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Is it WORTH the FRUSTRATION?
Hello out there!
I could use some advice from those who have purchased a home... is it worth all the time and frustration??? My husband and I are trying to buy a condo in Silicon Valley (aka- very expensive... we can afford a 2 bed/1 bath place if we get a roommate for the first year or so...). We have put offers on three places so far (usually 10-15k over asking price) and have been outbid every time. We found a place in our ideal location with great facilities (pool and tennis!). BUT, if we dont get this place, I dont know if we should keep looking! We have been looking since december, and there are just very few properties (under 275k) in the area we need to live in (close to husbands work, as he bikes there, we only have one car).
Did it take any one else FOREVER to find a place? Was it worth it in the end??? Every time we find a good place and we lose it, it just really sucks. Now I am finding we are settling due to just wanting to finally get a place...
I would love any comments from those in the same position, now or in the past!
B
Re: Is it WORTH the FRUSTRATION?
Too me it's worth it to find a house or condo. I understand the mark up market as we will in Northern VA. I would say if you don't won't to deal with this again in 3-5 years downsize and save more money renting. I feel the goal should be a town home or house as condo fees take away from money put down or saved.
If you are going condo think of PMI + HOA + Mortgage + Utilities
Tax benefits are a good incentive to buy too. I feel once we purchased a home our lives were not on hold and we were out of the renting phase of not really knowing where we would be every 2 years or so.
Not being able to paint and hang things are walls are a superficial reason not to rent but after I while I feel my life style started to portray "rental" in daily life.
Not sure if you have pets or children but condo living is tough with these life extras. There are pros and cons to no yard or garage, but if you can find one it's a plus.
I am just thinking long term for holidays, birthdays and family functions. We purchased a small town home a few years ago (after loosing 2 to over biding) and we did the biding war on it and found the perfect one. Now we plan to keep in and we have successfully rented it out for positive money. It's hard to do that if you purchase a condo. Either they lose their equity or you will barely break even if you ever had to rent it out. It would suck having to be stuck in a condo that lost it's value plus not being able to move if your condo were to become too small.
I say if you hate this process find something that is a middle move not a lateral move. I know this will not be your "forever" home but push to find a home that you can make money on too!
LAST - with the housing market coming back push for more and buy NOW with interest rates amazing LOW! Good luck!
If you need a roommate in order to afford the house, you cannot afford a house right now.
Keep your housing expenses to no more than 25-28%( or 30-35% if you are in a HCOL area) of your TAKEHOME pay for mortgage+PMI+taxes+insurance+utilities+HOA.
Then you need an emergency fund of 6 + months of expenses still in place after you pay for inspection, closing costs, moving costs, utility deposits, repair and renovation, decorating, furniture/appliances, yard items and assorted misc.
Right now - pay off/down consumer debt, and save more before getting into a house.
ETA: Do NOT buy a house for tax benefits!!! For every 1000 of deductible housing items, you get your tax rate back (280 if you are in the 28% tax bracket) - that is financial foolishness. Many people do not exceed the standard deduction with the current low interest rates if purchasing a low cost home.
Exactly! nothing wrong with renting until you can afford a decent home.
DON'T SETTLE!
It's worth the wait and frustration to find the right home. It took my H and I an entire year to find the right home. We were outbid, or someone beat us to it every time. It actually came down to our realtor's efforts, showing us a home that we loved, and his negotiating the price down for us. I might also note that we actually changed realtors after finding that our first one was just plain unsuccessful for us. If you've been with the same realtor for too many months, it's time to move on.
I will echo PPs in that, if you need a roomie in order to afford that purchase, you should strongly consider not purchasing right now. Now if you simply want a roomate in order to be able to save even more money, that is a different story.
Now for our real estate purgatory story: It took us 18 months to find a house and close. We also switched realtors part way through, and it was a great decision for us. Our first realtor let several houses slip through our hands because he was not proactive about getting us showings. Our second realtor was amazing and we are forever indebted to her awesomeness.
We lost 3 other deals that we were under contract on for one reason or another during that time period. It was extremely frustrating and disappointing, verging on downright maddening. I cannot tell you how many late nights of hand wringing we had during those 18 months. I really thought I might lose my ish on more than one occasion, and Mr. LK was right there with me. Lots of people went on and on about how much fun it is to shop for a house, which would just make us feel even worse. Fun times. Not.
BUT...... it was sooooo worth the wait and heartache!!!!!!!! We love our house. LOVE! Every day that we wake up in it is a very good day. We feel so lucky to have found it. The entire deal just fell into place. If I had to do it all over again, I would. Having a home that we absolutely love to the core is worth all of the heartache to get here. And all of the heartache just helps us to appreciate what we now have that much more.
This is good advice. As to your original question, it was easy for us to actually find a house. The rest of the process has been very frustrating though. We are supposed to close in a few days and I think it will be worth it.
Yep. Or, you need to reconsider your location or your purchase amount.
Thanks for all of the great advice and info. I really like the condo we are looking at now. It has a nice layout and a really cute patio area. It has also been fully updated, so it wont need any immediate work. Here is the MLS link if anyone wants to see it
http://www.mlslistings.com/1730-HALFORD-AV-146-Santa-Clara-CA~i19$1082084$CON
As far as the roommate issue goes, we can *afford* our max without a roommate, but having a roommate will allow us to keep our current style of living (lots of travel, eating out, spur of the moment big purchases).
I dont really like our realtor, and I read a bunch of you switched, so I might give that a go if this condo we are looking at now falls through. Our realtor does not give us any of his time, has not been active in our search (we have contacted him about every property we like... he has never told us about a home except for ones 100k+ over our max budget). He also sometimes takes 1-2 days to respond to our emails/phone calls... it is really frustrating.
Thanks again to all of you!
B
IMHO and this is going to sound harsh but maybe you need a reality check. If you have to get a roommate to keep your lifestyle you still can not afford it. We all have to cut back a little sometime. Especially when you make a purchase this big. What happens when one of you loses your job. What are you going to do then? Get a second roommate? Do you have an emergency fund that will cover at least 6 months of expenses?
I would love to buy a $500K home, but that's just not realistic. Sometimes you will have to make some compromises if you can't afford it. (IE, keep renting or find a different location) I highly recommend you look for something cheaper, so you can keep your lifestyle and NOT have to get a roommate. Do not live beyond your means, you'll be sorry in the end.