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Fine, but there are plenty of options close to where OP lives or is thinking of living at around the 400 mark.
I wouldn't know that. I don't live in No. NJ.
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I'm not disputing this. What I am arguing is that you don't necessarily have to spend as much as you can theoretically afford according to a fairly liberal standard (about 28% of gross which is also about 50% of your take-home)
If you earn 190k, you enjoy the rare distinction of being able to afford a yard for your children without spending as much as the mortgage lender will approve you for.
Elford, it's all crazy. It's also up to the individual as to where and what they want to sink their money into.
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If you believe I think they deserve sympathy, I wasn't sufficiently clear
Well I think I agree with you. I wll make sure to analyze a little more proficiently the next go-round!
Sure the same house will sell for more later in a train town than not, but it will also cost the buyer more now. So how is that a benefit.
I seriously doubt anywhere the buyer would look will end up with a "frozen market" in which selling is next to impossible due to a lack of buyers, at least with respect to a train town anyway.
Is the liquidity difference significantly higher than the price difference?
Just to clarify, when I referred to re-sale value, I was writing about the ease of convienence for the purchaser. Some people like to have things easy and are willing to pay for it, they don't necessarily look at "will I get my money back" or "is my property going to appreciate" - they are buying a place to live, not making an investment.
For selling purposes, it just makes it a little more appealing to a buyer - just a little. I didn't buy in a train town, but it was important because as a commuter I really didn't want to be beholden to only have bus accessibility only. Luckily, the next town over has train service and it's relatively close by.
No pretention. I may be a decade plus older than you, maybe not. I counted my pennies, literally, with my wife, when we got married in the 90's and there were no jobs then either. Money for beer was high on the list of expenses back then.
I have a masters in Economics and a minor in Finance. She has a masters in Business with a focus in marketing and went back to grad school and has a certificate to teach k-8. . I believe our combined income was $32K in 1996. Didn't get much better for a long while.
We got lucky, we bought a house before the boom. We also got lucky and I signed up for her family business where the hours stink but it pays the bills and then some.
I live in central NJ. In one of the most expensive counties, but when it comes down to the school system it stinks, but there are mini-mansions all over the place. It amazes me how expensive it is to buy a piece of junk house where I live. It is just a crazy fact that makes no sense.
Sorry, man. I misread the tone in your post. I thought you were one of those "a 2000 sq ft house isn't really a house types" based on the other post. Yea, I agree that residential real estate costs too much in the entire NYC metropolitan area.
Sorry, man. I misread the tone in your post. I thought you were one of those "a 2000 sq ft house isn't really a house types" based on the other post. Yea, I agree that residential real estate costs too much in the entire NYC metropolitan area.
No, really, it can't. If you think it can then your taste in what is deemed beautiful is very different than 99% of the people I know.
If they had a nickel for every arrogant person on the internet who I could prove wrong, I could buy a 600k house.
That being said, some nice houses for 450k in Central Jersey:
Real Estate Search Results - In Monroe, gated community, near Forsgate. The wallpaper in the kitchen is a little much, but it can work, especially given the taxes and the quality of Monroe's schools for Jr.
If you can afford it, do it. Don't be scared off by people who can't. If you can't, you already know that you can't.
Actually, the OP doesn't know, which is why they asked the question. And people who make questionable financial decisions is what got us into the subprime mess in the first place.
Actually, the OP doesn't know, which is why they asked the question. And people who make questionable financial decisions is what got us into the subprime mess in the first place.
Yes, I wasn't sure about how much one should spend on a house (given his/her savings and annual income).
If they had a nickel for every arrogant person on the internet who I could prove wrong, I could buy a 600k house.
That being said, some nice houses for 450k in Central Jersey:
Real Estate Search Results - In Monroe, gated community, near Forsgate. The wallpaper in the kitchen is a little much, but it can work, especially given the taxes and the quality of Monroe's schools for Jr.
Actually, the OP doesn't know, which is why they asked the question. And people who make questionable financial decisions is what got us into the subprime mess in the first place.
No nickel from me toward your house fund. You can't buy a decent home, in a decent area, for $450K in MY part of central Jersey.
Monroe, to me, is more south/west of central Jersey.
I don't talk out of my ass. I'm in the business of real estate, I do have a clue.
as someone else already suggested, if your mortgate + tax + home owners insurance is within 25% of your gross income, it would be a safe decision. also, make sure you have at least 8-10 months of savings enough to cover your entire monthly expense (mortgatge + utility + food + insurances, etc).
you can certainly buy a house well below 450k but if you plan to live in this house for 10+ years, it is worth spending a little more. remember that by buying a house you are also building equity and to that point, you want to maximise your return. for about 550k you would be able to find a very decent 10-15 yr old house in south brunswick or east brunswick. both these towns have excellent schools and low crime rate. such houses would appreciate more than older houses when market gets better in a few years.
as someone else already suggested, if your mortgate + tax + home owners insurance is within 25% of your gross income, it would be a safe decision. also, make sure you have at least 8-10 months of savings enough to cover your entire monthly expense (mortgatge + utility + food + insurances, etc).
What you say makes no sense. This "25% gross" is a realtor's delusion. Suppose one makes 100K/year. Your advice is that it is ok if he spends 25K/year on mortgage + prop tax + home owners ins. This is 2K/month, so AT LEAST 2.5K/month considering utilities. Someone with $100K gross brings about $5K/month after tax+deductions. So you are in effect suggesting that it is ok if one spends HALF the after tax income in housing. And this is without taking into account other maintenance expenses.
There is a reason housing prices are falling: they are unaffordable!
Stop suggesting that a $500K house is affordable to a middle income family. If there is no housing market crash it's because gov is using taxpayers money to pump it through "tax credits" and FHA "no down payment" low interest loans, ie a new bubble. Houses are still selling for double what they were sold in the 90s
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