Home ownership is a fading dream for many

[Number6]

The only thing my dad did was make it appear he had a larger down payment. Housing in our area doubled in price during 5th he Carter years.

So you're saying your dad and brother lied about the down payment? So if your brother borrowed money to buy the house that means he lied to the loan company.

As much as you hate Carter the house doubled under his presidency.

[Glennfs]

So you're saying your dad and brother lied about the down payment? So if your brother borrowed money to buy the house that means he lied to the loan company.

Yep

[Number6]

Yep

And you're proud of this?

[gounion]

Yep

Conservatism at it's finest. NOW we know why the right loves Donald Trump so damned much.

[Number6]

Btw you only need 3 to 4 percent down. 300k home save 12k.
200k home save 8k

If you're putting down 3-4%, can you, IMO, really afford that mortgage? Most, if not all mortgage companies, require you to carry mortgage insurance if your down payment is less than 20% which means mortgage insurance is an additional cost to owning a home.

[Glennfs]

If you're putting down 3-4%, can you, IMO, really afford that mortgage? Most, if not all mortgage companies, require you to carry mortgage insurance if your down payment is less than 20% which means mortgage insurance is an additional cost to owning a home.

Not where you live but in the majority of the country you can. Something else I thought of is people seem not to be interested in starter homes.
Everyone wants 300 sq feet with many luxuries.
My double wide was terrible but it was mine. In most areas you can buy a pretty decent home for 200k.
Off the top of my head I would guess a 190k mortgage to come on around 900 a month or less.
Definitely less than rent.

[gounion]

Not where you live but in the majority of the country you can. Something else I thought of is people seem not to be interested in starter homes.
Everyone wants 300 sq feet with many luxuries.
My double wide was terrible but it was mine. In most areas you can buy a pretty decent home for 200k.
Off the top of my head I would guess a 190k mortgage to come on around 900 a month or less.
Definitely less than rent.

I think you're lowballing at 200K, since it's now twice that here. This isn't an expensive part of the country.

I guess out in the boondocks. But not near any city.

[Glennfs]

I think you're lowballing at 200K, since it's now twice that here. This isn't an expensive part of the country.

I guess out in the boondocks. But not near any city.

I Zillowed the big city north of you. A little over 100 homes between 150 and 300k listed.

[gounion]

I Zillowed the big city north of you. A little over 100 homes between 150 and 300k listed.

Problem is, no one is buying homes at list price. That's what this thread is about. I guess you never bothered to read.

[Number6]

Not where you live but in the majority of the country you can. Something else I thought of is people seem not to be interested in starter homes.

The "majority of the country" you speak of is rural areas where the population is lower and land is cheaper and where most Americans don't want to live.

Everyone wants 300 sq feet with many luxuries.

300 sq ft is half the size of my living room and kitchen. I don't think people want to live in such a small space.

My double wide was terrible but it was mine. In most areas you can buy a pretty decent home for 200k.

That's nice to think but for that price most people would have to drive 30 - 60 minutes to get to work.

Off the top of my head I would guess a 190k mortgage to come on around 900 a month or less.
Definitely less than rent.

Again, it depends upon location. I doubt you could get a 190K mortgage with 3-4% down payment in New York City. Maybe where you live in South Carolina you can but in most locations, naw.

[Number6]

Problem is, no one is buying homes at list price. That's what this thread is about. I guess you never bothered to read.

Too many people wanting a home causes a bidding war which drives up neighborhood prices. Add to that, corporations and individual investors are buying homes to flip and the problem becomes worse.

[gounion]

Too many people wanting a home causes a bidding war which drives up neighborhood prices. Add to that, corporations and individual investors are buying homes to flip and the problem becomes worse.

The corps are buying to take them off the market and to rent. Here, people who can afford to buy has to rent instead because there aren't enough homes on the market. And yes, they're paying FAR more for rent than they would for a mortgage.

Even in my development, which has several hundred homes still to build, and an HOA that doesn't allow corporations to buy, the homes are up for bid for the highest bid, with several buyers vying for the home. When I bought, I didn't have to bid, the price was the price.

It's tough for most people, since the lenders won't lend for the inflated prices.

[Bludogdem]

“ Last year, investors bought nearly one in seven homes sold in America’s top metropolitan areas, the most in at least two decades, according to the realty company Redfin.”

“ Neighborhoods where a majority of residents are Black have been heavily targeted, according to a Washington Post analysis of Redfin data. Last year, 30 percent of home sales in majority Black neighborhoods were to investors, compared with 12 percent in other Zip codes, The Post’s analysis shows.”

“ The effect of investor activity differs city to city. Regions with the highest share of investor purchases are in the south, stretching from Florida to Arizona, with a quarter of all home sales in Atlanta and Charlotte last year going to investors. But some of the most targeted Zip codes overall are in the Rust Belt, especially heavily minority neighborhoods in Detroit and Cleveland.”

“ Bokhari, from Redfin, echoed that concern in discussing his research. In the shortage that comes from too few homes being built, he said, there is profit to be made. “If we were building enough housing there wouldn’t be as much investing activity in the housing we have,” he said.”



https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... investors/

Depends on where you live.

[Bludogdem]

How about we don’t let predatory corporations buy up houses?

Can’t imagine plausible legislation to accomplish that objective. Free market and all.

[gounion]

Can’t imagine plausible legislation to accomplish that objective. Free market and all.

There could be several ways to do it.

Of course, my HOA forbids it. Good for everyone.

[Glennfs]

And you're proud of this?

Yep

[Glennfs]

Conservatism at it's finest. NOW we know why the right loves Donald Trump so damned much.

Funny how all of a sudden the progressives here are worried about mortgage companies

[Number6]

Yep

So I guess it's fair to deduce you inherited the gene for lying from your father?

[Number6]

Funny how all of a sudden the progressives here are worried about mortgage companies

It's not about progressives being worried about mortgage companies but about people committing fraud in order to get a loan. When the do this, the chances of the lying borrower defaulting on the loan, IMO, is greater and to cover their losses the mortgage companies impose more fees or raise their interest rates.

[gounion]

Funny how all of a sudden the progressives here are worried about mortgage companies

Nah, it's just that I was raised differently by a progressive father and mother.

[Number6]

Nah, it's just that I was raised differently by a progressive father and mother.

Same here but my parents were conservative. I learned early it was easier to tell the truth than to try and keep lies straight. The easiest way to earn trust from others is not to lie or bullshit them. It doesn't matter if you filling out forms for a mortgage, a car loan, taxes, a job application, etc.. because when you're caught you're screwed and people won't trust you.

Of course, everyone lies to some extent. Telling a child how pretty or smart they are or if you like your wife or girlfriend's new hair style to keep from hurting their feelings is different than lying on a application to fraudulently get a mortgage.

[ProfX]

Should also be noted based on the application/form, and the extent/level of prevarication, lying on many business or government forms could actually be an illegal crime. Not just an ethical lapse. Heck, even the Blather-tarians say they would at least make fraud illegal. Violates the sacrosanct nature of contracts, etc.

See: Donald Trump.

[bradman]

Trying to predict what the interest rates or home prices will be is like people who invest in the stock market using "market timing" strategy. The best thing to do in buying a house/condo is to pick the area you want, know how much you can afford (down payment, mortgage, taxes, etc.), understand the additional cost of repairing/maintaining the house/condo, electric/water/sewer/utility costs, etc.. IMO, too many people let their dream of owning their home just that, a dream in which they get in over their head.

Only in Amrica is there this fascination with home ownership. Go some places in the world and renting is a way of life and not looked at like it is here.

[bold] Agreed. i'm of the belief that the crash of 2008 was a direct result of making it way to easy for some to get way in over their heads. i mean it's one thing to make a simple used starter home easy to buy, and another when the starter home you desire is new and running 350 on the low side and 600 on the high side. At 3-4 percent they are more than happy to lock you into a 30 vs a 15 year loan. For the average family just starting out a 15 is doable. A 30 will strap them. Like you mention, add what some really don't take seriously...electric/water/sewer/utility costs/assessments/ lawncare/paint/windows/roofs/general upkeep, and it becomes overwhelming for some.

The whole thing needs to be rethought. Especially for starter homes. Affordable renting, without the taboo, should allow you to save more than 3-4% of a down payment, which would allow a 15 instead of a 30*. imo, here's where the problems start. They don't build starter homes for those that are struggling. For some the starter could be a new simple 2 bedroom, one bath cottage with a simple detached garage. Place that new home on 1/2-3/4 of an acre. The house is placed, and designed, to easily be added on to as both your family and paycheck grow.


*i dunno if anyone has picked up on it by now. It's a personal opinion and has to do with my wife and i getting into a 30yr. at 14% percent interest when we first started. Never ever, ever never, ever, ever, ever, get yourself into a 30.

[Motor City]

“ Last year, investors bought nearly one in seven homes sold in America’s top metropolitan areas, the most in at least two decades, according to the realty company Redfin.”

“ Neighborhoods where a majority of residents are Black have been heavily targeted, according to a Washington Post analysis of Redfin data. Last year, 30 percent of home sales in majority Black neighborhoods were to investors, compared with 12 percent in other Zip codes, The Post’s analysis shows.”

“ The effect of investor activity differs city to city. Regions with the highest share of investor purchases are in the south, stretching from Florida to Arizona, with a quarter of all home sales in Atlanta and Charlotte last year going to investors. But some of the most targeted Zip codes overall are in the Rust Belt, especially heavily minority neighborhoods in Detroit and Cleveland.”

“ Bokhari, from Redfin, echoed that concern in discussing his research. In the shortage that comes from too few homes being built, he said, there is profit to be made. “If we were building enough housing there wouldn’t be as much investing activity in the housing we have,” he said.”



https://www.washingtonpost.com/business ... investors/

Depends on where you live.

Its idle money that instead of maintaining families, households, neighborhoods was held back through austerity and various schemes and used to attack them, deteriorate their conditions and force them into endless servitude. Also affects voting. Owning a home is a responsibility people dont want to own them so they have more responsibility than they can handle they want to own them to end servitude or at least be in servitude to their selves. Something very wrong artificial in how out of proportion home ownership is to peoples labors and their servitude.

[Number6]

Only in Amrica is there this fascination with home ownership. Go some places in the world and renting is a way of life and not looked at like it is here.

I think most people in the world would prefer to own their home if they could. Reality is not everyone can do that. That's why in countries like England and Ireland they have Council Houses. which is public housing.

*i dunno if anyone has picked up on it by now. It's a personal opinion and has to do with my wife and i getting into a 30yr. at 14% percent interest when we first started. Never ever, ever never, ever, ever, ever, get yourself into a 30.

Length of a mortgage is a financial decision and a 30-year mortgage isn't as bad an idea as you make it seem. A 30-year mortgage may lower the monthly payments enough to allow the purchase of a home versus having to rent. While I agree if you can afford a 15-year mortgage then that's the way to go.

I refinanced my place last year at a lower rate, 3.25%, lowering my mortgage payments. I chose a 30-year mortgage, at age 70, and I don't think I'll live long enough to see it paid off unless I have all the numbers plus the Power Ball number in the Power Ball Lottery. But that's okay because my mortgage plus taxes plus HOA fees (about $2,200) is much lower than it would be to rent a comparable place here. There's a large apartment complex where the rents for a one-bedroom/bath is going for $3,300 per month. When I retired here, the price of the apartment was around $1,800 a month. If I hadn't bought when I did I wouldn't be able to afford to live here. So, financially, a 30-year mortgage is worth it.