(no subject)

[garote]

This is why I can never own the home I live in.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_13_%281978%29

For a long time I've felt like the private property system in California was basically slavery ... now I know why.

Comments

[garote]

Oh I agree, prop 13's influence relative to sale price is quite small. But my point is, the little influence it does have is both damaging ... and unnecessary.

As for the glut of homes on the market ... yes, asking prices are now 10-20% lower than they were 2-3 years ago. On property that is still priced 20-40% outside the bounds of sanity.

Why would I buy at the prices of today, when I can expect NO appreciation for several years, and pay both property tax and interest totaling more than I currently pay in rent? It doesn't make sense. Like that UCLA economist whose presentation I linked to several years ago said: Prices will never come down to what they should. Instead, the market is going to slow to a crawl, for years, as the people without houses save more money, and the people with houses plug along at what they've got (or default and lose their property in a fire sale, where it gets snatched up by what Tavys aptly named "land barons")

Yep, it's renting for me, thanks :)

[thegoodreverend.livejournal.com]

Why buy?

A) Unless you're planning on turning around and selling, the appreciation of your house is pretty much a moot point.

B) Your property taxes and interest are rolled into your mortgage (or, they can be) as one large payment. We bought our house when prices were still pretty high (and hadn't started coming down yet), and even then we payed just a couple hundred more a month than we did with rent. Difference being that we were now paying TOWARD something, instead of just throwing our money into the rental hole. Rents have NOT come down as much as housing prices (if they've come down at all where you live) -- it's very likely that you'd pay about the same or even less now with a good mortgage.

C) Owning your own home gives you the freedom to do with your home as you please. You may have a great landlord situation, but not everyone does, and sometimes, you want to take out a wall or put in a new fixture - most rental agreements don't allow that.

D) Eventually, your home will make you money as an investment, well above the difference between your rent and your mortgage. This is especially true in California, and especially awesome if you sell and leave a higher priced area for a lower one.

There are a lot of reasons - I'm curious why you think you'd be throwing money away with a mortgage, but that you're not with rent.

[garote]

Weeeeeeellll lemme take a cruise through MLS listings and see if things are as batshit as they were a few months ago...

[garote]

"Weeeeeeellll lemme take a cruise through MLS listings and see if things are as batshit as they were a few months ago..."

...

Yes, they're as batshit as they were a few months ago.
The only way to get a good deal is to be able to put %20 down on a $500,000 house. And I don't have one hundred fucking thousand dollars in cash just sitting around.

[thegoodreverend.livejournal.com]

Loans can be harder to get a hold of now, because banks are a little less forgiving. That said, credit unions haven't changed much in their offers - we were able to get a no-down loan with a competitive rate. They're out there if you look around.

[garote]

And you bought your house .. when? ;)