Homeownership in Dallas area falls as millennials balk at buying

[happycrow]

Originally Posted by bencronin04

I think that's a great idea in thought, but sometimes the salary differences between the two are so vast it's nearly impossible. "Living" off a salary of about 30K for a family of 4(my wife's income) would be nearly impossible.

I didn't say "live off the lesser salary," but live off ONE of them. If you bank your wife's salary in toto, you've got a much, MUCH better cushion if and when your higher salary suddenly makes CNN.

[kt2le]

Originally Posted by biafra4life

Add me to your club. The wife and I now bring in close to $160K together, yet there is STILL no way I would even contemplate a $3K monthly mortgage. While my wife's job is relatively secure for now anyway, mine is a typical corporate America job that can be outsourced/downsized at the drop of a hat. I just don't feel comfortable enough to take on a 30 year commitment of that magnitude. At least at our current mortgage ($1380), if I lost my job then the wife could handle the mortgage and the essential bills (food lights, clothing, etc). A $3K mortgage would require both of our incomes, with no room for error. Too risky. YMMV.

This is good planning, IMO. We've owned two homes and it's what we did both times. I'm not saying we don't live in a nice home in a nice neighborhood - we do - but living a little below our means (statistically anyway) has allowed us to sleep at night without too much worry. It's also allowed us to do most things we want to do without being a slave to a mortgage payment. We didn't have children when we bought our first house but did when when we bought the second (current) one but knew cost associated with them would do nothing but increase - exactly how much was still surprising, however. Camps, club sports, private lessons, cars, insurance, you-name-it, multiplied every year but we were able to cover whatever came along. Now we have three in college (okay, not good planning, but that's for another forum lol) but we're able to pay for all their expenses - our investment in them. We'd never be able to do this if we'd bought houses beyond our means.

[brainofjjj]

This has been a great thread so far, and fits with my general way of thinking.

My wife and I earn mid six figures together but are probably more conservative than most with our house, we have a $376k mortgage when we qualified for over a $1MM...NO THANKS! We live around Forrest and the tollway with a 3 year old and worry about the next move. DISD schools near us are not what we want and seeing how we're trying for another kid i'm not excited with 2 kids in privates either.

We're likely to move in 2-3 years to somewhere like Southlake for the schools but we are in no way comfortable with spending $700k or more on a house, it's just crazy. I know everyone will scream Richardson or Plano but i like the county feeling that some parts of Southlake have, guess we have a tough decision coming one day.

[synchronicity]

Originally Posted by brainofjjj

This has been a great thread so far, and fits with my general way of thinking.

My wife and I earn mid six figures together but are probably more conservative than most with our house, we have a $376k mortgage when we qualified for over a $1MM...NO THANKS! We live around Forrest and the tollway with a 3 year old and worry about the next move. DISD schools near us are not what we want and seeing how we're trying for another kid i'm not excited with 2 kids in privates either.

We're likely to move in 2-3 years to somewhere like Southlake for the schools but we are in no way comfortable with spending $700k or more on a house, it's just crazy. I know everyone will scream Richardson or Plano but i like the county feeling that some parts of Southlake have, guess we have a tough decision coming one day.

I'll just note that Southlake is losing that "country feeling in some parts" real quick. There's a LOT of development going on here.

Also nice to see a thread with people even more conservative than we are in home buying. Our "stretch" to buy a house was what our lenders thought of as well within our means. Heh. Sure.

[aggie972]

Originally Posted by synchronicity

I'll just note that Southlake is losing that "country feeling in some parts" real quick. There's a LOT of development going on here.

Also nice to see a thread with people even more conservative than we are in home buying. Our "stretch" to buy a house was what our lenders thought of as well within our means. Heh. Sure.

They don't know or care if its within your means or not. Its within their means to approve, collect higher fees, and receive positive performance reviews for upselling.

[synchronicity]

Originally Posted by aggie972

They don't know or care if its within your means or not. Its within their means to approve, collect higher fees, and receive positive performance reviews for upselling.

Oh, I know all that, as you can guess. Another amusing bit was when the mortgage broker carefully explained the differences between two financing options (it's her job and I give her credit, many people would be confused by the choices), and I explained some of the tax rules as well as saying that I'd run a spreadsheet to see which option would be better given various assumptions.

We may not have spent as much, but we were easy to deal with (had all documentation ready and sent over quickly, knew what we wanted with minimal handholding, etc.). And an easy loan for her, as we were well below the maximums they could have approved us for.

[InvaderJim]

Originally Posted by EDS_

Other than your NYC/work from home and the last couple of sentences about tradeoffs/game theory nothing else in your post makes much sense versus the data. I'll post it or send it to you if you'd like.

With respect:
1. I think you are underpaid versus the midpoint relative to your education/tenure/local peers.
2. I think you want to leave and you are coming up will all kinds of reasons to justify doing so.

Could you send me your sources for your salary quotes for Software Engineers? If you're getting them from Indeed, then they are highly inflated, as Indeed calculates salaries for keywords based on what companies have stated they pay - but usually only companies that are offering positions above market value will disclose the salaries.

Also, as far as electrical engineers go, I know a few in their mid to late 20s who work for Raytheon with several years of experience who are making in the mid $70k. I do know another who is making above $110k at Raytheon, but he has a master's degree and 10 years of experience. Anecdotal, I know, but large companies like Raytheon are going to pay around market value.

I stand by my statement that the Phoenix, AZ area is in many ways better than DFW. There aren't as many jobs, but the salaries are comparable, housing is cheaper (at least rent is - if you want to buy it's pretty comparable to DFW), and commutes are MUCH better. I transferred to an office near Tempe, AZ for a few months and loved it. The house I was renting there was literally 60% the price of a comparable house you could rent in most parts of DFW. Most people who transferred from the DFW office to the Tempe office loved it so much that they didn't want to leave. The Tempe office shut down, and most people including myself had to go back to DFW, but a few people loved it there so much that they stayed and found other jobs there. It's a fantastic place for young people, as is evidenced by all the small business around there catering to the younger crowd.

Median home prices in Tempe are much cheaper than in Plano, for example:
Tempe Home Prices and Home Values | Zillow
Plano Home Prices and Home Values | Zillow

The same could be said for most other smaller cities. But if you want to compare DFW to other huge metro areas like Los Angeles, Chicago, or New York City, then yes, DFW is probably the best in terms of cost of living and salaries.