So the Dutch and I need a bigger place for our growing family and I have a fantasy of buying a house here where I grew up.
There are so many problems with that I don't even know where to begin.
1) The houses in this town are all $1 million plus now. That's a monthly payment of what, 6K? That's more than we make.
2) We have an enormous amount of credit card debt. I finally got around to adding it all up. Ugly.
3) We have no down saved. According to something we saw on the nets, it takes a teacher 30 years to save a down for a million dollar house. I hope to retire in fewer than 30 years. Ha!
4) Our beloved family realtor died. I don't want to sound flip. She was a wonderful person and we will miss her dearly. Of course, we should probably take care of numbers 2 and 3 before we waste the time of a new realtor.
5) I don't want to rent for my whole life. I suppose it's possible. What happens when we get old?
6) Did I mention how much student loan debt we have? Also very ugly.
7) I don't want to leave the area. Of course, it's probably inevitable. We'll eventually be priced out.
8) How much do we want to stay? Enough to never go out to eat again? To cancel the kids' music lessons? To never go on a vacation? My parents essentially did this. And it's rough. I appreciate them for the sacrifices they made for us. I want my kids to inherit something, too.
Bigger California Problems.
Number 1 is a BCF. Water capacity, politicians/zoning people who care deeply about making sure we always have a surplus of luxury condos, NIMBY... the list goes on and on. Yes, we live on a peninsula, so land and water is naturally in short supply. Thirty years ago, when prices started going up... did anyone think this would get better on it's own? So many teachers over a certain age all own their own homes. But it is completely beyond my finances now. Dutch would have to start making 3x the amount he is making now. There is no way, even if I worked full time, and was on the top of the pay scale would I be able to afford a house here. Whose fail is that? Who can I blame? Where can I direct my ire? Why is it only tech workers can have the "dream" now? Fuck that.
There are so many problems with that I don't even know where to begin.
1) The houses in this town are all $1 million plus now. That's a monthly payment of what, 6K? That's more than we make.
2) We have an enormous amount of credit card debt. I finally got around to adding it all up. Ugly.
3) We have no down saved. According to something we saw on the nets, it takes a teacher 30 years to save a down for a million dollar house. I hope to retire in fewer than 30 years. Ha!
4) Our beloved family realtor died. I don't want to sound flip. She was a wonderful person and we will miss her dearly. Of course, we should probably take care of numbers 2 and 3 before we waste the time of a new realtor.
5) I don't want to rent for my whole life. I suppose it's possible. What happens when we get old?
6) Did I mention how much student loan debt we have? Also very ugly.
7) I don't want to leave the area. Of course, it's probably inevitable. We'll eventually be priced out.
8) How much do we want to stay? Enough to never go out to eat again? To cancel the kids' music lessons? To never go on a vacation? My parents essentially did this. And it's rough. I appreciate them for the sacrifices they made for us. I want my kids to inherit something, too.
Bigger California Problems.
Number 1 is a BCF. Water capacity, politicians/zoning people who care deeply about making sure we always have a surplus of luxury condos, NIMBY... the list goes on and on. Yes, we live on a peninsula, so land and water is naturally in short supply. Thirty years ago, when prices started going up... did anyone think this would get better on it's own? So many teachers over a certain age all own their own homes. But it is completely beyond my finances now. Dutch would have to start making 3x the amount he is making now. There is no way, even if I worked full time, and was on the top of the pay scale would I be able to afford a house here. Whose fail is that? Who can I blame? Where can I direct my ire? Why is it only tech workers can have the "dream" now? Fuck that.
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Cleaning out my bookmarks this morning... of course keeping the bookmark to the venerable 327Market.
Buying a house in the Bay Area is insane. Where we live in L.A. it's about half the cost of the Bay Area. Still, the down payment is a hurdle.
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