I totally agree, my parameters from two years ago, from a year ago, even from last month are no longer acceptable today. I have no patience or williingness to stretch today, I measure my housing budget in days of work per month, now 5 days pay is too much. Two years ago I was comfortable with 40% gross for housing, today I won’t go beyond 20% gross pay, including taxes and insurance. I’m holding out for 15%. No longer is it about stretching and impressing, the new black or the new 30 is streamline and affordable, the new goal is 50% of your income slated as “disposable.” It’s a new world, cash is king, granite, stainless and tapping into equity are passe. Having the cash to pick up the tab is the new sexy.

I totally agree, my parameters from two years ago, from a year ago, even from last month are no longer acceptable today. I have no patience or williingness to stretch today, I measure my housing budget in days of work per month, now 5 days pay is too much. Two years ago I was comfortable with 40% gross for housing, today I won’t go beyond 20% gross pay, including taxes and insurance. I’m holding out for 15%. No longer is it about stretching and impressing, the new black or the new 30 is streamline and affordable, the new goal is 50% of your income slated as “disposable.” It’s a new world, cash is king, granite, stainless and tapping into equity are passe. Having the cash to pick up the tab is the new sexy.

Same here.

A couple of years ago, people on bubble blogs would impatiently ask, “when will we know the bubble has burst?”

I replied that we would know when bubble blogs cease to be so popular because people will no longer be obsessed with the housing market. Even bears were “victims” of the bubble, because **we** were looking at every listing, spending all our free time on the internet and thinking about little more than when we would/could buy a house — what it would look like, how we would design or organize it, etc. Obsessing over every move in market prices and sales volume…comparing it to weeks, months, years and decades before.

Now, we are seeing the effects of the bubble wear off. Housing has lost its intense “aura”, and houses we lusted after just a few short years ago look a bit older, worn-out and the yards seem a bit smaller and have more weeds growing all around — and we recognize the amount work (and money!) that’s required to properly maintain a house. We see how buying a house can tie you down during uncertain times.

IMHO, we have entered a more “normal” market. Still not the bottom, and probably won’t be for a few years; but we have finally seen the end of the housing bubble (YAY!).

Same here.

A couple of years ago, people on bubble blogs would impatiently ask, “when will we know the bubble has burst?”

I replied that we would know when bubble blogs cease to be so popular because people will no longer be obsessed with the housing market. Even bears were “victims” of the bubble, because **we** were looking at every listing, spending all our free time on the internet and thinking about little more than when we would/could buy a house — what it would look like, how we would design or organize it, etc. Obsessing over every move in market prices and sales volume…comparing it to weeks, months, years and decades before.

Now, we are seeing the effects of the bubble wear off. Housing has lost its intense “aura”, and houses we lusted after just a few short years ago look a bit older, worn-out and the yards seem a bit smaller and have more weeds growing all around — and we recognize the amount work (and money!) that’s required to properly maintain a house. We see how buying a house can tie you down during uncertain times.

IMHO, we have entered a more “normal” market. Still not the bottom, and probably won’t be for a few years; but we have finally seen the end of the housing bubble (YAY!).

Same here.

A couple of years ago, people on bubble blogs would impatiently ask, “when will we know the bubble has burst?”

I replied that we would know when bubble blogs cease to be so popular because people will no longer be obsessed with the housing market. Even bears were “victims” of the bubble, because **we** were looking at every listing, spending all our free time on the internet and thinking about little more than when we would/could buy a house — what it would look like, how we would design or organize it, etc. Obsessing over every move in market prices and sales volume…comparing it to weeks, months, years and decades before.

Now, we are seeing the effects of the bubble wear off. Housing has lost its intense “aura”, and houses we lusted after just a few short years ago look a bit older, worn-out and the yards seem a bit smaller and have more weeds growing all around — and we recognize the amount work (and money!) that’s required to properly maintain a house. We see how buying a house can tie you down during uncertain times.

IMHO, we have entered a more “normal” market. Still not the bottom, and probably won’t be for a few years; but we have finally seen the end of the housing bubble (YAY!).

I agree La Jolla Renter. A couple of months ago we put an offer in on a property in our dream location. The gready sellers turned us down. We were disappointed since we thought we had made them a fair offer but we were $200K apart. Well, they’re back, now willing to accept $100K below our previous offer. The problem is we no longer feel comfortable at even $100K below that. We’re walking away. We’re going to stay on the sidelines and continue to resist temptation. I tried to get the numbers to pencil out since we were really excited about the location. It wasn’t even close. The price would need to drop another $500K from what the seller is willing to accept today. Unlikely yes, but not out of the realm of possibility. The property has already been reduced by $500K in less than 4 months. Though we couldn’t see it at the time since we were so emotional about the property, we now realize that the sellers did us a huge favor by declining our offer. I bet they’re kicking themselves now.

I agree La Jolla Renter. A couple of months ago we put an offer in on a property in our dream location. The gready sellers turned us down. We were disappointed since we thought we had made them a fair offer but we were $200K apart. Well, they’re back, now willing to accept $100K below our previous offer. The problem is we no longer feel comfortable at even $100K below that. We’re walking away. We’re going to stay on the sidelines and continue to resist temptation. I tried to get the numbers to pencil out since we were really excited about the location. It wasn’t even close. The price would need to drop another $500K from what the seller is willing to accept today. Unlikely yes, but not out of the realm of possibility. The property has already been reduced by $500K in less than 4 months. Though we couldn’t see it at the time since we were so emotional about the property, we now realize that the sellers did us a huge favor by declining our offer. I bet they’re kicking themselves now.