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I did a 3.5% on a condo here in DC, w/an FHA loan. I'm paying the PMI, but it is what it is, already looking into selling, using the profits to get a $350k-$400K house. I want no help, which is what I imagine a lot of people are doing, going to their folks to help them out on the downpayment. That, or they're real estate savvy and have already bought and sold 2-3 homes.
Edit: Just to piggyback off what someone said about not having thousands of dollars lying around, I kinda told this to my girlfriend a few weeks ago. The only realistic option would be to sell my condo (my real estate agent would have to be good enough to try and sell this for what it's worth now and what it would be worth 5-10 years from now since there's a $2 billion development in the area), then using the profits and whatever she saved to put a huge downpayment into a future house.
the economists, media and other homeowners are swearing it's not a bubble but simply a recovery. Some even claim with a straight face that we are in an era of "historic affordability" Which planet are these people living on?
In some areas in Southern California home prices are within 10% of the last bubble's peak and yet people have all but forgotten about the last bubble but rather this runup is flagged as a "recovery" to where home prices should be.
The TRUTH is that most homeowners would NOT be able to RE-PURCHASE their homes at their current values!!!! OR would find it VERY hard to do that but yet think it's a normal market and their home is worth these ridiculously inflated values.
What is the typical downpayment these days percentage wise? The median price for a home here in Orange County is $613,000 so 20% down + 3% closing costs would be $141,000 cash to the table.
I SERIOUSLY doubt the median buyer here has that much cash just lying around. The median household income here countywide is $78,000/yr and even in affluent parts of the county does not exceed around $120,000/yr gross.
Are people going FHA with it's 3.5% down? If so are they paying the exorbitant fees associated with FHA loans?
I'm just trying to wrap my head around how the average buyer who seems to be broke when I look around me (people financially struggling) and people who just a decade ago were struggling to buy $300,000 homes are suddenly able to afford homes twice as expensive with 10-20% downpayments.
20% + closing costs
Many people are downsizing. Some people are selling off their current home or homes to buy a bigger or more expensive house. People who are struggling are not buying homes, or anything else. Lastly, there are some who still pay in cash.
We just sold our house in the DC area (Northern Virginia). We had 4 offers on the house in the $550K-$600K range. One offer was 5% down VA loan, one was 10% down conventional, and two were 20% down conventional.
I'm curious, did the size of the downpayment impact your decision of which offer to accept? Or did you simply accept the highest offer?
What is the typical downpayment these days percentage wise? The median price for a home here in Orange County is $613,000 so 20% down + 3% closing costs would be $141,000 cash to the table.
I SERIOUSLY doubt the median buyer here has that much cash just lying around. The median household income here countywide is $78,000/yr and even in affluent parts of the county does not exceed around $120,000/yr gross.
Are people going FHA with it's 3.5% down? If so are they paying the exorbitant fees associated with FHA loans?
I'm just trying to wrap my head around how the average buyer who seems to be broke when I look around me (people financially struggling) and people who just a decade ago were struggling to buy $300,000 homes are suddenly able to afford homes twice as expensive with 10-20% downpayments.
Around here, a typical earnest money deposit for a $500,000 transaction is $5-10,000.
Downpayment varies, but we've been seeing a lot of all-cash sales. People who got 15 year mortgages on their home 20 years ago, and are downsizing/moving suddenly have a lot of money tied up in their house. We have a closing today where the buyer is using part of an inheritance from grandparents to put 20% down on a townhouse.
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Which planet are these people living on?
