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too many have a image of starting out with a nice big house. unrealistic save for in booming economies with large subdivisions. Hard workers with visions for their families are becoming rare.
It can also be delayed... as in starting much later in life thinking about putting down roots... I have seen this with my friends... I bought my shack at age 22... it was scheduled to be condemned... most of my friends thought I was nuts... who wants the responsibility of a home at age 22... plus one that needed a year of weekends and nights renovating?
In their mid to late 30's they started to think about it... and what I heard so often is I was smart for starting when I did... never mention mortgage interest rates were more than double back then!!!
Growing up a lot of the families around where I lived happened to have fathers with Military Service... they all used benefits earned to buy homes and for educational opportunities...
Not very common anymore... at least here in my part of the SF Bay Area.
We have two excellent under 30 RN's at the hospital... both came from very modest backgrounds... both used the military to become RN's... one challenged the Board of Nursing as a Corpsman and the other used her educational benefits.
My point is there are options but few are willing...
The daughter of a co-worker recently bought a 400k home... she is in the military... under 30... don't get much around here but she is happy... only problem is she is being transferred and the dilemma is to sell... make a modest profit and have lived rent free for the last 10 months... or be an absentee landlord?
Another way to look at it is if people couldn't "Afford" it... homes simply would not find buyers and we know this is not the case.
There are no $400k homes here any more, other than a small, older condo in outlying areas. Since 2011 our value has gone from about $450k to over $800k, and the property tax has gone up by nearly $4,000/year.
No house is worth that much to me, unless it’s sitting on 40 acres of land, or maybe waterfront.
No house is worth that much to me, unless it’s sitting on 40 acres of land, or maybe waterfront.
Well, you live in "Floribama." Nothing wrong with that, but how are the job opportunities? In Seattle or San Francisco a young couple with good tech jobs can make $300,000 a year.
Attended the wedding of a young couple that met in High School... he is African American and her family is from the Philipines... both the first in their families to attend college.
At 25 they are pushing 300k...
She is an RN working at the county hospital and he is a Police Officer...
Well, you live in "Floribama." Nothing wrong with that, but how are the job opportunities? In Seattle or San Francisco a young couple with good tech jobs can make $300,000 a year.
$150k/year is only about 3x my current salary. My house cost less than 1/10th of $400k, let alone $800k + $4k/year property taxes.
I made a similar comparison earlier in this thread and was told that the higher COL paid for job opportunities. But, I was laid off on a Friday, a few months ago, and had a new job lined up by Monday.
$150k/year is only about 3x my current salary. My house cost less than 1/10th of $400k, let alone $800k + $4k/year property taxes.
I made a similar comparison earlier in this thread and was told that the higher COL paid for job opportunities. But, I was laid off on a Friday, a few months ago, and had a new job lined up by Monday.
I'll take my chances with the $300K paycheck and the high cost of living. Eventually the mortgage is paid off, property taxes (much more than $4k/year) are covered in the first couple of weeks, and I have an asset I can sell for real money.
I do understand the low COL lifestyle, however, and don't mean to put it down. It's just not for me.
Unless you are paying cash, the more expensive the house you buy, the more money you throw away on interest.
A 150k house, financed with 20% down and 4.5% for 30 years, will cost about $98k in interest. A $450k house with the same terms, will cost about $296k in interest over the life of the loan.
Some people may be fine with this, but personally I don’t like paying banks interest.
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