Is this a good time to buy a house in San Antonio (Van: sales, foreclosures)

[hello13685]

Originally Posted by Paka

You SEE that the area is sound and has provided your friends with a good investment if they paid $170-180 and now you can't find anything in that area for near that price.

Why would you NOT want to buy should be the question???

So if I understand your argument correctly, the area is sound NOW because people IN THE PAST several years have enjoyed high appreciation? Who cares about current facts, right? Maybe people would believe me if I were a hockey mom (And by the way, you are only "paying yourself" with homeownership if you are GAINING equity, and that is NOT happening right now. But whatever makes people feel cozy...)

Now, that said, I would not be at all surprised if careless bank lending were to resume with the latest financial firm bailouts, which could return us to a 2006 situation, as sad as this is for me to accept. The whole system WILL eventually implode, but this should delay things a bit. So, hard to say what will happen in light of this past week's events...

[Paka]

Not true...you are paying yourself if you are NOT paying someone else.

YOU are paying someone else, if you choose NOT to pay yourself if you are able to buy.

Again, if you are moving here, HAVE to live somewhere, are financially responsible, and CAPABLE, it is normally better to buy (even if not HIGH END) than to rent.

Buying you MIGHT lose money, renting you are CERTAIN to lose money. How do you feel THAT is a smart move??? 100% of the money YOU are paying in rent is lining someone elses pockets.

It is obvious from your prior posts that you just are not able to understand that...but go ahead and continue to rent...those of us with investment properties make nice profits off of those of you that contiinue to think it a bad idea...month after month and year after year.

[JuneOf48]

So true, Paka! You could certainly lose money if you pay too much or your property really depreciates in value. (And those are real possibilities!) Otherwise, you should be OK--if you're smart. Of course, if you're really good on the stock market, you might be able to get a much better return on money that you would put towards a down payment if you chose to buy.

Anyway, for me it's pretty simple: my mortgage is less than $700 a month, and my house has a mother-in-law suite that I rent for $500 a month. That means $200 a month for a very nice house that offers so much more than the one-bedroom apartment I rented last year for $700 a month--money that I have absolutely no possibility of recouping. Even with taxes and insurance, I'm still way ahead. I'm also in a neighborhood that's still appreciating in value.

The days of doubling your money in three years on any old house are over--and that's good. I'm not looking to make a killing, but I AM looking to save more than I did as a renter, to live in a nice place, and even to make a little tiny bit of change if and when I sell.

[Paka]

Originally Posted by JuneOf48

So true, Paka! You could certainly lose money if you pay too much or your property really depreciates in value. (And those are real possibilities!) Otherwise, you should be OK--if you're smart. Of course, if you're really good on the stock market, you might be able to get a much better return on money that you would put towards a down payment if you chose to buy.

Anyway, for me it's pretty simple: my mortgage is less than $700 a month, and my house has a mother-in-law suite that I rent for $500 a month. That means $200 a month for a very nice house that offers so much more than the one-bedroom apartment I rented last year for $700 a month--money that I have absolutely no possibility of recouping. Even with taxes and insurance, I'm still way ahead. I'm also in a neighborhood that's still appreciating in value.

The days of doubling your money in three years on any old house are over--and that's good. I'm not looking to make a killing, but I AM looking to save more than I did as a renter, to live in a nice place, and even to make a little tiny bit of change if and when I sell.

VERY true! Not to mention, you get the tax breaks when it comes time to settle up with Uncle Sam every year.

We are enjoying the POSITIVE cash flow PLUS our property has increased (even with the soft market) aprox 50% since we bought it in 2002. Works for me...making money on it now and will make money on it when/if we decide to sell.

If we DO sell it, will probably sell the house we are currently living in (and would get the tax advantage on the captial gains since we have lived in it for 2 of the last 5 yrs as current tax laws require) and then move into the rental for at least 2 years so we can reap the tax exemption on those capital gains as well. WIN, WIN, WIN! Works for ME!

[hello13685]

I agree that Juneof48 is in a good position (though I'd personally get the heebie jeebies living in his neighborhood). I also agree that Paka is in a good position from what I can tell. What I think you fail to realize, though, Paka, is that THIS IS NOT 2002 so your experience cannot be replicated at this point in time!! I just don't understand why you are using your 2002 purchase experience to explain why NOW is a good time to buy in San Antonio. It's not that complicated.

Oh, and if you carry a mortgage (I understand that you do not Paka) you are paying someone else. You are paying a bank. You are paying at least 6% interest, and you home is appreciating LESS than that NOW (not 2002, but NOW). You are therefore losing money.

[sa_native1977]

I think it's important to point out that sometimes you can end up ahead by renting. . . . it truly depends on the local market and you're own circumstances. Case in point: I read an article several months ago about a woman in her 60s who did not sell her house in Herndon, VA, in 2005 partly because she didn't want to rent -- that would be a certain loss, she thought. However, she held on to her house and now it has depreciated dramatically [Herndon has developed some serious foreclosure problems]. She is having to work a few more years and hopes the market recovers. If she had gotten over her fear of renting and just sold....she would be sitting pretty about now.

[JuneOf48]

Originally Posted by hello13685

I agree that Juneof48 is in a good position (though I'd personally get the heebie jeebies living in his neighborhood). I also agree that Paka is in a good position from what I can tell. What I think you fail to realize, though, Paka, is that THIS IS NOT 2002 so your experience cannot be replicated at this point in time!! I just don't understand why you are using your 2002 purchase experience to explain why NOW is a good time to buy in San Antonio. It's not that complicated.

Oh, and if you carry a mortgage (I understand that you do not Paka) you are paying someone else. You are paying a bank. You are paying at least 6% interest, and you home is appreciating LESS than that NOW (not 2002, but NOW). You are therefore losing money.

Ahhh, the dreaded north of downtown area! Kitty corner we have another UTSA prof (tenured); next to him, four new town homes, selling in the upper 200s; a transplant from NYC directly across the street, who runs a pro-woman NGO and is also the head of the historical association; musicians and artists on one side of me, and a woman who works for the Health Sciences Center on the other. Geez, Hello, I think you're in the wrong neck of the woods if you're looking for interesting, cultured people!

And, as I wrote before in some other thread, landlords pass on all of the costs of owning to their tenants, and then tack on extra cash for their profit. It's true that mortgages such as my own cost about 6%, but that's still less (in my case and many others) than a 100% loss on rent.

[hello13685]

I don't doubt that there are great people in your neighborhood Juneof48. To me it's the mish-mash of architecture with some new places among old shacks with more lean than the Poseidon on New Year's Eve, rotting front porches, the chain-linked fences, old toys scattered around the yards--that kind of stuff. I'm not saying that your block is like that (because I don't know exactly where you live) but there's a lot of this mixed in. I do agree that the people there are pretty cool. It sounds like the rent to purchase ratio, especially with the rental apt., was good so you made a good choice. If it's not appreciating at 6% you are losing money on the property--but because you are renting out space, you come out ahead cash flow wise.

To the OP, see the front page of the Express News business section for last Thursday. The article is entitled "S.A. Housing Market Languishing."

[firstclassflyer]

Originally Posted by hello13685

To me it's the mish-mash of architecture with some new places among old shacks with more lean than the Poseidon on New Year's Eve, rotting front porches, the chain-linked fences, old toys scattered around the yards--that kind of stuff.

Hey...how'd you know what my house looks like?

[hello13685]

Firstclassflyer, something tells me you do not live in an $80,000 pad