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Old 04-28-2017, 10:17 AM
 
28,115 posts, read 63,659,938 times
Reputation: 23268

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^^^ Sad but true...

A family of 4 would qualify as low income in several bay area counties even with 100k income.

I guess we have been low income/poor and never new it.

My parents never had a new car... Mom always had something Dad picked up for under a $1000 and she drove it to work... when we needed tires we would go to the used tire shop and buy one...

The point is the Bay Area is a very easy place to spend lots of money without even trying.

The hard part is being frugal so you have what you need.
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Old 04-28-2017, 10:23 AM
 
6,089 posts, read 4,985,570 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Robertfchew View Post
My guess is most people bought homes after the market tanked then sold after having a good amount of equity and were able to purchase an expensive new home.
There were also a lot of smart people who didn't get sucked into the housing bubble of 2000-2007. If they didn't leave the state, they stuck around renting and saving. If you save your money for 7-8 years, you tend to accumulate a lot of cash, there's your downpayment.

Just look at the stats on housing purchases from 2008-2014. You will see (roughly) about 40-50% cash offers, about 30-40% conventional plus (20% or more down), and the rest will be FHA/VA with a small sliver being non-conforming. Banks were simply not giving non-conforming loans during this time because of how badly they were burned during the crash.

Now things are getting frothy again, and you're starting to see slimy institutions tempting people into 3-5% down type of loans. You're also seeing lots of mailers going out from Chase/BOA asking people who have lots of equity to start taking HELOCs (I see them weekly). So nearly 10 years after the crash, a lot of stupid people have simply forgotten how things got so messed up last time.

Which is why I think anyone buying now better make sure they can afford it, and are in for the long term. Now is not the time to "invest" into real estate unless you've got some other advantages in the market not available to your regular home buyer.
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Old 04-28-2017, 10:30 AM
 
28,115 posts, read 63,659,938 times
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I'm getting about a dozen offers to sell EACH week so I know the market is peaking.

Even got a full CAR offer from a broker 100% filled out and signed... he had just sold a 4 plex a block away and has buyers for mine as represented by the offer... and it is a fair offer if I was inclined to sell.

Problem is the families I rent to have been with me for decades and I am sure selling would prove to be an extreme hardship on them...

I'm not aggressive on rents on property I own... a good tenant is one that takes pride in where they live and is drama free...

Property here has really doubled over the last 4-5 years.

Thing to remember is Real Estate is always cyclical...
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Old 04-28-2017, 10:44 AM
 
18,172 posts, read 16,390,729 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultrarunner View Post
I'm getting about a dozen offers to sell EACH week so I know the market is peaking.

Even got a full CAR offer from a broker 100% filled out and signed... he had just sold a 4 plex a block away and has buyers for mine as represented by the offer... and it is a fair offer if I was inclined to sell.

Problem is the families I rent to have been with me for decades and I am sure selling would prove to be an extreme hardship on them...

I'm not aggressive on rents on property I own... a good tenant is one that takes pride in where they live and is drama free...


Property here has really doubled over the last 4-5 years.

Thing to remember is Real Estate is always cyclical...
Unfortunately you are an exception.
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Old 04-28-2017, 05:01 PM
 
Location: RAIDER NATION
35 posts, read 32,367 times
Reputation: 43
i bought my first home last year. my income will double next year(going from p/t to f/t) so i will already be looking to upgrade this house. i just dont know if ill keep it and rent it out or sell for the down payment of the next house. im hoping the housing market peaks then slowly declines to where i can jus save up for a down and keep my current one as rental property.

But either way, California income pretty much matches housing prices so buying in Cali isnt all that far fetched like some think. its just the size comparison is what gets peoples up in arms...
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Old 04-28-2017, 05:16 PM
 
5,381 posts, read 8,685,446 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by w-mcfly22 View Post
i bought my first home last year. my income will double next year(going from p/t to f/t) so i will already be looking to upgrade this house. i just dont know if ill keep it and rent it out or sell for the down payment of the next house. im hoping the housing market peaks then slowly declines to where i can jus save up for a down and keep my current one as rental property.

But either way, California income pretty much matches housing prices so buying in Cali isnt all that far fetched like some think. its just the size comparison is what gets peoples up in arms..
Actually, it is very hard for many to own in California, and especially in Silicon Valley and LA/OC:
L.A.-O.C. homeownership: Best in 2 years but still 3rd worst nationally – Orange County Register


In the L.A.-O.C. region, ownership hit 50.1 percent in the first quarter, the third worst share in the U.S. Census Bureau’s quarterly tally of households living in a home they own in 75 large U.S. metro areas. L.A.-O.C. ranked last in ownership in all four quarters of 2016. However, the region’s latest result is an improvement compared with 48.4 percent in the fourth quarter and 49 percent a year ago.

Homeownership is on the rise across much of California as the rate hit 55.1 percent in the first quarter, highest since 2011’s second quarter. Nationally, the state was fourth lowest behind the District of Columbia, New York and Nevada...

Nationally, homeownership has been loosely stable in the past year, coming in at 63.6 percent for the first quarter.
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Old 04-28-2017, 06:37 PM
 
5,381 posts, read 8,685,446 times
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The NY Times has some interesting stats on first time home buyers.The median down payment is just 6 percent. The median purchase price is $182,500. The median income is $72,000. 87 percent of first time buyers were born in the US.

Who’s Buying a First Home?

Calculator
By MICHAEL KOLOMATSKY APRIL 21, 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/21/r...ype=collection
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Old 04-28-2017, 07:10 PM
 
672 posts, read 256,134 times
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Old 09-05-2018, 12:39 PM
 
Location: Pacific NW
303 posts, read 821,534 times
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So do entry level (I dont mean min wage, I mean entry level professional careers such as IT desktop support people) make 100k to start in SF? I think not. I see ads for IT jobs in the 40-50k range. How the heck would any normal person (as in a young person wanting to raise a family not live the NYC lifestyle) ever even attempt to live on that? Especially if they have 50k in student loans to get there. I am mid career an in IT and have never made anywhere close to 100k and most people I know have not. I am not in CA but in a not cheap state. I think the myth of high wages is just that. A myth, The normal people who own homes inherited them or bougth them years ago. No other explanation. The nuclear family is dead in our "just get more roomates" culture. It works in NYC but the rest of the country does not want to be NYC. How can average rents be 900-1000 a month in a place where the median income is 30k a year? We are heading for a nation of homelessness and disaster. The rich fat cats may profess otherwise but its true. We need to make everyone make 100k a year or bring back 500-600 a month rents. Greed is killing
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Old 09-05-2018, 01:31 PM
 
Location: In the Redwoods
30,345 posts, read 51,930,608 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by spiritbear928 View Post
So do entry level (I dont mean min wage, I mean entry level professional careers such as IT desktop support people) make 100k to start in SF? I think not. I see ads for IT jobs in the 40-50k range. How the heck would any normal person (as in a young person wanting to raise a family not live the NYC lifestyle) ever even attempt to live on that? Especially if they have 50k in student loans to get there. I am mid career an in IT and have never made anywhere close to 100k and most people I know have not. I am not in CA but in a not cheap state. I think the myth of high wages is just that. A myth, The normal people who own homes inherited them or bougth them years ago. No other explanation. The nuclear family is dead in our "just get more roomates" culture. It works in NYC but the rest of the country does not want to be NYC. How can average rents be 900-1000 a month in a place where the median income is 30k a year? We are heading for a nation of homelessness and disaster. The rich fat cats may profess otherwise but its true. We need to make everyone make 100k a year or bring back 500-600 a month rents. Greed is killing
I love how someone who doesn't live here is telling us how it is... what's the location equivalent of "mansplaining?" "Non-residentsplaining?"

FACT is that most professionals here (meaning the major metros like SF, SJ, and LA) earn around or over $100K - yes, even at the start of their careers. I make almost $90K as a public librarian, while librarians in other regions are usually making $40-55K. I also don't know ANYONE who inherited their home, with the exception of a few elderly colleagues... they all just got in at the right time, earn a good living, and/or received help (parents or first-time homebuyer programs) with the down payment. Saying they all inherited or bought a long time ago is so easily debunked, if you just go onto to Zillow or Realtor and look at "recently sold" listings. Or is that just a big conspiracy, and they're all lying? Those realtors I know must have some secret underground income!

I'm not denying the housing costs are insane here, because we all know they are. But we really do earn more on average, especially if you're focusing on the high-COL counties. Never look at statewide medians, since that will include all the cheap regions like Fresno, Bakersfield, Sacramento, etc. Here in the Bay Area, only lower-skilled jobs pay less than $80-100K.

Last edited by gizmo980; 09-05-2018 at 01:48 PM..
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