[quote=temeculaguy] . . . I probably got 100k knocked off for a 3k a year water bond, borrowing 100k has a $600 mo cost, the bond is under $300, it’s just math.

I’m not arguing temecula with you, I just want to make a point that right now, high hoa’s, high taxes and percieved high maintenance is where the bargains are, running into burning buildings, while everyone is running away is usually where you can make the best deals.

I picked the worst taxes, the highest hoa and the appearance of high carrying costs because it’s a smallish mcmansion, all in an effort to get the best deal, to pay 35 cents on the dollar, because everyone else was subscribing to your line of thinking. But each can be sorted out and made into a positive. My 3300 sq ft 5/4 had an electric bill in july of $108, water was $54. It would take me pages to tell you how I did this but new homes are far more efficient and there is technology out there to reduce your energy use dramatically. But it’s bottom line, my mortgage, taxes, hoa, out the door is just a shade over 2k. When I looked at some houses with a straight 1% tax rate, no hoa, the total nut was more for a comparable house, it was even more than a smaller house. A 1400 mort and 600 in taxes is less than a an 1800 mort and 400 in taxes. There’s a resale argument but my needs were more about keeping the total nut, after tax deductions, right at what I was paying to rent a condo down the street. It’s not about a house as an investment, it’s about a house that costs less to facilitate other investments. Your list of things that can go wrong also exist when you pay twice as much for a home, in fact they are compounded.[/quote](emphasis added)

TG, I would agree that the more monthly obligations a family has, the more compounding (or shall I say confounding?) their problems can be.

I take it you really *didn’t need* a 5/4, but since there were fewer takers because of the taxes and bonds attached to it, you were able to get more “bang for your buck” when choosing your current residence. So purchasing it was a conscious decision on your part because of the low(er) carrying costs, regardless of future value, is this right?

TG, not sure if you already posted it, but mind if I ask how much you paid for your “smallish mcmansion?” What is the size of your lot? And, where would you have purchased in SD County had you NOT elected to purchase your residence out-of-county? (List a SD Co. area you could have feasibly purchased in, given your employment location and available resources . . . better yet, an exact neighborhood, if you had one picked out before you decided to move away.) Thanks.

Don’t need to know any personal details, addresses and such, but just trying to make some comparisons here . . . in my mind.