San Diego Housing Market News and Analysis

I'm very proud of you too. Will be even moreso if you make it to squat300.

Enjoy it while it lasts.

You are only as clever as you last success and/or as dumb as your last screw-up.

You will have to trust me on this one.

I don't think there is anything wrong at all to be proud of purchasing your home if it's something that you can comfortably afford.

Of course I think you will really feel proud once you own your home free and clear from the bank. Because until then it's the bank's house not yours.

I don't buy real estate (or stuff in general) to display them or look at it and think "man I'm smart". I do own several properties and I am proud that I own them. I don't think there is anything at all wrong to be proud of something that you work very hard and save up to purchase.

I think most people don't buy real estate to feel clever about. Most people buy real estate to either (a) live in and it's a home to them; or (b) for cash flow via rentals.

I feel proud because you have me to thank for holding your hand through it all.

I don't intend to ever own this free and clear.

I will be dead before 2043.

I have accepted the fact that a low monthly payment and maybe some equity will be all i can achieve in this lifetime.I Think it was fantasies of actual ownership free and clear that were holding me back from buying...

a) I think you will live to see it paid off.
The price you paid will seem fairly modest in 10-15 years IMO.

B) I think you will outlive me and I plan on living past 2043

C) You will most likely buy a more expensive home in 7-10 years. (I know you think you will be there until they carry you out, most everyone does at first, but very few do).

True. It's been quite a while since my last giant fuck up. I guess my guard is down

I feel stupid most of the time lately...except occasionally when I am very productive at work. Life is just a giant roulette. Even if you just won a lot, you are never able to tell whether you will lose all the next round.

I don't feel dumb lately. I feel distracted, forgetful, anxious, disgusted, awesome, muscular, fatigued, exhausted and seasoned.

But not dumb.

Maybe next week.

I'd rather owe 250000 on a place worth 800000 than own a 250000 place outright. I'd be prouder to have the debt. A free and clear deed would not bolster my pride.

i'd also rather ahve a super cheap monthly payment ona bitching place, than a free and clear dump.

We all have different dreams in life, and, IMO, if you achieve those--regardless of what anyone else has, does, or is--that's what really matters--and, as you said, squat, you should be very proud of those achievements.

When you realize everything on earth is temporary, you really see life from a different perspective, and it is very liberating.

This surprises me. I've always thought you were debt-averse and financially conservative to an extreme.

Nonetheless, you'll probably be living in your paid-off house for a good decade or more. You'd be surprised how many people think they're going to die early, but live well beyond average life expectancy (and many of them are totally unprepared for it financially).

Have to agree, CAR. Even though it's all temporary, it's still wise, and does make life far more enjoyable to be financially solvent for as long as each of are here.

Also nice to be able to pass things along to the family, so they can enjoy their lives as well.

Could not agree more, flyer. I have some funny stories about relatives who were writing their wills and "final letters," getting everybody ready for their demise, and 15+ years later, there they are, very much alive and kicking (though many of them didn't want to be).

I have come to embrace the American system of mortgaging ones self to a house.

Barring major medical advances and severe accident or environmental toxicity, I would place my death age at 78.9, about 1.1 years prior to mortgage payoff.

Hopefully on the day of my death, I will squat 325 lbs in my yard, have a breakfast of homegrown pomelos, sit down to read the latest issue of laphams quarterly and die virtually instantly from a majOr heart attack. That's the best case scenario, anyway.

Unless I can stop worrying so much. Then id peg death year at 82.6. That's 2.6 years free and clear! Somehow I think I'll have other things on my mind than not having that monthly payment then.

I'm lacking a dream or vision currently.

I think what would make me feel fulfilled is to finally write a screenplay at night that becomes a movie and a well reviewed hit that symbolizes the feelings of a generation.

Which dream is basically about feeling clever.

On behalf of my other scaredier self, I thank you.

I don't know but I would guess virtually everyone who buys a house hopes its a smart financial move. Therefore to some extent I would say everyone is hoping to feel a bit clever on their transaction, at least to some degree, though they may have other motives as well.

No RE agent tells a client, well this would be a really Shitty financial move but it sure is a nice house.

Clever, no. My purchase was designed to provide a reasonable place to live, with good employment/business prospects in a very short commute and most importantly, create stability and predictability in our housing.

scaredy, at least you got a nice house. Not everyone does. Most people just got an OK house for what they can afford...especially now there is no inventory.

I thought "pride in ownership" was referring to the fact that owner occupants are more likely to maintain and care for their home than renters or investor owners. Not that they're proud of the fact they own the house - but that they want to maintain their investment because a) they live there, b) they are financially tied to it's resale value.

Don't you mean you'd rather owe $250k on a place worth $800k than owning a $550k place outright? (The way you stated it makes it a no brainer that you'd want to be in the higher equity position... $550k vs $250k.)
Sorry - the nerd in me was perturbed by that.

I'm with CAR - I think you'll live longer than you seem to think - and also that you'll end up mortgage free. We're nearing the point of just writing a check for the balance of our mortgage. (Nearing... not quite there). At some point the lump sum payoff is small enough that it makes sense to take a monthly expense off the table. When you get down to $20k... are you really going to keep paying monthly payments, even when you aren't getting much of a deduction because interest is so low at the tail of the mortgage?

Well I doubled the equity because the upside is greater in a more expensive leveraged place.

I'll make the low monthly payment to the bitter end cause I can beat a 3.375 perc interest rate just going to yard sales buying stuff and selling it on eBay.

[quote=no_such_reality]Clever, no. My purchase was designed to provide a reasonable place to live, with good employment/business prospects in a very short commute and most importantly, create stability and predictability in our housing.[/quote

That sounds pretty damn clever. ]

It could get better even still. I have a banker paying for my house.

What do you mean by that?

Good catch! I totally thought he was talking about $250K equity in both cases, with the one house having a mortgage of $550K, and worried that scaredy was getting all pretentious on us. Should've known scaredy was smarter than that. :)

He means his wife is a banker and he's a stay at home dad. :-)

Just a little joke I probably shouldn't be making. My rental pays PITI for itself and my primary and the tenant is of named profession. Somehow I find that kind of funny( probably because I am such a loser)....but I mean no offense to the individual.

Good try!
My wife is a teacher. LOL. I do stay at home a lot and I am a dad. But hey, this is about Squat300!