San Diego Homeownership: Salary Sticker Shock (Santee: foreclosure, renting, insurance)

[USDefault]

San Diego, great city to live in -- if you can afford it.

San Diego among cities requiring highest salaries to own home.

But the sticker shock of the salary necessary to afford to live in America's Finest City is sure to leave residents speechless.

San Diego recently ranked second among cities requiring the highest salaries needed to afford a home, according to mortgage website HSH.com. Locally, residents need to earn $113,530.43 a year, based on the medium home price of $593,000.

The salary comes in at at least twice the amount of the report's national average of $51,962.53 a year.

And, "The study noted that if a homeowner puts down 10 percent instead of 20 percent, the required annual salary jumps from $113,530.43 to $137,056.40."

Moving here? Great choice. Good people, good schools in the right areas, lots to do, arguably best weather in the lower forty-eight. But you better be certain you have the financial wherewithal to make it. If you fail to accurately assess current and future assets and liabilities, you run the very real risk of decimating your savings, losing your home to foreclosure, imploding your future retirement, being unable to pay for your kids' college, and many other unfun things.

If you don't have a cushion -- and I mean a significant financial cushion -- a job loss or serious health/medical event could really put a strain on your new Southern California life. The skyhigh cost of living can and will result in a cascading waterfall of financial ruin if you fail to pay your mortgage, or can't meet the ultra-high taxes, fees, and costs imposed by California.

[aewan68]

Originally Posted by USDefault

San Diego, great city to live in -- if you can afford it.



And, "The study noted that if a homeowner puts down 10 percent instead of 20 percent, the required annual salary jumps from $113,530.43 to $137,056.40."

Moving here? Great choice. Good people, good schools in the right areas, lots to do, arguably best weather in the lower forty-eight. But you better be certain you have the financial wherewithal to make it. If you fail to accurately assess current and future assets and liabilities, you run the very real risk of decimating your savings, losing your home to foreclosure, imploding your future retirement, being unable to pay for your kids' college, and many other unfun things.

If you don't have a cushion -- and I mean a significant financial cushion -- a job loss or serious health/medical event could really put a strain on your new Southern California life. The skyhigh cost of living can and will result in a cascading waterfall of financial ruin if you fail to pay your mortgage, or can't meet the ultra-high taxes, fees, and costs imposed by California.

Personally I use the 1.5 to 3 times annual salary factor and nothing here is affordable on what I make at the moment, but we are waiting due to the bubble that is forming and will implode. For a single 3/2/2 at least in North County in a desirable area, the homes are priced higher than we want to pay so we are content with renting for now.

Same goes for where I lived in SoFla, median home price was around $325K, but salaries are very low overall and on top of that the cost of living was very high, Insurance (all types) Overall and Utilities due to A/C running nearly year round.

Problem for many is being able to save for the downpayment, with people living off of Credit Cards and having excess spending, on top of having lot's of babies, if they are renting now odds are they won't ever afford to buy because they already painted themselves into a corner.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by aewan68

Personally I use the 1.5 to 3 times annual salary factor and nothing here is affordable on what I make at the moment, but we are waiting due to the bubble that is forming and will implode. For a single 3/2/2 at least in North County in a desirable area, the homes are priced higher than we want to pay so we are content with renting for now.

Same goes for where I lived in SoFla, median home price was around $325K, but salaries are very low overall and on top of that the cost of living was very high, Insurance (all types) Overall and Utilities due to A/C running nearly year round.

Problem for many is being able to save for the downpayment, with people living off of Credit Cards and having excess spending, on top of having lot's of babies, if they are renting now odds are they won't ever afford to buy because they already painted themselves into a corner.

No Bubble. At best prices will stagnate for a while.

[mixxalot]

Not if you want to buy near the coast more like 300-400k a year salary! Maybe if you buy way inland in Santee you can buy if you make over 100k a year. San Diego is getting as expensive as bay area with low salaries to boot!

[USDefault]

Originally Posted by aewan68

on top of having lot's of babies

Another huge problem. Today, breeding is shockingly expensive, and I attribute it to massive global overpopulation. Too many people chasing too few resources.

Future parents, make no mistake, every time you breed you are in for a multi-decade fight for food, water, energy, medical care, and housing -- in particular, housing within districts that are home to the best grade and high schools. And parents want those spots, going so far as to lie about where they live to gain admission to the best public schools. Then you'll be in for another caged deathmatch for college financial aid, both need- and merit-based. Colleges want their money, and they'll strip you of everything -- investments, retirement funds, home equity -- to extract every last dollar.

Unless you are well-off, have no or minimal debt, and have an excellent career with both job security and a top-tier salary, don't breed. We took a long, hard look at everything going on around us, and made the decision ten years ago to never have children. Best decision we ever made.

[JohnAlt]

This bubble will pass too.

[snpdragr]

Originally Posted by USDefault

San Diego, great city to live in -- if you can afford it.



And, "The study noted that if a homeowner puts down 10 percent instead of 20 percent, the required annual salary jumps from $113,530.43 to $137,056.40."

Moving here? Great choice. Good people, good schools in the right areas, lots to do, arguably best weather in the lower forty-eight. But you better be certain you have the financial wherewithal to make it. If you fail to accurately assess current and future assets and liabilities, you run the very real risk of decimating your savings, losing your home to foreclosure, imploding your future retirement, being unable to pay for your kids' college, and many other unfun things.

If you don't have a cushion -- and I mean a significant financial cushion -- a job loss or serious health/medical event could really put a strain on your new Southern California life. The skyhigh cost of living can and will result in a cascading waterfall of financial ruin if you fail to pay your mortgage, or can't meet the ultra-high taxes, fees, and costs imposed by California.

There's something wrong with the study -- it lists a median home price of $382k for NYC.

Still I agree with the general sentiment, housing is not cheap in san diego. But it's also pretty expensive in lots of big cities.

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by expatCA

No Bubble. At best prices will stagnate for a while.

I agree. I called the last bubble too FWIW. We printed oodles of money and the economy has grown since 2003-2008, albeit in fits and starts. We will likely see price stagnation in SD, something we have already seen in OC two years earlier.

[aewan68]

Originally Posted by expatCA

No Bubble. At best prices will stagnate for a while.

We will see about that, last time I heard that from a Realtor was in SoFla who wanted us to buy more home than we needed, 6 months later the market crashed and prices dropped. We are not in a hurry to buy.

[aewan68]

Originally Posted by USDefault

Another huge problem. Today, breeding is shockingly expensive, and I attribute it to massive global overpopulation. Too many people chasing too few resources.

Future parents, make no mistake, every time you breed you are in for a multi-decade fight for food, water, energy, medical care, and housing -- in particular, housing within districts that are home to the best grade and high schools. And parents want those spots, going so far as to lie about where they live to gain admission to the best public schools. Then you'll be in for another caged deathmatch for college financial aid, both need- and merit-based. Colleges want their money, and they'll strip you of everything -- investments, retirement funds, home equity -- to extract every last dollar.

Unless you are well-off, have no or minimal debt, and have an excellent career with both job security and a top-tier salary, don't breed. We took a long, hard look at everything going on around us, and made the decision ten years ago to never have children. Best decision we ever made.

People with kids seem to be living for today and not tomorrow, I honestly don't know how people afford 3 to 5 kids little alone 2 in this day and age with one working spouse to avoid Daycare expense. I know there are a lot of Mormons here who have big networks and support, but I saw people in SoFla and elsewhere who are doing the same thing. Even within my Employer I have gotten to know people and many are at the same paygrade as me and less based on their internal grade and there is no way they can afford the lifestyle they are living without help from another family member or heavy credit card usage.