patrick.net

1. What do you tell people who are currently thinking about buying a home and why?
Better deals will be available if you are patient.

2. What is is the general area you live in?
Baltimore City 21230

3. Do you currently own a home?
Yes.

1. Buy with 20% down. If you can't afford to save the down payment, you are not ready for home ownership.

2. NW Ohio

3. I am currently building a new home. I bought the lot last March and paid 20% down on the construction loan using cash and the lot as collateral. The home will be about 2000 ft^2. The home will also be an energy efficient ICF home with 3 bedrooms, a 2 car garage and a full basement.

1. DON'T DO IT. There is still a big shoe to drop.

2. San Francisco

3. No

"Yep. I bought pre-bubble and still have phantom equity. However, I kick myself every day knowing that if I’d sold at the height of the bubble I’d have $200k in my pocket right now."

Off topic, but this is basically what happened. It was a big casino. Spin the wheel and see what your prize is!! Some people ended up with 100's of thousands (or millions) of dollars in their bank accounts, and some ended up with 100's of thousands (or millions) of debt. Two sides of the same coin. And of course a hugely disproportionate share of the winning side went to the top 1%.

1. Save for a dp and wait and see what happens with all these foreclosures the bank are sitting on. Portland didn't have as much of a subprime problem but we sure enjoyed those Interest Only, Option ARMs, Neg Am loans. Our foreclosure rate continues to go up. Our last 7+ years have relied on housing from builders to landscapers, realtors, mortgage brokers, etc. We do not have strong fundamentals for a good recovery as we have lots of inventory to work through and not much of a job market. Prices are still out of line with incomes. $500k+ homes are seeing huge drops in asking price even though you hear about fools outbidding each other on starter homes, around $225K. Oh, and rent is dropping like a brick!

2. Portland, OR

3. Purchased a home in 1999 in prime close-in Eastside. Needed two incomes to afford the home, 1st mistake. Used a zero down VA loan as prices seemed to be increasing faster than we could save, 2nd mistake. We were fresh out of college with a boat load of college debt. Spouse got hit with the tech bust 2 years after we bought the home. Managed to hold on with unstable work but then threw a baby into the picture in 2006. We saw the bubble ever increasing, wondered how the heck people were pulling it off. Decided to sell while it was hot. Unloaded in May of 2007, near the peak of Portland's bubble. made out quite well though much went toward debt accrued from the years of unemployment, baby/childcare expenses, and bought a much needed car for the growing family. I've been a professional bubble sitter since around 2003. We'll sit and wait. Enjoying the cheap rent:O)

Leigh says

Used a zero down VA loan

How were you able to use a VA loan? Did you assume it? Or perhaps you were in the military before you went to college? If so, the loan amount under VA is limited by rank (usually it is junior enlisted who get out and go to college), so you can not have been hurt too bad.

HeadSet says

Leigh says

Used a zero down VA loan

How were you able to use a VA loan? Did you assume it? Or perhaps you were in the military before you went to college? If so, the loan amount under VA is limited by rank (usually it is junior enlisted who get out and go to college), so you can not have been hurt too bad.

Spouse was in the Navy in the late 80's early 90's then went to college. No injuries, though maybe psychological;O) Went to college on the GI Bill. We supposedly qualified for $250K in 1999 but we figured we could only afford about $180 given the pile of student loans. The GI Bill back then didn't cover much. The interest rate is higher when you use a VA loan by about 1%.