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So I'm renting and expect to continue to do so for at least the next five years, but want to start thinking about buying, 5-10 years out. Assuming my income stays stable and I don't suddenly turn completely profligate, I can expect to continue socking away a decent nest egg without otherwise impacting my retirement plans. I'm currently at a spot where I theoretically have the savings for a 20% downpayment for a place worth ~4x my gross income, so I'm curious what the general thinking is on disregarding the various rules of thumb on affordability in order to grab someplace with a higher monthly cost by relying on savings as a fallback if my income isn't as stable as I hope over the lifetime of the mortgage. So, for example, say the rule of thumb puts me at an upper bound of $400k. If I wanted to spring for $500k and eat the higher monthly expense, what kind of warchest do I need to make this not too high a risk to bear? Ultimately, I obviously just need to do the math and figure out my risk tolerance, but I guess I'm looking for input on things that I might need to factor into my thinking that I'm not aware of. I think I've got a handle on the obvious things which could make my assessment too rosy (closing fees; insurance; HOA dues; property tax; misc maintenance costs; hell, even furniture to upgrade from my 800sqft apartment to something with a little more space), but I'm curious what else there might be to consider. Cugel the Clever fucked around with this message at 09:04 on Oct 6, 2023 |
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Oct 6, 2023 08:48
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Thanks for the input, all.Pilfered Pallbearers posted:What rule of thumb are you talking about? Home value being 4x gross isn’t a super typical barometer. The typical barometer is max 30% of monthly income on monthly housing costs. Even these kinds of rules of thumb could change in 5-10 years. moana posted:Step 2 Pilfered Pallbearers posted:With the purchase that far out, the only thing you really should be doing is building your savings. You can have a 50% down payment if you want to. Higher down payment = lower monthly cost which = lower monthly payment. Plus the bonus of paying less overall interest, which at current rates could be saving you 100’s of thousands of $. Without raising your income, this is the way to safely stretch your buying power upwards. Shifty Pony posted:Additionally what you'll need as a backstop for savings will depend greatly upon your career and industry. You will want a larger fund if you are in a cyclical field (like oil and gas) or have a job where significant amounts of your income are commission (like sales). Condo tangents: I'm strongly inclined toward a condo or townhome, but some of the HOA fees I see listed are extreme. On the one hand, I'd certainly be more confident about moving into a building where residents are putting in the money to theoretically proactively maintain things rather than get slammed with unexpected special assessments, but I don't have good scope into how to meaningfully assess that, probably even if I'm at the point where I'm getting a look at the association's finances. Any tips? I'm also looking to make any purchase my home for the foreseeable future, so I suspect I'd want to stick to buildings with very strict rental caps, just on the assumption that absentee landlords are more likely to prefer not investing in building upkeep than actual long-term residents. Does that seem fair?
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Oct 7, 2023 02:07
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Hadlock posted:Are you in the Seattle area? Yeah you need 20% down or a way to convincingly lie about your down payment. Ignore my 10% down ideas. There's no way you'll be able to competitively bid there with anything less than 20% down. At least not anything acceptably livable inside or in a halfway ok neighborhood
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Oct 7, 2023 02:40
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Kefit posted:I bought a townhouse in the Seattle eastside last summer, and when I started shopping I was similarly unsure about how to assess an HOA. But it became fairly clear to me after seeing a few HOA packets. Here are a few things to consider:
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Oct 7, 2023 18:45
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Eric the Mauve posted:Retain a good real estate attorney. If you can't afford one, you can't afford a house.
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Oct 19, 2023 05:10
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I'm always perplexed that I don't see more left-wing folks fighting to take a position on their HOA boards to leverage that authority toward the betterment of the community as they see it. Like, shift things from busybody policing of minutiae to improving common areas and building community between neighbors? The stereotypical HOA situation is a nightmare, sure, but I'm perplexed that people spurn co-opting an existing vehicle for building up a solidarity network in their neighborhoods to do good within and beyond it. Dissolving an HOA and leaving every home an island seems like it should be the libertarian approach, but a lot of left-leaning folks appear to be vocally on board. More appealing to preach burning it all down and attempting to assemble solidarity in the ashes, I guess?
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Dec 23, 2023 04:43
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I could have sworn there was some sort of "how to deal with aging parents" thread, but I'm not pulling it up. I've got a topic that has crossover between this and that hypothetical thread: what's the thread's take on going in on a duplex/ADU-equipped property with parents, combining ownership and occupancy? I had a lengthy post written with background on my parents' situation, but thought I'd toss the high-level question out there before diving into specifics. Some pros and cons, resting on the assumption that they are sufficiently stable financially and currently seem active and unimpaired: Pros - "keep the money in the family" versus forking over to a retirement facility (I'm a little dubious how effective this is, but they've voiced it as a concern) - ability to buy nicer home in a better location given pooled investment - some mutual assistance as needed (though would need to establish clear boundaries) Cons - very difficult to say if/when they'll need professional assisted living - risk of inability to agree on location (I'm uninterested in anything but a walkable urban neighborhood, but they've baked in decades of suburban fears) - relative scarcity of such properties - limited peer community for them (though potentially alleviated by the social opportunities available from urban living, wouldn't be as direct as a proper retirement community) - could conflict with yet unfulfilled life goals on my part (mainly, starting a family) - complexities around ownership split and estate planning Would obviously dodge some of the concerns with having full ownership of the property and renting the unit to them, but that's probably cost prohibitive. e: to make it clear, I think the ideal outcome is for them to move into one of the types of communities discussed above, ideally near me. But it looks like they're very reluctant to entertain the option and would otherwise be more inclined to get a small house in some inconvenient spot and pray they don't significantly deteriorate. So the above might be an achievable intermediate position, though comes with its own heaps of issues. Cugel the Clever fucked around with this message at 21:29 on Dec 31, 2023 |
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Dec 31, 2023 19:32
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Arsenic Lupin posted:e: Kugel, if you can make your parents listen, keep repeating over and over, "This is your retirement money. You are supposed to spend that money on your retirement. If there's anything left over, that's nice, but this is money you saved for retirement."
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Dec 31, 2023 21:32
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GlyphGryph posted:Edit: Hmm... does this account for rent inflation? That doesn't seem configurable.
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Jan 6, 2024 16:58
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Cyrano4747 posted:Which, yeah, loving blows if your job requires you to be in a specific HCOL area but doesn't pay you enough to buy, or if you're unwilling to move out of the city center for lifestyle reasons. As is, you're frequently stuck trading lower price per square foot for absolute car dependency, lower availability of daily essentials and basic services, and a larger percentage of regressive neighbors. I don't need to live in a metropolis, but the metropolis is the only spot even vaguely satisfying my idea of good living, unless the alternatives just aren't marketing themselves well.
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Jan 8, 2024 17:07
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GlyphGryph posted:I have discoveted that my counter is not stone, like I thought it was. It is also not metal, tile, laminate, wood, or plastic, and frankly I am surprised there sre other things it even could be. *snaps fingers* "I got it: asbestos! Good ol' do-it-all asbestos!"
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Jan 21, 2024 06:58
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Coming from Minnesota where such is fairly unheard of, I was shocked to visit Vancouver, BC, and discover that double doors for entryways were everywhere. Just a regional status symbol?
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Mar 24, 2024 02:16
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Ditocoaf posted:I just mount my TV on the ceiling and lie on the floor.
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Apr 9, 2024 03:27
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Add in various flavors of privately-run but publicly-funded neighborhood organizations which just serve to gather and amplify the voices of retired home owners against change before proposals even make it to official city meetings and you have a recipe for exacerbating the housing crisis. I was on mine for a little bit where I last lived as part of a YIMBY pushback, but, looking at Google Maps, only one of the multifamily buildings along the light rail that was raised got built... so many empty lots and single-story commercial in an area theoretically rezoned for medium-density, mixed-use development. e: New, giant mansions along the river right in the middle of the city? Flew through without objection from anyone but us urbanists. Cugel the Clever fucked around with this message at 15:55 on Apr 15, 2024 |
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Apr 15, 2024 15:48
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Eric the Mauve posted:The constantly churning cast of characters kinda sucks, but on the other hand airbnb operators have more incentive to keep the place looking reasonably nice (ongoing marketing) than renters do. I've had several friends seek out and move into condo buildings with no rental caps with the explicit intention of buying elsewhere in five years and leaving the condo as an AirBnB. I'm deeply skeptical, so it'll be interesting to see how things are looking come 2029.
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Apr 16, 2024 01:59
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