What can I afford?

[AK]

[quote=drboom]In the da ‘hood, maybe, but I haven’t seen anything near a bottom elsewhere.
[/quote]

I guess it depends on your definition of the hood.

But in some spots I see condos and some SFRs going for prices that put them at parity with rent, which should put some sort of floor under prices.

Of course I suppose rent could go down …

[drboom]

[quote=patientrenter]A good friend of mine, well-educated, hardworking, etc, grew up with 8 family members in a 2-bedroom apartment.[/quote]

Ask your friend’s parents if they thought it was fun. I think you don’t have kids.

[quote]You don’t NEED a large home. It’s a luxury, and if you buy it it’s because you want to spend on a luxury. If you bought a Ferrari, I would wish you lots of enjoyment and I wouldn’t throw mud at you… unless you claimed it was a necessity and you came back 30 years later saying you couldn’t retire on your own unsubsidized savings.[/quote]

Who said anything about a “large” house? I think the OP is talking about something modest if he’s shopping in the $250-300k range or lower. My wife and I are thinking a bit more downscale than that and would be thrilled with it.

[drboom]

[quote=patientrenter]A good friend of mine, well-educated, hardworking, etc, grew up with 8 family members in a 2-bedroom apartment.[/quote]

Ask your friend’s parents if they thought it was fun. I think you don’t have kids.

[quote]You don’t NEED a large home. It’s a luxury, and if you buy it it’s because you want to spend on a luxury. If you bought a Ferrari, I would wish you lots of enjoyment and I wouldn’t throw mud at you… unless you claimed it was a necessity and you came back 30 years later saying you couldn’t retire on your own unsubsidized savings.[/quote]

Who said anything about a “large” house? I think the OP is talking about something modest if he’s shopping in the $250-300k range or lower. My wife and I are thinking a bit more downscale than that and would be thrilled with it.

[drboom]

[quote=patientrenter]A good friend of mine, well-educated, hardworking, etc, grew up with 8 family members in a 2-bedroom apartment.[/quote]

Ask your friend’s parents if they thought it was fun. I think you don’t have kids.

[quote]You don’t NEED a large home. It’s a luxury, and if you buy it it’s because you want to spend on a luxury. If you bought a Ferrari, I would wish you lots of enjoyment and I wouldn’t throw mud at you… unless you claimed it was a necessity and you came back 30 years later saying you couldn’t retire on your own unsubsidized savings.[/quote]

Who said anything about a “large” house? I think the OP is talking about something modest if he’s shopping in the $250-300k range or lower. My wife and I are thinking a bit more downscale than that and would be thrilled with it.

[drboom]

[quote=patientrenter]A good friend of mine, well-educated, hardworking, etc, grew up with 8 family members in a 2-bedroom apartment.[/quote]

Ask your friend’s parents if they thought it was fun. I think you don’t have kids.

[quote]You don’t NEED a large home. It’s a luxury, and if you buy it it’s because you want to spend on a luxury. If you bought a Ferrari, I would wish you lots of enjoyment and I wouldn’t throw mud at you… unless you claimed it was a necessity and you came back 30 years later saying you couldn’t retire on your own unsubsidized savings.[/quote]

Who said anything about a “large” house? I think the OP is talking about something modest if he’s shopping in the $250-300k range or lower. My wife and I are thinking a bit more downscale than that and would be thrilled with it.

[drboom]

[quote=patientrenter]A good friend of mine, well-educated, hardworking, etc, grew up with 8 family members in a 2-bedroom apartment.[/quote]

Ask your friend’s parents if they thought it was fun. I think you don’t have kids.

[quote]You don’t NEED a large home. It’s a luxury, and if you buy it it’s because you want to spend on a luxury. If you bought a Ferrari, I would wish you lots of enjoyment and I wouldn’t throw mud at you… unless you claimed it was a necessity and you came back 30 years later saying you couldn’t retire on your own unsubsidized savings.[/quote]

Who said anything about a “large” house? I think the OP is talking about something modest if he’s shopping in the $250-300k range or lower. My wife and I are thinking a bit more downscale than that and would be thrilled with it.

[drboom]

[quote=4plexowner]”We’re counting on inflation to shrink the relative size of our mortgage down to lunch money within a few years”

how exactly do you think that will work?

you must be assuming that inflation will feed into wages – it’s possible but not very likely as unemployment rises

good luck with that one[/quote]

I was around to see what happened in the 70s and early 80s. “Lunch money” is an exaggeration unless we go into Weimar/Zimbabwe mode, but 10%+ inflation for a couple of years followed by some stabilization would sure knock a mortage down to size. Read some history if you weren’t around for the last episode. I did point out that there might be some dicey periods in the middle, but you have to bet on something.

[quote=otherposterwhosenameescapedme]I guess it depends on your definition of the hood.[/quote]

Encanto, Spring Valley/La Presa, Golden Hill, central El Cajon, to name a few.

[quote]But in some spots I see condos and some SFRs going for prices that put them at parity with rent, which should put some sort of floor under prices.[/quote]

Agreed, and there seems to be a lot of interest in anything that pencils out as a rental in the places we’ve looked into. Still, most “nice” neighborhoods are priced too high IMO and will have to come down quite a bit before normal people can afford them as either buyers or renters.

[quote]Of course I suppose rent could go down …[/quote]

Our rent has gone down in real terms over the three years we’ve lived here: we’ve had no rent increases in that whole time. It should have gone up 5-10% to keep pace with everything else.

[drboom]

[quote=4plexowner]”We’re counting on inflation to shrink the relative size of our mortgage down to lunch money within a few years”

how exactly do you think that will work?

you must be assuming that inflation will feed into wages – it’s possible but not very likely as unemployment rises

good luck with that one[/quote]

I was around to see what happened in the 70s and early 80s. “Lunch money” is an exaggeration unless we go into Weimar/Zimbabwe mode, but 10%+ inflation for a couple of years followed by some stabilization would sure knock a mortage down to size. Read some history if you weren’t around for the last episode. I did point out that there might be some dicey periods in the middle, but you have to bet on something.

[quote=otherposterwhosenameescapedme]I guess it depends on your definition of the hood.[/quote]

Encanto, Spring Valley/La Presa, Golden Hill, central El Cajon, to name a few.

[quote]But in some spots I see condos and some SFRs going for prices that put them at parity with rent, which should put some sort of floor under prices.[/quote]

Agreed, and there seems to be a lot of interest in anything that pencils out as a rental in the places we’ve looked into. Still, most “nice” neighborhoods are priced too high IMO and will have to come down quite a bit before normal people can afford them as either buyers or renters.

[quote]Of course I suppose rent could go down …[/quote]

Our rent has gone down in real terms over the three years we’ve lived here: we’ve had no rent increases in that whole time. It should have gone up 5-10% to keep pace with everything else.

[drboom]

[quote=4plexowner]”We’re counting on inflation to shrink the relative size of our mortgage down to lunch money within a few years”

how exactly do you think that will work?

you must be assuming that inflation will feed into wages – it’s possible but not very likely as unemployment rises

good luck with that one[/quote]

I was around to see what happened in the 70s and early 80s. “Lunch money” is an exaggeration unless we go into Weimar/Zimbabwe mode, but 10%+ inflation for a couple of years followed by some stabilization would sure knock a mortage down to size. Read some history if you weren’t around for the last episode. I did point out that there might be some dicey periods in the middle, but you have to bet on something.

[quote=otherposterwhosenameescapedme]I guess it depends on your definition of the hood.[/quote]

Encanto, Spring Valley/La Presa, Golden Hill, central El Cajon, to name a few.

[quote]But in some spots I see condos and some SFRs going for prices that put them at parity with rent, which should put some sort of floor under prices.[/quote]

Agreed, and there seems to be a lot of interest in anything that pencils out as a rental in the places we’ve looked into. Still, most “nice” neighborhoods are priced too high IMO and will have to come down quite a bit before normal people can afford them as either buyers or renters.

[quote]Of course I suppose rent could go down …[/quote]

Our rent has gone down in real terms over the three years we’ve lived here: we’ve had no rent increases in that whole time. It should have gone up 5-10% to keep pace with everything else.

[drboom]

[quote=4plexowner]”We’re counting on inflation to shrink the relative size of our mortgage down to lunch money within a few years”

how exactly do you think that will work?

you must be assuming that inflation will feed into wages – it’s possible but not very likely as unemployment rises

good luck with that one[/quote]

I was around to see what happened in the 70s and early 80s. “Lunch money” is an exaggeration unless we go into Weimar/Zimbabwe mode, but 10%+ inflation for a couple of years followed by some stabilization would sure knock a mortage down to size. Read some history if you weren’t around for the last episode. I did point out that there might be some dicey periods in the middle, but you have to bet on something.

[quote=otherposterwhosenameescapedme]I guess it depends on your definition of the hood.[/quote]

Encanto, Spring Valley/La Presa, Golden Hill, central El Cajon, to name a few.

[quote]But in some spots I see condos and some SFRs going for prices that put them at parity with rent, which should put some sort of floor under prices.[/quote]

Agreed, and there seems to be a lot of interest in anything that pencils out as a rental in the places we’ve looked into. Still, most “nice” neighborhoods are priced too high IMO and will have to come down quite a bit before normal people can afford them as either buyers or renters.

[quote]Of course I suppose rent could go down …[/quote]

Our rent has gone down in real terms over the three years we’ve lived here: we’ve had no rent increases in that whole time. It should have gone up 5-10% to keep pace with everything else.

[drboom]

[quote=4plexowner]”We’re counting on inflation to shrink the relative size of our mortgage down to lunch money within a few years”

how exactly do you think that will work?

you must be assuming that inflation will feed into wages – it’s possible but not very likely as unemployment rises

good luck with that one[/quote]

I was around to see what happened in the 70s and early 80s. “Lunch money” is an exaggeration unless we go into Weimar/Zimbabwe mode, but 10%+ inflation for a couple of years followed by some stabilization would sure knock a mortage down to size. Read some history if you weren’t around for the last episode. I did point out that there might be some dicey periods in the middle, but you have to bet on something.

[quote=otherposterwhosenameescapedme]I guess it depends on your definition of the hood.[/quote]

Encanto, Spring Valley/La Presa, Golden Hill, central El Cajon, to name a few.

[quote]But in some spots I see condos and some SFRs going for prices that put them at parity with rent, which should put some sort of floor under prices.[/quote]

Agreed, and there seems to be a lot of interest in anything that pencils out as a rental in the places we’ve looked into. Still, most “nice” neighborhoods are priced too high IMO and will have to come down quite a bit before normal people can afford them as either buyers or renters.

[quote]Of course I suppose rent could go down …[/quote]

Our rent has gone down in real terms over the three years we’ve lived here: we’ve had no rent increases in that whole time. It should have gone up 5-10% to keep pace with everything else.

[temeculaguy]

How do you even find the privacy to make the eighth baby with seven kids in a 2br apartment? making babies in the same room or bed with your other children is probably criminal today, just because it happened in our culture in the past does not mean it’s normal today. Slavery, weekly bathing and 8 kids in a 2 br are all chapters in the history book that we should be proud are no longer the norm. The good ole days weren’t always that good.

As far as inflation goes, yes, people paid 30k in 1970 for a home in So Cal and before their mortgage was paid off they paid more for a car, but don’t make that the plan, have that be a lucky fringe benefit if it happens.

My advice for the OP, just rent a bigger place for a year and re-evaluate. One baby usually becomes two, don’t lock yourself into a depreciating market while your big picture isn’t solidified. If you buy a 2br, you will have another kid and need a three, then when they turn 5 or six, you want a yard. Then when they are 8, you are making more money and want a better school. Selling once or twice in a five year period is costly unless values are rising and right now they aren’t. If it were 2002, I’d tell you to buy whatever you need now, but it’s 2009 and the only piggies buying are those that aren’t stretching and are in a position in life where size, style and location of their housing won’t change for at least a decade. You’ve done an admirable job thus far, stay with it, or, to quote paramount, “welcome to temecula.”

[temeculaguy]

How do you even find the privacy to make the eighth baby with seven kids in a 2br apartment? making babies in the same room or bed with your other children is probably criminal today, just because it happened in our culture in the past does not mean it’s normal today. Slavery, weekly bathing and 8 kids in a 2 br are all chapters in the history book that we should be proud are no longer the norm. The good ole days weren’t always that good.

As far as inflation goes, yes, people paid 30k in 1970 for a home in So Cal and before their mortgage was paid off they paid more for a car, but don’t make that the plan, have that be a lucky fringe benefit if it happens.

My advice for the OP, just rent a bigger place for a year and re-evaluate. One baby usually becomes two, don’t lock yourself into a depreciating market while your big picture isn’t solidified. If you buy a 2br, you will have another kid and need a three, then when they turn 5 or six, you want a yard. Then when they are 8, you are making more money and want a better school. Selling once or twice in a five year period is costly unless values are rising and right now they aren’t. If it were 2002, I’d tell you to buy whatever you need now, but it’s 2009 and the only piggies buying are those that aren’t stretching and are in a position in life where size, style and location of their housing won’t change for at least a decade. You’ve done an admirable job thus far, stay with it, or, to quote paramount, “welcome to temecula.”

[temeculaguy]

How do you even find the privacy to make the eighth baby with seven kids in a 2br apartment? making babies in the same room or bed with your other children is probably criminal today, just because it happened in our culture in the past does not mean it’s normal today. Slavery, weekly bathing and 8 kids in a 2 br are all chapters in the history book that we should be proud are no longer the norm. The good ole days weren’t always that good.

As far as inflation goes, yes, people paid 30k in 1970 for a home in So Cal and before their mortgage was paid off they paid more for a car, but don’t make that the plan, have that be a lucky fringe benefit if it happens.

My advice for the OP, just rent a bigger place for a year and re-evaluate. One baby usually becomes two, don’t lock yourself into a depreciating market while your big picture isn’t solidified. If you buy a 2br, you will have another kid and need a three, then when they turn 5 or six, you want a yard. Then when they are 8, you are making more money and want a better school. Selling once or twice in a five year period is costly unless values are rising and right now they aren’t. If it were 2002, I’d tell you to buy whatever you need now, but it’s 2009 and the only piggies buying are those that aren’t stretching and are in a position in life where size, style and location of their housing won’t change for at least a decade. You’ve done an admirable job thus far, stay with it, or, to quote paramount, “welcome to temecula.”

[temeculaguy]

How do you even find the privacy to make the eighth baby with seven kids in a 2br apartment? making babies in the same room or bed with your other children is probably criminal today, just because it happened in our culture in the past does not mean it’s normal today. Slavery, weekly bathing and 8 kids in a 2 br are all chapters in the history book that we should be proud are no longer the norm. The good ole days weren’t always that good.

As far as inflation goes, yes, people paid 30k in 1970 for a home in So Cal and before their mortgage was paid off they paid more for a car, but don’t make that the plan, have that be a lucky fringe benefit if it happens.

My advice for the OP, just rent a bigger place for a year and re-evaluate. One baby usually becomes two, don’t lock yourself into a depreciating market while your big picture isn’t solidified. If you buy a 2br, you will have another kid and need a three, then when they turn 5 or six, you want a yard. Then when they are 8, you are making more money and want a better school. Selling once or twice in a five year period is costly unless values are rising and right now they aren’t. If it were 2002, I’d tell you to buy whatever you need now, but it’s 2009 and the only piggies buying are those that aren’t stretching and are in a position in life where size, style and location of their housing won’t change for at least a decade. You’ve done an admirable job thus far, stay with it, or, to quote paramount, “welcome to temecula.”

[Author]

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