Just need to vent...

Only if you aren't underwater. A paid off house can get a reverse mortgage.

One thing seems certain to me, that the constant increase in housing prices isn't sustainable. While some argue that we all should get houses because they appreciate faster than inflation, at some point they just won't be able to. Either that, or vast cities of people will become homeless or need to move to cheaper countries.

Another thing that looms over a new home buyer today is the question if whether housing prices will go down. I like looking at price histories for the properties I'm looking at. All of them are double what they were at the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020. What if they go back down to something closer to that? What if I buy now at the wrong time, then end up under water? Then what if I lose my job?

I think I can only do what seems best at the moment. And at the moment, that doesn't seem to be buying a house (or tiny, old condo).

 

long term, everything goes up. short term, there are bubbles. you don't wan't to buy at the top. it's a tough call though, like the market.
the problem is, money keeps pouring in from retirement investments. it will take quite a depression to make a big difference.

 

It can cost between $20K to $35K to secure reverse Mortgages. Plus there's a max that you can pull out on a reverse ... it ain't a panacea by any means.

 

why so expensive?

 

A house on a lot is the gold standard. Condos are ok if you have trouble taking care of a house. I’ve sat and watched so many couples buy houses, sort of pretend they are here forever, and in exactly two years sell and take their profit. Do this enough times and you end up with a free house. It’s risky though. It takes jumping into the deep end. It hasn’t been very risky here in Calif in this area. But that’s hindsight which is easy to see. The tax code allows up to 500k deduction for a married couple living two years in a house as their primary residence. It’s been jaw dropping actually, seeing them take 500k tax free.

 

If I scrounge around and wait, I might be able to find a house for $500,000, maybe even $400,000. But that would be out of what a bank would even loan me, let alone something I could pay every month.

This condo is literally the only place I might be able to afford that includes the whole thing, not just a trailer on leased land and that wouldn't require me to move somewhere far.

Well, we don't know what the economy will do in the next few years. Will prices go down? How much?

On the other hand, the wife and I lived here for the past 20 years. While buying a home wasn't as important to us as now due to several reasons, but we still have no intent of leaving this place. My boat for buying a home may have sailed. But we'll see what the future brings and try to make good decisions.

 

Beware VERY careful with Condos!!
IMHO they have all of the disadvantages of living in an apartment AND all of the disadvantages of owning a home.

If you think that HOA Nazis are middle aged Karens that yell at vets for flying US flags in their yard or hassle other norms for parking a boat or trailer in their driveway then you haven't seen them in their worst form OR some would say 'best' form.
As I mentioned previously I go to church with a person that lives in a condo and he loves LOVES it.
BUT!!!!
He's a confirmed bachelor with no pets who can afford the monthly maintenance fees, AND could write that five-figure check if some unexpected repairs are necessary.

In other words - condominiums exist because there is a demand for them.
JUST make sure that you know what you're buying before you get writer's cramp signing all of those documents!

 

That's why I haven't dropped the ball on taking even the first step towards getting a loan on the place. It's not at all what we would want. It just seems better than trying to get a job in Oklahoma or Michigan so that we could move to one of those states.

 

There are places that are better than OK or MI and undoubtedly there are worse places.
I would probably not be living where I live at present except for my family which now includes grandchildren and some good friends and neighbors.
If I had no family or friends and could white-sheet a new home?
It might be N.C. - a state that I have not lived in before but one that features both mountains(ish) and the ocean, has abundant rain, four seasons, and is neither fish nor foul politically speaking.

FORTUNATELY I get to live near family and friends.
NO job or amount of money would compel me to leave that behind - but that's easy enough for me to say since even though I'm well down into the bottom half of the earnings distribution here in PC - I'm solidly middle class in America which means I am well above the average global income.

 

That's basically my problem. There are dozens of reasons we want to live where we live, and two big ones are friends and family. Moving where housing is more affordable right now would mean moving for the sole reason of owning a house.

 

My story is different- 40 years ago we did make a move to another area of our state to take a job with an Auto Manufacturer to secure our financial future and build a new future of possibilities for our family and children.

I am glad I did and haven't looked back. We built new friendships and family in our new location while still maintaining our ties with our families which are now 2&3 hours away.

We were able to have opportunities financially, socially and for personal growth that would have never been possible for us if we hadn't moved.

I will be forever indebted to our church family here who provided us with a community that fosters support, friendship and a welcoming attitude to parishioners.

I am a person who believes a person can write their own future in this life with hard work, a positive attitude and adventurous spirit - a person's future is not already written in stone or predestined.

When I got out of the Service as a young adult the world was filled with possibilities- I had job offers in Nebraska and Colorado that were both potential lifetime career opportunities and would have changed my life - but like Dorthy in the Wizard of Oz I kept thinking "There is no Place like home" and came back home to live my life - even though that decision eventually led to a move to a part of our state we could have not ever imagined living in and making new family and friends with people I had never even meant yet while still maintaining old family relationships.

 

Parents - ours were far from shining examples (but that's another vent) - but mom & dad (aerospace work/Boeing/Hughes) were ages 50 & 60 when they 1st applied for a mortgage. So yea - different circumstances but home ownership is possible in the 2nd ½ of life.
The'd rented their house for over 2 decades before they finally started paying a mortgage on it. In a different world - (if dad not been a raging alcoholic), they could have nearly paid it off - if they'd gotten a mortgage on it when we first moved into it back when we were in elementary school. LOL
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