I will never be able to afford a house. Am I a loser?

[henslee]

[AntiCoup2K4]

1. If you are, then there are a lot of "losers" in the Chimpanized economy.

Myself included unfortunately :(

[Squatch]

2. You really can't afford NOT to buy a house.

[LynneSin]

3. I know how you feel

:hug:

Of course, I keep procrastinate buying because it's such a lifetime commitment

[tridim]

4. If you're not part of the "ownership society",

you're against the "ownership society".

[hobbit709]

5. No! You're just another

poor democrat.

[devilgrrl]

6. Not anymore of a loser than I.

Having said that, I may be a jerk but I'm NO loser.

[Lisa0825]

7. It's the committment that scares me!

I probably never would have owned a house if I hadn't inherited the mortgage from my parents. It's still been kind of daunting trying to manage it on my own.

Do you WANT a house? There are programs (like HUD) that can make it pretty cheap to get into a house. If you don't really want one, just do what you feel comfortable doing. If you do want one, do some research. There are grants available for various situations, or no down payment options sometimes too.

[Dr.Phool]

8. I've got 2 houses

And if I don't get rid of one of them soon, I'm going to be a loser.

[Debi]

9. If you're saving $$ you're not a loser

Our house is a money pit and I worry because there is not so much in our savings. If work goes away and money goes away we'll have to sell our house (at a loss) and have nothing. I'd rather have the cash.

[Shell Beau]

10. If so, we need to establish some sort of club,

b/c I have a feeling you are, by far, not alone.

[no name no slogan]

11. I HAVE one and I'm getting rid of it

and moving into an apartment. Why?

Mainly because of my divorce. It took both our incomes to afford the house. I could probably still do it on my own, but I just don't want to anymore. Owning/maintaining a piece of property is hard work. You gotta take care of the yard, the snow (if you're unfortunate), and other routine maintenence/upkeep expenses.

My house has been under constant renovation since we bought it eight years ago. We've sunk more than $50k into it, and it still needs another $50k to be in sellable condition. It is the biggest money pit I've ever seen.

What, your hot water heater burst a hole in it at 4:00 in the a.m.? Sorry, can't call the landlord-- you better get on that phone and find a new one, fast, or you don't have any hot water! What, part of the roof blew off in a storm? Well, I hope you know a roofer, or are very handy, because you'll lose more than the roof if you don't get it patched, NOW.

In many ways, I am really looking forward to getting rid of my house. It's a pain in the ass, and IMHO probably helped destroy my marriage. After $$$, housing is the 2nd biggest reason for marriage dissolution.

Personally, I can't wait for the property to be somebody else's pain in the ass. I'd be happy if I NEVER owned another house in my life.

[gmoney]

15. I agree...

I bought what seemed like an opportunity, but now I wish I was back in my cozy little one bedroom place. Maybe a two bedroom.

Looking back, I'd much rather have a nicer car, some cash in the bank, and be debt free, but NO, I had to sink my "windfall" into buying a house. Or part of a house. At this rate, I'll be retired before it's paid off. Ugh.

[Deep13]

12. What is the definition of "loser" and why do you accept it?

[Historic NY]

13. no.....where I live one is lucky if they can even find a house....

that 200k or under.....my next door neighbor sold his 3br with pool exactly similar to mine for 319k. Neighbor 2 doors up has his listed for 285k. Both of these neighbors are moving to N.C. where they are building new home for around 200k. If I was to sell my house I couldn't afford to buy it back. Its a shame locally the politicians are now beginning to realize that cops, fireman, teachers and even their own family members can't afford to live here. Sad state of affairs. Jobs here don't even come close to the pay scales of the NY City area and that seems to be driving the boom to buy...escape from NY. They seem to be willing to spend excess to buy. Crazy indeed. Perhaps when the bubble breaks again you might find something.

[pink-o]

14. The Average Median price in San Francisco.....

...is (are you sitting down????) 800,000 for a single-family home!!!! Probably 2 bed 1 bath.

None of us in the Bay Area who make less than 100,000 a year (in other words, all my friends) can afford to buy a house in the city we love. I'm 50 years old and divorced, and I live in a 350 sq foot apartment because rent is so much less than mortgage.

You're not a loser. Too many of us are in the same boat!

[pitohui]

16. never is a long time

try a gov't program, the one i used is expired but there are no doubt others

[Terran]

17. I just bought a house with my partner and here's the 1st thing I learned:

You'll never know if you can do it unless you go talk to a good mortgage banker. Talk to anyone you know who owns a home and get a recommendation for someone who will be diligent for you and supportive. You may be surprised what they can do for you. We had no money for a downpayment at all, and we still did it.

If buying a house means giving up certain other luxuries, then you should try that to increase your ability to pay a mortgage. And, maybe you'll have to relocate to a lower-cost area. It's a matter of balancing your priorities--do you need to live in San Francisco or Manhattan, or do you want to own a home?

[fudge stripe cookays]

18. Nope. Far from it.

We can use more Democrats in Texas-- we can turn heavily red areas blue, and you can invest in the process!

reprehensor and I bought our lovely 3 bedroom/2 bath/2 car garage in the suburbs (with FP, L-shaped kitchen, Jacuzzi tub, big fenced backyard, and office nook) for $105,000.

It can be done. Texas is remarkably affordable. And you guys wouldn't have to gripe about all the red-wingers if we began outnumbering them.

See?
FSC

[LSK]

19. housing prices are crazy right now, but it cant last

Wait a few years and try to save up for one. The prices will become normal hopefully soon.

You will want to have a house paid off by the time you retire because you do not want to be paying rent during your retirement.

[henslee]

23. An author on booknotes was talking about Alan Greenspan and how

he created the conditions for the stock market bubble and now he is doing the same thing re: a housing bubble. It was fascinating. I used to own property but got wiped out for a variety of reasons. Its funny... when you lose a business, it does not hurt so much as real estate.... everytime you drive by it... you are reminded of the loss, especially if its scenic or special. Sigh, I'm gonna go have an ice cream, now.

[pdx_prog]

20. I had a modest home

in the south where I used to live. 1800 sq ft, brick for $47,000.00. I moved out to the west coast and the same size/type house went for 4 times that. I got discouraged, but rent on houses or apartments is double what a mortgage payment is.

Condos are a good alternative...

[demnan]

21. How about a condo?

They are less expensive to maintain and the value continues to go up. Sure I can't afford a house either, but I don't need one for one person and two little cats. I have my patio tomatoes and flowers and someone else gets to mow the lawn and have the roof redone.

People put to much standard on my house, my car, my clothes, my etc. I bet you're more interesting to talk to than the average suburbian drone, anyway.

[IntravenousDemilo]

Nah

Just someone who doesn't want to wear a ball and chain.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

22. Have you thought of building your own?

I know that sounds absolutely crazy unless you have years of construction experience, but I've considered it. I sold my house about 5 years ago and used the equity to open my own law office. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to make it work, as the advertising costs ate me alive and I had to shut my doors. After that, while I was looking for a job, I volunteered to work with Habitat for Humanity to help build low income homes. I worked part-time for HFH for about a year, doing a little bit of everything. It's an immense task to build a house, even a small one, but a very satisfying one, and it can be done if you can devote every week-end for about one to two years. There are even kit homes available, like these steel frame homes designed for the do-it-yourselfer:

http://www.heritagebuildings.com/gallery/gallery.asp?section=2#

There are also kits for log homes, circular wooden Mongolian-like Yort homes, modular piece-together homes, and even panelized homes, designed for several levels of expertise. Apparently there's an explosion of do-it-yourself home building in all parts of the country. The kits start at about $20,000, but that's just for the "dry in package" as they call it, the cost of the framing and exterior walls and roof. You could probably sub-contract out the cement slab and the interior to avoid the general contractor and save money or do things like insulation, ceilings, drywall, plaster, paint, and floors yourself, leaving the plumbing, windows, doorframes and electrical to experts. If you could find a decent parcel of land at a moderate price, you could try to go this route. At least buying land now would lock in that expense at today's prices and you could possibly build your home little by little (depending on the local building codes), as your income would allow. I've talked to people who have taken 10 years to build their own home and have been very satisifed with it.

I'm not saying this is for everyone, but it's maybe a possibility for some who have the time, energy, nerve, and modest bank account like me. I guess I'm nuts.

[henslee]

24. Not a crazy idea at all. I even like these prefab modern houses

you can buy in big pieces. Super cool. I would like to build an adobe
style house. I will look into it for sure.

[Onlooker]

25. If the most important thing for you is to own a house ...

... and you fail, then I guess you lost. But, hopefully, material things, as appealing as they are, are not that important to you. Hopefully, the reason you'll never be able to afford a house is because you were doing better things than accumulating wealth.

[MissB]

26. No, not at all.

I cannot imagine how first-time home buyers manage in our city given the current market.