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Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,563 posts, read 81,147,605 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pub-911
One week per month would be some 23% of income. That's about what households averaged in 1901 according to BLS. There are probably reasons why that number should have gone up over the past century and more.
That's about what mine is now, and I wouldn't want to be spending any more than that on it. The only reason I can meet that is having bought in 1993 and stayed there, with promotions and regular raises over that time. I could never afford to buy my house now for what it's currently worth even with a much higher income than I had then. Part of the cause of the shortage is this problem. People like us stay where we are with low mortgage payments because we still have to be within commute distance, but can't afford to downsize after the kids are gone because even smaller homes in our area are so expensive that the mortgage would be higher. We don't want to use our equity up until retiring to a lower cost area. In my neighborhood the people next door, across the street and several others are close to retirement, and bought new in the early 80s. We talk, and are all planning to move away from the Seattle metro after retiring. There could be some inventory opening up in a few years, but by then even more people will be looking for a house to buy as the younger couples start to have kids and want quiet, safe neighborhoods with good schools.
Excellent point. Some years ago I was refinancing to lower my mortgage interest rate 2.5%. I went to Wells Fargo and they wanted me to jump through all sorts of hoops, including sending out a husband-wife appraiser team that was straight out of American Gothic who appraised my home at less than 50% of market value. I got tired of their BS, so went to a mortgage broker, who took our credit rating and financial statement and said, "OK." Ironically, six months later they sold the mortgage to Wells Fargo, who ended up dropping our interest rate another percentage point to discourage churn. Many times, banks are not a good place to borrow money.
Wells Fargo is actively discouraged from being used as a lender by realtors around here because they are slow with lots of delays and hoops.
I think it varies widely depending on local and personal circumstances.
Of course it does... but whatever those circumstances are and however Joe got into them...
on Friday afternoon he's looking at a check with a number on it.
Quote:
That's why these things are called "rules of thumb."
I prefer 'target' ... and I say Joe should target his housing costs to that ONE check amount.
So... How many weeks of net earnings do YOU think should be spent on housing?
Wells Fargo is actively discouraged from being used as a lender by realtors around here because they are slow with lots of delays and hoops.
I know it is only anecdotal but similar here and my personal experience leaving me in the lurch the week of closing and never saying a word... only found out through the seller who said Wells Fargo "Just" discovered the home is on 5.2 acres and their underwriting is 5 acres or less... FIVE WEEK IN AND THIS IS WHAT THEY COME UP WITH!!!
Americans can't afford to buy a house in their own country.
I think private home ownership peaked in the Bush Administration... doubt we will hit that number anytime soon... remember many swore off owning and among my friends many were touting the benefits of renting.
I think private home ownership peaked in the Bush Administration... doubt we will hit that number anytime soon... remember many swore off owning and among my friends many were touting the benefits of renting.
Every administration since FDR had made increasing US home ownership rates a goal of its domestic policy. All of them had met those goals until Reagan/Bush-41. Clinton sought to and succeeded in turning the tide of ownership rates upward once again. Bush-43 tried to stay the course, but ended up blowing the whole situation out of the water.
It's not a one-size-fits-all situation.
Nor is it one where the word "should" should be brought into play.
Get out of the clouds. Take a stand for once.
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