mateo county, where I live.

link to data
Salaries have not doubled and tripled generally, and so it's quite expensive to buy one of those at this point.
In the areas where Sancarlos is, they may have. In lexington that wouldn't be near sustainable but out there a lot of people are coming in with high paying jobs.
You know what you need? A lyrical sucker punch to the face.
User avatar
sancarlos
The Dude
Posts: 18060
Joined: Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:46 pm
Location: NorCal via Colorado

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by sancarlos »

In California, the rise isn't recent. It's been going on for 50 years. I scrapped together enough to buy a little condo 30 years ago. It was fucking hard. People said all the same things you guys are saying. Don't buy! It won't last! I've been riding the wave ever since. There is an acute housing shortage here, and it isn't getting fixed by Covid. Supply and demand say that prices will continue to go up in California. GPJ makes a good point that a decent home costs a lot out here. But, you start small, as I did, and move up. Uncle Sam picks up a healthy chunk of the interest expense through your tax deduction and you are buying equity every month, rather than just paying into your landlord's home equity.
"What a bunch of pedantic pricks." - sybian
P.D.X.
The Dude
Posts: 5280
Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2013 12:31 pm

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by P.D.X. »

It's almost like one needs to consider location and life circumstances in determining owning v renting.
User avatar
The Sybian
The Dude
Posts: 18865
Joined: Tue Mar 19, 2013 10:36 am
Location: Working in the Crap Part of Jersey

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by The Sybian »

HaulCitgo wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 2:54 pm Even if you could, would you want to? BSF has got the math right but Syb points out that you cant assume the appreciation on the tail end to offset tax/interest/insurance even you add in a cost to alternative housing. Particularly in a market with recent high appreciation and a disconnect between stock prices and economic activity and a looming democratic federal government. Not only do you have to pay the higher monthly costs for a mortgage vs rent for comprable housing but you also take the risk (and benefit) of suffiently high appreciation to offset not only higher monthly costs but sunk no benefit costs of tax, insurance, interest. Its like you pay more to gamble and this seems like a bad time to gamble.
I think it all depends on where you are buying. Move to a town on the cusp of growth, and go nuts and buy at the higher end of your budget. I think cities and commuter towns just outside of cities with small houses and little land are going to get crushed, while more spacious suburbs will have huge demand. It's too late to get a good deal buying anywhere in NJ commutable to NYC, except for maybe a Jersey City or Hoboken, as people are fleeing in droves. Houses are still selling within a week or two here. I'm very curious to see what happens with a house two down from me on the corner. Just went up for $30k more than I paid for mine, and it's 1,500sq ft smaller and 50 years old, while mine was new construction. It looks great on the listing, kitchen could be 15- 20 years old, but high end. I hope they get their price, but I think it's crazy over priced, but maybe the current market will bear it out. Zillow estimates exactly at ask, so maybe? Looks like my Zillow estimate is $40k over what I purchased it for. Zillow was well over purchase price when we bought, but our purchase brought down Zillow's estimate.

Anyways, I'll bring up my parent's and in-law's houses again. Purchased about the same time. My parents paid slightly more. Their house is worth about $150,000, and in good condition, fairly recent upgrades on just about everything. In-laws house is a teardown, original kitchen and baths from 1972, Zillow has it at $875,000. Their neighborhood is almost entirely new construction now, starting well over a $1 million, and I think they could get $850,000 easy and not have to even clean the house for showings.
An honest to God cult of personality - formed around a failed steak salesman.
-Pruitt
User avatar
The Sybian
The Dude
Posts: 18865
Joined: Tue Mar 19, 2013 10:36 am
Location: Working in the Crap Part of Jersey

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by The Sybian »

sancarlos wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 3:02 pm Uncle Sam picks up a healthy chunk of the interest expense through your tax deduction and you are buying equity every month, rather than just paying into your landlord's home equity.
Tax deduction is bullshit now that Trump capped it, and buying into equity isn't all that big a deal when early mortgage checks primarily pay down interest. Taxes and interest are burning money as much as paying a landlord.
An honest to God cult of personality - formed around a failed steak salesman.
-Pruitt
User avatar
Brontoburglar
The Dude
Posts: 5851
Joined: Mon Mar 18, 2013 7:20 am

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by Brontoburglar »

*in certain parts of the country
"We're not the smartest people in the world. We go down the straightaway and turn left. That's literally what we do." -- Clint Bowyer
User avatar
BSF21
The Dude
Posts: 5261
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 2:08 pm
Location: Playing one off the Monster

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by BSF21 »

The Sybian wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 3:24 pm Taxes and interest are burning money as much as paying a landlord.

Yes but you're left with a tangible asset.
Dances with Wolves (1) - BSF

"This place was rockin'," said BSF21.

"There is nothing ever uncommon about BSF21."
User avatar
mister d
The Dude
Posts: 29047
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2013 8:15 am

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by mister d »

A financed, fully-loaded 2021 Hummer is also a tangible asset.
Johnnie wrote: Sat Sep 10, 2022 8:13 pmOh shit, you just reminded me about toilet paper.
Gunpowder
The Dude
Posts: 8525
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:52 am
Location: Dipshitville, FL
Contact:

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by Gunpowder »

A little condo costs $450,000. I can't scrape that together, I have to get a mortgage and it's going to take awhile to pay it off.

I'll probably come out ahead, but my main point is that it restricts my movement. If we would have bought a house in Naples I'd have already had to try and sell it, while owning a fraction of the house. Not sure how that even works - I assume I just pay the bank whatever is left from the final sale price and hope I end up ahead - and while I'm paying that mortgage I also have to pay a new mortgage at the place I moved to.

https://www.longtermtrends.net/home-pri ... ome-ratio/

Things were steady for a long period between 1960-2000, and then everything changed. I think that would change the calculus. What I expect to happen is that my payments will stay the same as income/value continues to go up, and that eventually I'll realize this was a good decision, but at first it's fuckin' hard man.

Image

Not you, Hard Man.

My comparison when I looked at everything wasn't owning v. renting, it was owning v. renting + putting the extra money into an Index Fund and not touching it, until it become a substantial down payment. People just don't have down payments these days, everything is expensive as hell. Broccoli today costs about the same as a Buick did in 1973.
Pack a vest for your james in the city of intercourse
User avatar
A_B
The Dude
Posts: 23319
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:36 am
Location: Getting them boards like a wolf in the chicken pen.

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by A_B »

mister d wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 3:51 pm A financed, fully-loaded 2021 Hummer is also a tangible asset.
I don't see that as a particularly good analogy simply due to depreciation.
You know what you need? A lyrical sucker punch to the face.
Gunpowder
The Dude
Posts: 8525
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:52 am
Location: Dipshitville, FL
Contact:

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by Gunpowder »

PLUS I have to worry about my own retirement.
Pack a vest for your james in the city of intercourse
User avatar
A_B
The Dude
Posts: 23319
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:36 am
Location: Getting them boards like a wolf in the chicken pen.

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by A_B »

Gunpowder wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 3:55 pm

My comparison when I looked at everything wasn't owning v. renting, it was owning v. renting + putting the extra money into an Index Fund and not touching it, until it become a substantial down payment. People just don't have down payments these days, everything is expensive as hell. Broccoli today costs about the same as a Buick did in 1973.
WEll of course this is an important argument. If you did take any money saved and directly put it in some kind of interest bearing account that would be a good plan.

But sometimes, the whip needs RIMS, man.
You know what you need? A lyrical sucker punch to the face.
User avatar
mister d
The Dude
Posts: 29047
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2013 8:15 am

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by mister d »

A_B wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 3:56 pm
mister d wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 3:51 pm A financed, fully-loaded 2021 Hummer is also a tangible asset.
I don't see that as a particularly good analogy simply due to depreciation.
The only difference financially is that one can recover and the other can't. A $500K house can be a $400K house in a year.
Johnnie wrote: Sat Sep 10, 2022 8:13 pmOh shit, you just reminded me about toilet paper.
User avatar
A_B
The Dude
Posts: 23319
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:36 am
Location: Getting them boards like a wolf in the chicken pen.

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by A_B »

mister d wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 4:00 pm
A_B wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 3:56 pm
mister d wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 3:51 pm A financed, fully-loaded 2021 Hummer is also a tangible asset.
I don't see that as a particularly good analogy simply due to depreciation.
The only difference financially is that one can recover and the other can't. A $500K house can be a $400K house in a year.
Well that isn't entirely true. A house CAN depreciate due to a number of reasons, some of which a homeowner can help mitigate. A car WILL depreciate for a number of reasons and there are few if any things that a car owner can do to stop it. There's a pretty wide range of risks between those two.
You know what you need? A lyrical sucker punch to the face.
Gunpowder
The Dude
Posts: 8525
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:52 am
Location: Dipshitville, FL
Contact:

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by Gunpowder »

A_B wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 3:58 pm
Gunpowder wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 3:55 pm

My comparison when I looked at everything wasn't owning v. renting, it was owning v. renting + putting the extra money into an Index Fund and not touching it, until it become a substantial down payment. People just don't have down payments these days, everything is expensive as hell. Broccoli today costs about the same as a Buick did in 1973.
WEll of course this is an important argument. If you did take any money saved and directly put it in some kind of interest bearing account that would be a good plan.

But sometimes, the whip needs RIMS, man.

Image
Pack a vest for your james in the city of intercourse
User avatar
mister d
The Dude
Posts: 29047
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2013 8:15 am

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by mister d »

THE FUCKING POINT IS HAVING AN ASSET ISN'T ALWAYS A GOOD THING WHEN YOU DON'T OUTRIGHT OWN SAID ASSET!
Johnnie wrote: Sat Sep 10, 2022 8:13 pmOh shit, you just reminded me about toilet paper.
User avatar
The Sybian
The Dude
Posts: 18865
Joined: Tue Mar 19, 2013 10:36 am
Location: Working in the Crap Part of Jersey

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by The Sybian »

BSF21 wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 3:35 pm
The Sybian wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 3:24 pm Taxes and interest are burning money as much as paying a landlord.

Yes but you're left with a tangible asset.
But if you buy a house for $500,000, spend $300,000 in interest and taxes and repairs over 10 years, then sell if for $500,000, do you have any more assets than if you spent $300,000 on rent?
An honest to God cult of personality - formed around a failed steak salesman.
-Pruitt
User avatar
BSF21
The Dude
Posts: 5261
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 2:08 pm
Location: Playing one off the Monster

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by BSF21 »

The Sybian wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 4:16 pm
BSF21 wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 3:35 pm
The Sybian wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 3:24 pm Taxes and interest are burning money as much as paying a landlord.

Yes but you're left with a tangible asset.
But if you buy a house for $500,000, spend $300,000 in interest and taxes and repairs over 10 years, then sell if for $500,000, do you have any more assets than if you spent $300,000 on rent?
I don't want to know what kind of credit/money pit hell hole you ended up in if those are the numbers and I'm afraid to ask, but no, then you're even and the point stands that whatever you bought was probably nicer than what you could have rented for the same cost.

This whole thing assumes the initial points I bought up of:
a) Johnnie and MrsJohnnie are DINKs
b) A small difference in interest rate over a year should not make a tremendous impact on overall payment/money out
c) If the above is true and you buy at a price point you're comfortable with, paying into the mortgage and paying it down/off quickly is a solid strategy for having a nice place to live at a low cost relative to renting the same size/property

I'm not saying people don't get upside down on homes. But I would say that in the markets we're talking about with myself, Bronto, and based on the Zillow for what Johnnie sent, we're not making 750k decisions and don't have to suffer the wild swings. I'm a believer than even with cost to own, the certainty that my landlord can't sell my house because I own it is preferable to the alternative.
Dances with Wolves (1) - BSF

"This place was rockin'," said BSF21.

"There is nothing ever uncommon about BSF21."
User avatar
DSafetyGuy
The Dude
Posts: 8728
Joined: Mon Mar 18, 2013 12:29 pm
Location: Behind the high school

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by DSafetyGuy »

Gunpowder wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 3:56 pm PLUS I have to worry about my own retirement.
If you just accept now that there will be no retirement, it's easier.
“All I'm sayin' is, he comes near me, I'll put him in the wall.”
User avatar
Brontoburglar
The Dude
Posts: 5851
Joined: Mon Mar 18, 2013 7:20 am

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by Brontoburglar »

BSF21 wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 4:28 pm

I don't want to know what kind of credit/money pit hell hole you ended up in if those are the numbers and I'm afraid to ask, but no, then you're even and the point stands that whatever you bought was probably nicer than what you could have rented for the same cost.

This whole thing assumes the initial points I bought up of:
a) Johnnie and MrsJohnnie are DINKs
b) A small difference in interest rate over a year should not make a tremendous impact on overall payment/money out
c) If the above is true and you buy at a price point you're comfortable with, paying into the mortgage and paying it down/off quickly is a solid strategy for having a nice place to live at a low cost relative to renting the same size/property

I'm not saying people don't get upside down on homes. But I would say that in the markets we're talking about with myself, Bronto, and based on the Zillow for what Johnnie sent, we're not making 750k decisions and don't have to suffer the wild swings. I'm a believer than even with cost to own, the certainty that my landlord can't sell my house because I own it is preferable to the alternative.
bingo. this isn't a one-size fits all discussion. it was an absolute no-brainer on our end to buy with the down payment coming from the sale of my house and a mortgage payment that saved us approximately $700 a month vs. one mortgage and one rental payment. and we're both able to save for retirement.

but that said, I also understand how hard it is for first-time home buyers right now given the costs of renting. I'm not sure how someone who isn't making really good money at a young age can save up enough over a decently short period of time for a good down payment without living in a hell hole. it's one of the reasons (kinda sadly) that I want to keep up and expand the family real estate empire when I take it over in a few years.
"We're not the smartest people in the world. We go down the straightaway and turn left. That's literally what we do." -- Clint Bowyer
Johnnie
The Dude
Posts: 16731
Joined: Mon Mar 18, 2013 7:31 pm
Location: TUCSON, BITCH!

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by Johnnie »

Yea, having grown up in the east coast and existing around the poverty line until I was able to save money after getting a job, I cannot even fathom finding a place in Massachusetts that is less than half a million in order to just survive. Total nonstarter. But living elsewhere for less than half of that? Easy.

My mortgage on the house in selling was actually less than the rent of the apartment I lived in when I first moved to ABQ. It definitely changed the calculus (plus the pride of home ownership) for me when I got back from my deployment two years ago.
mister d wrote:Couldn't have pegged me better.
EnochRoot wrote:I mean, whatever. Johnnie's all hot cuz I ride him.
User avatar
mister d
The Dude
Posts: 29047
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2013 8:15 am

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by mister d »

Yeah, being born in certain areas changes your entire mindset on all of this. I'm where we would have ended up if we hadn't had kids; like would we have stayed in Boston or found a cheaper city somewhere outside the northeast. Only thing I'm sure of is the answer wouldn't have been "New Jersey".
Johnnie wrote: Sat Sep 10, 2022 8:13 pmOh shit, you just reminded me about toilet paper.
User avatar
The Sybian
The Dude
Posts: 18865
Joined: Tue Mar 19, 2013 10:36 am
Location: Working in the Crap Part of Jersey

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by The Sybian »

BSF21 wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 4:28 pm
The Sybian wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 4:16 pm
BSF21 wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 3:35 pm
The Sybian wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 3:24 pm Taxes and interest are burning money as much as paying a landlord.

Yes but you're left with a tangible asset.
But if you buy a house for $500,000, spend $300,000 in interest and taxes and repairs over 10 years, then sell if for $500,000, do you have any more assets than if you spent $300,000 on rent?
I don't want to know what kind of credit/money pit hell hole you ended up in if those are the numbers and I'm afraid to ask, but no, then you're even and the point stands that whatever you bought was probably nicer than what you could have rented for the same cost.

I was throwing out completely random numbers to make a point. If you prefer, I'll say $1 million home stays the same price, and you spend $200,000 on taxes and interest. My point is, you can't count on the value of a house increasing over time, but you know you are paying interest, taxes, repairs and maintenance. If all those factors are close to what you would have paid in rent, and the value of the house is unchanged, does the asset of a house in the end mean anything when after you sell it, your bank account is identical to what it would have been if you rented? Not to mention Gunpowder's point on lost opportunity cost in being geographically saddled.

Great point on not being where you would have been if you didn't have kids. We never would have left NYC. And when we moved last year, we were stuck looking in one town because we didn't want to make the kids switch schools. We could have gotten the same house for much less 15 minutes away, or for half the price 10 minutes away in a horrible school district, but we were incredibly limited.
An honest to God cult of personality - formed around a failed steak salesman.
-Pruitt
User avatar
brian
The Dude
Posts: 27740
Joined: Mon Mar 18, 2013 10:52 am
Location: Downtown Las Vegas

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by brian »

Photog here for photo shoot for house (for 3D tour/video and whatnot) and papers signed. House officially lists Tuesday at $360,000.
Bandwagon fan of the 2023 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS!
Johnnie
The Dude
Posts: 16731
Joined: Mon Mar 18, 2013 7:31 pm
Location: TUCSON, BITCH!

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by Johnnie »

brian wrote: Fri Oct 16, 2020 1:16 pm Photog here for photo shoot for house (for 3D tour/video and whatnot) and papers signed. House officially lists Tuesday at $360,000.
Weeeeeee! Good luck!
mister d wrote:Couldn't have pegged me better.
EnochRoot wrote:I mean, whatever. Johnnie's all hot cuz I ride him.
User avatar
brian
The Dude
Posts: 27740
Joined: Mon Mar 18, 2013 10:52 am
Location: Downtown Las Vegas

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by brian »

Bandwagon fan of the 2023 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS!
User avatar
mister d
The Dude
Posts: 29047
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2013 8:15 am

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by mister d »

Speaking on behalf of the east coasters ... fuck. That's a really nice place. I love the kitchen into the living area.
Johnnie wrote: Sat Sep 10, 2022 8:13 pmOh shit, you just reminded me about toilet paper.
User avatar
brian
The Dude
Posts: 27740
Joined: Mon Mar 18, 2013 10:52 am
Location: Downtown Las Vegas

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by brian »

They made me take all my Lucero posters down.
Bandwagon fan of the 2023 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS!
User avatar
GoodKarma
The Big Lebowski
Posts: 1508
Joined: Tue Mar 19, 2013 12:14 pm
Location: Colorado

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by GoodKarma »

brian wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 4:16 pm House went on the market today. Prayers up.
You throwing in the Kitchen-Aid and the kegerator?
I would like expensive whiskey.
We only have beer & wine...
What am I, 12?
User avatar
brian
The Dude
Posts: 27740
Joined: Mon Mar 18, 2013 10:52 am
Location: Downtown Las Vegas

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by brian »

GoodKarma wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 5:14 pm
brian wrote: Tue Oct 20, 2020 4:16 pm House went on the market today. Prayers up.
You throwing in the Kitchen-Aid and the kegerator?
The latter, sure. The former goes to the wife's best friend.
Bandwagon fan of the 2023 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS!
User avatar
rass
The Dude
Posts: 20209
Joined: Mon Mar 18, 2013 9:41 am
Location: N effin' J

Re: The I need to buy a house thread

Post by rass »

Nice looking place. I think HGTV shows based in the desert always had me picturing a ranch on a street full of identical ranches with a gravel front yard.
I felt aswirl with warm secretions.
Post Reply