[NorCalAthlete]

Originally Posted by GenXer

I purchased my home 4 years ago. It's affordable but it's a bit cramped. Mine was at $150/ft which is decent for a brand new house. I just wish it had a bit more land. I wouldn't mind living in a more rural area.

Average price where I'm at is around $700 / ft.

I make 6 figures and the median home price - MEDIAN, not average - is still 10x my annual income. I'd be stoked if I had even 37% like referenced earlier in this thread.

[spazzyfry123]

Originally Posted by NorCalAthlete

Average price where I'm at is around $700 / ft.

I make 6 figures and the median home price - MEDIAN, not average - is still 10x my annual income. I'd be stoked if I had even 37% like referenced earlier in this thread.

What’s the “rule?” Don’t buy something more than three times your gross household income?

[NorCalAthlete]

Originally Posted by spazzyfry123

What’s the “rule?” Don’t buy something more than three times your gross household income?

That basically limits you to a trailer park around here - maybe. Some of the mobile homes are still $400k.

Example 1: $458,000

Example 2: $399,000

Example 3: $367,000

There are literally only a handful (and I mean like < 5) places under $400,000 that are not mobile / manufactured homes.

Example: $399,000 1/1, 440 sqft

The adage around here is more like 8-10x your income but no more than 10x.

On the plus side, there are tons of opportunities for making $150k+ and it scales quickly if you're competent. I've gone from tech > engineer > PM in the span of about 3 years.

[AlpineWhite_SJ]

Originally Posted by NorCalAthlete

Average price where I'm at is around $700 / ft.

I make 6 figures and the median home price - MEDIAN, not average - is still 10x my annual income. I'd be stoked if I had even 37% like referenced earlier in this thread.

Crazy thing is it used to be more like 4-500 a square foot 10 years ago. Our last house was $413/sq ft in 2010.

[Germanauto]

Even on a Physician salary, the nicer part of Los Angeles are unaffordable to me. I'll have to rent for years and find a spouse in a similar profession to afford a decent home. And it's not even like the homes are remotely nice for under $3 million. Most are under 2000-3000 sq ft without a yard with a view of a dumpster and built in some old neighborhood. I could always do southern Orange County (besides Newport/Laguna) but it's pretty boring out there until you have a family.

Home prices are ridiculous. Something's wrong when even people in the highest earning professions in the country are priced out!

[NorCalAthlete]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

Even on a Physician salary, the nicer part of Los Angeles are unaffordable to me. I'll have to rent for years and find a spouse in a similar profession to afford a decent home. And it's not even like the homes are remotely nice for under $3 million. Most are under 2000-3000 sq ft without a yard with a view of a dumpster and built in some old neighborhood. I could always do southern Orange County (besides Newport/Laguna) but it's pretty boring out there until you have a family.

Home prices are ridiculous. Something's wrong when even people in the highest earning professions in the country are priced out!

Great for the auto industry though.

"Can't afford a house; fuck it. Might as well get a new BMW. What difference does a $1,000 / month car payment make if any mortgage is gonna be $5,000 / month?"

I think I've gone through...let's see...10 vehicles in almost as many years? 5 used, 5 new, no leases just buy low / resell as high as I can / take good care of them. At the end of the day it amounts to less than I'd pay for a lease.

[BMW F22]

Originally Posted by NorCalAthlete

On the plus side, there are tons of opportunities for making $150k+ and it scales quickly if you're competent. I've gone from tech > engineer > PM in the span of about 3 years.

Curious how you made the changes. I did something similar before and always interested in hearing people’s stories.

[floridaorange]

REIT's buying up all the foreclosures and fixing the rent prices - drives up home values as well.

America is owned by investors all over the world who are only looking for the best return possible.

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by floridaorange

REIT's buying up all the foreclosures and fixing the rent prices - drives up home values as well.

America is owned by investors all over the world who are only looking for the best return possible.

It's not their fault that we've had over a decade of zero* interest rates.

Adjusted for inflation.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by NorCalAthlete

Great for the auto industry though.

"Can't afford a house; fuck it. Might as well get a new BMW. What difference does a $1,000 / month car payment make if any mortgage is gonna be $5,000 / month?"

I think I've gone through...let's see...10 vehicles in almost as many years? 5 used, 5 new, no leases just buy low / resell as high as I can / take good care of them. At the end of the day it amounts to less than I'd pay for a lease.

But if the owner of the home paid $500k or whatever crazy prices the homes are going for there... wouldn't the rent be equally as crazy as mortgage payments? I mean if I'm the landlord I would want to recoup my cost and still make a profit. If I were to look at rent for a similar house to mine in my area the rent is more than my mortgage payment, even when I account for insurance, tax etc.

[NorCalAthlete]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

But if the owner of the home paid $500k or whatever crazy prices the homes are going for there... wouldn't the rent be equally as crazy as mortgage payments? I mean if I'm the landlord I would want to recoup my cost and still make a profit. If I were to look at rent for a similar house to mine in my area the rent is more than my mortgage payment, even when I account for insurance, tax etc.

Depends; a lot of people go with roommates here even into their 40s.

You can rent a luxury apartment with all the amenities and whatnot for ~$3,500 / month for a 2 bed / 2 bath. An equivalent condo would be in an older, crappier building with older, crappier amenities, and still cost $900,000. To get your mortgage down to an equivalent rent, you'd need to save up ~$200,000 or so at least for the down payment. If you're making $150k a year, a huge chunk of that goes straight to taxes and rent, so it can still take a few years to save up the down payment, during which time...might as well enjoy all the twisty roads and get a nice car.

Median home price is around $1,400,000 though so some people rent for several years trying to save for a house instead of settling for a starter condo or townhouse with HOAs. HOA fees can hit $700 just by themselves, on top of the property tax and mortgage.

Example : $925k price, $831 / mo HOA fees.

I haven't reviewed the latest here, but I'd be willing to bet that most of you are paying less than $831 / month for your BMWs. I'd imagine the logic holds true : "well....it's less than my HOA payment. Fuck it, I'm buying the car."

[AlpineWhite_SJ]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

Even on a Physician salary, the nicer part of Los Angeles are unaffordable to me. I'll have to rent for years and find a spouse in a similar profession to afford a decent home. And it's not even like the homes are remotely nice for under $3 million. Most are under 2000-3000 sq ft without a yard with a view of a dumpster and built in some old neighborhood. I could always do southern Orange County (besides Newport/Laguna) but it's pretty boring out there until you have a family.

Home prices are ridiculous. Something's wrong when even people in the highest earning professions in the country are priced out!

The west side, Beverly Hills, Hollywood Hills - sure. you're competing with entertainment moguls and actors. Palos Verdes and the valley (Woodland Hills, Calabasas, Thousand Oaks) you can get some decent places for the money.

Best option is to find a starter house in a good neighborhood, put some upgrades into it, build equity and then sell and take any gain to roll into a better place. Beats flushing rent money down the toilet every month, helps your tax situation and interest rates are super low.

[maul3d]

Americans have everything handed to them on a silver platter. No its, ands, or buts.

Taxation , interest rates, financial products, telecommunications, price of goods, cars, clothes, electronics, homes.. opportunity, ... yeah you better have health insurance in the event somethings wrong..

I would move down to florida in a heartbeat, where I would settle in either Sarasota, Clearwater, or Ft Lauderde. I love the USA. Primarily the weather. Iv seen brilliant mega homes for 700-900k that blow me away. Pools and all. Almost sickening to see what you guys pay, and compared to our Canadian real estate market.. Plus the fact I'd pay less in taxes, and make substantially more in the USA..

Come checkout real estate around the greater Toronto area? You'll be paying 1 million ++ for a dog house and a shitty 20x90ft lot. Want something nice? Move further outside of Toronto, ( 1 hr ) yet prices still exceed 700k for a 2000sqft single detached ordinary home.

Have 200-300k budget? Get ready to sleep with cockroaches.

Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington, Brampton.. some of the houses that are, and look average are priced as if we were in Beverly Hills.. makes no sense.

If youd like to be around a bunch of socialist liberal rejects , and spend 1 million on a cookie cutter 2500sqft home, get taxed to high heavens, and overpay for everything.. and have warm weather 5 months out of the year, come to Canada. Positive thing though, it's a very safe country.

Yes I'm working on leaving Canada btw.

[AlpineWhite_SJ]

Originally Posted by maul3d

If youd like to be around a bunch of socialist liberal rejects , and spend 1 million on a cookie cutter 2500sqft home, get taxed to high heavens, and overpay for everything.. and have warm weather 5 months out of the year, come to Canada.

Sounds like where I live with worse weather, but less fires, power outages and crime.

[Rmtt]

Originally Posted by maul3d

Americans have everything handed to them on a silver platter. No its, ands, or buts.

Taxation , interest rates, financial products, telecommunications, price of goods, cars, clothes, electronics, homes.. opportunity, ... yeah you better have health insurance in the event somethings wrong..

I would move down to florida in a heartbeat, where I would settle in either Sarasota, Clearwater, or Ft Lauderde. I love the USA. Primarily the weather. Iv seen brilliant mega homes for 700-900k that blow me away. Pools and all. Almost sickening to see what you guys pay, and compared to our Canadian real estate market.. Plus the fact I'd pay less in taxes, and make substantially more in the USA..

Come checkout real estate around the greater Toronto area? You'll be paying 1 million ++ for a dog house and a shitty 20x90ft lot. Want something nice? Move further outside of Toronto, ( 1 hr ) yet prices still exceed 700k for a 2000sqft single detached ordinary home.

Have 200-300k budget? Get ready to sleep with cockroaches.

Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington, Brampton.. some of the houses that are, and look average are priced as if we were in Beverly Hills.. makes no sense.

If youd like to be around a bunch of socialist liberal rejects , and spend 1 million on a cookie cutter 2500sqft home, get taxed to high heavens, and overpay for everything.. and have warm weather 5 months out of the year, come to Canada. Positive thing though, it's a very safe country.

Yes I'm working on leaving Canada btw.

Come to upstate SC. I have twisty roads, mountains, and snow 30 minutes north of me, beach 3 hours southeast of me.

Greenville consistently makes the lists of the top ten places to "move" to....and you can buy a very nice house for around $250K.

$400K home puts you in "baller" status here in some areas.

We have quite a few transplants here...I actually work with a woman from Montreal.

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by AlpineWhite_SJ

The west side, Beverly Hills, Hollywood Hills - sure. you're competing with entertainment moguls and actors. Palos Verdes and the valley (Woodland Hills, Calabasas, Thousand Oaks) you can get some decent places for the money.

Best option is to find a starter house in a good neighborhood, put some upgrades into it, build equity and then sell and take any gain to roll into a better place. Beats flushing rent money down the toilet every month, helps your tax situation and interest rates are super low.

This is the key part. In the game of home ownership, you have to get into it and into it smartly. The biggest hurdle is getting into your first home. There are a bunch of programs out there to assist first time home buyers. I took advantage of one program to get into my first home. The townhouse was a new construction "back to back" single car garage home. The townhouse qualified under the Community Reinvestment Act. The loan program allowed me to get into the home with a small down payment. I think the program allows up to 3% down payment. I put 5% down. The interest rate was competitive at 6.375% fixed for 30 years; this was back in 1999. And the big thing....no PMI assessment. Plus if I remember correctly, closing costs were either fully covered or were kept very small.

So ask around as there are other programs out there that are not just the standard FHA loan for first time buyers.

Getting into this first home allowed me to build some equity to spring board me into getting my next nicer home. The nice thing that Feds give home owners besides the tax deduction is the ability to roll over any gains in the sale of your home that you've lived in for a minimum of 2 years into another home without paying any gains taxes on it.

I know of people that on paper are house poor but are taking in roommates to lower the effective mortgage they pay per month. Even though I can take on roommates with my primary home and rent out my vacation home, I choose not to as I value my privacy more.

But rent prices are pretty outrageous in my area. I found out a new construction townhouse in a very nice development less than a mile from my home is renting out for $2500 a month. In contrast, I'm paying about $1577 a month all in for my 4 bedroom 2 car garage single family on a 1/4 acre lot in a cul de sac.

[C2YT]

It is crazy to even fathom having a mortgage that large. Here where I live in Michigan, average home prices are fairly cheap. Granted, I don't live in a fancy neighborhood or have anything out of the ordinary.

I paid $70,000 for my house - purchased last year. Put 20% down, so you can imagine that my mortgage/expenses are not much. The average house around me is $100-$115k.

At that price point I have also done all new flooring, paint, trim, electrical work, etc. Now that the house is up to code it should be an easy sell when i'm ready to transition to the next place.

I just decide to live below my means to put me further ahead for the next phase of life. Right or wrong, I don't need everything at once. The next jump will be a $200-250k house with some property and ideally a 40x60 barn to work in. That is if I decide to stay in Michigan.

[spazzyfry123]

Originally Posted by C2YT

It is crazy to even fathom having a mortgage that large. Here where I live in Michigan, average home prices are fairly cheap. Granted, I don't live in a fancy neighborhood or have anything out of the ordinary.

I paid $70,000 for my house - purchased last year. Put 20% down, so you can imagine that my mortgage/expenses are not much. The average house around me is $100-$115k.

At that price point I have also done all new flooring, paint, trim, electrical work, etc. Now that the house is up to code it should be an easy sell when i'm ready to transition to the next place.

I just decide to live below my means to put me further ahead for the next phase of life. Right or wrong, I don't need everything at once. The next jump will be a $200-250k house with some property and ideally a 40x60 barn to work in. That is if I decide to stay in Michigan.

The way people are going on here, I’d say your price point would get you a couch outside of Michigan.

[C2YT]

Originally Posted by spazzyfry123

The way people are going on here, I’d say your price point would get you a couch outside of Michigan.

Right... haha.

I understand people can be frustrated at housing costs, but it shouldn't be a surprise if you live in California.

[GenXer]

Originally Posted by NorCalAthlete

Average price where I'm at is around $700 / ft.

I make 6 figures and the median home price - MEDIAN, not average - is still 10x my annual income. I'd be stoked if I had even 37% like referenced earlier in this thread.

Unfortunately many people here don't even make median income. I'm fortunate enough to make above that. Things are cheaper here but we also make a heck of a lot less money. If I vacation within my state, I'm golden but I realize my dollar doesn't stretch very far when I travel.

I went to Cape Cod last spring and realized how poor I was compared to the people there. Multi-million dollars sea side chanties abound.

[maul3d]

Originally Posted by Rmtt

Come to upstate SC. I have twisty roads, mountains, and snow 30 minutes north of me, beach 3 hours southeast of me.

Greenville consistently makes the lists of the top ten places to "move" to....and you can buy a very nice house for around $250K.

$400K home puts you in "baller" status here in some areas.

We have quite a few transplants here...I actually work with a woman from Montreal.

Funny you actually mentioned that, my wife made me watch outer banks.


So.. I was intrigued by the location. Went on realtor.com and saw the beach houses, and houses in general in Carolina. Almost wanted to put a gun to my head and cry. Lol

I could sell my home here, buy a mcmansion over there and a huracan and live mortgage free .

I'm coming!!!!


Waiting for the the opportunity for the CAD peso to strengthen.. USA here I come !!

[GenXer]

I would love to live on the Outer Banks NC, hurricane and all. I've seen an 800 sq/ft, one bed room shack goes for $250K though. I also don't want to work in the tourism/hospitality industry either. I don't see any job down there I can do and make $100K a year to be able to afford those expensive shacks.