State of housing costs in the US. Where does it end?

[trampas]

Cliffs?

Everyone is taking into account "in my area..."

So the diversity of opinions reflect geographic/economic differences until we're all blue (in the face) but one thing we all seem to agree on from Massachusetts to California, is that there are mexicans everywhere.

 

[trampas]

Great, algorithms are getting me already

35% for language

 

[JR4X]

Everyone is taking into account "in my area..."

So the diversity of opinions reflect geographic/economic differences until we're all blue (in the face) but one thing we all seem to agree on from Massachusetts to California, is that there are mexicans everywhere.

Plus, everyone aspires to a different long term plan. Some people worry more about the year over year percent in property value increase and just happily pay the increase in tax burden every year.

My grandparents house has been paid off for like 20+ years. Their tax burden breaks down into more a month than their mortgage was when they were still paying on the house. This shit is unacceptable

I don’t want a nice house in a nice neighborhood with kids walking down the sidewalk to school every day. I don’t care about turning 200k into a fake 400k because I don’t want a mortgage payment that breaks down into thirds of taxes insurance and mortgage. I can get a loan for 300k right now but the taxes and insurance make the monthly payment and utilities be over 50% of my income. Fawk that. What I aspire to is [486] or Projectjunkie homes.

 

[2big bronco]

Plus, everyone aspires to a different long term plan. Some people worry more about the year over year percent in property value increase and just happily pay the increase in tax burden every year.

My grandparents house has been paid off for like 20+ years. Their tax burden breaks down into more a month than their mortgage was when they were still paying on the house. This shit is unacceptable

I don’t want a nice house in a nice neighborhood with kids walking down the sidewalk to school every day. I don’t care about turning 200k into a fake 400k because I don’t want a mortgage payment that breaks down into thirds of taxes insurance and mortgage. I can get a loan for 300k right now but the taxes and insurance make the monthly payment and utilities be over 50% of my income. Fawk that. What I aspire to is [486] or Projectjunkie homes.

I'll bet Projectjunkie would let you aspire your way right into his new mountain home as long as you fixed it up along the way.

 

[grumpy356]

one thing we all seem to agree on from Massachusetts to California, is that there are mexicans everywhere.

NO... Weasel says that is media hype.

 

[JR4X]

My grandparents paid off their house 20+ years ago. Their tax burden now breaks down to more a month than their mortgage payment was when they were still paying on it. That shit is unacceptable.

 

[Sandy Johnson]

Duh. But as it stands we can afford to have people of this state say fawk you in 73 different languages because we're like a commune of Hollywood Jews as we have all the fukn money.

I actually wonder what that graph will look like in a few years. A lot of big money companies leaving/have left because it's cheaper to do business in other states.

I wouldn't mind if California was a little smaller and had less of an influence in the US economy. Then maybe no one outside of California will care what California does, rather than swinging off its nuts ranting 24/7.

 

[Roc Doc]

I don't want a house I have to work on.

A. I'm not a construction worker, barely a handyman, so basic plumbing and electrical, hang doors, replace thresholds, that kind of thing, but I'm not doing roofing and not getting into the foundation and walls like some of you guys. I just want to live in the fucking thing.

B. I've got more enjoyable things to do with my time.

 

[Roc Doc]

My grandparents paid off their house 20+ years ago. Their tax burden now breaks down to more a month than their mortgage payment was when they were still paying on it. That shit is unacceptable.

That's what drove Prop 13 in California. Probably the last good thing Californians did for themselves, I know my Dad was ecstatic when it passed.

A buddy grew up in a little 2+2 with a falling down detached garage located in Reseda, CA, built in the early 50's in a standard for the time tract. Louie was an only child and long gone from the house, so when his Mom died, Dad sold the fucking thing for over $1m, and now lives in a very nice retirement home with lots of girlfriends...he's 103, and a WWII vet. With an effective tax rate of .88%, that's $8800 a year for the new owners, which is more that what that house sold for back in the 50's.

 

[Sandy Johnson]

don't want a house I have to work on.

A. I'm not a construction worker, barely a handyman, so basic plumbing and electrical, hang doors, replace thresholds, that kind of thing, but I'm not doing roofing and not getting into the foundation and walls like some of you guys. I just want to live in the fucking thing.

B. I've got more enjoyable things to do with my time.

I figured out that if I can afford pay some dudes to build me a fence and hang me a gate, then I'd rather do that and go ride than save a little money.

...of course I figured that out as a new home owner when I couldn't afford to pay someone so I built the fence, and shittily hung the gates, and replaced the galvanized steel pipes(old ass house), and fixed the furnace, and replaced the water heater and...

It's kid of a rite of passage when you buy your first home and are scraping for cash after you spent all of yours on a down payment and paying the realtor, and the home inspection, and tenting the house, and...

 

[Roc Doc]

I actually wonder what that graph will look like in a few years. A lot of big money companies leaving/have left because it's cheaper to do business in other states.

I wouldn't mind if California was a little smaller and had less of an influence in the US economy. Then maybe no one outside of California will care what California does, rather than swinging off its nuts ranting 24/7.

Same. There is very little industry left in CA, Ag of course, one refinery maybe, no steel, no car production, some PVC mfg (which is increasingly coming under fire for being forever plastic), software dev I guess, so yeah, I doubt it will remain at number 5.

When I was a kid in the late 60's and early 70's, CA had less than half the number of people it has now. Sales tax in Santa Maria was 5%, and we had cops, and firemen, and school busses, and parks, and roads, and all that stuff. Now CA has the highest income tax rate in the country (I left in 94, I can only assume it's gone up since then), highest gas tax (I think), stunning corporate taxes, and the fucking place is bankrupt.

 

[Roc Doc]

I figured out that if I can afford pay some dudes to build me a fence and hang me a gate, then I'd rather do that and go ride than save a little money.

...of course I figured that out as a new home owner when I couldn't afford to pay someone so I built the fence, and shittily hung the gates, and replaced the galvanized steel pipes(old ass house), and fixed the furnace, and replaced the water heater and...

It's kid of a rite of passage when you buy your first home and are scraping for cash after you spent all of yours on a down payment and paying the realtor, and the home inspection, and tenting the house, and...

I get it. My first house was brand new, and I only put 5% down. I could handle the payment but it didn't leave a lot of extra cash especially after the GF stupidly lost her job. Every time I turned around it was another $1-2k, window blinds, block wall fencing, a couch for an empty room, etc. At least I did most of the landscaping, but even that was a grand by the time I bought all the stuff.

 

[welndmn]

You guys already flew by the topic like 37 pages ago, but I will also agree that the foreign investors really need to stop.
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. We see tons of foreign investors buy up all the homes for cash. Sellers like to sell them to them as well because of the cash transactions and quick closes.
I recently tried to buy a home in Mexico, the hoops, the fees, the Mexican corporations you have to form, land leases, have to be a resident and so on, it's freaking nuts what they make us do!
Yes, We are the American dream, but perhaps it's time to us to scale back on that.

 

[Projectjunkie]

Plus, everyone aspires to a different long term plan. Some people worry more about the year over year percent in property value increase and just happily pay the increase in tax burden every year.

My grandparents house has been paid off for like 20+ years. Their tax burden breaks down into more a month than their mortgage was when they were still paying on the house. This shit is unacceptable

I don’t want a nice house in a nice neighborhood with kids walking down the sidewalk to school every day. I don’t care about turning 200k into a fake 400k because I don’t want a mortgage payment that breaks down into thirds of taxes insurance and mortgage. I can get a loan for 300k right now but the taxes and insurance make the monthly payment and utilities be over 50% of my income. Fawk that. What I aspire to is [486] or Projectjunkie homes.

I'll bet Projectjunkie would let you aspire your way right into his new mountain home as long as you fixed it up along the way.

I'm sure we could work something out

This will be #3 that has the word "inhabitable" in the listing

 

[Lil'John]

I don't want a house I have to work on.

A. I'm not a construction worker, barely a handyman, so basic plumbing and electrical, hang doors, replace thresholds, that kind of thing, but I'm not doing roofing and not getting into the foundation and walls like some of you guys. I just want to live in the fucking thing.

B. I've got more enjoyable things to do with my time.

I've done construction and I outsource some things which you mostly listed. Depending upon walls, I'll do it... framing out and hanging sheet rock I'll do. I suck at mud work so I outsource it.

One doesn't have to buy a complete fixer upper to get a good deal. Avoiding fresh 'remodels' helps bring the price down.

I've seen two issues brought up in this thread:
1) Actual price of house. This gets adjusted by lowering your 'must haves'. Too much "I'm only buying my dream house in the middle of this urban area" from people not in this thread. A 2/1 is a suitable starter house but I've seen too many 'too small' comments. Outside of the big city and 'main' suburbs gets the price down... add 10 minutes/miles to your search radius.
2) Down payment. Stop doing all the fancy food, entertainment, electronics, etc... that will get you toward a down quickly. Suck it up and deal with PMI for a year or two while you pay down the principle and/or wait for house to appreciate to get to the 80% threshold. Yes, it is throwing away money but can be gotten rid of relatively easily... an extra $100-$200 a month goes a long way.

For both of my houses, I took a compass and drew a circle on a map showing me roughly 30-40 minute drive(first house) and 60 minute drive(second house) from my work. I then 'drew' another circle saying 'fuck being this close'.

For my first house, I 'worked backwards' from how much I spent on rent to determine what I could comfortably afford. FUCK listening to mortgage brokers that want you to get the biggest loan possible. My mortgage, prop tax, and insurance for the month was basically the same as what I paid in rent. I could have stretched it by 50% more but I said fuck that.

For both of my houses, I did a spread sheet showing 'must haves', 'nice to haves', and 'cool if it has it'. I then rated each item within the group with a 1-10 so I could then refine within a group least important. For example, one second house, I had garage/shop as a must have... but I left it as open ended with the caveat of 'place to put a garage/shop'. I sacrificed having a shop now for a cheaper upfront cost on a good piece of land.

 

[Motorcharge]

You guys already flew by the topic like 37 pages ago, but I will also agree that the foreign investors really need to stop.
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. We see tons of foreign investors buy up all the homes for cash. Sellers like to sell them to them as well because of the cash transactions and quick closes.
I recently tried to buy a home in Mexico, the hoops, the fees, the Mexican corporations you have to form, land leases, have to be a resident and so on, it's freaking nuts what they make us do!
Yes, We are the American dream, but perhaps it's time to us to scale back on that.

The foreign investment part is an easy fix. If you're a foreign national and not a permanent resident or citizen, you can buy one single family home and it has to be in your name. No company purchases, no investment purchases, etc. Limit commercial real estate to commercial, industrial, and multifamily only. Reserve single family housing for individuals, local landlords, etc. Keeps all the SFH out of the hands of these investment firms and foreign interests without fucking over people who are just trying to own a home or make a living with an extra income property.

 

[DMG]

I figured out that if I can afford pay some dudes to build me a fence and hang me a gate, then I'd rather do that and go ride than save a little money.

...of course I figured that out as a new home owner when I couldn't afford to pay someone so I built the fence, and shittily hung the gates, and replaced the galvanized steel pipes(old ass house), and fixed the furnace, and replaced the water heater and...

It's kid of a rite of passage when you buy your first home and are scraping for cash after you spent all of yours on a down payment and paying the realtor, and the home inspection, and tenting the house, and...

It is also how you get to know the house and it’s issues so you can predict future problems as well as not get screwed by contractors.

 

[trampas]

I'm sure we could work something out

This will be #3 that has the word "inhabitable" in the listing

What kinda wheels she got under her

 

[rockota]

I've done construction and I outsource some things which you mostly listed. Depending upon walls, I'll do it... framing out and hanging sheet rock I'll do. I suck at mud work so I outsource it.

One doesn't have to buy a complete fixer upper to get a good deal. Avoiding fresh 'remodels' helps bring the price down.

I've seen two issues brought up in this thread:
1) Actual price of house. This gets adjusted by lowering your 'must haves'. Too much "I'm only buying my dream house in the middle of this urban area" from people not in this thread. A 2/1 is a suitable starter house but I've seen too many 'too small' comments. Outside of the big city and 'main' suburbs gets the price down... add 10 minutes/miles to your search radius.
2) Down payment. Stop doing all the fancy food, entertainment, electronics, etc... that will get you toward a down quickly. Suck it up and deal with PMI for a year or two while you pay down the principle and/or wait for house to appreciate to get to the 80% threshold. Yes, it is throwing away money but can be gotten rid of relatively easily... an extra $100-$200 a month goes a long way.

For both of my houses, I took a compass and drew a circle on a map showing me roughly 30-40 minute drive(first house) and 60 minute drive(second house) from my work. I then 'drew' another circle saying 'fuck being this close'.

For my first house, I 'worked backwards' from how much I spent on rent to determine what I could comfortably afford. FUCK listening to mortgage brokers that want you to get the biggest loan possible. My mortgage, prop tax, and insurance for the month was basically the same as what I paid in rent. I could have stretched it by 50% more but I said fuck that.

For both of my houses, I did a spread sheet showing 'must haves', 'nice to haves', and 'cool if it has it'. I then rated each item within the group with a 1-10 so I could then refine within a group least important. For example, one second house, I had garage/shop as a must have... but I left it as open ended with the caveat of 'place to put a garage/shop'. I sacrificed having a shop now for a cheaper upfront cost on a good piece of land.

We found ourselves considering another move a few years ago.

All of a sudden, I realized that function is much more important than form. No longer care about most “upgrades.” Formica counters work just as well as the latest “must have,” etc.

 

[DMG]

I've done construction and I outsource some things which you mostly listed. Depending upon walls, I'll do it... framing out and hanging sheet rock I'll do. I suck at mud work so I outsource it.

One doesn't have to buy a complete fixer upper to get a good deal. Avoiding fresh 'remodels' helps bring the price down.

I've seen two issues brought up in this thread:
1) Actual price of house. This gets adjusted by lowering your 'must haves'. Too much "I'm only buying my dream house in the middle of this urban area" from people not in this thread. A 2/1 is a suitable starter house but I've seen too many 'too small' comments. Outside of the big city and 'main' suburbs gets the price down... add 10 minutes/miles to your search radius.
2) Down payment. Stop doing all the fancy food, entertainment, electronics, etc... that will get you toward a down quickly. Suck it up and deal with PMI for a year or two while you pay down the principle and/or wait for house to appreciate to get to the 80% threshold. Yes, it is throwing away money but can be gotten rid of relatively easily... an extra $100-$200 a month goes a long way.

For both of my houses, I took a compass and drew a circle on a map showing me roughly 30-40 minute drive(first house) and 60 minute drive(second house) from my work. I then 'drew' another circle saying 'fuck being this close'.

For my first house, I 'worked backwards' from how much I spent on rent to determine what I could comfortably afford. FUCK listening to mortgage brokers that want you to get the biggest loan possible. My mortgage, prop tax, and insurance for the month was basically the same as what I paid in rent. I could have stretched it by 50% more but I said fuck that.

For both of my houses, I did a spread sheet showing 'must haves', 'nice to haves', and 'cool if it has it'. I then rated each item within the group with a 1-10 so I could then refine within a group least important. For example, one second house, I had garage/shop as a must have... but I left it as open ended with the caveat of 'place to put a garage/shop'. I sacrificed having a shop now for a cheaper upfront cost on a good piece of land.

Before I left CA I was thinking about houses up near you and a commute to Sacramento/Folsom. At the time there were deals up there.

 

[crazybluerider]

My grandparents paid off their house 20+ years ago. Their tax burden now breaks down to more a month than their mortgage payment was when they were still paying on it. That shit is unacceptable.

I've been in my house 13 years. My taxes will be over 50% of my monthly next year if they go up the same amount they have for the last few years. They are currently over 45%. When I moved in it was less than 15%.

I'm always surprised that property taxes don't come up more in home affordability conversations. Last time I was looking at it we were talking about apartment rent increases and just for grins I pulled the public tax records for the complex across the street from my house. I don't remember the exact money but it was over 500 per unit when you broke it down. That does not make for affordable housing...

 

[mobil1syn]

My grandparents paid off their house 20+ years ago. Their tax burden now breaks down to more a month than their mortgage payment was when they were still paying on it. That shit is unacceptable.

how is their tax burdened calculated?

 

[trampas]

I actually wonder what that graph will look like in a few years. A lot of big money companies leaving/have left because it's cheaper to do business in other states.

...the reality over the last 6~9 years or whatever, is that we used to be 9th... overtaking Brazil for 8th... and now we're 5th just having surpassed Great Britain. Think about that. Taking down entire countries to the tune of 9th to now 5th. California is kicking ass in just the last handful of years. Hard to believe in this volatile global climate but its for real.

Same. There is very little industry left in CA, Ag of course, one refinery maybe, no steel, no car production, some PVC mfg (which is increasingly coming under fire for being forever plastic), software dev I guess, so yeah, I doubt it will remain at number 5.

Same. The state overtook serious competition in a handful of years somehow. Why would hanging onto 5th be so difficult to believe.

Yes, ag. Tourism. Film industry. Tourism. More ag. More tourism. Oh... and real estate abounds.

 

[trampas]

I don't want a house I have to work on.

I don't want a house that i don't.

a) i actually enjoy it immensely.
b) ca real estate $
c) $$$,$$$

 

[grumpy356]

how is their tax burdened calculated?

Mine is made up by the county. The value they list has nothing to do with what I paid for it. It's not for sale. And comps are NOT truly comparable for a lot of reasons, but the main reason is MINE IS NOT FOR SALE.

 

[gunracer1]

fawk, im going to quit bitchin.

 

[Projectjunkie]

What kinda wheels she got under her

Nah, she's up on blocks

I'm just going to winterize it and leave it till the spring and make a plan. I'll take a better longer look at it to see how bad it is. I could rehab it, I've done worse, I'm casually looking at a new small mobile, considering an apartment over a garage, considering a metal building with living quarters, I dunno. I'll be broke after buying this and finishing my current house project, so who knows

 

[bad zuki]

Mine is made up by the county. The value they list has nothing to do with what I paid for it. It's not for sale. And comps are NOT truly comparable for a lot of reasons, but the main reason is MINE IS NOT FOR SALE.

sweet geebus.

I'm bitchy they raised my taxes from $1000 a year to $1700. Your property tax in my county would be $4000 a year.

 

[JR4X]

how is their tax burdened calculated?

Market value that the state of New Mexico gets to decide. Lots of states do it that way. Colorado, NM, Utah etc. asses and send you a bill based on a percent of your homes taxable value.

 

[trampas]

fawk, im going to quit bitchin.

I believe Texas is the bend you over state on prop taxes