How do decide a reasonable home price for income level
invite response
2011 Dec 27, 7:23pm 37,145 views 90 comments
« First « Previous Comments 86 - 90 of 90 Search these comments
After 9 years of waiting patiently for this bubble to pop, and shaking my head at the crazies who bought, we saw a mortgage broker last week.
I am still on the fence - just dipping my toes in.
2 more years of renting = 40K, not including rent increases (which we get with regularity.
It is always a difficult decision. Sometimes I think people may discount how quickly things can change in the market and maybe also how inflation may play into it. Things will not stay depressed forever. We all don't think California real estate is a bargain, but it has a tendency to stay stubbornly high in desireable areas.
That downpayment assistance sounds terrific and great if you can take advantage.
If this is your first house, I would only offer this advice (from personal experience). Get one plenty big for you and the kids. You don't want to outgrow the house and a few years later start dealing with the remodel vs. move decision. That was my mistake. I ended up remodeling. It turned out great, but I could've done without the 2 years of agonizing over the decision. Best of luck.
1sfrenter
2012 Jan 3, 1:29pm
It is always a difficult decision. Sometimes I think people may discount how quickly things can change in the market and maybe also how inflation may play into it. Things will not stay depressed forever. We all don't think California real estate is a bargain, but it has a tendency to stay stubbornly high in desireable areas.
If this is your first house, I would only offer this advice (from personal experience). Get one plenty big for you and the kids.
Thanks 2 cents for not getting hysterical over the fact that we are even considering buying right now. The regular folks say "great time to buy: - but heck they've been saying that for 10 years.
Folks that have been following this thing, and predicted the bust, are so certain that there's more to come tumbling down.
IF we buy this year, and that's a big if, I can deal with the landlady another 9-12 months...whatever we choose we will effectively have to stay in for minimum 10 years, otherwise the downpayment assistance from the mayor's office is due back in full (still interest free, though).
Having stayed in this rental for 13 years, clearly we are the put-down roots type.
To be continued...
TechGromit
2012 Jan 4, 11:30pm
Folks that have been following this thing, and predicted the bust, are so certain that there's more to come tumbling down.
They were wise beyond there years predicting a housing market crash. But enough is enough, the market will not keep declining forever. I can't say what the San Francisco market looks like, but most of the other markets have seen there biggest decline already, any additional price decreases will be minimal at best.
LAO
2012 Jan 5, 6:33am
So the lesson here is Never to buy, cause you will be moving before you can build up any equity anyway? (Generally it takes 7 years to build up any equity assuming it's not a declining Real Estate market) Why would anyone ever bother to buy Real Estate then?
actually one nice thing about low interest rates now.. is equity can be built a lot faster... (well, if prices ever stop falling that is) :) I'm plowing over $500 a month.. over $6K a year into principal with a 3.9% 30 year fixed... on a $400K house. Sure a lot of that will get eaten away with repairs and remodels..and possible price declines in the first few years.. but I'd say by year 3-4 we'll be building consistent equity on a monthly basis.
joshuatrio
2012 Jan 5, 7:50am
It's 70 degrees today in my town( Temecula Murrieta CA) and 63 degrees in SF Bay Area Today oh and in SF This week the lowest Night temp is 48 degrees.
Its 65 degrees Day and 43 degrees in Night now in Dallas, big deal…
Right and it's 100+ degrees in the DFW metroplex for "umpteen" days/months straight in the summer.
Glad I left that dump.
« First « Previous Comments 86 - 90 of 90 Search these comments
Say I am willing to pay $2,500 to rent a place. Is there a good calculator that can take into account tax savings from MI+PT deduction given income level and factor in the approx mortgage costs so I can see what amount of house I could get for $2,500 pm.
The only thing I have been able to find is to do some combination of TurboTax Forecaster Online tool and http://www.zillow.com/mortgage-calculator/
I am getting tired of renting in these crappy badly maintained communities in the south bay and am increasingly thinking that its worth taking the plunge just for a better quality of life. Avalon was decent but their prices have gone up in the last year...Does anyone see the same trend in the Bay Area.
#housing