Anyone buying or recently bought? (Valley Stream, Westbury: rent, condo, co-op)

[rocafeller05]

Hello all. Ok here is a question for all the people who plan on buying a house on Long Island or have bought one in the past year or 2. I would like to hear from people who actually bought a house the real way...meaning not buying a family member's house, no big down payment from daddy & didnt stay at home for 15 years saving money etc.
I cannot figure out how these people are paying rent and at the same time saving $60,000 for a down payment. Yes, I could do it but we are talkin atleast 10 years!! Can someone explain how they did it? It would be greaty appreciated.

[clamboy]

You can't.

Unless you hide your earnings like our Blue Collar Elite.

The door is closed.

Move on.

C

[VillageOfWestbury]

I can understand your dilemma.

In my case a bought a Co-Op in Valley Stream back in 2000. By 2005, it's value had more than doubled, and that essentially bankrolled my down-payment/fees ($35K). That, plus my combined salary (w/ the wife) left enough spare change in the account to make the lender happy. In a word...timing.

My advice to everyone, is to start early and small when it comes to realestate. Eventhough the market is slow now, nothing lasts forever. Get in now at what you can afford. In 5 to 7 years, you'll probably be happy that you did.

[rocafeller05]

Originally Posted by clamboy

You can't.

Unless you hide your earnings like our Blue Collar Elite.

The door is closed.

Move on.

C

You know what clamboy...thats exaclty what Im starting to realize. I think Im gonna wait for the market to creep back up a bit, sell my condo and run!!!
Cant wait forever to have a house for the family.

[NYRN]

My husband and I started our "nest egg" with the money we received from our wedding and while it has grown a bit in 3yrs it's not quite enough to survive on the island. And even though technically we could probably swing it we would live to pay our mortgage (no vacations, no eating out, no fun period) and it's just not the lifestyle we're seeking so we're going to save a bit more and take our $$ and get the heck out of here.

Also wanted to say we don't want to completely empty our savings account to buy a house. It's too dangerous to live like that. We had been looking to buy a house while I was pregnant and fortunately decided not to because a month after I gave birth my husband got laid off. It would have been devastating if we were paying a mortgage.

[clamboy]

Originally Posted by rocafeller05

You know what clamboy...thats exaclty what Im starting to realize. I think Im gonna wait for the market to creep back up a bit, sell my condo and run!!!
Cant wait forever to have a house for the family.

I dont mean to burst your bubble
Its not your fault.

This is a horrible place to get started.

Sorry bud.
The Boomers took it all.

C

[clamboy]

Originally Posted by VillageOfWestbury

I can understand your dilemma.

In my case a bought a Co-Op in Valley Stream back in 2000. By 2005, it's value had more than doubled, and that essentially bankrolled my down-payment/fees ($35K). That, plus my combined salary (w/ the wife) left enough spare change in the account to make the lender happy. In a word...timing.

My advice to everyone, is to start early and small when it comes to realestate. Eventhough the market is slow now, nothing lasts forever. Get in now at what you can afford. In 5 to 7 years, you'll probably be happy that you did.

Affordability is the issue

Avg House 400k/Avg Taxes 8k/Avg Earnings 65k

Mortgage w taxes on 350k/8k taxes=2989 per month
(You do have 50k to put down...don't you?)

65k =3500 Month apx net

The door is closed for Gen X/Y

The Me generation are gonna have their kids in their basements till theyre 40.
Karmas a Bit#h.

WTFLI?

EZLivin'

C

[jedwardjos]

If you buy a house on Long Island now, you had better plan to be there for awhile. Prices will continue to fall and there are no compelling reasons to believe this trend will end anytime soon. As clamboy stated, affordability is the issue. People are discovering there are nice places outside of L.I. to buy into where they can get a heck of a lot more for their money. Add to this the fact that young couples starting out and retiring boomers are leaving for these places.
To people who have their heart set on buying a home on LI, I would say keep saving and wait. It is impossible to predict exactly when the market will hit bottom but $300K for a nice house in a decent neighborhood will be a reality before there is any reversal of the downtrend, in my opinion.

[GCGuy]

$300K in a nice neighborhood? What would you define as nice? That seems low. Perhaps places in Suffolk or South Shore Nassau not by the water. It would be great if it happened...give people a break, but I don't see it. Who knows.

[clamboy]

Honestly me neither...I think this market will go sideways for a few years then run like the Bay Area.