Re: I am impressed by the amount of people who own their own homes(M)

It's VERY hard but do-able. I live at home (don't own anything) and so does FI ( he owns nothing either). We have been dating for 7 years and in that time were able to save intelligently. We will hopefully close at the end of this month (3 months before the wedding) and we can proudly say we bought a home AND paid for the wedding 100% by OURSLEVES!!!!!!!!!!! Not too many people can say that at 25 yrs old. And we still go out occasionaly and enjoy ourselves ALOT. We know after the mortgage comes we will be a bit more frugal. Just save, save and save!!!!!!!!!

Re: I am impressed by the amount of people who own their own homes(M)

Stef - my feelings exactly. The ones just entering the market for the first time seem to be getting screwed the most. If you have something to sell, that will most likely be inflated too so your trade-up house is more within your reach. To just enter the market into a nice area is VERY hard, if not impossible, even with the low interest rates.

It's a crappy situation, and DH and I feel that now is probably the worst time to buy. We're continuing to research and check out diff. areas, but we're holding back from making any offers til we see some more significant changes.

Re: I am impressed by the amount of people who own their own homes(M)

we haven't bought yet...but are in the process of looking...

we were lucky in that DH is selling a house in Spain that his father left him...so most of what we get...will go to a house

Re: I am impressed by the amount of people who own their own homes(M)

j

Re: I am impressed by the amount of people who own their own homes(M)

Michele I thought your condo was your parents? I thought I read that once. (just curious dont mean to be nsoey)

Re: I am impressed by the amount of people who own their own homes(M)

Patrick is an excellent saver. If he weren't, we'd be living in a box behind Walmart.

Re: I am impressed by the amount of people who own their own homes(M)

My husband bought the house a few years before we married. This was when the prices were nothing like they are today.

Re: I am impressed by the amount of people who own their own homes(M)

Jenn, Walmart's not so bad !

Re: I am impressed by the amount of people who own their own homes(M)

Yes, but I wish we could've afforded to live behind Target...

Re: I am impressed by the amount of people who own their own homes(M)

That would be great, because you would be able to walk to BabiesRUS AND Michaels, oh wait, AND Macy's !!
Its sounding better and better !!

Re: I am impressed by the amount of people who own their own homes(M)

LOL Now I'm wondering WHY we are wasting all our money on a house!!!

Re: I am impressed by the amount of people who own their own homes(M)

DH is a fabulous saver, and has taught me how to become an even better saver than I was before. We were able to save our 20% downpayment in a little less than a year b/c we both have very good salaries and very little expenses and no debt.

The market is not inflated really - prices rose b/c interest rates tanked. Banks can lend you more at a lower interest rate, and since people can borrow more, they can afford to pay more. That makes sense, right? Unfortunately, that principle doesn't account for people having to pay the mortgage on a monthly schedule along with OTHER bills and household expenses and THAT'S where most first-time homebuyers find the challenge. It's not the initial buying of the house that's so hard...it's maintaining lifestyle and mortgage that can choke 'em.

And don't bet on a condo or townhouse or even a single family homeowner being able to 'cash in' with a sale of their home and then trade up. With market conditions the way they are, a person could get a great price and make a reasonable profit on a condo/TH sale and still not be able to afford a nice house in a really desirable area.

Re: I am impressed by the amount of people who own their own homes(M)

Hubby owned his house before we got married. It's a good thing because we say now that if we had to buy our house (the one we live in) we wouldn't be able to afford it.

We refinanced last fall and that saved us some money which was a good thing. Since I have been out on disability for the last 5 months we have had to survive pretty much on DH's salary. Short term disability pays next to nothing, but we have used that for groceries and a few smaller bills.

Anyone who is considering buying a home should make sure that they can manage mortgage payments on just one income. You don't want to risk losing your home if one of you becomes ill.

Re: I am impressed by the amount of people who own their own homes(M)

and on top of living in such an expensive day and age, we have to make sure to keep that 'comfort cushion' in the bank, nice and fluffy !

Re: I am impressed by the amount of people who own their own homes(M)

FI was saving money LONG before I met him, so we didn't have a problem with the down payment....that was around 4 years ago. If we wanted to buy our current house today, there is absolutely NO WAY we could do it!
We always say we were very lucky to have found this house when we did.

Re: I am impressed by the amount of people who own their own homes(M)

We just bought our house a few months ago and we are also paying for about 80% of the wedding this coming September. Honestly the only way we are able to afford everything is b/c we have sales jobs. In addition to our salaries which we 'live' off of for bills and new clothes and vacations, we also make commission. Luckily the last two years were great for advertising so that paid for our 20% down payment on the house as well as 90% of the wedding costs.

Now I'm not saying I have alot lesft over for furniture but at least the mortgage payments are less than our city rent and that means we are actually saving more than before. Once our cushion is back up then I can start furnoshing this place!

Re: I am impressed by the amount of people who own their own homes(M)

Just wanted to add that when we bought, we thought we paid through the roof, but our house appraised for much more. And were excited we got an 8.25% interest rate for 30 years!! Wow! What dumb a$$es we were!

So we refinanced a month or two ago, are now paying about 5.25% interest and dropped our mortgage from a 30 year to a 20 year. And we are still paying $200 less per month than when we first started out.

Right now it helps that both of us are in excellent paying career fields and we have no other expenses (I have my school loans though).

It also pays to know where to put your money while you are saving it. Banks offer like 1.75% We took some risks in the stock market and also opened up a savings account through GMAC and earned about 6% interest.

Re: I am impressed by the amount of people who own their own homes(M)

FH is a firm believer in 'Live Below Your Means'. He had no serious expenses (until I came along ), so he was able to save quite a bit of money. He also has a job that allows him to earn commission on top of a decent base salary.

I'm often amazed at how people can do it these days.

Re: I am impressed by the amount of people who own their own homes(M)

'The market is not inflated really - prices rose b/c interest rates tanked'

Claud: This is what I mean by inflated. The housing market costs have been inflated by a flood of people who can now afford more but may/may not be able to sustain that expense for the next 30 years. Its happened in the 80s as well.

When the Equity Market does poorly, the interest rates drop to stimulate business spending. This also stimulates the real estate market. So while inflation for the total economy stays low, the real estate inflation goes thru the roof. The economy can not sustain this level of real estate growth so whether the economy gets better (equity market rebounds, interest rates go up) or gets worse (more layoffs and bancruptcies leading to foreclosures) - the real estate market will go down.

In the long run, almost all investments (equity or real estate) pays off...i just think its very inflated right now. In 5 years, my personal feeling is that everyones property will be worth less than what it is today...but as all economies are cycilical..it will rebound again, etc..

Sorry to ramble on...just want to clarify.

Re: I am impressed by the amount of people who own their own homes(M)

Just want to add that I know absolutely nothing about the LI housing market...im speaking strictly of the economy on a whole and my experience with the NY real estate market.

When you guys tell me you are buying a house that is huge for $500K, that sounds like a great bargain to me. Even the smallest run down homes here are in that range. Nicer one families (still small) are in the $1M range!!