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Ten Reasons It's A Terrible Time To Buy An Expensive House


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2015 Jul 11, 12:58pm   939,772 views  470 comments

by Patrick   ➕follow (61)   💰tip   ignore  



  1. Because house prices in expensive areas still dangerously high compared to incomes and rents. Banks say a safe mortgage is a maximum of 3 times the buyer's annual income with a 20% downpayment. Landlords say a safe price is set by the rental market; annual rent should be at least 9% of the purchase price, or else the price is just too high. Yet in affluent areas, both those safety rules are still being violated. Buyers are still borrowing 6 times their income with tiny downpayments, and gross rents are still only 3% of purchase price. Renting is a cash business that proves what people can really pay based on their salary, not how much they can borrow. Salaries and rents prove that affluent neighborhoods are still in a huge housing bubble, and that bubble seems to be getting more dangerous by the day.


    2. On the other hand, in some poor neighborhoods, prices are now so low that gross rents may exceed 10% of price. Housing is a bargain for buyers there. Prices there could still fall yet more if unemployment rises or interest rates go up, but those neighborhoods have no bubble anymore.

  2. Because it's usually still much cheaper to rent than to own the same size and quality house, in the same school district. In rich neighborhoods, annual rents are typically only 3% of purchase price while mortgage rates are 4% with fees, so it costs more to borrow the money as it does to borrow the house. Renters win and owners lose! Worse, total owner costs including taxes, maintenance, and insurance come to about 8% of purchase price, which is more than twice the cost of renting and wipes out any income tax benefit.

    The only true sign of a bottom is a price low enough so that you could rent out the house and make a profit. Then you'll know it's pretty safe to buy for yourself because then rent could cover the mortgage and ownership expenses if necessary, eliminating most of your risk. The basic buying safety rule is to divide annual rent by the purchase price for the house:

    annual rent / purchase price = 3% means do not buy, prices are too high

    annual rent / purchase price = 6% means borderline

    annual rent / purchase price = 9% means ok to buy, prices are reasonable

    So for example, it's borderline to pay $200,000 for a house that would cost you $1,000 per month to rent. That's $12,000 per year in rent. If you buy it with a 6% mortgage, that's $12,000 per year in interest instead, so it works out about the same. Owners can pay interest with pre-tax money, but that benefit gets wiped out by the eternal debts of repairs and property tax, equalizing things. It is foolish to pay $400,000 for that same house, because renting it would cost only half as much per year, and renters are completely safe from falling housing prices. Subtract HOA from rent before doing the calculation for condos.

    Although there is no way to be sure that rents won't fall, comparing the local employment rate (demand) to the current local supply of available homes for rent or sale (supply) should help you figure out whether a big fall in rents could happen. Checking these factors minimizizes your risk.


  3. Because it's a terrible time to buy when interest rates are low, like now. House prices rose as interest rates fell, and house prices will fall if interest rates rise without a strong increase in jobs, because a fixed monthly payment covers a smaller mortgage at a higher interest rate. Since interest rates have nowhere to go but up, prices have nowhere to go but down. When housing falls, you lose your equity, but not your debt.

    The way to win the game is to have cash on hand to buy outright at a low price when others cannot borrow very much because of high interest rates. Then you get a low price, and you get capital appreciation caused by future interest rate declines. To buy an expensive house at a time of low interest rates and high prices like now is a mistake.

    It is far better to pay a low price with a high interest rate than a high price with a low interest rate, even if the mortgage payment is the same either way.



    • A low price lets you pay it all off instead of being a debt-slave for the rest of your life.


    • As interest rates fall, real estate prices generally rise.


    • Your property taxes will be lower with a low purchase price.


    • Paying a high price now may trap you "under water", meaning you'll have a mortgage debt larger than the value of the house. Then you will not be able to refinance because then you'll have no equity, and will not be able to sell without a loss. Even if you get a long-term fixed rate mortgage, when rates inevitably go up the value of your property will go down. Paying a low price minimizes your damage.


    • You can refinance when you buy at a higher interest rate and rates fall, but current buyers will never be able to refinance for a lower interest rate in the future. Rates are already as low as they can go.






  4. Because buyers already borrowed too much money and cannot pay it back. They spent it on houses that are now worth less than the loans. This means most banks are still actually bankrupt. But since the banks have friends in Washington, they get special treatment that you do not. The Federal Reserve prints up bales of new money to buy worthless mortgages from irresponsible banks, slowing down the buyer-friendly deflation in housing prices and socializing bank losses.

    The Fed exists to protect big banks from the free market, at your expense. Banks get to keep any profits they make, but bank losses just get passed on to you as extra cost added on to the price of a house, when the Fed prints up money and buys their bad mortgages. If the Fed did not prevent the free market from working, you would be able to buy a house much more cheaply.

    As if that were not enough corruption, Congress authorized vast amounts of TARP bailout cash taken from taxpayers to be loaned directly to the worst-run banks, those that already gambled on mortgages and lost. The Fed and Congress are letting the banks "extend and pretend" that their mortgage loans will get

    paid back.

    And of course the banks can simply sell millions of bad loans to Fannie and Freddie at full price, putting taxpayers on the hook for the banks' gambling losses. Heads they win, tails you lose.

    It is necessary that YOU be forced deeply into debt, and therefore forced into slavery, for the banks to make a profit. If you pay a low price for a house and manage to avoid debt, the banks lose control over you. Unacceptable to them. It's all a filthy battle for control over your labor.

    This is why you will never hear the president or anyone else in power say that we need lower house prices. They always talk about "affordability" but what they always mean is debt-slavery.


  5. Because buyers used too much leverage. Leverage means using debt to amplify gain. Most people forget that debt amplifies losses as well. If a buyer puts 10% down and the house goes down 10%, he has lost 100% of his money on paper. If he has to sell due to job loss or a mortgage rate adjustment, he lost 100% in the real world.

    The simple fact is that the renter - if willing and able to save his money - can buy a house outright in half the time that a conventional buyer can pay off a mortgage. Interest generally accounts for more than half of the cost of a house. The saver/renter not only pays no interest, he also gets interest on his savings, even if just a little. Leveraged housing appreciation, usually presented as the "secret" to wealth, cannot be counted on, and can just as easily work against the buyer. In fact, that leverage is the danger that got current buyers into trouble.

    The higher-end housing market is now set up for a huge crash in prices, since there is no more fake paper equity from the sale of a previously overvalued property and because the market for securitized jumbo loans is dead. Without that fake equity, most people don't have the money needed for a down payment on an expensive house. It takes a very long time indeed to save up for a 20% downpayment when you're still making mortgage payments on an underwater house.

    It's worse than that. House prices do not even have to fall to cause big losses. The cost of selling a house is kept unfairly high because of the Realtor® lobby's corruption of US legislators. On a $300,000 house, 6% is $18,000 lost even if housing prices just stay flat. So a 4% decline in housing prices bankrupts all those with 10% equity or less.


  6. Because the housing bubble was not driven by supply and demand. There is huge supply because of overbuilding, and there is less demand now that the baby boomers are retiring and selling. Prices in the housing market, even now, are entirely a function of how much the banks are willing and able to lend. Most people will borrow as much as they possibly can, amounts that are completely disconnected from their salaries or from the rental value of the property. Banks have been willing to accomodate crazy borrowers because banker control of the US government means that banks do not yet have to acknowledge their losses, or can push losses onto taxpayers through government housing agencies like the FHA.


  7. Because there is still a massive backlog of latent foreclosures. Millions of owners stopped paying their mortgages, and the banks are still not forclosing on all of them, letting the owner live in the house for free. If a bank forecloses and takes possession of a house, that means the bank is responsible for property taxes and maintenance. Banks don't like those costs. If a bank then sells the foreclosure at current prices, the bank has to admit a loss on the loan. Banks like that cost even less. So there is a tsunami of foreclosures on the way that the banks are ignoring, for now. To prevent a justified foreclosure is also to prevent a deserving family from buying that house at a low price. Right now, those foreclosures will wash over the landscape, decimating prices, and benefitting millions of families which will be able to buy a house without a suicidal level of debt, and maybe without any debt at all!


  8. Because first-time buyers have all been ruthlessly exploited and the supply of new victims is very low.

    From The Herald:

    "We were all corrupted by the housing boom, to some extent. People talked endlessly about how their houses were earning more than they did, never asking where all this free money was coming from. Well the truth is that it was being stolen from the next generation. Houses price increases don't produce wealth, they merely transfer it from the young to the old - from the coming generation of families who have to burden themselves with colossal debts if they want to own, to the baby boomers who are about to retire and live on the cash they make when they downsize."

    House price inflation has been very unfair to new families, especially those with children. It is foolish for them to buy at current high prices, yet government leaders never talk about how lower house prices are good for American families, instead preferring to sacrifice the young and poor to benefit the old and rich, and to make sure bankers have plenty of debt to earn interest on. Your debt is their wealth. Every "affordability" program drives prices higher by pushing buyers deeper into debt. Increased debt is not affordability, it's just pushing the reckoning into the future. To really help Americans, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the FHA should be completely eliminated. Even more important is eliminating the mortgage-interest deduction, which costs the government $400 billion per year in tax revenue. The mortgage interest deduction directly harms all buyers by keeping prices higher than they would otherwise be, costing buyers more in extra purchase cost than they save on taxes. The $8,000 buyer tax credit cost each buyer in Massachusetts an extra $39,000 in purchase price. Subsidies just make the subsidized item more expensive. Buyers should be rioting in the streets, demanding an end to all mortgage subsidies. Canada and Australia have no mortgage-interest deduction for owner-occupied housing. It can be done.

    The government pretends to be interested in affordable housing, but now that housing is becoming truly affordable via falling prices, they want to stop it? Their actions speak louder than their words.



  9. Because boomers are retiring. There are 70 million Americans born between 1945-1960. One-third have zero retirement savings. The oldest are 66. The only money they have is equity in a house, so they must sell. This will add yet another flood of houses to the market, driving prices down even more.


  10. Because there is a huge glut of empty new houses. Builders are being forced to drop prices even faster than owners, because builders must sell to keep their business going. They need the money now. Builders have huge excess inventory that they cannot sell at current prices, and more houses are completed each day, making the housing slump worse.




Next Page: Eight groups who lie about the housing market »



The Housing Trap

You're being set up to spend your life paying off a debt you don't need to take on, for a house that costs far more than it should. The conspirators are all around you, smiling to lure you in, carefully choosing their words and watching your reactions as they push your buttons, anxiously waiting for the moment when you sign the papers that will trap you and guarantee their payoff. Don't be just another victim of the housing market. Use this book to defend your freedom and defeat their schemes. You can win the game, but first you have to learn how to play it.

115 pages, $12.50Kindle version available

« First        Comments 188 - 227 of 470       Last »     Search these comments

188   Strategist   2016 Jun 2, 6:08pm  

Rajan says

You can contact him true this (redacted) because I am now a happy woman

Don't bother Rajan. Lots of dumb people on this site, just not dumb enough to fall for your scam.

189   Heatho95   2016 Jun 24, 8:54pm  

We live in the Bay Area. Our rent is constantly going up. We are now looking to buy. We can only afford about $465k. Our mortgage will go up because of the size home we need however if we continue to rent the IRS continues to screw us in taxes every year. Talk about being trapped. We rent we pay a lot on taxes. We buy we pay more in mortgage. What do we do? I think buying now is our only hope.

190   Strategist   2016 Jun 24, 9:05pm  

Heatho95 says

We live in the Bay Area. Our rent is constantly going up. We are now looking to buy. We can only afford about $465k. Our mortgage will go up because of the size home we need however if we continue to rent the IRS continues to screw us in taxes every year. Talk about being trapped. We rent we pay a lot on taxes. We buy we pay more in mortgage. What do we do? I think buying now is our only hope.

You buy and prevent your monthly housing payments from going up.
Interest rates are 3%. If your home appreciates 3%+ you are getting paid to own a home.

191   Strategist   2016 Jun 24, 9:42pm  

Ironman says

Strategist says

Interest rates are 3%. If your home appreciates 3%+ you are getting paid to own a home.

and if your home depreciates 3%.....

192   Patrick   2016 Jun 25, 11:29am  

Heatho95 says

What do we do?

use a calculator!

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/buy-rent-calculator.html

do not fall into the trap of assuming unrealistic appreciation.

193   Sharingmyintelligencewiththedumbasses   2016 Jun 25, 11:43am  

Last time you posted this, million dollar homes in the bay area went on a tear to becoming 1.5 to 2 million dollar homes....

194   anonymous   2016 Jun 26, 10:02am  

***NEVADA STEALS HOMES****

Please DO NOT buy in NEVADA HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATION. Many states (like NEVADA) engage in THEFT/DEPRIVED DUE PROCESS by using SUPER-PRIORITY LIENS to FRAUDULENTLY FORECLOSE on homes.

f you want to defend your home from ILLEGAL FORECLOSURE in NEVADA, you must go through EXPENSIVE FORCED ARBITRATION.

If you cannot afford arbitration, you will lose your home. Not legal advice, so, please discuss first with an attorney. AVOID HOAs at all costs! Good luck.

195   simchaland   2016 Jun 27, 6:17pm  

Patrick,

I haven't really been on here since the crash of the last bubble. You called it, everyone here called it...

But, here we are again and it's worse this time!

Since the last time I posted I've gotten married. I have had a promotion or two and my income has increased somewhat. I still live in Oakland and I'm still renting the same apartment I rented as when I was active here. Yes, he moved in with me. We live in a small one-bedroom apartment by the Lake in Oakland. I've watched rents become completely insane since the crash and during the inflation of this bubble. At least during the last bubble, rents weren't so bad. Now rents are insane!!!

We couldn't afford to move to anything nicer in our own neighborhood. If we had to move, we wouldn't be living anywhere near where we are now. I've lived in the same building for the last 14 years. My rent is just above $1000/ mo..Yes, I know! It's insanely low by today's standards. The Rent Adjustment Ordinance has allowed me to remain where I am without breaking me financially. However, the building is 103 years old and the apartment is falling apart around us. And no, they don't want to do repairs because, yes, they would like us out of there so they could charge someone else at least $1800+/ mo even without renovating much to live there. So when we ask for repairs it takes FOREVER for them to fix something and it requires a lot of back and forth with the Property Manager.

Yes, we've been able to save some. But, he doesn't make a great income. My income is OK. Our household income is more than the median income for Oakland. And, there is no way we could afford to buy anything that wouldn't be an absolute hell hole even in the worst neighborhood in Oakland.

We would like to find a better place that isn't so old and run down. We would like to own something eventually, one day. We also don't want to live too far away from our jobs. Both of us have a 10-15 minute commute. I have never had such a short commute in my life. The time I save is invaluable to me, to us.

The thing is, I keep reading here and elsewhere that I shouldn't expect housing costs to decrease until the Baby Boomers finally start to die off. That means that we will have to wait until at least 2020-2024 to even think about moving if we want to find something that we could actually afford while saving for our retirement. We are both 46 and tomorrow is our 3rd Anniversary (and yes, we are in a same-sex marriage, we were the second couple in Alameda County to get married after the stay was lifted on June 28, 2013).

Now, as you can probably tell, I don't just move at the drop of a hat. I'm also very lucky since my husband is not wanting to move at all. He loves the neighborhood and he doesn't mind having a small place. It's just us and we aren't planning on having children for the foreseeable future. So, I have no pressure to be forced into a decision that will ensnare us in a giant mortgage. I would like to have better quality housing. That's me. He's fine with staying. However, I know my landlord. He will not fix our apartment up until after we are long gone. And he will continue delaying needed repairs as long as he can get away with it. After 14 years, I'm getting tired of the game.

Do I really have to wait until we are 50-54+ years old to be able to afford something better? Is it really worth waiting that long? You and others around here seemed to think that we would have somewhat affordable housing around here after the last crash. The thing is that it's only become more unaffordable, even for two middle-aged men with a decent household income. What happened after the crash is that rents are now extremely unaffordable and owning is beyond our reach too.

Yes, I do see that our savings is growing nicely, as well it should with our housing costs so low. And there is something to be said for that since we really do need our money to be invested wisely so that we will be able to retire at some point. However, I'm getting restless and tired of the waiting game.

Yes, I could move out of the area. But the thing is that my mother and brother moved here back in 2009 and they both live in Oakland now (from Chicago Area). I don't want to leave them here now that we all live within 1 mile of each other. My mother has a sweet deal on her apartment due to being a Property Manager there with very light duties. My brother is finally in a board and care situation that meets his needs (after too many moves to count and way too many train wrecks).

So, I am feeling kind of stuck due to the cheap rent we pay in comparison to the newer arrivals to my neighborhood who moved here to flee insanely ridiculous housing costs in San Francisco. I'm not exactly in a hurry and yet, I'm thinking we are 4-8+ years away from being able to move into any other situation close to where we live now that makes any financial sense.

I'm just feeling like rationality will never return to housing in the Bay Area. What we face here is nothing short of a housing crisis. I work with homeless individuals and those who have low income. These people are being hurt the most by the economic and financial craziness taking place all around us. Greed runs rampant here and I don't see any signs of it abating any time soon.

Do you really think we are going to see some rationality return to the Bay Area housing market ever? I'm not entirely convinced that it will ever make sense for me to own a place here in Oakland. And I can let go of that if I could afford the rent on a better place somewhere down the line. I don't have to own to be happy. I would like better quality housing that won't prevent us from being able to retire one day though.

196   Strategist   2016 Jun 27, 6:20pm  

TAX HOA Investors says

***NEVADA STEALS HOMES****

Please DO NOT buy in NEVADA HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATION. Many states (like NEVADA) engage in THEFT/DEPRIVED DUE PROCESS by using SUPER-PRIORITY LIENS to FRAUDULENTLY FORECLOSE on homes.

f you want to defend your home from ILLEGAL FORECLOSURE in NEVADA, you must go through EXPENSIVE FORCED ARBITRATION.

If you cannot afford arbitration, you will lose your home. Not legal advice, so, please discuss first with an attorney. AVOID HOAs at all costs! Good luck.

Just pay your damn bill, and you won't be foreclosed.

197   Strategist   2016 Jun 27, 6:31pm  

simchaland says

Do you really think we are going to see some rationality return to the Bay Area housing market ever?

I think it's you who is irrational.
You make above median income, but can barely afford $1,000 per month in rent. How the hell are you gonna afford to buy a home in the BA? It's only a matter of time before you end up paying market rent. Living at someone else's expense is free loading, and does not last for ever.
As for the bubble.....just because YOU think prices are high, does not make it a bubble. Wake up. If anything, prices in the BA are set to jumping the next few years. And yes, this time it really is different.
Get real. The only way you can afford a home is to move far away from the BA. Hope you can digest constructive criticism.

198   simchaland   2016 Jun 27, 6:46pm  

Strategist,

Gee, I never said I could barely afford our rent...

Gosh, what an assumption...

I could afford much more. I don't want to pay outrageous money for housing. It's not my priority. I would like better quality. If I can't get it here, yes I will move. But I am in no hurry. I can afford to wait and see while I invest our considerable savings. Did you miss that part? We are saving... A lot.

And it would be nice to have better digs that won't prevent us from saving for retirement.

Oh we could be like the rest of you lemmings. We could pay insanely inflated rent and or house payments and pretend it's going to last forever. But I'm a bit smarter and more prudent than that. We will save for retirement. We won't pay stupid money for better digs. We will wait this out.. I just don't know how long that will take.

We are not freeloading. This building has been in the hands of the same owners for generations. Their property taxes are insanely low thanks to Prop 13. If anything they are freeloaders for using up infrastructure that they don't pay for.

Their expenses don't go up. Ours shouldn't go up just because they are all getting greedy. And yes, it's greed. It's irrational. And I'm smart to stay where I am for a while longer, paying below market rent (because the market is stupidly overpriced for rent). Just because all of the lemmings from SF are stupid enough to pay inflated prices for rent and houses doesn't mean I have to.

So stop with your ignorance and I'll wait for Patrick to respond since I addressed my post to him.

199   Strategist   2016 Jun 27, 7:00pm  

simchaland says

And it would be nice to have better digs that won't prevent us from saving for retirement.

Really? You pay well below market rent, yet you want more for the same price.

simchaland says

I could afford much more. I don't want to pay outrageous money for housing.

Hello? market rent is not outrageous. Below market rent that you pay is outrageous.

simchaland says

We could pay insanely inflated rent and or house payments and pretend it's going to last forever.

Mortgages can last for 30 years. Try that with rent.

simchaland says

We are not freeloading.

Paying $1,000 for an $1,800 apartment is free loading, regardless of what the landlord pays.

simchaland says

And yes, it's greed. It's irrational.

Wanting a fair, market rent is not greed. Wanting below market rent is greed.

simchaland says

And I'm smart to stay where I am for a while longer

Considering the below market rent, I would stay there for ever, and not complain about repairs. Gosh, you can't get everything in life, you know.

200   simchaland   2016 Jun 27, 7:07pm  

Strategist,

You are a very disagreeable person, I can tell.

So, I'm not going back and forth with you. If you feel that I'm being a freeloader for paying below market rent in a building where I have lived for 14 years without any problems for my landlord and obeying all of the laws for Rent Adjustment in Oakland, then you are a narrow and simple minded person too. Or you are just jealous because I have found a way to save a lot of money while you cannot with paying stupidly inflated housing costs.

The market is running on stupid, immoral, insane, and outrageous greed. There is no disputing that. You haven't seen my apartment. You have no idea the condition it's in or little bit of space we have. You also don't really understand how bad things have really gotten in Oakland and how out of whack things really are here.

I would say that I'm being quite rational staying where I am until the sanity can return, or if it doesn't, eventually I will take my hard earned/saved/invested money somewhere else where I can pay rational prices for housing and save for retirement.

Meanwhile feel free to be insanely jealous and grouchy. The cortisol you are producing can't be good for you but if that's what you want, go for it.

Meanwhile I will continue to save, invest, and wait for a good opportunity to find better housing that doesn't cost so much that I cannot continue to save an invest. That's what rational people do.

201   Strategist   2016 Jun 27, 7:15pm  

simchaland says

Strategist,

You are a very disagreeable person, I can tell.

I agree.

simchaland says

So, I'm not going back and forth with you. If you feel that I'm being a freeloader for paying below market rent in a building where I have lived for 14 years without any problems for my landlord and obeying all of the laws for Rent Adjustment in Oakland, then you are a narrow and simple minded person too.

You are free loading. Obeying the rules does not give you a free pass to free land at someone else's expense.

simchaland says

Or you are just jealous because I have found a way to save a lot of money while you cannot with paying stupidly inflated housing costs.

How the hell amI gonna be jealous of someone living in the conditions you describe?

simchaland says

Meanwhile I will continue to save, invest, and wait for a good opportunity to find better housing that doesn't cost so much that I cannot continue to save an invest. That's what rational people do.

You are waiting for the bubble to burst when there is no bubble. The last bubble burst in 2008. Did you take advantage of that?

202   justme   2016 Jun 27, 7:27pm  

Welcome back, Simchaland. Nice to hear from you!

203   Philistine   2016 Jun 27, 7:43pm  

Simchaland, there is a six stage grieving process for the American Dream. I think you are still in Denial--and I say that sympathetically. 10 years ago when I found PatNet, I was in Denial, too (well, actually, New York City). Look, you have a sweet deal on rent. I don't think you are "freeloading", so much as sitting on a windfall and not counting your blessings.

Like Strategist said, you are going to eventually pay market rent. It's a matter of time. We haven't had our rent raised in 6 years and continue to store our acorns for the winter, but I have no issue with the inevitable day that the LL asks for the favor in return. Meanwhile, we invest our savings as wisely as we are capable of.

After I passed the Denial stage in 2012, prices starting going back up. That's the problem with metro-city areas; they dropped the least after the bubble, and immediately went right back up. By the time I had a 20% DP, it was cash-only-or-FUCK-YOU. So, I could have been stuck at the Acceptance stage, but instead I jumped right ahead to the Move the Fuck out of The City stage. I came from a longtime Southern family, though, so small towns and backroads are not uncomfortable for me. We all travel our own journey.

The end of the grieving process for the American Dream is when you realize we were not born at a time that allowed endless cheap land and opportunity. Our grandparents did not compete with Chinese money or the massive population we now have, nor did they prize metro-city real estate the way we do today. That said, we all have our personal situations, and if you cannot move for personal reasons, perhaps the price you pay is not to own where you live and instead play the renter's game.

I don't see a bubble. Certain markets are definitely going to plateau, or even decline somewhat if there is a recession coming, but SF/NYC/LA/etc. are going nowhere but up.

204   simchaland   2016 Jun 27, 8:14pm  

justme, Thank You! I hope you are well!

Philistine,

Thank you for your thoughtful response.

I don't think I am in denial but then again, that could be the definition of denial... lol!

I am no stranger to small towns myself. I lived very well in smaller town Iowa and Northern Illinois and I loved it. I am not ready to leave yet because I love the work I do here and my family can't afford to move with me if I do move.

I still think that the housing in this area is very overpriced because most people are spending way too much of their income in housing costs and this isn't sustainable in the long run. Eventually, landlords and house owners/sellers run out of other people's money.

But then again, that could be a side effect of denial.

I still want to see what Patrick thinks.

And no, I don't expect to find cheaper rent than I have now or to see rent go back to what I pay now. I do understand inflation and markets. I do think that it is smart to stay as long as we can where we are (our rent does increase every year following the law, it's just that for 9 years we were fortunate not to have any rent increases because no one wanted to live here because it was too dangerous, so my rent is ridiculously lower than usual).

I just want to pay fair prices for housing, not the insane prices others are paying and mostly cannot really afford. If you cannot save for the future, you are paying too much for housing, I don't care where you are.

205   Patrick   2016 Jun 27, 8:42pm  

simchaland says

Do you really think we are going to see some rationality return to the Bay Area housing market ever?

I don't know. I just know that the rent-vs-buy calculation consistently told me to rent around here, and that worked out well for me since I saved a lot by renting and invested it. I suppose I was lucky like you that my rent has not gone up much over the years. Now I can comfortably stay here and rent, or go off to almost anyplace outside the Bay Area or NYC and buy outright. So I don't worry about it much anymore.

Sure, you want to own and feel permanent, but there is an army of realtors in the Bay Area in particular who are world-class experts at abusing that emotion to get everyone around you to bid prices up to and over the brink of bankruptcy. I won't play that game. My personal choice is to keep renting until it's cheaper to own.

Do the math, it always makes me feel better:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/buy-rent-calculator.html

206   simchaland   2016 Jun 27, 8:54pm  

Thanks Patrick! That calculator always makes me feel better and so does the money I save by staying put.

I am very fortunate to have a husband who is as practical as me when it comes to cutting costs. And he likes the lower stress that we have like I do knowing that we have savings to fall back on if things really get bad. I guess we will continue to stack cash and when things get even more super insanely outrageous around here, we will take our money and run. Perhaps it will be worth it to retire in his country some day (The Philippines) or I will get the Italian Dual Citizenship I qualify for and we will find a cheaper place to retire in sunny Italy (or elsewhere in the EU if it still exists then).

The best revenge is living well.

:-)

207   JasonM   2016 Jun 28, 3:42pm  

Philistine says

Simchaland, there is a six stage grieving process for the American Dream. I think you are still in Denial--and I say that sympathetically. 10 years ago when I found PatNet, I was in Denial, too (well, actually, New York City). Look, you have a sweet deal on rent. I don't think you are "freeloading", so much as sitting on a windfall and not counting your blessings.

Great post Philistine - I agree with everything you said.

Simchaland, the ultimate "housing trap" is the one you describe, but as Philistine said, count your blessings that its still cheap. For me, that trap has sprung, and now I am doubly trapped.

http://patrick.net/Rent+going+to+4K%2C+my+family+is+crumbling%2C+I+am+fucked%21

Regarding prices going down because of the boomer dieoff, (or other BS reasons) Patrick will never admit this, but I will. No, sanity will never return. Never, never, never, never, NEVER! There MAY be a dip in pricing, and certainly a reduction in the rate of increase, but by the time that "hits" nominal prices will be more than what they are now (i.e. ...........)

June 2016 Price 850K
June 2017 Price 883K
June 2018 Price 905K
June 2019 Price 931K
June 2020 Price 938K (slowing down)
June 2021 Price 941K (peak)
June 2022 Price 930K (dropping)
June 2023 Price 900K (rapid drop)
June 2024 Price 895K (bottom)

Presumably you get a great "deal" in 2024 as prices rose far less than 1% per year. However, few people are happy to pass on 850K only to pay 45K more 8 years later. So its up to you if you decide if you can accept that fate.

Also, as someone who is a veteran of bear blogs, the biggest attribute you can have IMO is self awareness. I too was in denial, as we all were. We were all so wrapped up in our bearish personas. Our egos wouldn't let us admit that the bottom had come and gone and we missed great opportunities. We all patted each other on the back until our bear comrades turned bulls (forming the bottom) at which point we collectively yelled "you'll be sorry" as we doubled down and rented and rented and rented.

http://patrick.net/Housing+-+I+was+wrong%2C+and+I+am+sorry.

It hurt like hell to accept the fact that I fucked up, but for me, the journey has been helpful in that I now accept that I likely will never own, and will eventually be forced to move away from my friends and family. I don't know if that is the answer for all of us, but as one bear to another, I hope it helps. Good luck.

208   Sharingmyintelligencewiththedumbasses   2016 Jun 28, 4:39pm  

11th reason to not buy an expensive home now: that dumbfuck trump could win, and given today's speech he will certainly start trade wars with China and Mexico, which will put us in a massive decades long great depression.

209   anonymous   2016 Jun 30, 7:37pm  

Dearest Friends and Colleagu

From: Dr. Apu P. Bhat

Satellite Tel: Note:Do not send emails.You can contact me directly on the tel.number or by sending me a satellite message stating your telephone number and email address contact on this number just given to you using the link online below. www.thumbupyourass.com you will see send a satellite message to my sat.tel.number- 881-631-410-574

Attn:President/C.e.o.

Strictly Confidential and Urgent Business Proposal.

Re: Transfer Of Usd $21,500.000{Twenty - One Million, Five Hundred Thousand Us Dollars Only.

I am a member of the Federal Government Of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (N.N.P.C). Sometime ago, a contract was awarded to a foreign firm in the Petroleum Trust Fund (P.T.F.) BY MY COMMITTEE.

This contract was over invoiced to the tune of us$ 21.5Million Dollars. This was done delibrately. The over - invoicing was a deal by my committee to benefit from the project. We not want to transfer this money, which is in a suspense account with the P.T.F. into any oversea account, which we expect you to provide for us.

Share:
60 % of the money would be for my partners and I. 30 % of the money would be yours, for providing us with logistics, which, would include a safe bank account, where we shall facilitate funds transfer into, as soon as documentations are concluded over here. 10 % of the money has been mapped out from the total sum to cover any expenses that might be incurred during the course of the transaction, (both local and international expenses).

If interested in assisting us, please contact me via my secured satellite tel number- 881-631-410-574, specially procured for this project, using the text message..

It may interest you to know that a similar transaction was carried out with one Mr. Patrice Miller, President of Crane International Trading Corp., of 153 East 57th St., 28th floor, N.Y.10022, Telephone: 212-308-7788 and Telex: 6731689. The deal was concluded and all covering documents, forwarded to Mr. Miller to authenticate the claims. Once the funds were transferred, Mr. Miller presented to his bank, all the legal documents and remitted the whole funds to another bank account, and disappeared completely. My colleagues and I were shattered, since such opportunities are not easy to come by.

Please, if you are interested in assisting us carry out to the fullest capacity, this transaction, we would require the following information from you which would enable us make formal application to the various ministries / parastatals, for the release and onward transfer of the money to your account.

1.Your Full Name, Company's Name, Address, Telephone and Fax Numbers. 2.Your Bank Name, Address. Telephone and Fax Number. 3.Your Bank Account Number and Beneficiary Name - You must be the signatory.

Please, note that we have strong and reliable connections at the Central Bank Of Nigeria and other Government Parastatals, hence assistance in this regards, would not be a problem. At the conclusion of this transaction, we shall use same contacts to withdraw all documents used in the course of this, to avoid any trace whatsoever that may ever arise, to you or to us, now and in the nearest possible future.

It might also interest you to know that we are mere civil servants who do not want to miss this opportunity, hence, we want this money transferred out, as soon as possible, before the newly democratically elected government ever think of making enquiries as regards the various activities of the past military government.

Kindly contact me as soon as possible, whether or not you are interested in this deal, so that whereby you are not interested, it would give us more room to scout for another partner. But if you are interested, kindly contact me via above email, telephone or fax, so that we can swing into action, as time is not on our part.

I wait in anticipation of your fullest co-operation. Yours Faithfully,

Dr. Apu P. Bhat

Send me your email address and tel.numberif interested for re- verification that you actually received this mail.

210   David9   2016 Jun 30, 8:27pm  

rando says

I don't know

rando says

My personal choice is to keep renting until it's cheaper to own.

It has been awhile ! I don't know either Patrick, and that is OK !

i should be happy the value of my condo in Dallas has gone up, but so has my taxes !
I want to sell and yes, later, I can find something somewhere.

And ! I am very happy in this new apartment ! A repeat of the pics.

Ciao. David

211   Philistine   2016 Jul 1, 7:45am  

JasonM says

Also, as someone who is a veteran of bear blogs, the biggest attribute you can have IMO is self awareness. I too was in denial, as we all were. We were all so wrapped up

Jason, to be fair, not all of us were bears, either. 10 years ago I was 3 years into my first real job out of college. Try saving 20% for a (then) $700k apartment in Brooklyn in your first adult years out of school. And there were none of those famous FHA freebie loans for that kind of purchase. The all-cash (in the city, anyway) environment of 2009-2013 in LA eradicated any purchasing power of a 20% DP. That was the point we realized $250k was a lot of cash to have saved and we could just move to Bumblefuck, Mississippi and retire with that kind of money.

What I realized is that my need to live and work in big cities was the biggest impediment to my home ownership. I don't regret it; my career would have gone nowhere if I hadn't left the sticks and started (with nothing) in New York. With maturity, I now see the big city as a place I don't need anymore. But I have a few years left in me before we can go off into the sunset for early semi-retirement.

As the great Jody Chunder once said on this very site (I'm paraphrasing and forget his exact, elegant wording), I lived and worked in the city and all it ever got me was chair-ass, a bruised liver, and a broken heart. Amen, brother.

David9, always good to see you check in.

212   anonymous   2016 Jul 5, 2:23pm  

Whatever happened to ol Uncle Jody of Victorville fame?

Is it true he retired to Pahrump?

213   Bellingham Bill   2016 Jul 16, 7:29pm  

Our grandparents did not compete with Chinese money or the massive population we now have, nor did they prize metro-city real estate the way we do today

Heh, I'm reading some good, old histories of the original settling of Central California.

Ca. 1890 Somebody named E.B. Perrin owned land around Fresno by the square mile:

https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/enlarge/24804

His 9+ sections in the NE of that map are worth up to $5M an acre now . . .

And that's around 6,000 acres, LOL.

Somebody named Bullard bought 72,000 acres at around 25c an acre back then, around $500,000 in total in 2015 dollars.

Now 2 nice acres of it will set you back $1M . . .

https://www.redfin.com/CA/Fresno/6475-N-Sequoia-Ave-93711/home/58375844

But this was utterly useless land back then, when the town had more land (~8,000 sections within a 50 mile radius) than the people (all 3,000 of them) could use.

214   Bellingham Bill   2016 Jul 16, 7:56pm  

Banks say a safe mortgage is a maximum of 3 times the buyer's annual income with a 20% downpayment.

20% is in the past like balloon and assumable mortgages are now.

Now it's 5% and pay some more points to avoid PMI.

3X factor was based on the 8% mortgage rates. Now they're well under half that.

Landlords say a safe price is set by the rental market; annual rent should be at least 9% of the purchase
price, or else the price is just too high. Yet in affluent areas, both those safety rules are still being violated. Buyers are still borrowing 6 times
their income with tiny downpayments, and gross rents are still only 3% of purchase price.

Two things; 10 year rates have collapsed:

So what was 9% gold-standard cap rate is now a 2% cap rate.

Plus CPI is still the landlord's best friend:

Rents never, ever go down, not since 1930 at least. You want to own your customers by the balls, buy RE.

215   Sharingmyintelligencewiththedumbasses   2016 Jul 16, 8:10pm  

I just bought a home for $195,000.00 (closing next friday hopefully) Tax is $1200 a year, insurance $500. non owner occupied loan 25% down, 4.375%.

My payment is less than $900 a month.

I showed it to potential renters at $1950 a month, and have several interested, may have an app and deposit tomorrow. Have about $5000 in rehab to do, and promised to convert the carport to a garage, which is easy since it only needs one wall and the frame around the door on the front.

Yeah real estate is a terrible buy.

216   Patrick   2016 Jul 16, 8:12pm  

that's a cheap house with excellent cashflow.

did i ever say you should not buy such a house?

217   Strategist   2016 Jul 16, 8:15pm  

Sharingmyintelligencewiththedumbasses says

I just bought a home for $195,000.00 (closing next friday hopefully) Tax is $1200 a year, insurance $500. non owner occupied loan 25% down, 4.375%.

My payment is less than $900 a month.

I showed it to potential renters at $1950 a month, and have several interested, may have an app and deposit tomorrow. Have about $5000 in rehab to do, and promised to convert the carport to a garage, which is easy since it only needs one wall and the frame around the door on the front.

Yeah real estate is a terrible buy.

Price of 8 x gross income for a house is one hell of a return. Is it an old home?

218   Sharingmyintelligencewiththedumbasses   2016 Jul 16, 8:21pm  

Strategist says

Price of 8 x gross income for a house is one hell of a return. Is it an old home?

of course it is old! 1960's. the pipes are in fine shape, roof needs about $2500. Landscape has some problems and it is overgrown, original owner or heir selling it, so it needs serious updating, but that's what I do. Agent/seller screwed up selling it. I could clean it up, get it to pass a home inspector and make $20K+ instantly.

219   05c4   2016 Dec 4, 3:43am  

Found this blog post; absolutely amazing.

I totally agree to this premise - I reached the same conclusion independently.

We bought our "rather modest" townhouse at $370K. However the rental market here shows that the maximum we can rent it out for is $2200 - realistically, it's $2K. And we won't be guaranteed a 100% occupancy either. Even at my current 30 year mortgage at a low interest rate of 3.6%, my rent barely exceeds (by some $150) my total housing payment including taxes and HOA dues. There isn't enough cushion to do any repair works or even account for low occupancy.

Worse yet, rental income is subject to taxes and since we are in 28% bracket, we are sure to east a lot of them. The only way I can offset them is to start using depreciation from year 1, which gives me maybe a few years of "break even" income, after which I will have to start paying more in taxes. The only hope is that rent increases every year, but unfortunately, my experience in this area shows it's either the same or even decreasing! And this is a prime area, near malls, highways and even a great school district. It's baffling why rents wound't be higher, but a major housing frenzy in a neighboring town perfectly explains it actually.

Yeah...people are buying $700K-$900K newly constructed houses like there's no tomorrow. People even on single income with salaries barely into 6 figures are doing it (they have 2 kids to boot too). We see the resale market in the same town, and houses are being sold at $100K less than their asking prize clearly showing that the bubble is losing air even now. More interestingly, we can rent houses bought at $550K at as little as $2200. These people will bleed money on rentals. But apparently, no one cares. Having a loot-at-me house trumps personal finances.

We have decided to be rational in an irrational market. This town has a lot of our irrational friends, so we will rent one of their houses when we sell ours.

220   bob2356   2016 Dec 4, 5:49am  

05c4 says

We bought our "rather modest" townhouse at $370K. However the rental market here shows that the maximum we can rent it out for is $2200 -

Rule of thumb 100 months rent is the price of the house. Over that doesn't pay off unless you are gambling on appreciation. Fast and easy way to tell if it's a renters market or an owners market. Having 2200 in rent on 370k is a big renters market. http://affordanything.com/2016/04/28/one-percent-rule-gross-rent-multiplier/

05c4 says

The only way I can offset them is to start using depreciation from year 1, which gives me maybe a few years of "break even" income,

You don't have any choice in depreciation. The IRS requires it. Then they claw it back when you sell the house.

05c4 says

We have decided to be rational in an irrational market. This town has a lot of our irrational friends, so we will rent one of their houses when we sell ours

Yep good call. Downside is in a renters market rentals are frequently much harder to come by because no one is making much or any money renting. You wind up renting from people looking to sell the house but won't tell you that. You are paying for the privilege of being a caretaker without knowing it.

I ended up buying when I came back to the states even though the market where I live favored renting. Where I am the taxes are so high and renter protection laws are so onerous, 6 months to evict is common, that people would rather put houses on the market and wait however long it takes for a sale rather than rent them out. Carrying a deadbeat $1500 a month tenant (who might trash the house moving out) for 6 months at with 600 a month taxes and 200 a month water/sewer on top of a mortgage is a real loser.

221   Strategist   2016 Dec 4, 7:16am  

05c4 says

We have decided to be rational in an irrational market. This town has a lot of our irrational friends, so we will rent one of their houses when we sell ours.

You will be sorry.

222   Strategist   2016 Dec 4, 7:16am  

Tim Aurora says

bob2356 says

Rule of thumb 100 months rent is the price of the house.

There is no such rule, there is a formula which depends on the interest rates. If your monthly expense is 90% of the income you are good.

Bob makes his own rules.

223   bob2356   2016 Dec 4, 8:52pm  

Tim Aurora says

bob2356 says

Rule of thumb 100 months rent is the price of the house.

There is no such rule, there is a formula which depends on the interest rates. If your monthly expense is 90% of the income you are good.

Strategist says

Bob makes his own rules.

I've known about it for 40 years since I first starting working with managing rentals for someone else. It's called the 1% rule. I guess these guys are just making it up too.
https://www.thebalance.com/rental-property-investing-for-beginners-453821
http://affordanything.com/2012/01/25/income-property/
http://samsrealestateclub.com/the-1-rule/
http://www.doughroller.net/real-estate-investing/the-1-solution-to-real-estate-investing/
There a a couple hundred more articles describing the 1% rule. Google them.

Whatever dude, I own enough rental units myself. I always get 1% or I don't buy a rental property. I'm starting to buy in a market now where it's more like 1.7-1.8%. That's crazy out of balance. There aren't many of those markets out there.

In my own place to live I've done very well with renting and banking the difference between the rental amount and cost of owning when owning is really out of line. or buying when it's out of whack the other way then renting when I move on. You can do whatever you want with your money. Sounds like you are one of the people who only asks what the cost per month is.

224   kmail   2016 Dec 4, 9:42pm  

yup 1% rule is a quick calc.. those who want higher profit margin/ROI will do well at getting a property at 90% expense rate.. but can be harder to come by thru conventional means (listings) in a seller's market (good luck).

anyone who's gonna spend their money and time on re will really want to put in their dd to ensure their rough/quick calcs check out tho!

but ya, Bob isn't pulling numbers outta his hat ;)

225   RealEstateIsBetterThanStocks   2016 Dec 5, 2:28am  

i see some good points, some outdated (written during the bubble era). but 3. seems incorrect. historically there has been no relationship between mortgage rates and home prices.

do you have data backing up your "high-rates -> low prices" rule?

226   05c4   2016 Dec 5, 4:36am  

Thanks for the comments everyone - agreeing or disagreeing likewise.

This blog post has already made a lot of terrific points. The one that stood out to me was: "It's better to buy a house at a low price and a high interest rate than otherwise". It's so counterintuitive and yet, so absolutely bang on money. It was almost a Eureka moment for me when I really understood this. Low interest rates means your future is being screwed, but this is the very thing that nearly everyone is taking on and running away with $800K mansions with. Can you say the world is irrational? Nearly everyone advised me buy a house "because interest rates are low"...no sheep, you buy when rates are high and refinance when they get low. It's almost like someone who buys stocks when the markets are riding all time highs and sells them in fear when the market tanks. This is absolutely not how to make money, and all the people who have $800K houses at 3.5% interest rates are thoroughly screwed.

30 years. It's. A. Long. Long. Time. No one is going to live in that house for 30 years. It's a super expensive over-leveraged rental that's got no wiggle room for renegotiation of the terms of contract. I would trust this logical economic fact over the primal fear that "I might be sorry for not buying today".

As for us, the moment we made the decision, I felt almost liberated. I haven't felt so good in quite a few years. I am almost thankful that the size of our mistake was a mere $370K and not $800K. Thankfully, our income has shot up to the point, where I can pay off my current house in just under 3 years if I want to. The mere thought that we could rent and would not have to buy a huge mansion has suddenly opened up a lot of possibilities in our lives. It's a whole subject of discussion altogether.

Maybe it's not the right decision, and maybe all the people who bought mansions today will be millionaires. But, maybe not.

227   joeyjojojunior   2016 Dec 5, 5:22am  

"This blog post has already made a lot of terrific points. The one that stood out to me was: "It's better to buy a house at a low price and a high interest rate than otherwise". It's so counterintuitive and yet, so absolutely bang on money. It was almost a Eureka moment for me when I really understood this. Low interest rates means your future is being screwed, but this is the very thing that nearly everyone is taking on and running away with $800K mansions with. Can you say the world is irrational? Nearly everyone advised me buy a house "because interest rates are low"...no sheep, you buy when rates are high and refinance when they get low. It's almost like someone who buys stocks when the markets are riding all time highs and sells them in fear when the market tanks. This is absolutely not how to make money, and all the people who have $800K houses at 3.5% interest rates are thoroughly screwed."

Except, as Mark said, it's 100% false. Housing prices do not move opposite of interest rates. History proves this.

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