If you're still renting, why?

[MARIS61]

http://pro.truliablog.com/industry-...truliablog.com/industry-2/rent-vs-buy-q3-2012

You could OWN your home, AND a vacation home, for about the same you're paying to rent.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

rent control.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

its a great time to buy until 2015 though when they'll raise interest rates though. hyperinflation will hit. just put as little money down as possible right now for the biggest house you can afford.

 

[MARIS61]

FHA loans are available with 3.5% down, at about 3.5% interest.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

interest rates will dip a little bit more in the next few months probably. everyone around me who bought regrets it though since they bought at the peak of the bubble. we're probably around the bottom but I don't see housing appreciating as much as in the past.

load up on mortgages. another bubble is coming and money lose value in the next few years.

 

[Denny Crane]

You need sterling credit to get even an FHA loan.

Obama bailed out wall street and not main street, so people walked from their underwater homes and can no longer qualify for a new loan.

 

[Denny Crane]

I'd also point out that owning a home isn't just the mortgage. It's the rent-sized monthly property tax bill, plus all the maintenance costs that make it similar expense. Owning also is a ball and chain, not allowing you to easily relocate to where a decent job might be.

But send me some brochures. I'd be interested in becoming a slum lord in the LaPine area.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

I'd also point out that owning a home isn't just the mortgage. It's the rent-sized monthly property tax bill, plus all the maintenance costs that make it similar expense. Owning also is a ball and chain, not allowing you to easily relocate to where a decent job might be.

But send me some brochures. I'd be interested in becoming a slum lord in the LaPine area.

The numbers also assume you are able to sell for some pre determined number.

{Poasted via palm pilot}

 

[crandc]

Not sure where, Maris. Not where I live.

Here's my answer. I worked crappy jobs for years, not by choice, only started making good pay late in life. So there I was 50 with almost no retirement. I am putting the max into retirement account, which limits my current income quite a bit. My father offered to help with a down payment - you can't take it with you, he's 91, and would rather help now - but he would not have the 20% of a modest home where I live. We're talking about $100,000 for a 20% down payment, unless I lived so far out it would take me 6 hours a day to commute. Some people do that, I'd be out of my mind in that much traffic daily. I'd have to cash in part of my retirement for a down payment. And I pointed out that when I retire my income will, at best, be half what it is now - that's without using any of it to buy a house. I'd lose the house. I would not be able to keep up payments.

My rent, thankfully, is not $3226, I'm not sure what they are looking at, even in SF that's high. But I doubt I'll be able to pay the rent on my tiny house (with huge yard) when I can no longer work. I'm looking at best a studio somewhere. At worst a residency hotel. Because my 401K is tied to stock market and it's not safe. To put it mildly.

A coworker of mine is losing her home. At best she'll be out around $80K. So it's just too risky.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

How much does your life weigh? Imagine for a second that you're carrying a backpack. I want you to feel the straps on your shoulders. Feel 'em? Now I want you to pack it with all the stuff that you have in your life. You start with the little things. The things on shelves and in drawers, the knick-knacks, the collectibles. Feel the weight as that adds up. Then you start adding larger stuff, clothes, table-top appliances, lamps, linens, your TV.

The backpack should be getting pretty heavy now. And you go bigger. Your couch, bed, your kitchen table. Stuff it all in there. Your car, get it in there. Your home, whether it's a studio apartment or a two bedroom house. I want you to stuff it all into that backpack. Now try to walk. It's kind of hard, isn't it? This is what we do to ourselves on a daily basis. We weigh ourselves down until we can't even move. And make no mistake, moving is living.

 

[MARIS61]

You need sterling credit to get even an FHA loan.

Obama bailed out wall street and not main street, so people walked from their underwater homes and can no longer qualify for a new loan.

Not true at all.

A 640 score will get your FHA breezing through without any problem. Or a 600 score with a bit of documentation (1-2 years tax records if you're self-employed, and 2 months of bank records showing your down payment money has been there that length of time so they know the seller isn't paying it) will suffice.

If the foreclosed home was only in one name, the spouse will have no problem getting a loan. This is also true of bankruptcies, credit card debt...

 

[MARIS61]

I'd also point out that owning a home isn't just the mortgage. It's the rent-sized monthly property tax bill, plus all the maintenance costs that make it similar expense. Owning also is a ball and chain, not allowing you to easily relocate to where a decent job might be.

But send me some brochures. I'd be interested in becoming a slum lord in the LaPine area.

Folks are old fashioned here out here in Beautiful Central Oregon. We tar and feather slum lords.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

I agree with maris, this is the time to buy buy buy! I can get small 2 BR houses in Vancouver for $65-80K on short sales/repos. I'd love to have a few rentals. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut, being a pauper that isn't going to happen.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

we're building a bubble again. get in where you fit in.

fuck buying housing in LA though. turrible fucking construction and I don't want to live in buttfuck egypt.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

we're building a bubble again. get in where you fit in.

I disagree. I think it's pretty safe to say houses values just can't fall any further. And with fixed interest so low, houses are a terrific investment. In fact, I think maybe the best right now.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

I disagree. I think it's pretty safe to say houses values just can't fall any further. And with fixed interest so low, houses are a terrific investment. In fact, I think maybe the best right now.

bubble as its right now a no-lose situation to be buying, like it was before the pop.

falling housing would indicate the bubble has popped. the government is basically funneling money.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

we're building a bubble again. get in where you fit in.

fuck buying housing in LA though. turrible fucking construction and I don't want to live in buttfuck egypt.

I've heard this more than once. What's the story behind this?

 

[Rodolfo]

I got sick of paying rent so I bought a house in November. With a roommate I have more money in the bank than I've had in years. I thought a 4.25% rate was good. amazing how low interest rates have dropped.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

I've heard this more than once. What's the story behind this?

well, just how much a house is worth versus the quality. location location location.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

I thought you were talking about the quality of construction.

But this is pretty well known in SoCal -- A million will get you a semi-dump.

 

[THE HCP]

Wish I would have become a home owner sooner!

 

[MARIS61]

I've heard this more than once. What's the story behind this?

Illegal alien labor.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Illegal alien labor.

no, most of the houses out here were built in the 50s and 60s. there's not a lot of new construction out here.