Why it's hard to buy a house
- Thread starter LT72884
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OP
OP
LT72884
Head Chef
thanx.
I try to keep up and earn credit. i learned the hard way. I watched someone very close to me make a bad financial choice and drove the family into debt. It took over 20 years for them to get out. So i have become very tight with my money.
the elevation difference from my house (4400) to suncrest is 3000 feet. 15 feet of snow up there in the winter.
OP
OP
LT72884
Head Chef
i like, but i tend to like the Victorian style more. im attracted to old school midevil style stuffHere's an idea of what's out here (in So CA). I'm not in like w it, out of my price range, & I'll bet they dropped the price, because homes have been sitting on the market for months.
Asking price $8,500,000
Fisher's Mom
Executive Chef
Oh man, Amy! We have houses like that here too, but they run in the 1 million or so dollar range. And that's in a very exclusive part of town. You can still purchase a very similar home in a less "hot" area of town for $500,000. The ones that hit the 2 mil + generally have a lot of land, too.
I know salaries are higher there to meet with cost of living but are they that much higher?
I know salaries are higher there to meet with cost of living but are they that much higher?
Gawd, FM. Everything is high here. A 1 BR condo was inching up to about $1/2 million 2 years ago. Now they're $299. I'm sick to my tummy. Waitin for a realtor, who hasn't called me back since last night. I need a Xanax, lol.
My friend's daughter owns a house, & ranch in Malibu. Their fridge is probably the size of my L.R.
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PanchoHambre
Washing Up
That is true and as westerners on a global level we all over consume. I absolutley do not need nearly as much as I have and my efforts at limiting irresponsible consumtion often fall short.
The flipside of your argument however is that anybody should be able to do whatever they want with thier money no matter what the implications for the rest of society just because they can afford it. Society necessarily draws a line where it distinguishes between personal freedom of choice and the common good (ie fishing/hunting regulations) . In my opinion much new construction, in partiular that of luxury homes, begins to cross this line.
Fisher's Mom
Executive Chef
Amy, I know it's all relative but it still boggles my mind. I remember a girlfriend who lives in CA bought a house the same time I bought this one (~23 years ago). She was telling me on the phone that she paid about 300,000 for it and it was a pretty good deal. I was blown away at that figure because I got a very good deal on my house at the time and still paid half of what she paid. Then she sent pics and I was blown away!!! Hers was a very small 3/1 ranch - what we'd call a starter home here. And her mortgage was more than twice what mine was!
Barbara L
Traveling Welcome Wagon
What they say about location, location, location sure is true. My daughter was living in a townhouse apartment about 90% identical to one I was living in a few years ago. Hers was in Vista, California and was in a big complex. Mine was in South Carolina and was sitting on about an acre with 3 other apartments (our 4 apartments were in 2 duplexes). I was paying $385 a month and Nancy was paying about $1,000. Right now we live in a long/wide single-wide mobile home, but it is sitting on a hair over an acre of land. We paid $33,000. We will pay it off soon, then when James finds a good job we want to build a house on our property.
As far as big or small houses go, in addition to what we can afford, it really just depends on what is important to us. We all have something we are willing to spend more on. For some it is a house, for some a car, for some it is jewelry, for some it is charity work, etc.
Barbara
As far as big or small houses go, in addition to what we can afford, it really just depends on what is important to us. We all have something we are willing to spend more on. For some it is a house, for some a car, for some it is jewelry, for some it is charity work, etc.
Barbaraquicksilver
Washing Up
What do THEY say?, "When the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and the middle-class shrinks the result is the death of a free society." Scary stuff
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auntdot
Head Chef
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2004
- Messages
- 2,418
We were young and making nothing. Had a chance to buy a real fixer upper for a song.
By the way there is not such thing as buying a fixer upper for a song.
You will spending a whole lot of money at the Home Depot like stores and it will probably need stuff like water heaters, and all kinds of appliances and fundamental work on the house. We learned, and put in a whole lot of time.
We got about five hours sleep for years and we sure learned.
Then we moved up and this is our fifth house.
When we bought it we could have purchased another, more fancy one, that cost several times what this one did. Or at least that is what the agents and banks told us. But suchcame with an enormous mortgage. We demurred.
Many of those who did so are in trouble now.
We are not. We have a modest house still, but we can easily afford the mortgage payments.
The subprime mortgage disaster occurred because their were folks who were gullible and lenders who were, to me, dishonest.
Anyway, be conservative in your finances. At least it has always worked for us.
By the way there is not such thing as buying a fixer upper for a song.
You will spending a whole lot of money at the Home Depot like stores and it will probably need stuff like water heaters, and all kinds of appliances and fundamental work on the house. We learned, and put in a whole lot of time.
We got about five hours sleep for years and we sure learned.
Then we moved up and this is our fifth house.
When we bought it we could have purchased another, more fancy one, that cost several times what this one did. Or at least that is what the agents and banks told us. But suchcame with an enormous mortgage. We demurred.
Many of those who did so are in trouble now.
We are not. We have a modest house still, but we can easily afford the mortgage payments.
The subprime mortgage disaster occurred because their were folks who were gullible and lenders who were, to me, dishonest.
Anyway, be conservative in your finances. At least it has always worked for us.
kitchenelf
Chef Extraordinaire
Buy the biggest house you can so when you get married you will have more places to hide!
Do you know where the woodshed is?
expatgirl
Master Chef
Saw a "Build Your Own Home" program the other day and was blown away by the naive couple that was featured. Now this was probably filmed several years ago (most of the TV here is except for good ol' CNN and Larry King Live). Anyways this show profiled a young couple with two very young children building a huge home in a nice area of the UK. The estimated cost was 3/4 of a million British sterling (double that and you're talking US dollars today). The home was going to feature 9 bedrooms, 6 baths (the master suite had a fireplace in the bathroom) and minute attention to detail was followed. The lady knew what she wanted and she was very knowledgeable. The windows alone cost nearly $80,000---they were the antique kind that had bubbles and waves in it and as she explained reflected different pictures from each pane. Now you might think that they had won the lottery or inherited a fortune as they were so young. Nope, they had a whopping 17,000pounds or about $34,000 in savings. They were renting their first home. The bank loaned them the rest. Throughout the hour show the interviewer cautioned them about getting in over their heads and would periodically check up on them and the progress of the house. One year later the house's completion was behind by 8 months. But they were optimistic as ever. This was really hard to watch I have to tell you. Anyway by the end of the show she was sitting on her back porch near the special built orangerie looking very glum and admitted that building costs had tripled from the 3/4 of a million dollars. The house was still not finished and they finally admitted that they would have to sell it.
A lot of it is a "status" thing!
My best friend recently got a divorce and had to sell his home. With the bad market he could "only" fetch 750k US for the home. He also wanted to get out as quick as possible.
We were talking recently at his new home, which is maybe 2k sq. ft., and he told me that he likes this home much better and the old home was more of a status thing for him at the time.
He has been retired since he was 33, that was about 10 years ago, and wont have to work again.
I have a few ideas on the house I want and have been drawing ideas from time to time but in the end I really dont need something that big. After a few years the kids will be gone and the rooms will be a waste except if I want to be a pack rat.
The market is ever changing and you have to decide what will work best for you, BUT do not try to out do the Joneses!
My best friend recently got a divorce and had to sell his home. With the bad market he could "only" fetch 750k US for the home. He also wanted to get out as quick as possible.
We were talking recently at his new home, which is maybe 2k sq. ft., and he told me that he likes this home much better and the old home was more of a status thing for him at the time.
He has been retired since he was 33, that was about 10 years ago, and wont have to work again.
I have a few ideas on the house I want and have been drawing ideas from time to time but in the end I really dont need something that big. After a few years the kids will be gone and the rooms will be a waste except if I want to be a pack rat.
The market is ever changing and you have to decide what will work best for you, BUT do not try to out do the Joneses!
Barbara L
Traveling Welcome Wagon
Surely he can afford something bigger than that!Do you know where the woodshed is?
Barbara
