buying a house..... holy cr@p

I may never get to buy a house in CA.  The condo across from ours is selling for $400k.  It's a pretty decent condo, but older, in a borderline neighborhood.  Our rent, in an identical condo is only $1300/mo, and I know that our mortgage payment would be nearly double that.  Ouch.  Double ouch.

Good on you for at least looking into it.  I keep hearing there are options for people like us.  Good luck on finding something you like that you can afford. 

My favorite online mortgage calculator is called "Karl's Mortgage Calculator."  Google that.

And then RESIST the urge to spend every cent the mortgage company will tell you you can "afford."  You may cave in anyway, but RESIST.

Good luck.

PS:  Can I interest you in a gorgeous, huge, 3BR 3.5BA in the heart of Houston, Texas?  Price very reasonable... by California standards that is!  Just found out I'm moving to Philly in six weeks - gulp!

Do what almost everyone I know who has moved to CA has done and get a 60 yr mortgage.  Obviously it's not the best financial advice, but people have used it to get their foot in the door on the real estate market and either live with it, refi or move once the market gets hot enough that your equity increases to the point where you can change things.

Yeah, but its nothing compared to BUILDING a house (a log home in our case)....that was a year from hell for us!

I had a lot of fun buying all of my houses!

Have you considered moving?  For about 1/3 to 1/2 of the price in LA, I got a great house in Augusta,GA.  Less traffic!  More Rednecks in trucks to run you off the road!  The Masters!

No, as much as I and moan about the L.A. and traffic etc, I looooooove living near the Pacific Ocean, for so many different reasons at this time in my life.  We may move someday, but not now.

Yes.  on both accts.  Like most men I have a hard time committing

Good for you, Chris!  Homeownership in LA isn't easy of course, but if I can do it, anyone can ... just takes a bit of discipline, which obviously you have.  Two houses on my street for sale, if you like the hills...

General rule of thumb is 25-28% of your gross pay for housing and 33-35% total debt (cars, credit cards, house).  This would include taxes and insurance. 

Now, also consider that you said you're 40, so how much do you see wages increasing in the next 4-5 years?  Financing right at the limits (which you may have no choice in LA) isn't fun as it leaves you almost no discretionary income. 

Is it worth it?  Maybe...no guarantees that housing prices in places like LA will continue to rise at 8-10% a year.  Who's going to buy your house if you decide (or need) to move in a few years? 

Fortunately, we won't have to be financing at our limits.  I wouldn't do that anyway, nor would i take an interest only loan just to get into a house.  We could increase mortgage over rent by $1500 and still fall within the 30% or so percent rule.  Income should rise steadily (though unspectacularly) in the next few years.  And we have a 20% down

 It's just wicked expensive

Plus, I have to have discretionary income to buy tri/scuba stuff. that's a part of the deal 

Look on the bright side. 

You don't live in a one bedroom condo that could buy you a nice house in pretty much 90% of the country.  And as a bonus your homeowner fee didn't just double because of a hurricane that didn't come close to hitting where you lived. 

All I want is a house in the area of town I like with a back yard where I can build my deck, bocci ball court, brick BBQ, and a work area I could build my wood and metal shops.  

Jeez...I feel guilty. About 7 years ago my wife was driving through town and saw a van backed up to the front door of a house that we had our eyes on. The old lady that lived there was being put into a home. Stacy stopped and asked if the house was for sale. It was and she called me to come and take a look at it. We looked around and I finally asked how much. The son (of the old lady) said he was thinking that $25,000 sounded fair. He is from out of town and I didn't think that he really knew the housing market in town. I offered him $20,000 on the spot and (trying not to rip my pocket off to get my checkbook out) I wrote a check. I added on a 16x35 addition of three bedrooms for about $20,000. The house is a 35x35, 3 bedroom, 2 bath, basement, walk up attic(that will one day be a game room) with a two car garage on a 150x125 foot lot. The only catch is that it is in St. Hilaire, MN. Never heard of it? I'm not surprised.

The moral of the story is that if you want cheap housing and want to see deer and eagles and such on a daily basis, Northern Minnesota is the place for you.

You think you're affeared NOW?  Wait until you have to sell it bc you have to move and the market is at its worst ever and yours is the least expensive house of its kind in the city and you just dropped 7 G to fix it up and now you don;t think you can pay off that 7G AND pay the mortgage AND place a deposit on a cheap assed apt much less make rent and.....  Oh Wait, sorry, that's my nightmare....

Good Luck, my man.  It takes some serious balls (or tubes) to enter the home ownership bizarro world... 

When we closed on our house (9.5 years ago already!!) it was like the informed consent I signed when I went skydiving...I also felt like I was signing my life away. Not a fun experience...kinda like buying a car, but worse! We only intended to be in this house 5-6 years (our first "starter" home) but I have no desire to go through the selling/purchasing process or moving. Ever! (Unless it's when we retire and it's a cute little condo on the water or in the Pearl District in Portland!)

Good luck!

When we bought our first house, the sellers had to bring cash to the closing (even after a significant outlay for repairs prior to closing). 

NO!  BITE YOUR TOUNGUE!