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Katy Perry says

Ok Then rent somewhere else or lease and start your “farm.” not every business owns the building or land. $250k cash in this market invested correctly could start a nice business IMHO. Remember the house really owns you.

Only $100,000 is liquid. The rest is tied up in a SIMPLE IRA. I could use, at most, 10 percent of that IRA money for a down payment.

Also, I am in the country, not in Beverly Hills.

Best regards,

Sean

why dont you buy a cheaper house and not go into as much debt. Rural California surely you can find a house for 100k

The house might be an ugly duckling but over time you can make it better.

put something like 50k down and a 50k mortgage so you're paying less than you pay now in rent.

Come on guys. in my mind this can't be an Economics only question and if it is,I have in my opinion a WAY better use of the down. But I don't think it should be. He is single, Your wife to be will almost certainly want to PICK out a home together or she will never feel as if she any input, and she will / could always wonder what other women, and on and on. NOT to mention all the other changes to come at your age. You did ask, so might as well hear all kinds of IDEAS odd be they (this one) or not.

Why not if you think your home if going to be a GOOD investment, *(I sure do not think so) when compared to any number of aggressive stocks that are solid wait for a BIG Correction that is surly due by 2013 or much much sooner. Drop your down stroke in to a few well thought out stocks and EARN enough to BUY and PAY Cash for a home in 3-5 years, I mean look back to March 9th you could have bought any number of solid stocks (CAT, GOOG, APPL, and the list goes on) that would have turned 100,000 cash into 400,000 for example, Now chances are only so so that we get to back to DOW 7000 but some rather (Harry Dent) seem to think we will, and he is NOT alone, and in fact in GOOD COMPANY.

that's pretty bad advice gambling in the stock market. sure dow could go to 7k it could also go to 3k what do you do then?

he should buy a house. get rid of that 1300 rent expense. Even if it's just a rental house he's got enough cash to buy a house cash and rent it out for $1k per month.

Don't be tempted to take your retirement funds and buy a house with them. You should use just your liquid bank account for this.
Not knowing how nice the house is, or other factors, I would consider either 1. wait and save up more cash 2. seek a more modest house.
The more secure you think your business cash flow is, the more you can think about the debt of buying.
In a pinch, sometimes you can have a housemate who pays rent, this is an option that can come in handy.
Eventually you can get your money out of the house by reverse mortgage, if you have no heirs to give it to.

Sean7593 says

Katy Perry says

Ok Then rent somewhere else or lease and start your “farm.” not every business owns the building or land. $250k cash in this market invested correctly could start a nice business IMHO. Remember the house really owns you.

Only $100,000 is liquid. The rest is tied up in a SIMPLE IRA. I could use, at most, 10 percent of that IRA money for a down payment.
Also, I am in the country, not in Beverly Hills.
Best regards,
Sean

I'm actually guy in Murrieta CA. And I'm guessing you're some where near Sacto off the 80?
3/2 in Yuba city going for $120k.

Paying Cash = Winning

Eastern Sierra, Katy. Median price ~300k, but falling...

Sean

Beautiful area. I have camped from owens dry lake to June lake loop. Trying to get to cerro gordo if possible this year.

"I would like to quit my job and start an aquaponics Tilapia farm in my back yard. But I can’t as a renter."

You could if you left California where that much money buys you a house with plenty left afterwards.

Advise per your request:
(1) Absolutely do not touch your retirement account. Period.
(2) Since you have the funds to avoid PMI, I would recommend 20% minimum downpayment. As we are now seeing, PMI does not seem to do what it is intended to do, which is insure the mortgage in case of a default. Lenders and PMI companies are coming after the defaulting borrower for cash contributions.
(3) You are single. Do you expect to stay single long enough to recoup your selling costs if a new partner does not want to or can't live where you plan to buy?
(4) At almost 40 years old, what has been your habit for length of time in a home? Do you expect to continue that pattern?
(5) If the area you are interested in buying is likely easy resale, and everything else is a "go", then buy. If not, consider another location or wait.

It depends on TWO things.

1) How do you park your savings? In stocks? commodities? precious metals? bond? Foreign currencies? If the best you can do is to park your savings in USD bonds or USD cash, absolutely buy, because your USD is about to become trash. I have preached this since I started visiting this site, and my anti-USD investment throughout the years has worked out beautifully for me.

If you feel comfortable doing active investment, which you don't seem to be because you mentioned simple IRA, you should buy a house, at least you will get enjoyment.

2) Do you plan to marry and have kids at some point? If so, you may want to hold off buying a bit later because the wife will want her input, as someone mentioned above. She may not like where you live, and she may not like your taste, and where you buy may not have a good enough school district for her. In this kind of economy, if you have $250K savings to show for your income, you will do very well on dating sites.

I've been in this rental for 10 years, so I don't move often. The landlord won't do anything but the most minimal of maintenance, so the place is now in bad shape. There are plenty of other rentals hitting the markets, mostly homes that are not selling, so that is an option.

No plans to marry, and not concerned about a future partner not liking a house I buy. My savings are all in cash at the moment, which is depressing. Yes, the dollar has weakened and that may continue. However, deflation in things like housing is in my favor.

Several of the homes are HomePath properties (Fannie Mae owned). FM financing is available with 3.5% down. They also have an incentive through the end of June (must close by then) to pay 3% of the closing costs.

I may see what I can get pre-approved for, and start that process next week. It'll give me a sense of what I can currently buy, though I may very well wait till winter to buy.

Thanks for the many great posts. They've been very helpful!

If you are thinking of getting a loan, dont think of it as a tax haven though. For one thing you are paying interest to someone which is your money going away. And you get a very insignificant tax benefit if any. My folks who have a mortgage for many years now have not had a single year where they claimed interest rate on the mortgage, since standard deduction was better by a mile.

You are making only 60k a year so you might get no tax benefit from having a loan.

Don't spend more than what you are personally comfortable with. Consider that repairs and maintenance and property taxes will become a burden at some point.

Also you are not married yet, so you should consider that as potential conflict later in life if you are stuck to a specific location.

How much you can afford will depend of course on the situation of where you live and your income/work.

For the most part, we Cool and Hip Bay Area Yuppie Scum aren't familiar with a rural situation, like you are with your first hand experience.

Since you asked for advice though,

"I would not assume anything about fuel costs."

Transportation fuel might be in the future anywhere from 50 cents per gasoline gallon equivalent to 50 dollars. Who's to know?

Sean,

Best of luck!

Nice work on that savings. Just make sure negative equity does not apply to the property/locality you are buying. Good luck.

I think you should find the best rental in the area for you. Then Move.

Keep doing what is obviously working for you.

Houses are liabilitys now. stay flexable. keep stacking cash.

does anyone else hear that sucking sound?

remember,.zero is more than any negitive number I can think of.

Especially since you say prices are continuing to fall, I would keep renting for the short term in the place you live. Renting a nicer place is another option, but the pain and expense of moving would have to outweigh the pain of continuing to live in the place you are in. If prices were down from the highs but not continuing to fall so much (?), then I would seriously consider buying. All of the talk about "houses are a money pit", "houses are not an investment", etc. has to be taken with consideration to the price -- absolutes are rarely true all the time.

If you have done the math, and feel confident about your job, the price and the long term health of your community, I think buying could be a fine idea. If you have spent any time on this forum, you know all of the potential downsides, so as long as you keep those in mind (and don't lie to yourself), you are probably going to make a reasonably good decision.

I would personally opt for the minimum down payment that you can avoid PMI with, keeping the cash in reserve for unforeseen situations. I may consider a big down payment if I could secure a shorter term (and lower interest rate!) loan. Interest rates are low, and are likely going up in the mid term (and it's reasonable to expect investment yields to go up, too). If that happens, you will be glad to have the cash sitting around so you can invest it, and if not you can always make additional payments on your mortgage (reducing the payoff date, but not lowering the monthly payment for fixed rate loans)

If you talk yourself out of home ownership, then I think the idea of getting a nicer (long term) rental and spending your savings on travel (or whatever) is a fantastic idea -- if that's what you want. There is definitely a mathematical side to the decision, no doubt, but it is very dependent on personal considerations as well. Some people used the personal "want" side of the equation to rationalize unjustifiably horrible mathematical decisions -- try not to do that. Others have used borderline mathematical cases to talk them out of the personal enjoyment side of the equation -- probably a good idea to avoid that too. Just my opinion.

swebb says

If you talk yourself out of home ownership, then I think the idea of getting a nicer (long term) rental and spending your savings on travel (or whatever) is a fantastic idea — if that’s what you want. There is definitely a mathematical side to the decision, no doubt, but it is very dependent on personal considerations as well. Some people used the personal “want” side of the equation to rationalize unjustifiably horrible mathematical decisions — try not to do that. Others have used borderline mathematical cases to talk them out of the personal enjoyment side of the equation — probably a good idea to avoid that too. Just my opinion.

well said. :-) middle path is always the best.

"I think I can afford the place"

Red Flag!

Talk to a good accountant. He'll set you straight on what you can afford.

Remember its more than the payment. there are also taxes, maintenance, etc.

On the surface $200k seems realistic. $300k might be stretching a bit, IMHO.

Look around for a long-term rental, rented out by someone who owns the house free & clear. Sign a two-three year lease. If you're clever, negotiate an early-exit clause in the event of a house purchase.

Sit tight. Prices will drop.

Kudos on the excellent savings!

Tell your current landlord to screw himself when you move out. Or... negotiate a long term lease w/ your existing landlord contingent on getting things fixed up.