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I'm diving into the housing market for the first time. I know all of the technicals say now is not the time but my ownership/hold horizon is 10-15 years so I'm not worried about temporary waves. I just want to stop paying my landlords mortgage and so tired of renting.
I'm diving into the housing market for the first time. I know all of the technicals say now is not the time but my ownership/hold horizon is 10-15 years so I'm not worried about temporary waves. I just want to stop paying my landlords mortgage and so tired of renting.
I moved to SW Fl from Broward county in 2016 because I could not afford a house there. I was lucky that rates were very low. Buy now before they go up, just be careful that some homes are very over priced and will never appraise for what they are asking and you will waste your time and money. Rates are going up and home prices are still increasing but you may be able to find some bargains still. Especially if the home hasn't sold in a long time and has since increased in value becuase it was overpriced before but now isn't. Good luck.
The best think I did in my life was move to Florida, the best thing financially I ever did was buy a home. Security, affordability, stability. I don't have to worry about a LL coming in and snooping while I'm gone. I don't have to worry about my rent going up or being given 30 days to find a new place, I don't have to share walls or ceilings or floors with other tenants. i have a backyard for my dogs. I don't need permission to have anyone move in, I can rent a room and they can have another pet too.
Last edited by LifeIsGood01; 05-18-2018 at 09:18 AM..
I've followed the OP's posts for a number of years, and he's lived in several different states.
Nep, one of the things I would be concerned about with buying is that you've historically wanted to be close to your family in Connecticut. Do you want to stay in Jacksonville?
The other question is about jobs. If something happened to your current position, do you have a reasonable shot of finding another in Jacksonville?
Also keep in mind that home ownership has repair and maintenance/upkeep costs, as well as taxes, insurance, and homeowner association costs! I prefer owning over renting, but everybody's situation is different. Good luck!
Also keep in mind that home ownership has repair and maintenance/upkeep costs, as well as taxes, insurance, and homeowner association costs! I prefer owning over renting, but everybody's situation is different. Good luck!
That's all built into rent too. Landlords rent to make money not as a favor to you.
If you can afford home ownership in the current market is the question.
You should not think of it as an "investment," per se, but a place to live with tax advantages.
If you have a crystal ball and know this is the height of the market, then wait until your crystal ball advises it's going to crash.
Otherwise, do what you want and can afford to do.
Exactly. Forget market timing, this is a dwelling and your individual preferences and finances are way more important than what the market might do. Even if it crashes, you’re okay as long as you have equity and aren’t overleveraged and trying to sell. Really. You need a place to live and you have a lot of reasons why you aren’t happy continuing to rent or share common walls, and it doesn’t sound like a single family home as a rental is something you want to do.
So go look for a house within your budget, with some space you want, and enjoy homeownership. Let the market do what it will - if you buy prudently for your individual circumstances you’ll be fine
Buy what you can afford. By that I mean what you can afford after putting money away in savings every month. Because you will have maintenance costs, et al. Too many people push themselves on the mortgage, then have nothing left over at the end of the month for anything else. So they are one transmission failure away from financial disaster.
In 2006, my wife and I sold our first house in a gentrifying part of town for a stupidly high price, then bargain-shopped in a nice suburb with good schools. We sold our first house at 4.5x what we paid for it a decade earlier. After selling, our criterium was simple: Buy a house that was close to her job that we could afford on one salary. The underwriter on our mortgage said, "Why are you buying such a cheap house? With your household income, you could afford a house three times this amount." Our wisdom became apparent in 2008. I work for myself and saw my income slashed. Yet we sailed along without much deprivation. Today, 12 years later, we've doubled our already considerable equity, even despite the housing crash.
At the same time, we had captured lightning in a bottle. In truth, houses make terrible investments unless you personally can do a lot of the necessary home improvement to increase its value.
In terms of whether the market has peaked, I don't think it has. Part of the problem we're facing right now is a lack of inventory in a large number of markets, and the capacity to build just hasn't reached the levels we had in 2007.
I rep you too often apparently, but this is another fantastic post.
If you know you're going to be upside down in a couple of years, keep on renting. That's what I tell all my tenants who think prices are peaking. lol
Why would you tell good tenants to buy?
What irks me is that LLs on here tell people it's a bad idea to buy as if people are going to stop renting because a LL posts something positive about buying.
Most renters have no other choice than to rent because they live in an area that's too expensive to buy in, some may also think getting a mortgage is some scary mysterious thing.
But we are in a housing bubble. Ever heard of the Case Schiller index? Home prices are higher today than they were just before the previous crash. Dallas metro, for example, has 50% higher home prices today than they did in 2007. Same with many, many metro areas all over the nation. And the nation as a whole is seeing higher home prices than in 2007. We could argue about the peak being today, later this year or next year, but we're pretty much there.
First off real estate is local. Prices are local.
Secondly. Prices are not where they were back in 2007 in my area. I know that because homes in my area were selling in the $650,000 to $700,000 range. Currently homes are over $500,000 and from what I see still climbing.
Third point. Back in late 2006 till mid 2007 visit an open house here or in Arizona, my only experience with open houses, and the homes were full of people wanting to buy a home. You could hardly get into a home, so many people were trying to buy. I have not seen that happen around here yet. It is funny to see though to watch. The people that should reconsider being in the market are all in when prices are high.
You will know when the market is in a bubble when everyone you know is buying a home or a second home. I have known people that others thought were very educated because they were buying homes on the high end. I watched a former co-worker buy over 10 homes as prices were going up. He ended up losing them all.
I would say that we are in mid stream right now. Still thinking of real estate as being local. Your area may be different.
My wife and I don't anticipate selling our home for many years to come, if ever. Still, I am thinking that prices in my area will hit $900,000 within the next 4 to 5 years, before the bubble bursts.
My thoughts after watching the housing market for 30 years now in my area is that pricing heads upward and during every decrease in pricing it has always rebounded further up then it had been before. New highs are are reached and new lows are created. In 2000 the low here was $150,000 to 180,000 on my street. In mid 2007 The last high was $650,000 to $700,000. In first quarter of 2011 was the last low at $290,000 to $320,000
Homes in my neighborhood are similar in design. We have two homes for sale in a 6 block area. One is on the market for $519,000 and the other for $525,000. This is still lower than the last high.
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