It completely chafes me to look at run of the mill 2500 sq. ft. tract homes in OC pushing a million. Can I afford one, yes. Should I buy one?
I realize it’s not an apples to apples comparison, but if I buy a home, I’ll get an SFR, at present, a small 3/2 needing work in an okay neighborhood is $750K. In a good neighborhood, $850K. I can rent a townhome for $1800. No maintenance, no HOA, no taxes, no mello-roos.
I’d like the SFR, but even after taxes, renting is costing 1/2 of owning with little risk in the short run.
So yes, I’m bitter as I wait for the guy that grabbed a million dollar home by outbidding the other family or was realtor or one of their friends looking to flip for a quick $50-$100K by fianancing it 100% no-doc loan with a neg-AM feature of paying $450/150K borrowed to finally bust out because they can no longer sell it for the $1.1M they need to break even and can’t float the loan any longer because the payment is not $5600 instead of $2800.
And I feel sorry for the 1/2 of buyers that needed or wanted to finally get a home and got suckered into paying the overextended prices because the realtors and NAR chronically harped about the run up and pushed the fear buttons of being priced out.
So yes, I’m a little bitter, dealing with people in the housing market is like dealing with an alcholic family member. It’s all BS and lies and going to end badly before it starts to get better. And it’s because people all wanted to make a quick buck.
