Affordable California Living?? - Beyond Tiki

P PolynesianPop Tiki Socialite Corona, Ca Joined: Mar 25, 2002 Posts: 2371	P PolynesianPop Posted posted on Mon, Aug 11, 2003 6:14 PM On 2003-08-08 19:11, seamus wrote: I really don't see how all the people living in these insanely expensive areas can really afford it. Especially those w/ families. Seamus, I was thinking the same thing for about a year before I bought my house. Ironically, its this crazy RE market that allowed me to achieve the house in the first place. My first "home" purchase was my 2 bedroom/2 bath condo in Chino Hills almost 4 years ago. Because of this crazy market, I was able to cash out $100k in equity. I put down 20% ($72k) on the new house and paid off my wife's car and all our cc's. If you or anyone else is a first time home buyer looking for a home in this RE market, its certainly going to be tough. The 100k equity on my previous home, low interest rate and DUAL income of mine and my wife's jobs is the only way we were able to do it. Without it, I'm sure our house payment would be somewhere near 3k per month. My only regret? I wish I did this sooner (like last year when prices in my area were about 30% less) but stupid me kept thinking the bubble was going to burst. Truthfully, I sometimes wonder if there even IS a bubble. Two examples: A home builder was finishing the last 9 homes of their development when we began our new house search. When we inquired about it, we were told that there were 1500 people on the waiting list! They were going to conduct a lottery for the remaining homes. A different housing development around the corner was opening the following week to consist of 125 new homes. Because of the situation with the last one, we decided to try our luck with that new one. On opening day 3000 people showed up to view the models and all 14 homes slated for development in Phase 1 were sold out that day! As such, they were scrambling to price Phase 2 because of the demand. For this reason, we changed our strategy and went through a Realtor to help us. We found a home that was built 6 months ago - which we placed an offer on just 1 hour after we saw it. It had all kinds of upgrades - granite counter tops, Italian marble tile, berber carpet, jacuzzi tub, etc. My new next door neighbor told me that I was lucky to get it, not because of all the upgrades but because like my first example, they had to win their slot with the developer too, to get their house! This market is crazy. However, as long as there is that kind of demand for new homes, I can't see prices going down any time soon. My prediction? Mortgage loans will begin running in longer terms just like when they went from 15 year terms to 25 year terms to 30 year terms. If prices don't go down, its the only way I can see people affording the payments. Poly-Pop * [ Edited by: PolynesianPop on 2003-08-11 18:22 ]

On 2003-08-08 19:11, seamus wrote:
I really don't see how all the people living in these insanely expensive areas can really afford it. Especially those w/ families.

Seamus, I was thinking the same thing for about a year before I bought my house. Ironically, its this crazy RE market that allowed me to achieve the house in the first place. My first "home" purchase was my 2 bedroom/2 bath condo in Chino Hills almost 4 years ago. Because of this crazy market, I was able to cash out $100k in equity. I put down 20% ($72k) on the new house and paid off my wife's car and all our cc's.

If you or anyone else is a first time home buyer looking for a home in this RE market, its certainly going to be tough. The 100k equity on my previous home, low interest rate and DUAL income of mine and my wife's jobs is the only way we were able to do it. Without it, I'm sure our house payment would be somewhere near 3k per month.

My only regret? I wish I did this sooner (like last year when prices in my area were about 30% less) but stupid me kept thinking the bubble was going to burst. Truthfully, I sometimes wonder if there even IS a bubble. Two examples:

A home builder was finishing the last 9 homes of their development when we began our new house search. When we inquired about it, we were told that there were 1500 people on the waiting list! They were going to conduct a lottery for the remaining homes.
A different housing development around the corner was opening the following week to consist of 125 new homes. Because of the situation with the last one, we decided to try our luck with that new one. On opening day 3000 people showed up to view the models and all 14 homes slated for development in Phase 1 were sold out that day! As such, they were scrambling to price Phase 2 because of the demand.

For this reason, we changed our strategy and went through a Realtor to help us. We found a home that was built 6 months ago - which we placed an offer on just 1 hour after we saw it. It had all kinds of upgrades - granite counter tops, Italian marble tile, berber carpet, jacuzzi tub, etc. My new next door neighbor told me that I was lucky to get it, not because of all the upgrades but because like my first example, they had to win their slot with the developer too, to get their house!

This market is crazy. However, as long as there is that kind of demand for new homes, I can't see prices going down any time soon. My prediction? Mortgage loans will begin running in longer terms just like when they went from 15 year terms to 25 year terms to 30 year terms. If prices don't go down, its the only way I can see people affording the payments.

**Poly-Pop ***

[ Edited by: PolynesianPop on 2003-08-11 18:22 ]

Post #47401 by PolynesianPop on Mon, Aug 11, 2003 6:14 PM