One of the big questions to ask is “Why do I want a house?”
For me I don’t have a definitive answer. I have always had it as a goal since I graduate from college, but I knew it wasn’t one that I’d meet quickly.
I did have this idea that it would be nice to have my own place abd my friends would come over and we could watch movies or eat dinner or play video games, etc.
Now that I’m in my 30s, all of my friends are married, with kids. I don’t even go to their houses. It’s unrealistic to think anyone is going to come over at this point.
Then there’s the idea that I really want a display room for my collections. And a garage with a workbench to do projects. But are those valid reasons for wanting a house? I really don’t know.
The idea of buying a house in today’s larger and economy is totally a different world than it was five years ago, or even two years ago. Home prices have doubled, and as much as people talk about a crash, it has not happened. $150k in 2019 would get me a 3 bedroom 2 bath home with a two car garage and porches. Now it would get me a two bedroom two bath condo bulky in the 1970s, with no yard, no garage and a $200 a month HOA fee.
Totally different market. Most of my friends bought their first or second homes around 2014-2019. I don’t know of anyone that I work with my age that has bought a home since I’ve been there. Some people have bought homes in the last few years, but most of them are close to 50 or over, and already owned a home which they sold to upgrade. Most of the people there my age or younger would like to buy, but they have to rent because they cannot afford the payments. I have two friends that upgraded homes in the last two years, and rented the old one out, but they are all very high income as well as dual income.
I don’t believe I can buy a home, because I cannot get the total payment under 30% of my take home pay. First time homebuyer programs don’t work anymore at these rates and prices, because they’re designed to put down as little as possible, which makes the monthly payments even worse. To be fair though, I’m trying to skip the whole “starter home” step because, I’m already 35 years old. I don’t have enough time to pay off a starter home and then try to profit from it to buy what I want. Don’t get me wrong, I know I will never be able to afford what “everybody else has.” I just don’t want to get stuck with some old shack that isn’t worth what I paid for it.
In my state, insurance is getting terribly expensive. My parents pay $9k a year for insurance on their very old, 1970s home. My aunt’s house was built in 2005 and she is paying over $4k a year. Her insurance doubled in cost at renewal this year. Neither of these homes are in a flood zone or anywhere near the coast. So you can imagine how that makes getting the monthly payment under 30% even more difficult. I don’t know how it would even be possible to insure a 1920s home here or something like that.
