For those of you buying a house on LI? How are you doing it at these prices?

---

Posted by Betty

---

Posted by oct.2004bride

well then i have to say i am really happily surprised...If people are getting such low payments i can't wait for our search to begin
We have been casually looking for a few months but didn't want to officially start the process until the new year...
We will be putting about 100K DP and if people are having such low mortgage payments I AM EXCITED

---

Don't get excited too fast . We were looking at a house a little over $400,000 (unfortunately the going rate for good houses) and we were going to put down $100,000 too........the mortgage payment was still going to be about $1800 . That was w/o taxes (and in Nassau County)

It truly is ridiculous!!!!!!!

---

yes it is! but i am hopeful

Hopeful is always good

We are still hoping a nice cheap house will fall into our laps

---

Posted by Betty

Hopeful is always good

We are still hoping a nice cheap house will fall into our laps

---

US TOO

Our taxes are only $400 a month (if we paid them monthly) so it still put us less than $1800 for mortgage and taxes. I don't know about everyone else but any nice apartment I saw that accepted dogs was more than $1500. So there is not a big difference between my payments for the house and what I would be paying for rent on a small apartment.
I didn't look at any houses over $350K though. If we couldn't within our range we were going to move out of state. North Carolina is where we were seriously considering. We could have had a brand new huge house down there... and almost the same salaries.

i need some more girls to move near me in NJ!!!! house prices are half near me what they would go for on LI.

It scares me a lot!! I personally have not seen anyone I know get less then a $2000 mortgage( thats on the low end) for a nice place in a nice area which doesnt need at least 100K worth of work.

Julz- you got a good deal it seems, but my in law did almost as much work on their house and the cost was over 100K ....thats the scary part.

My BM's husband is a contractor..he says the addition to their one bedroom house ( cost about $250,000 will be 50K...and retail would have cost him triple that..

I dont see fixer uppers being worth it anymore at those costs..

With fixer uppers it also depends on who is doing the work. We did everything ourselves with the help of family and friends. We budgeted $40K for our work, which still puts us under the $350K mark, and it looks like we are going to be way under budget.. which means we can splurge for that expensive countertop and do the bathroom now instead of waiting a few years. I will let you all know the grand total when we are done with everything. But fixer uppers are not definitely not worth it if you are going to hire people for everything.

Then there is my sister and her husband. They were married at 21 and bought a house at 21. They had only $10K to put down and had no money or time to fix a house up. the ended up with a small 2 bedroom house in Rocky Point for $250K... it needed no work. So there ARE houses our there under $300K. We grew up in Kings Park and believe me we would both love to live here. Unfortunately you have to compromise on some things and for her it meant moving an Hour away east. Lucky for them, they both have jobs in Setuaket. For someone who has to commute to the city everyday like Cluelessbride, this would not be an option.

I really wonder where my friends (my age) are going to live in a few years. Most of them have not even found a full time job since graduating college 2 years ago (IMO because of lack of trying)! And most of their money is spent on designer handbags and at the bars. These are the people I can't feel bad for.

Here is my long house post if you want to read about what we are doing. Most of it is cosmetic.
I also have 2 contractors in my family And a plumber, an electrician, and an interior designer.... I am lucky to have them.

Good Luck everyone! Gotta go install another closet door!

---

Posted by julz33

Our taxes are only $400 a month (if we paid them monthly) so it still put us less than $1800 for mortgage and taxes. I don't know about everyone else but any nice apartment I saw that accepted dogs was more than $1500. So there is not a big difference between my payments for the house and what I would be paying for rent on a small apartment.

---

oh i agree..throwing money, especially 1500 on rent is CRAZY, especially if you are trying to save...But some people don't have any other option, which makes it almost impossible to save for a house.
And even though you are under 1800, there are all the other costs of the house. It all adds up quick! All the things like electric, oil, telephone, cable...oh and then there are all the other life bills like my school loan, our car payments, insurance....it makes you go INSANE

---

Posted by dm24angel

julz- what are you doing to the house for 40K? I have two contractors in my family and there is not much you can do with that money ( yourself). I hope you can truly...and if you can thats GREAT...but to update a bathroom and say kitchen these days..just to update costs that much.

---

Not true! We gutted our house, and did most of the work ourselves, and it cost us all less than $15k. Granted, we live in Philadelphia, so the house cost less, but the cost of renovations are very similar...

House before renovations

House after renovations

Wow Beth your house looks great!!

---

Posted by julz33

Wow Beth your house looks great!!

---

Thanks!! It took SOOOOOO much work, blood, tears and sweat, but, as you'll soon find out, it was totally worth it!! Good luck with your renovations!!

Edited to say I just looked at your post, and the progress is AMAZING!

My advice is to buy NOW -- whatever you can. An apartment, a co-op, a fixer-upper. This way you are investing in something you own and when you want to sell it, you will have the down payment for the next place. Even if you don't have much for the down payment, pay the points. RE is only going to go up, and saving gets harder and harder.

I bought a co-op in Bayside in July 2002 for 91K - 20% down. I sold it in July 2004 (to move in with DH who owns his house) for 165K. It was the very best investment I could make - NOTHING gives that kind of a return. That's why people get starter homes.

---

Posted by Karacg

My advice is to buy NOW -- whatever you can. An apartment, a co-op, a fixer-upper. This way you are investing in something you own and when you want to sell it, you will have the down payment for the next place. Even if you don't have much for the down payment, pay the points. RE is only going to go up, and saving gets harder and harder.

I bought a co-op in Bayside in July 2002 for 91K - 20% down. I sold it in July 2004 (to move in with DH who owns his house) for 165K. It was the very best investment I could make - NOTHING gives that kind of a return. That's why people get starter homes.

---

I agree and disagree with this statement...YES buy now if you can. It is always better to invest you money than throw it away in rent. BUT imo if you can live with a parent for really low to no rent...that is probably better. Buying now isn't what it was 2-3 years ago. I too bought a condo in June 2002 and it doubled in price. But people buying today won't be making that kind of profit unless it is a crapola house and you completely renovate it, which imo is a lot of money. The market is going to be changing, prices aren't going to be going up the are probably going to remain stable. Interest rates will be going up though, but i don't think that shold be much of an issue since you can remortgage anything you buy.
So imo if you can...living free with a parent is the best way to save.

---

Posted by oct.2004bride

---

Posted by Karacg

My advice is to buy NOW -- whatever you can. An apartment, a co-op, a fixer-upper. This way you are investing in something you own and when you want to sell it, you will have the down payment for the next place. Even if you don't have much for the down payment, pay the points. RE is only going to go up, and saving gets harder and harder.

I bought a co-op in Bayside in July 2002 for 91K - 20% down. I sold it in July 2004 (to move in with DH who owns his house) for 165K. It was the very best investment I could make - NOTHING gives that kind of a return. That's why people get starter homes.

---

I agree and disagree with this statement...YES buy now if you can. It is always better to invest you money than throw it away in rent. BUT imo if you can live with a parent for really low to no rent...that is probably better. Buying now isn't what it was 2-3 years ago. I too bought a condo in June 2002 and it doubled in price. But people buying today won't be making that kind of profit unless it is a crapola house and you completely renovate it, which imo is a lot of money. The market is going to be changing, prices aren't going to be going up the are probably going to remain stable. Interest rates will be going up though, but i don't think that shold be much of an issue since you can remortgage anything you buy.
So imo if you can...living free with a parent is the best way to save.

---

i agree with the market analysis part of this and for this reason am weary of jumping in at this point in time...however, what we pay in rent is equivalent to a mortgage so now that the wedding is over, school loans are paid off, we need to invest in something so we don't continue to piss our $$$ away...

it's a lot easier to save on double 6 figure salaries, most young couples are not in this boat. living with parents rent free is great for some but never an option for me. if i were to live with my parents i would have had to pay some type of rent (be it discounted) as they wanted to teach me what it meant to pay ones own bills and be financially independent. both DH an i have been on our own post college so it has taken longer to save. we still don't have what we would want as far as a down payment goes however we are ready to take a leap of faith and jump into some type of ownership. people say it's the first step that is the most daunting, after that it becomes easier...

---

Posted by september2004

---

Posted by oct.2004bride

I agree and disagree with this statement...YES buy now if you can. It is always better to invest you money than throw it away in rent. So imo if you can...living free with a parent is the best way to save.

---

i agree with the market analysis part of this and for this reason am weary of jumping in at this point in time...however, what we pay in rent is equivalent to a mortgage so now that the wedding is over, school loans are paid off, we need to invest in something so we don't continue to piss our $$$ away...

it's a lot easier to save on double 6 figure salaries, most young couples are not in this boat. living with parents rent free is great for some but never an option for me. if i were to live with my parents i would have had to pay some type of rent (be it discounted) as they wanted to teach me what it meant to pay ones own bills and be financially independent. both DH an i have been on our own post college so it has taken longer to save. we still don't have what we would want as far as a down payment goes however we are ready to take a leap of faith and jump into some type of ownership. people say it's the first step that is the most daunting, after that it becomes easier...

---

Actually you are agreeing with me...I did say buying IS BETTER than renting...AND i did say IF YOU CAN live with a parent, imo it is better. If you can't well then that is different situation.

imo, it depends on what you are buying that makes it daunting. We bought a condo which was exciting and somewhat stressful...but not daunting at all. Buying a house now...THAT to me is horrifying

---

Posted by oct.2004bride
Actually you are agreeing with me...I did say buying IS BETTER than renting...AND i did say IF YOU CAN live with a parent, imo it is better. If you can't well then that is different situation.

imo, it depends on what you are buying that makes it daunting. We bought a condo which was exciting and somewhat stressful...but not daunting at all. Buying a house now...THAT to me is horrifying

---

because of our age we were going to forgo the condo and go straight into a house. if DH and i met and got married 5 years ago we would have already been in a condo, but that's not the case...

we started looking around and see that what we would want is in the 500-600K range. if we did this we would be really taking a chance and the stress level would be high. now we are looking at a condo as a first step and it's looking like a better option, at least in theory. we need to see more to be able to make that decision, but financially i think it may be a better move for us...

prices are crazy! you are lucky to get in when you did

i agree...going for a condo first may be be a wise choice. It was great for us. Taught us a lot without having the huge bills that come with a house.

And like you the houses that i would LOVE to have in the area i want is just not in our price range. So we are having to search harder and do some compromising..