Is it me, or has the Philadelphia area become another expensive NYC?

[GMonkey]

Originally Posted by Kd7788

The city wouldn't work for me. I am just not a city person and after wage tax and all I would end up worse financially. I want to move somewhere I could buy in a couple of years, but with a salary of 60K I think my limit is supposed to be 150K. It is just me, no boyfriend or husband and I want to be able to put down a decent downpayment, which right now I don't have. I also would like newer construction, which is difficult in the East coast. I have had issues with repairs and non-efficient windows and such in older builidngs, it ends up being more costly that buying something newer. It is disappointing how housing has gone up so high. A roof over your head shouldn't cost over a million like it does right now in so many places.

Talk to a mortgage rep and a realtor regarding your home prices. You may be able to afford more than you think.

I think that new construction in the 150K range will be pretty difficult. You can probably find a condo or townhouse in a nice burb. Some older homes are also updated and have newer windows, etc. Your realtor will probably have a list of good handmen to recommend who won't rip you off. Realtors are often really good resources--take advantage of what they have to offer. I have a great realtor in Media named Matt Bender at Baird & Bird. If you are thinking of a Delaware County suburb, he can definitely help you. He can even find you a rental, if you prefer to go that route.

[solibs]

Originally Posted by Kd7788

The city wouldn't work for me. I am just not a city person and after wage tax and all I would end up worse financially. I want to move somewhere I could buy in a couple of years, but with a salary of 60K I think my limit is supposed to be 150K.

If the city isn't for you I can respect that. Still, there are plenty of suburban towns where you can find a townhouse for ~$200k and in the boroughs an older rowhouse for ~$150k. We'd all like new construction but sometimes a little sacrifice and hard work (fixing up an older house) is more rewarding in the end (personally and financially)

Just FYI, my wife and I both make less than you and we own two houses. The mortgage on our primary residence is in her name (I was out of work at the time) and our investment property is in my name. Just saying, if you go FHA (or VA in my case) you typically need 3-5% down and depending on the neighborhood you can do a 3-6% seller's assist. I have two friends who bought in the last year and both got really good deals where they didn't have to pay PMI every month. With those numbers a $150k/yr mortgage would run you ~$900 a month. Just make sure you get a 30 year fixed and you'll be fine.

As far as the wage tax, people here make such a big deal about that but they don't look at the whole picture. To put it into perspective -

If I had a house similar in size to the one I have now I'd be paying about $5000 a year in property taxes in the suburbs. Now I pay $450 a year in property taxes. My wage tax is something like $2200/yr. and for my wife it's basically the same. So right there our tax burden is the same as if we were living in the suburbs and paying no wage tax . . . OTOH, some suburban municipalities do have wage taxes so you have to be careful with that . . . and you have to avoid getting a job in the city.

The big difference is that we don't need a car - so we don't have one. According to AAA the average cost is about $7000/yr. Together we probably spend about $500/yr on transit and about $1200 a year on PhillyCarShare.

I'm not trying to convince you to move to the city - i'm just saying you have to compare apples to apples.