Cost Of Living?

[Momoftwo]

I saw a story on CBS news tonight. 70% of all new and refinanced mortgage loans in CA are IO. It''s like 53% nationwide. When we bought our first house in 1982, we had one option, 30year and we went VA because my DH was an Ensign in the Navy and we were making squat and we could finance all the closing costs. There are so many loan plans available now. No money down, first time buyers plans, IO, 15, 30, 80/10/10, ARMS, etc. IO''s, according to a well known financial planner who spoke at work recently,are great if you can afford the loan with principal but choose to invest it elsewhere. Those that get in trouble are those that use them to stretch to buy the most house possible, which could backfire if for some reason you can''t refinance or move before the principal also kicks in.

 

[jorman]

Okay- so we think we might have found a deal. A 3-year old 3bed/3bath HOME in WillowBend for $2100 (per month), it has a yard for le pooch and a 2 car garage. Fingers crossed. We have looked ALL OVER this town and NOTHING!
I am so sad.
I do have good news though- my job interviews went really well and I have 2 different offers to choose from. Hooray!

 

[Mara]

wow Jorman that sounds like a very good deal actually, esp for Willow Glen! That is only about 5 minutes from us, the downtown area is very cute. congrats on the offers...see things are looking up!! We were just down there tonite actually at the local wine shop, they had a Spanish wine tasting night, Greg came home with a few bottles and a very happy attitude..hee hee.

Oh just noticed you wrote Willow Bend but I am thinking it's Willow Glen?

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 6/9/2005 10:41:32 AM
Author: Mara

Date: 6/9/2005 5:00:24 AM
Author: Dancing Fire
Mara
i was in your shoes 19 yrs ago.i went with a 30 yr ARM at 10.50% with 20% down. 2 yrs later i refinance into 15 yr 9.25% fix.with a IO loan when the bubble burst and your home value go down 20%,you will owe the bank more than what your house is worth because,you didn''t put any money down.yes.....i will look like a jack A** if the market keep going up but,when the bubble burst you will hear me say ''i told you so''

websailor, re P+I...we can pay principal towards our loan at any time, we got a non-prepay-penalty so we could if we wanted to AND we can refi anytime...but we''d have to refi into a P+I loan, I believe, in order to have the amount owed re-adjust if we did decide to pay principal.

Mara....if the property drops 20% ,guess who would need to come up with the 20+% in cash to cover the loss value? because,no bank would loan you 400k with the property value at 320K.

 

[Momoftwo]

The IO loan we were looking at was an optional IO or PITI loan. So, there was no refinancing involved. DF, there are lots of ways to do it. Why are you so afraid? I've been in several situations with real estate and have refinanced all four homes at least once. Maybe that's why we were able to move up to our dream home. Making smart decisions with our money. You can't be afraid of money. After buying with 15% rates, nothing involved in real estate has ever scared me. I'd be more afraid to pay almost as much in rent to someone else for years and watch it disappear forever. A mortgage is a great way to deduct interest payments and be able to itemize on your income taxes.

 

[aljdewey]

I think he''s not afraid of money, he''s afraid of RISK.

That''s fine for him, and he should make his investments according to his comfort level with risk. He should also be aware that others may have a more tolerant comfort level and be okay with assuming greater risk.

Everyone here is astute enough to realize the inherent risks of the market, but everyone''s personal situations are different. What makes a good decision for him may not be the best decision for others.

 

[soulsis]

Date: 6/7/2005 9:59:24 PM
Author: reena
how bad is it that i don''t know how much either item costs here in (quasi) sunny san diego? i''m sooo unobservant. i just know that it costs a lot, particularly the latter.


but that''s nothing compared to the median housing costs out here (or almost anywhere in southern CA or the bay area)--it is simply absurd. i saw an ad for a $1.1 million ''fixer-upper'' the other day. uh, WTF?!?!

HOLY CRAP!! FYU? 1.1!!!!! I am trying to figure out your guys'' gas prices because it''s gallons. Our gas here is the highest ever. Three years ago it was about 45.0/litre and now it is 85.9/litre. And we refine the oil/gas here and send it to you so that we can buy it back?? How fu%%in retarded are we Albertans? Some very stupid things geez.
I can get a loaf of bread (homemade) for about 0.80 and the kind chock full of home baked preservatives for about $1.60. I always go with artificial because it will survive the ice age!

 

[Mara]

DF you are like a child who refuses to listen.

Okay one more time.

Our house has appreciated about 25% since we bought almost 2 years ago.

Should the market correct itself 20%, which seems too high to me in this area, we''d still be ABOVE WHAT WE PAID for the house.

So the bank wouldn''t be asking us for JACK SHIT because we''d still have appreciated!

Does that make sense?

NOW if we had just bought last month..and we had no appreciation, and it corrected 20%, yes we''d be hosed.

But what you are missing is that we have owned this house almost 2 years and it has gone up alot. So we are in a very okay position regarding a market correction. Knock on wood of course.

Lastly, how do you know we don''t have money saved somewhere in order to assist should this happen? You don''t! This is a classic example of me saying, ''Not all IO is bad'' and you jumping to 500 million conclusions and telling me and my husband how to run our lives.

But again, so flattered you care. However, I respectfully ask, DONT.

 

[Bikergirl]

Dallas, TX

Not sure how much bread costs.
Gas is anywhere from $2.35-$2.90, depending on what part of town you''re in (for the low-grade)

Yes, there are LOTS of ways to get financing.

Housing market is strange here. Dallas is a very pretentious city. It''s a "see & be seen" place.

DH and I bought our house in August of last year. We paid $90/sq. ft., but have since put several thousand into renovations (most of the interior was straight from the 70''s!). We just got the new tax appraisal for 2005....our house has appreciated 36% since August! Yikes! Since we can''t file Homestead Exemption cap doesn''t go into effect until you''ve been there a full year, we''re paying a HUGE amount of taxes this year! At least we know increases will be capped in future years. And on the bright side, we''ll have one heckuva tax break this year.

The house next door to us had already been remodeled and sold for $130/sq. ft.

The house 1.5 blocks away just sold for $389/sq. ft.

You see, we''re in the "wrong" zip code....

We''re still walking distance to the lake, still live within Dallas city limits (I LOVE being in the city!), have access to the same homeowner''s association benefits, use the same walking trails, same park, and the entire area we live in is comprised of unique, custom homes. But there is a street that runs north/south. If you''re on one side of the street, you''re in the "it" neighborhood. If you''re on the other side of the street, you''re not. Personally, I''m quite happy being not.

We financed our purchase on an 80/20. The 80 is at a GREAT fixed interest rate for 30 years. The 20 prevented us from paying PMI. It''s at a good interest rate (not as good as the 80...) but is only for 10 years. If we applied our savings to the 20% loan, we could actually have it paid off by the middle of next year (total of 1.5 years on the second note). However, DH''s salary is a little strange - a very large percentage of his income is in the form of a year end bonus. Due to the way taxes are taken from his check, we would end up having to make quarterly tax payments each year (because we always owe a significant amount to the IRS at the end of the year).....except that the interest on our loans and the property taxes and other itemized deductions offset our taxable income just enough so that we squeeze through and are exempt from quarterly payments.

Sort of similar to your situation, Mara. Some people wouldn''t be comfortable with the type of financing we have or would pay off the note early since we have the means, but after much thought and after outlining our specific reasons for making our choices, we have decided this is the best route for us.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 6/10/2005 12:30:40 PM
Author: aljdewey
I think he''s not afraid of money, he''s afraid of RISK.

That''s fine for him, and he should make his investments according to his comfort level with risk. He should also be aware that others may have a more tolerant comfort level and be okay with assuming greater risk.

Everyone here is astute enough to realize the inherent risks of the market, but everyone''s personal situations are different. What makes a good decision for him may not be the best decision for others.

al
i loss enough money in the stock market to the point that even if i live to be 100 yrs old ,i will still be taking the $3000 tax write off.

 

[websailor]

I can hardly hear myself think with all the shouting going on in this topic!!!!! It started out as a nice topic and was interesting then, but it seems like it's no longer interesting since it's become all about house loans.

I'd like to make two comments, totally unrelated to the original topic:

1) Personal attacks are a very poor communication style and one which has no place on Pricescope (In My Opinion of course).

2) Four letter curse words, especially when put in all CAPS, have no place on Pricescope.


Speaking just for myself, when a person communicates that way, their message is greatly devalued for me, no matter how accurate or valid it might be.

Lastly, when topics enter into "the hostile zone" (my joking reference), Pricescope is a much less enjoyable place to visit...other web sites tend to get my web surfing time then.

Congrats though to all those who have discussed this topic in it's various sub-topics and have added value without causing harm to each other.

 

[Mara]

Date: 6/11/2005 1:56:39 AM
Author: websailor

it seems like it's no longer interesting since it's become all about house loans.

No longer interesting? Feel free to NOT COMMENT. How are 3 and 6 letter words in all caps working for ya these days?

...other web sites tend to get my web surfing time then.

God, we'd really be SO lucky if that was the case...

Speaking for just myself...

Oops did I just say what I was actually thinking? Imagine if it were a CHAT ROOM!!

 

[jenwill]

OK everyone...

let us take a big giant step back, take a deeeeeep breath, and


Stop the Insanity! Please

I understand that this is an open forum, and as such, everyone should be able to express their opinions. But by this point, the opinions have been stated ad nauseum, no one is going to budge, let it go.

Strong personalities are great, and really add spice to open discussion forums, but now we are at the point on this thread and some others where personality conflicts are taking over- making things a little bit uncomfortable for the rest of us who perhaps do not enjoying sniping.

I love this site, I don''t comment as much as many of you, but I do read all the threads, learn something most of the time and count myself lucky that I found this place. It is starting to become not a happy place to be, aand that is sad.

So please, for the rest of the members, back off a bit.

 

[Mara]

With all due respect, Jen, if you or others are not interested in reading a thread when it has taken a different turn and/or is no longer 'interesting' to you...

DON'T READ IT. DON'T COMMENT ON IT. Do not chime in with hall-monitor remarks and/or a call for peace.

Let it work itself out any which way it will.

I'm sorry, but in real life what do people do when they hear two people arguing and/discussing something they don't agree with? Do they stick their head and say..HEY WAIT here is my opinion and/or I don't agree and/or Could you stop fighting? It's making me sad.

Chances are not. You probably just shake your head and move on your own merry way.

How is a discussion forum any different? Participate if you wish and don't if you do not. Post on what you like and ignore what you don't.

I see plenty of threads where I don't feel like I have anything to add and/or have no interest in commenting or participating whether I agree or disagree. But it seems like certain people just have to have their say in everything, as if everything pertains to them. As if everyone has to always agree. Or always be proper and prim and use the right form of English. Or not cuss. Make sure to wipe your feet at the door.

I say let the cards fall where they may and let people discuss what they may and/or say what they may. People are people and things may get heated now and then when we all have just a touch too much wine. I don't lose any sleep over what happens on PS and I am sure most others don't either.

Leonid will always step in when required and asked (and I'm sure he will on this thread too)...to shut down whatever he deems necessary.

Edited to add that I am sure some will not agree with what I wrote, but I know that others do...there are lots of different personalities here and we may not all get along, but the bottom line to co-exist peacefully if that is what is desired is to not TRY to inflame others with side comments. Just like I would not post in a thread where I found it useless and uninteresting (to say that it was useless and uninteresting)...pick and choose what interests you and go from there.

 

[websailor]

I believe these are the Pricescope "rules" (some of them at least). They come direct from the Forum Policies, see the link below if you''d like to check this.

5. Everyone who participates in this forum is "in it together", Treat others the way you wish to be treated. Don’t start flaming or personal attacks. One way to guard against misunderstandings is to read over your response before you post it.

9. Inflammatory, rude, arrogant and obnoxious behavior will not be tolerated from anyone. Should anyone use inappropriate language, start a personal attack, or engage in hate speech, they will be banned from all further discussions.
10. Do not use foul language, keep your language clean and decent.


Yes conversations do get heated, and sometimes we don''t communicate well with each other. If we all followed some of the very things you mentioned and the Forum Policies, I think everyone would actually get along better and could exchange differing viewpoints and have educational discussions much easier.

 

[pricescope]

It is very sad the things turned out this way because we like most folks on the forum.

We thought that it is possible that people with different view points and temperaments can get along with a bit of courtesy, mutual respect, and sense of humor.

We cannot and we won't take sides with anybody because this is an open forum and we appreciate everyone's contribution.

There are several options:

1. You guys should stop attack each other. Have nothing nice to say - use a PM - do not post negative stuff on the public forum. This is actually the forum policy.

2. To move Hangout from Diamonds to Cafe. It is less about diamonds now anyway. Those who do not enjoy casual chat can simply ignore it.

3. Drastic measure: PM me if you don't like to see somebody else posts and I set up "ignore" option for you. Otherwise, see #1.

Please PM/email me with other suggestions.

Any personal attack against other members will be deleted and threads will be closed. We will consider any instance of this sort as deliberate attempt to degrade this place.

If you see anybody breaching "no personal attack" policy please report it to us. Please also refrain from provoking anybody...