Are we ever going to afford a house in OC?

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
tulip_IHB

tulip_IHB

New member
Please give me some encouragement with this housing market. Every SFH we see in Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach and Westminster that is decent looking with the price tag of $ 499K are going like hot cake. Is the market really that hot? Actually, there is nothing in Fountain Valley listed for $ 499K. We saw a townhouse in FV for $ 456k and the listing agent informed us she have multiple offers.



I just think it is silly paying for 1200 sq ft home for $ 499k, BUT at the same time I am worry we will never able to afford a house in OC.
 
<p>Tulip,</p>

<p>I share your view. I might add even old SFR in Santa Ana is out of reach for me. So yeah, it's discouraging.</p>
 
Reason,



There are tons in Santa Ana going for $ 400 and below, but they are all short sale. I drove by John Laing's home on Edinger last weekend and my gosh....there are gaffiti on the main entry already. And the park across the street???? WOW.
 
<p>You mean Avenue E by John Laing has grafitti on the main entrance? You're kidding?! That such a nice looking project.</p>

<p>I was there a few months back and recommended that they put plant and shrubs along the front wall. I just don't understand why kids do that. It's their own community. You would think they try and keep it 'beautiful'. Oh, well. </p>

<p>There's some nice homes in Santa Ana. I believe they're call "Craftsman". Unfortunately, the neighborhood is not so nice. Bummer.</p>
 
<p>Was in a different city, they put a skateboard park right next to the fire station, then put a concrete wall in the park the skaterboarders could grafiti to their hearts content with their signatures. Worked really well - cut down vandalism spray paint by more than 50%, and fire dept guys between fires kinda kept an eye on it, keeping it sorta supervised.</p>
 
Be very careful. The worry that you may never be able to afford a home is the same mentality that created the bubble. It will motivate you to become a knife catcher. Put buying a home out of your mind for at least 2 years. Prices will be lower then.
 
Anon....I like that idea. Sounds like a good community relations tool, in an odd way. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em"
 
IR is right. be careful because that mentality will get you in trouble. OC is the 5 least affordable market to buy a house. common sense tells you that the market is not right. A lot of buyer are still using 5 year arms. they might put down 5%-20% but their DTI is probably max out and living like that is no fun. no vacation, no new car, no toys. no enjoyment!!!! if you waited this longer 2 more years won't break you. but if you get in a house and lose 100k in equity..... that might hurt alot more then staying put.
 
Tulip,





Perhaps if you could tell us the type of property and price range that you're looking for, the members here could make some suggestions on where to look (in near future).
 
In a year or two the cost to own will be similar to the cost to rent. So if you can rent here you'll be able to buy here. If you can't afford to rent here then you will not be able to buy here either. Can you afford to rent the kind of place you want to buy?
 
IR,



You are exactly right....we wanted a house so bad that everything start to look good even in Santa Ana. LOL.



Wait to buy- you are right, two years sound like an eternity.



Thank you for all the encouragement. I guess we just sit and wait again.
 
Troop - the way it worked was everyone was tired of cleaning up the spray paint, so they (police? city?) had meetings with the skateboarding community and found out all they wanted was a place where it was ok to skateboard and spraypaint their signatures. Then together they jointly designed the skateboarding park (including the wall which the skateboarders suggested). So it was very much a joint solution, and most of the skateboarding community bought into the wall idea and made it "cool" so that really helped.
 
Wow - to be young again - I'm always seeing/hearing stuff that seems like just yesterday and realizing it's from 8 years ago! And I saw a photo essay on "stars of the '80s" - I don't remember getting older, when did they?



Think of it this way - you're going to be getting a 30 year mortgage (hopefully). 2 years may seem like a lot, but think what it will feel like if you goof and have to live with it for THIRTY years! Also, remember this is a once-in-a-lifetime situation. The current drop in prices is unmatched in all history on a national basis - even in the Great Depression they didn't fall *this* fast. There has never been, and will not be in our lifetimes, a better time to wait a year or two.
 
I agree, buying is still too expensive right now. If you must, why don't you just rent a really nice house? I bet it will still cost less than owning.
 
Check out the "losses outside of Irvine" discussion. Lots of properties there going for far less than $500k. Also, remember that RE is cyclical and we are still WAY up from even the highest upswings in the history of this nation. I live in Costa Mesa, and NICE SFRs on the eastside were selling for $300k before the bubble. They may not go back down that far, but they still have a long way to fall. Absolute TURD condos that are selling for $400k now sold for $100k before the bubble. The plain and simple fact is that wages never kept up with the expolsion in RE, and very few people can afford the homes they live in. A great shaking out of the market has just begun. Please be patient. I have close friends who are going through a divorce right now because one of them INSISTED that they buy a house they could NEVER afford, but they just had to buy because they were afraid they'd never be able to in the future.
 
Forever.............. two years is not forever. being upside down in a house and knowing that your rate reset is coming and you can't pay it is forever. paying 3500 a month for a crappy house and seeing your neighbor walk away is forever...... seeing your neighbor house getting repo and the banks sells it for 150k less then what you bought it for is forever and a nightmare. most people who are renting now is probably better then all those people who bought a house during 2005-2007. stress free living is sometime under value. when my heater in my apt broke down i called the maintenance guy and he fixed it while i was at work. now that is service with a smile. and all for only 1200 bucks a month.



When i read the headline that median price dropped 17% i feel happy inside, while my co-worker who bought a house during the boom years are quietly crying inside. I love it when the headline is about the government coming up with some program to help out the homeowner and my coworker who bought that crappy house get a glimpse of hope and then suddenly it is dash away once they read the fine print and that they find out that they don't qualify because they are upside down or some other reason. hahahahahahhaaaaaaaaa



it is funny how only 3 years ago these same people were walking around and bragging bout how much they made in a month from their house appreciating. now it is all gone...... and to rub it in some more i would ask them did you read the headline today????????? Holy smokes batman.... hahahahhahaaa
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top