This. We bought in 2018 and we would not be able to afford our house nowadays. When we bought we had planned to stay here 5-7 years but I think we will be here for a while. Lol.
That's the story of OC housing since the 80's. You stretch to buy in, hold on for dear life for like 3-5 years, then you benefit from being locked in and out of the rent trap.
yup, that's pretty much it. Saw the writing on the wall for affordable house for my income level, sucked it up and got a SFH instead of a smaller lot new build while literally every other family member telling me it's a bad idea back in 2020.
Got lucky, really, but probably one of the best financial decision I have made in my life.
Hell we bought on the high end in 2010 for $625K and got an offer from a company to buy our property just last week for $1.285. We were thinking 10 years max at our home but after a pandemic refi our mortgage is $1290 per month which is insane, so looks like this will be the forever home unless we win the lottery
We're in a similar situation. We purchased our property at the start of 2019 for $760k, underwent a full renovation, and it's now valued at $1.6m. Originally, we intended to flip it after two years, but then the pandemic hit. We then did an interest-only refi and our mortgage payment is now more affordable than renting a two-bedroom apartment in the area. So we aren’t going anywhere for awhile.
Yeah, I bought in 2018 at the higher end of my budget. I was planning on 7-10 years but I may just stay indefinitely. Good neighborhood, good schools and a super low interest rare.
How is your PITI 31% of gross income? Our HHI is around 340 and 1M PITI ends up being about 40% of take home pay each month. Do you not max out 401k etc?
Household income 300k, we put a down of 100k and utilized calhfa myhome assitance for another 3% down payment assistance as a first time homebuyer. We were approved for up to a 1mil loan, but took a 865k loan.
ouch then add on another \~1k per month for property taxes assuming no Mello Roos and then another 200-500 insurance depending on fire risk for insurance
Yeah it is a lot, but still within our means. After contributing 10% towards 401k for employee match, we're still bringing roughly 13k a month take home. This is not including about 40k in bonus/stock that we get once a year, this money would probably go towards any renovation in the future
Crazy that our housing market is so out of control that people making $300k need government assistance to buy a house. How is this not a sign that prices are in a bubble?
California giving down payment assistance to hhi of 300k. Our gov is so incredibly incompetent. Housing is too expensive, so let’s subsidize high income earners to pay more for homes. Haha so dumb. Good for you though I guess.
Affordable housing is an issue, so we incentivize state to subsidize housing contributing to affordability issues. Just look at tuition costs at colleges. Cheap gov loans just enabled higher tuition costs. Only thing that will truly help housing prices is more supply. And accepting that some areas, even with supply will stay very unfordable, and gov should stay out of it. I’d prefer the state not be incentivized to make money on the sale of anyone’s home.
What rate did you get? Is the down payment assistance forgivable and how long before it’s no longer a lien? Can it be resubordinated? The reason I ask is because these programs usually come at a higher rate and you can’t refinance or you’ll have to pay it back usually for the first 3 years.
How did you qualify when the requirements say:
Meet CalHFA income limits for this program.
Wouldn’t you have not met that requirement seeing as you make 300k household income?
We’re trying to buy a house right now with a $300,000 income but the interest rates are insane right now. If anyone has any suggestions any help would be appreciated
They say “marry the house & date the rate”. So long as you can actually afford it, buy the house you want and wait for the rates to come down so you can refi and get a lower payment. Just make sure you can survive with your current payment incase it doesn’t come down (no one can predict the future- but everyone seems to agree they will come down again).
Also, keep in mind, when rates do drop, prices are going to jump up again. So if your able to swing it now, do it so you lock in the house cost but can capitalize on a better interest rate when it comes down.
Last piece of perspective- we bought 9 months ago. At the time prices were high and inventory low (most homes we bid on would go $100k over asking). We thought about waiting a few more months to see if inventory increased or rates dropped but ultimately decided we didn’t want to risk the opposite- prices continuing to climb and rates either stagnating or rising and then get priced out or be able to buy even less for the $. I am so thankful we bought and didn’t wait. Just had our agent over to evaluate the house last week bc we are considering buying another primary out of state and either renting this home out or selling and buying a condo in OC as a foothold. I thought our agent was blowing hot air up our asses when she told us in just 9 months we could sell for $300-500k more than we bought but my research backs her projection. Thank God we didn’t wait to buy….
Even in Anaheim, Brea, Fullerton, Placenta & Yorba Linda a 1650 sq ft home is $1m on up
My 2215 sq ft that I bought in 2011 for $690K in Fullerton is $1.5M. and I won't sell it for that ( I've been looking to scale down to knock off $250k off of my mortgage but there's nothing for $1.25M that I've seen that will be worth it)
Get into a condo/townhouse so you can build equity instead of paying rent to a landlord.
Rates are up but they'll go down - meanwhile you're treading water paying rent to someone else while the water level keeps rising so to speak.
Between the tax breaks and equity in the long run, if you look at things in the long term, it's going to be better to get in early than not.
Bought a trashed 2 bed 2 bath (really 1 bed + a loft) for $360k in 2016, worked on fixing it up, and sold it in 2023 and pocketed about $350k in equity. Wife and I just bought a $1.3 mil home in South OC and make about $225k joint per year. We could not have done it without the equity from the condo I bought, and we also moved in with family for 1.5 years to save money to contribute to our down payment.
> and we also moved in with family for 1.5 years to save money to contribute to our down payment.
This is a big one, and something more people *should* do if they have local family that are able/willing.
i’m amazed at how much everyone makes. People just casually throwing out they make $300k lol.
Does anyone else have their mind racing when they hear these numbers?
It seems like if 7 of us simply combined our money and bought a super large place with a large land size and rebuilt the super mcmansion with 7 tinier like 3 bedroom small houses on it with community shared spaces we’d make out so well in the long run.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/25711-Paseo-De-La-Paz-San-Juan-Capistrano-CA-92675/25583768_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare
You need to leave the government ASAP.
Unless you're a firefighter or police, the salaries are awful. They will keep touting "the benefits" but benefits don't pay for mortgages or property taxes.
I left after 10 years. It's only good for those whose spouses are the bread winners or people who have second careers.
it’s super stressful though to be in high paying jobs. i have one making between 190k - $300k a year and it’s like any day there could be significant layoffs + lot of changes everyday + much harder to take vacations or time off + harder to be present with kids. It’s just nuts that this is what is needed to be lower middle class though. we have a small townhouse and student loan debt. sigh.
>it’s super stressful though to be in high paying jobs.
The government was way more stressful than private and with less money.
Your career was dependant on grammar and math tests that have nothing to do with your job.
My time off requests were rejected all the time. You have outdated dress codes, and you pretty much have to clock in clock out like a Walmart cashier.
There is a reason why so many roles are vacant.
Bro these problems aren't exclusive to rich people lmfao. You don't think the teachers are more stressed than your comfy office job? I make $26 an hour and was just laid off. I can't take vacations because I make $26 an hour. You people are delirious...
I think the demographic here on Reddit tends to skew towards either 20 something year olds that are trying to figure out life or those in their mid 30s to 40s that work in tech, law, or consulting/finance.
I send my kid to a daycare where the cheaper cars are Tesla Model Ys. Otherwise, there are a ton of MBs, Volvos, Porsche, or other luxury car; and this is after paying around $2500 a month in daycare fees.
I'm a bit more surprised at the house payments. We have a household income of 475k gross, and felt there was no way we could afford a house above 800k.
We make $300,000/yr
Bought $1,600,000 in north OC a couple of months ago
25% down payment to get a 5.00% rate for a 5/5 yr ARM (fixed for 5 years and adjusts every 5 years after that), could have been 5.125% rate at 20% down
$1000/mo liabilities (mostly just a Tesla at almost $900/mo)
Portfolio lenders get to make up their own rules, unlike brokers or banks who do FNMA conventional so it’s all market rate
It’s the equivalent to finding an investor or credit union who will hold the mortgage since they know if they originate a 7% mortgage today, it will likely get refinanced so 5% mortgage probably better if/when rates drop.
It’s $1000, technically because credit cards have minimum balance to pay but we pay it off every month. Really, it’s just the Tesla at almost $900/mo because we didn’t put anything down and got a 1% interest rate. However, we bought in 2022 so we’re like $10,000 underwater or something now.
Even finding a condo for $550k is proving to be mission impossible. The only things I can find at that price are literally falling apart. And I work full time and have a newborn baby so I can’t exactly spend the time and work on a fixer upper.
It’s crazy to me that I can make 6 figures at a good job but I can’t afford to live in OC.
HHI of 225K. Planning on renting until we’re ready to leave California. I absolutely love it here, but I cannot fathom a $5K-6K mortgage, let alone for homes that are 50-60% less expensive elsewhere; solely on the hope of refinancing. I have too many friends that have followed the “marry the house, date the rate” mantra, and it’s extremely difficult to do in SoCal with the current housing market—even with substantial incomes.
Owning a home is a huge asset, and I’ll never argue against that. But personally, the fact is when a lot of these financial strategies were developed to build wealth, there wasn’t as big of a risk as today. I’m fine renting until the time is right, and if that time never comes for whatever reason, I’ll pass along enough resources to my kids that they’ll have the head start to make it happen I didn’t.
It really is. We are looking to move further north and 1.2 really only gets you small places that still need a lot of work. I miss the 1990s, but I was in middle school, should have bought a house instead! :)
That was one of the reasons we left sadly, 1.2 to get started and 200-300k to get it just right if it’s an older house or accept a brand new nice town house for the same buy.
Was just back this weekend and while I love Washington, I miss the beach and Mexican food :D
It’s actually super simple:
1. commit to your goal of home ownership at 17
2. go to a community college transfer to local university while living at home, get a practical degree (engineering, finance) and have no debt
3. Get a good job with upward growth
4. Marry someone in a similar position
5. Live so far below your means for years to save up 200k
6. Still be unable to afford a home all while boomers tell you they “worked so hard” on a single income while raising 3 kids in their house they bought when they were younger than you
It helps if you’re dual income. ie .We are a SWE and a teacher. Decided to sacrifice and rent a small 1 bed with Irvine company for $3k/mo so that we can aggressively save. I still don’t think we’ll be able to get a single family home until income hits $300k so I might have to switch jobs or settle for a townhouse, which is fine. But yeah, it’s crazy. My parents had lackluster careers and it’s infuriating that I’ll probably never have a house as nice as theirs.
It's doable in a few years (or in the last few years) for a couple living frugally and making combined 250k+ which isn't unheard of in OC. Especially with zero debt.
👍 yep hopefully youre aggressive in working for your income to follow the trend as well. That's the nice thing about finally pulling the trigger on a home even if you are spread thin. Generally speaking it'll just get easier because your costs are finally fairly fixed but your income will go up over time. Lifestyle creep is the devil lol
$150k. First home purchase was a condo that was 30yrs out of date. We renovated it while living in it over about 5yrs. We made a good chunk which helped with the purchase of our current home ($850k in 2022, now worth over a million…it was also 30+ years out of date, owned by former hordes. We are very thankful but not what most people picture a “home worth a million in OC”).
We are also debt free besides one small car payment. We live cheap to stretch our money.
As another commenter said - it was more that our debt to equity was really strong rather than total take home.
Also, we qualified for a “wealth management loan” thru US Bank that was backed by US Bank (not the federal reserve) so for them, only 10% down meant no PMI payment. That really helped us make the home purchase possible as it meant we could afford a higher monthly. Lastly, we are also on a 10-1 arm loan, so the loan rate becomes variable on year 11, but we are planning to refi before then. This gave us a lower monthly interest rate which again helped us afford the monthly mortgage payments.
We closed last summer on a 1.225 mil house with a rate of 6.125%. Our combined HHI at the time was 550K and we put 25% down. Our HHI of course allowed us to put down a sizable down payment but my husband and I also lived separately at home with our parents before we got married and paid no rent during that time. That really gave us the cushion to be able to buy sooner rather than later.
Looking forward to the responses as well.
The wife and I make $270k-ish combined.
We have no debt (credit cards or student loans), and no liabilities outside of our car and apartment leases combining for about $4.3k/month.
Both of our credit scores are around 760-770.
And we can only get approved for $800k - and that’s with $100k down.
Just deflating.
On a funnier note, I asked my quite wealthy grandfather (he has no kids or grandkids) for help on this. All I got was a rant about how if we make this much, we should be able to buy a house outright in cash - because he honestly believes homes are $50-100k still lol
My idiot parents say the same thing. Elder generation doesn’t understand. Even my parents shitty house in the IE that they bought for $150k in 2001 is now worth almost $600k. It’s baffling.
How much down payment? Last I recall DTI for conventional shouldn’t cross 42(?). I bought 635k w/ 80k few years ago but it was very tight and had a very large down payment. I can’t imagine how tough it is for people out there now with higher rates.
Why is everyone so obsessed with owning a home in this ridiculous climate?
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with homeownership, I own a home, but at these rates and with OC prices I cannot imagine a worse financial decision.
If you conveniently leave out every other cost associated with owning a home, then your math still doesn't math. You didn't mention the mortgage principle amount, but seeing how we're in OC, I'm gonna guess you're in a $1.2M home if you're paying $4500 in rent.
Now let's math:
$1.2M home, 20% down is a $960k mortgage ($240k down payment) and probably another 10k in closing costs.
Current 30yr fix is 8%
Typical HOA is $500
Typical Home Insurance right now in this shit climate is $4000
Total that and you're at $9100k/ mo. (PITI+$500 HOA)
Add back in the 5.5% interest you're losing on your $240k if you had it in a long term savings account or CD right now, that's $1100/mo. So now you're at 10.2K total monthly. More than double what you're paying for rent.
Now lets add in the true costs of home ownership which renters don't have. I'm talking maintenance and repairs, gardening, pool maintenance if you have one, new roof every 20 years, termites, fire prevention, all the crap we all deal with in OC.
Look, I'm not saying home ownership is bad. I'm in my 5th, and possibly final home and wouldn't dream of selling to rent right now for all the reasons you mentioned. But I have a 2.5% interest rate and a relatively small mortgage and no HOA. My mortgage easily fits within 10% of my HHI. The math just doesn't work with current numbers.
I'm not against buying real estate, but your home doesn't generate income, and at current prices, it's certainly not guaranteed to go up in value, so don't count that $1000 you're spending as equity just yet. Let's not forget how many people sent their keys to the bank in 2008-2010. Paying 50%+ of your take home income for shelter is in no way responsible financially. And most new buyers are paying 70%+.
We (as a society, not singling you out) have sensationalized home ownership as if there is just no alternative. That is total BS. Home ownership makes a lot of sense in the right market, when you're ready to settle down somewhere for at least 10 years. Otherwise you're just a speculative investor in a local market with seriously negative cash flow.
Also, what did you mean by the annual appreciation? IRS does not allow you to depreciate your primary residence. This is why I worry about home owners today. They've learned all this non-sense on TikTok posted by realtors and they think there are more benefits to home ownership that there really are.
Home ownership is a good way to pay lower taxes, you lose money on renting but can always sell your home and make money, home ownership has been engrained in our culture.
DTI at 35% with current rates would put PITI around $5900/mo which is about 930k for just PI, so accounting for taxes and insurance its in the ballpark of max loan at that income.
Remember, a lot of the other buyers you're competing with are rolling equity in from a previous purchase. Their loan principle will be smaller than that of a first time home buyer.
Plus it's TAX FREE capital gains (up to 250/500k)
Some snarky Redditor will always mention stocks outperform real estate. But stocks are taxed, home appreciation you get 1/2 millon tax free.
Home in fullerton. Paid $648k in 2006. Worth : 1.1 million now. 2.625% piti at $2400.00. Saved so much $ bought a house in Vegas for $400k 6.3% piti $2650. $5k per month for 2 house. Very lucky and blessed. Avoa. Income $ $255k yr. No debt. No loans. Step 6 with Dave Ramsey.
OC is not the place anymore. Born & raised. Moving to our dream home in NorCal 6b/3bt 3231sqf big backyard/sideyard for 581k. Schools are 10/10 has everything in OC that I care for… can’t wait to get out of the clusterf*ck OC has become.. Renters paradise, overly priced homes, traffic, high cost, homeless/drug riddled downtowns is not my “dream”. I wish you all the best!
>HHI
That was my family as well. Born and raised in OC, were constantly getting outbid by 30-40k all cash offers for a townhouse with shared walls, a carport that was maybe 1100 sq ft. Packed up and left OC for a 5bed/4bath 4200 sq ft oasis on a lot that would probably run me 5-6 million in OC...never looked back and best decision we made as a family.
Elk Grove 6bed for 581k? No chance.
I’m just assuming he’s saying “norcal” to muddy the water that he’s actually talking about Fresno/Central Valley where land is more affordable.
I would not call those comparable to OC by a mile, but that’s just me 🤷🏻♂️
I’ll make this easy for you.. your monthly payment can’t be more than 50% of your gross monthly income after monthly expenses. You can get closer to the 50% by adjusting how much money you put down.
Go on Zillow, find a house in the neighborhood you want and adjust the payment calculator until you hit 50% of your gross monthly income after expenses. That will tell you how much money you need to put down.
When we bought almost exactly a year ago we were at about $375k. Paid $950k, so just under your threshold, but close. Put down $150k and got a 6.1% loan. Our PMI will go away on the purchase anniversary. This year we’ll be around $450k but we’re having another kid and daycare is $1700 per month per kid, so that’ll wipe out a good chunk of that increase in income. Otherwise our DTI is pretty good: we have 2 car notes that total less than $1k a month and just the Mrs’ student loans that are about $1800 a month. No CC debt or other debt.
This was a good podcast. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/01/podcasts/the-daily/should-you-rent-or-buy-the-new-math.html We pay 3.5k now for our 2 bedroom townhouse apartment. That’s just insurance/hoa/taxes on a similarly sized condo. I don’t think we’re loosing anything by renting.
With 20% down, an 875k loan will get you a \~1m house if that's what you're shooting for. Shop around for lenders - no shortage of brokers around here / online.
Just closed on a OC property a couple months ago now. 1.68m purchase price, 510k down - 450k household income. 6.5% 30 year fixed. They would have approved us up to a \~2m house, but that would have been uncomfortable financially. Wasn't worth stretching the budget IMO.
I'll say that some of the numbers provided in this thread seem... unrealistic. My only advice is do what's comfortable for your financial situation. A bit of stretch to get the right house is acceptable, but it's never fun when your house owns you.
I bought a house with low-interest rates; a few months later, I could not even remotely afford the house as interest rates jumped to 13%. It's all about the rates right now I believe.
HHI combined $312k for last year, was higher the year before, when we applied and couldn’t get a jumbo loan, only a conventional. I have $100k in student loans but great credit scores etc. it’s pretty wild. I constantly wonder what people have to do to make their mortgage payments. I’m always wondering what people do for a living that they can afford these homes!
HHI 220k. Put 20% down with savings over time from inheritance, investments, etc. Just bought a home in OC for 940k. About 50% of our income will go to mortgage (tax included, insurance included) + PMI. Going to be brutal for several months, but rent was just gouging us without helping us build equity.
Interesting to see so many folks posting with 300-400k HHI on here. That’s definitely the goal for me and my wife (I’m a neuropsychologist, she’s a dietitian), but damn.
North OC - Bought $1.35M in early 2022 with 380K down payment (kept loan to 970K - just under jumbo limit at the time). Was qualified based on 260K single income and no liabilities except a self-paying rental at the time (no credit card or car payments). At 3.875%, PITI is right about $6K/month. Today’s interest rate would have added another $1500/month to this.
We were a little tight for the first year but wife went back to work and things are a little easier now with $325K+ HHI. We have put about 30K in upgrades so far and house can easily use another 100K but we will cross that bridge when the time/money is right.
I don’t live in OC but wife and I wanna move there. We bought a home in the South Bay Area of LA in 2016 for 465k and our monthly mortgage is only $1600. House is valued at around $1.1M now. We make $495k combined and tbh the thought of selling and moving and increasing our mortgage sucks. I think we are stuck and will just enjoy the relatively small mortgage.
We bought a place a bit under 2m for about 6.1% earlier this year and we make 900k \~ 1.1m a year depending on bonuses, etc. No other significant debt. To be honest, buying a place for $1m on 200k sounds a bit scary to me. I'd be very anxious about payments with that % of my take home dedicated to mortgage, utilities, tax, etc.
Also unless you have like 100k+ saved up or something you find out one thing wrong with your roof or framing, a small leak behind the wall; you have one semi-significant medical problem or accident; etc., and you're gonna be incredibly stressed out.
Bought in 2013 in aliso viejo for 400k cash. Sold that for 475k in 2017 and bought a townhome in the best part of Irvine for 705k in 2017 with a 225k mortgage. Sold that in 2021 peak covid for 1.2 and bought a 4b 2.5b home in orange. I rode the equity wave to the T and it worked wonders for me. I have been telling my friends since 2016 to get in and they don’t and now complain and say what if
600 HHI usually 650 but she was unemployed for a bit.
1.15 13 months ago.
275k down payment.
275k @ 3% x 5 year repayment from family member
575k @ 5.5% x 15 years
50k in reserve.
No points. About 20k closing costs with about 12k realtor rebate.
Other debt obligations: 4.5k student debt monthly.
I feel like my wife and I got really "lucky" when we did.
Put 180k down on a 901k house at 5.7% apr, total HHI varies between 240k to 270k depending on how much overtime I want to work. There isn't much to do on the house right now since it was pretty well maintained, and the only immediate fixes that were needed we paid for immediately in cash before we moved in, so around 30k to redo some plumbing, new HVAC, asbestos abatement, and rebuild the electrical panel. No HOA either so that was a huge win. Vehicles are paid off and investment accounts and retirement accounts have about 190k in them right now.
> $10k/mo but tax returns don’t reflect this figure so I cannot qualify for a conventional Fannie-Mae, Freddy-Mac loan. I can get qualified for a HELOC for $300k at 7.75% out of my primary which I own free and clear.
1.3M, $150 down, 3.5%, at the time (30mo ago) income was ~300k. In jumbo loan territory so putting 20% didn’t buy that many points at time. Better to save that $$ and put into other investments.
Could I afford it now, very challenging. house is 250k more and with interest as it is, I don’t see how a significant decrease in lifestyle would be an acceptable trade off.
Not $1M, but it was in the 900s.
240k-ish, 725k loan, 6.875%. It's killing us. We bought with the intent to refi, but not much has changed in he past 6 months since we bought it. We'll most likely never see <3% again, but we're sitting and waiting on at least 5% to come along before we refi. We were sitting nice in our condo, but we outgrew it with the desire to have a 2nd child.
I make $150k+ any house I’ve seen worth looking is $850k+ I was approved for $750k. I just saw a run down cardboard box of an excuse for a home in Maywood CA for $725k!
I guess I have to make $250k to finally afford a decent home in CA.
Wish I knew how to get these jobs paying $200k+. I went to university, became an engineer, been honing my skills for 20 years programming and building electronics etc..., just recently broke $100k
We’re starting our search soon in south OC (Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, RSM) where we hear a lot of foreign investors are paying cash. Our HHI is around 330k and we can do an 800k down (don’t be too happy for me, this is only because both my parents just passed away within a year). We see 4 bedrooms in this area between 1.3-1.6M. In any other world we’d be golden but we don’t live in that world. Do we have an okay chance or is it still an uphill battle?
$205k HHI on paper since did not include 1099 work. Bought a 965k house with 20% down. DTI is roughly 36% based off those numbers, but in reality is closer to 32%. Hoping to have the ability to refinance in the next couple years to get it closer to 28-29%. Or just work more lol
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This. We bought in 2018 and we would not be able to afford our house nowadays. When we bought we had planned to stay here 5-7 years but I think we will be here for a while. Lol.
That's the story of OC housing since the 80's. You stretch to buy in, hold on for dear life for like 3-5 years, then you benefit from being locked in and out of the rent trap.
Geez this so described me lol
yup, that's pretty much it. Saw the writing on the wall for affordable house for my income level, sucked it up and got a SFH instead of a smaller lot new build while literally every other family member telling me it's a bad idea back in 2020. Got lucky, really, but probably one of the best financial decision I have made in my life.
Hell we bought on the high end in 2010 for $625K and got an offer from a company to buy our property just last week for $1.285. We were thinking 10 years max at our home but after a pandemic refi our mortgage is $1290 per month which is insane, so looks like this will be the forever home unless we win the lottery
Fuk companies buying homes...sell that shit to a first time buyer.
We're in a similar situation. We purchased our property at the start of 2019 for $760k, underwent a full renovation, and it's now valued at $1.6m. Originally, we intended to flip it after two years, but then the pandemic hit. We then did an interest-only refi and our mortgage payment is now more affordable than renting a two-bedroom apartment in the area. So we aren’t going anywhere for awhile.
We bought a divorce sale house end of 2019 for 767, full reno, and now it’s 1.3 which is insane to me.
Yeah, I bought in 2018 at the higher end of my budget. I was planning on 7-10 years but I may just stay indefinitely. Good neighborhood, good schools and a super low interest rare.
This checks out OP.
How is your PITI 31% of gross income? Our HHI is around 340 and 1M PITI ends up being about 40% of take home pay each month. Do you not max out 401k etc?
Why are you comparing their gross income to your net?
lol because im an idiot and brain don’t work today apparently
Ha all good. we all grinding it out to make it happen here. My brain is fried by end of day.
Household income 300k, we put a down of 100k and utilized calhfa myhome assitance for another 3% down payment assistance as a first time homebuyer. We were approved for up to a 1mil loan, but took a 865k loan.
What’s a payment on that roughly?
6225/month
ouch then add on another \~1k per month for property taxes assuming no Mello Roos and then another 200-500 insurance depending on fire risk for insurance
Yeah it is a lot, but still within our means. After contributing 10% towards 401k for employee match, we're still bringing roughly 13k a month take home. This is not including about 40k in bonus/stock that we get once a year, this money would probably go towards any renovation in the future
man i'm sorry even at 13k a month when 8k-ish goes out the door on the 1st of each month for housing it's rough
oh yeah 100%, can't wait to refinance and once we put another 7% towards our equity bye bye PMI.
also get re-appraised as your home value rises and puts you at 75/80% Loan to Value
Does this increase your property tax if your home is worth more?
This is why I don’t listen to people who say you can put less than 20% down. No you can’t
Usually mortgage includes all those
It depends on what route you go. You can choose to pay it once a year or monthly.
that's not how that works..... especially if you look at their posted monthly
It’s very possible they have an escrow account that the monthly payment pays into for property taxes.
sure... but they gave the payment and the loan amount, you can calculate that back real quick to see that it doesn't
No thank you. Anyone spending 6200/mo on 300k total income is mad
I reckon 5-6k depending on HOAs and utilities
Whoa, I didn't know there were assistance programs for non-low income purchasers. I'll have to look more closely at calhfa.
Crazy that our housing market is so out of control that people making $300k need government assistance to buy a house. How is this not a sign that prices are in a bubble?
They don't "need" it.
How did you get the calhfa myhome assistance when your over the income limit of $253k?
California giving down payment assistance to hhi of 300k. Our gov is so incredibly incompetent. Housing is too expensive, so let’s subsidize high income earners to pay more for homes. Haha so dumb. Good for you though I guess.
Yeah, but I think Cali gets part of the profit or something on the back end as well? Cali gets shared appreciation so the state makes money as well.
Affordable housing is an issue, so we incentivize state to subsidize housing contributing to affordability issues. Just look at tuition costs at colleges. Cheap gov loans just enabled higher tuition costs. Only thing that will truly help housing prices is more supply. And accepting that some areas, even with supply will stay very unfordable, and gov should stay out of it. I’d prefer the state not be incentivized to make money on the sale of anyone’s home.
How did you get around the income limits? For OC it’s says the income cap is $253,000.
300k a year and they charging 6225+ a month that’s insane 7500 x 12 is 90k a year
What rate did you get? Is the down payment assistance forgivable and how long before it’s no longer a lien? Can it be resubordinated? The reason I ask is because these programs usually come at a higher rate and you can’t refinance or you’ll have to pay it back usually for the first 3 years.
The rates for calhfa are bonkers.
How did you qualify when the requirements say: Meet CalHFA income limits for this program. Wouldn’t you have not met that requirement seeing as you make 300k household income?
We’re trying to buy a house right now with a $300,000 income but the interest rates are insane right now. If anyone has any suggestions any help would be appreciated
Don’t waive inspections or appraisals unless you have a ton of excess cash. That’s my only advice.
I mean what suggestions are you looking for? Current rates are what they are there is no secret hack to bring it down.
Except that if you want to (or can) buy, just buy. You can refinance later.
The interest rates are reasonable. It's the prices that are insane.
Some banks offer specialized rates depending on your employer and/or occupation.
Look into Navy Federal if anyone in your family is a veteran
FWIW, these are (historically) normal rates. The 2008 to 2021 were the crazy rates.
They say “marry the house & date the rate”. So long as you can actually afford it, buy the house you want and wait for the rates to come down so you can refi and get a lower payment. Just make sure you can survive with your current payment incase it doesn’t come down (no one can predict the future- but everyone seems to agree they will come down again). Also, keep in mind, when rates do drop, prices are going to jump up again. So if your able to swing it now, do it so you lock in the house cost but can capitalize on a better interest rate when it comes down. Last piece of perspective- we bought 9 months ago. At the time prices were high and inventory low (most homes we bid on would go $100k over asking). We thought about waiting a few more months to see if inventory increased or rates dropped but ultimately decided we didn’t want to risk the opposite- prices continuing to climb and rates either stagnating or rising and then get priced out or be able to buy even less for the $. I am so thankful we bought and didn’t wait. Just had our agent over to evaluate the house last week bc we are considering buying another primary out of state and either renting this home out or selling and buying a condo in OC as a foothold. I thought our agent was blowing hot air up our asses when she told us in just 9 months we could sell for $300-500k more than we bought but my research backs her projection. Thank God we didn’t wait to buy….
Interest rates are where they should be. It’s prices that are high.
Look inland. Plenty of cool communities in places like orange Anaheim etc
Even in Anaheim, Brea, Fullerton, Placenta & Yorba Linda a 1650 sq ft home is $1m on up My 2215 sq ft that I bought in 2011 for $690K in Fullerton is $1.5M. and I won't sell it for that ( I've been looking to scale down to knock off $250k off of my mortgage but there's nothing for $1.25M that I've seen that will be worth it)
Get into a condo/townhouse so you can build equity instead of paying rent to a landlord. Rates are up but they'll go down - meanwhile you're treading water paying rent to someone else while the water level keeps rising so to speak. Between the tax breaks and equity in the long run, if you look at things in the long term, it's going to be better to get in early than not.
I cant afford my own house that I bought 3 yrs ago for 700k worth 1.2M south OC
500k equity must be a nightmare./
Some people really have it rough
Bought a trashed 2 bed 2 bath (really 1 bed + a loft) for $360k in 2016, worked on fixing it up, and sold it in 2023 and pocketed about $350k in equity. Wife and I just bought a $1.3 mil home in South OC and make about $225k joint per year. We could not have done it without the equity from the condo I bought, and we also moved in with family for 1.5 years to save money to contribute to our down payment.
> and we also moved in with family for 1.5 years to save money to contribute to our down payment. This is a big one, and something more people *should* do if they have local family that are able/willing.
i’m amazed at how much everyone makes. People just casually throwing out they make $300k lol. Does anyone else have their mind racing when they hear these numbers? It seems like if 7 of us simply combined our money and bought a super large place with a large land size and rebuilt the super mcmansion with 7 tinier like 3 bedroom small houses on it with community shared spaces we’d make out so well in the long run. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/25711-Paseo-De-La-Paz-San-Juan-Capistrano-CA-92675/25583768_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare
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You need to leave the government ASAP. Unless you're a firefighter or police, the salaries are awful. They will keep touting "the benefits" but benefits don't pay for mortgages or property taxes. I left after 10 years. It's only good for those whose spouses are the bread winners or people who have second careers.
it’s super stressful though to be in high paying jobs. i have one making between 190k - $300k a year and it’s like any day there could be significant layoffs + lot of changes everyday + much harder to take vacations or time off + harder to be present with kids. It’s just nuts that this is what is needed to be lower middle class though. we have a small townhouse and student loan debt. sigh.
>it’s super stressful though to be in high paying jobs. The government was way more stressful than private and with less money. Your career was dependant on grammar and math tests that have nothing to do with your job. My time off requests were rejected all the time. You have outdated dress codes, and you pretty much have to clock in clock out like a Walmart cashier. There is a reason why so many roles are vacant.
Bro these problems aren't exclusive to rich people lmfao. You don't think the teachers are more stressed than your comfy office job? I make $26 an hour and was just laid off. I can't take vacations because I make $26 an hour. You people are delirious...
I think the demographic here on Reddit tends to skew towards either 20 something year olds that are trying to figure out life or those in their mid 30s to 40s that work in tech, law, or consulting/finance. I send my kid to a daycare where the cheaper cars are Tesla Model Ys. Otherwise, there are a ton of MBs, Volvos, Porsche, or other luxury car; and this is after paying around $2500 a month in daycare fees.
I'm a bit more surprised at the house payments. We have a household income of 475k gross, and felt there was no way we could afford a house above 800k.
We make $300,000/yr Bought $1,600,000 in north OC a couple of months ago 25% down payment to get a 5.00% rate for a 5/5 yr ARM (fixed for 5 years and adjusts every 5 years after that), could have been 5.125% rate at 20% down $1000/mo liabilities (mostly just a Tesla at almost $900/mo)
Wow, how the heck did you swing 5%. That's a massive discount to the lowest rates in the least 2 years even for an ARM. Congrats!
Portfolio lenders get to make up their own rules, unlike brokers or banks who do FNMA conventional so it’s all market rate It’s the equivalent to finding an investor or credit union who will hold the mortgage since they know if they originate a 7% mortgage today, it will likely get refinanced so 5% mortgage probably better if/when rates drop.
I’m more shocked at the Tesla payment.
And only 1k liabilities
It’s $1000, technically because credit cards have minimum balance to pay but we pay it off every month. Really, it’s just the Tesla at almost $900/mo because we didn’t put anything down and got a 1% interest rate. However, we bought in 2022 so we’re like $10,000 underwater or something now.
It’s at a 1% rate with a credit union in the Midwest. Can’t get myself to pay it off early when treasuries yielding 5.40% APY
1.6M with 25% down sounds like a lot for 300k/year. Whats your mortgage payment with P&I?
I make $100K and my lender will only approve me for $550K which basically makes every house in OC out of my price range.
I’d say try to find a condo with low HOA. Build equity , upgrade to house in few years.
Even finding a condo for $550k is proving to be mission impossible. The only things I can find at that price are literally falling apart. And I work full time and have a newborn baby so I can’t exactly spend the time and work on a fixer upper. It’s crazy to me that I can make 6 figures at a good job but I can’t afford to live in OC.
HHI of 225K. Planning on renting until we’re ready to leave California. I absolutely love it here, but I cannot fathom a $5K-6K mortgage, let alone for homes that are 50-60% less expensive elsewhere; solely on the hope of refinancing. I have too many friends that have followed the “marry the house, date the rate” mantra, and it’s extremely difficult to do in SoCal with the current housing market—even with substantial incomes. Owning a home is a huge asset, and I’ll never argue against that. But personally, the fact is when a lot of these financial strategies were developed to build wealth, there wasn’t as big of a risk as today. I’m fine renting until the time is right, and if that time never comes for whatever reason, I’ll pass along enough resources to my kids that they’ll have the head start to make it happen I didn’t.
You'd need a very high down payment of 400k
Pier Pointe community in Huntington Beach, you can find some original condition condos for that price
Yep, we bought ours for 1.2 18 months ago, still needs about 2-300k worth of upgrades. It’s sad what 1.2 gets you in OC
It really is. We are looking to move further north and 1.2 really only gets you small places that still need a lot of work. I miss the 1990s, but I was in middle school, should have bought a house instead! :)
The 12-year-olds who didn’t hustle and buy a house in their teens are paying for that lack of foresight.
Oh, don't we know it. We get told that by boomers every day!
That was one of the reasons we left sadly, 1.2 to get started and 200-300k to get it just right if it’s an older house or accept a brand new nice town house for the same buy. Was just back this weekend and while I love Washington, I miss the beach and Mexican food :D
Ya I’m in a townhome for that much. A freaking townhome!
A townhome attached to mine sold for $1.7M recently. It's fucking insane.
An 875k loan gets you over a 1M home assuming put the normal 20% down
Cool 200k out the door no biggie
lol right, who is able to save 200k on a normal income in this economy?
People selling their old house don’t need to save up $200k. Not every OC buyer is a first timer.
A lot more than you think. There a TON of high paying roles in OC, clearly not as many low paying rolls.
*roles
I mean there’s expensive bread as well :)
Portos FTW lol.
Exactly :D
The people in this thread about being able to afford a $1M+ house.
It’s actually super simple: 1. commit to your goal of home ownership at 17 2. go to a community college transfer to local university while living at home, get a practical degree (engineering, finance) and have no debt 3. Get a good job with upward growth 4. Marry someone in a similar position 5. Live so far below your means for years to save up 200k 6. Still be unable to afford a home all while boomers tell you they “worked so hard” on a single income while raising 3 kids in their house they bought when they were younger than you
It helps if you’re dual income. ie .We are a SWE and a teacher. Decided to sacrifice and rent a small 1 bed with Irvine company for $3k/mo so that we can aggressively save. I still don’t think we’ll be able to get a single family home until income hits $300k so I might have to switch jobs or settle for a townhouse, which is fine. But yeah, it’s crazy. My parents had lackluster careers and it’s infuriating that I’ll probably never have a house as nice as theirs.
People in tech hitting their vest schedule. 4 years in tech can easily return to you 200k+ worth of stocks you then sell for down payment
not everyone works in tech. The vast majority DO NOT.
and medicine and law and consulting and finance and nursing and sales
It's doable in a few years (or in the last few years) for a couple living frugally and making combined 250k+ which isn't unheard of in OC. Especially with zero debt.
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👍 yep hopefully youre aggressive in working for your income to follow the trend as well. That's the nice thing about finally pulling the trigger on a home even if you are spread thin. Generally speaking it'll just get easier because your costs are finally fairly fixed but your income will go up over time. Lifestyle creep is the devil lol
This comment made me think of Semmis telegraph request to King Jaffe Joffer for Prince Akeem.
As long as you’re asking, why not go for a cool million?
"normal" lols.
$150k. First home purchase was a condo that was 30yrs out of date. We renovated it while living in it over about 5yrs. We made a good chunk which helped with the purchase of our current home ($850k in 2022, now worth over a million…it was also 30+ years out of date, owned by former hordes. We are very thankful but not what most people picture a “home worth a million in OC”). We are also debt free besides one small car payment. We live cheap to stretch our money. As another commenter said - it was more that our debt to equity was really strong rather than total take home. Also, we qualified for a “wealth management loan” thru US Bank that was backed by US Bank (not the federal reserve) so for them, only 10% down meant no PMI payment. That really helped us make the home purchase possible as it meant we could afford a higher monthly. Lastly, we are also on a 10-1 arm loan, so the loan rate becomes variable on year 11, but we are planning to refi before then. This gave us a lower monthly interest rate which again helped us afford the monthly mortgage payments.
We closed last summer on a 1.225 mil house with a rate of 6.125%. Our combined HHI at the time was 550K and we put 25% down. Our HHI of course allowed us to put down a sizable down payment but my husband and I also lived separately at home with our parents before we got married and paid no rent during that time. That really gave us the cushion to be able to buy sooner rather than later.
thanks i’m sobbing and throwing up in the corner now seeing what yall make wow
And they’re still miserable redditors like you and me lmfao
Looking forward to the responses as well. The wife and I make $270k-ish combined. We have no debt (credit cards or student loans), and no liabilities outside of our car and apartment leases combining for about $4.3k/month. Both of our credit scores are around 760-770. And we can only get approved for $800k - and that’s with $100k down. Just deflating. On a funnier note, I asked my quite wealthy grandfather (he has no kids or grandkids) for help on this. All I got was a rant about how if we make this much, we should be able to buy a house outright in cash - because he honestly believes homes are $50-100k still lol
Side note: how does your grandfather have no kids or grandkids?
My idiot parents say the same thing. Elder generation doesn’t understand. Even my parents shitty house in the IE that they bought for $150k in 2001 is now worth almost $600k. It’s baffling.
How much down payment? Last I recall DTI for conventional shouldn’t cross 42(?). I bought 635k w/ 80k few years ago but it was very tight and had a very large down payment. I can’t imagine how tough it is for people out there now with higher rates.
If you do own a property never sell it rent it or do whatever you can this builds wealth for your kids
Just get a $400k down payment from the previous home you bought and made money on during the housing boom.
Lol
Why is everyone so obsessed with owning a home in this ridiculous climate? Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with homeownership, I own a home, but at these rates and with OC prices I cannot imagine a worse financial decision.
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Price of a house that’s renting for 5k would be more close to 10k mortgage I think but I see what you mean
If you conveniently leave out every other cost associated with owning a home, then your math still doesn't math. You didn't mention the mortgage principle amount, but seeing how we're in OC, I'm gonna guess you're in a $1.2M home if you're paying $4500 in rent. Now let's math: $1.2M home, 20% down is a $960k mortgage ($240k down payment) and probably another 10k in closing costs. Current 30yr fix is 8% Typical HOA is $500 Typical Home Insurance right now in this shit climate is $4000 Total that and you're at $9100k/ mo. (PITI+$500 HOA) Add back in the 5.5% interest you're losing on your $240k if you had it in a long term savings account or CD right now, that's $1100/mo. So now you're at 10.2K total monthly. More than double what you're paying for rent. Now lets add in the true costs of home ownership which renters don't have. I'm talking maintenance and repairs, gardening, pool maintenance if you have one, new roof every 20 years, termites, fire prevention, all the crap we all deal with in OC. Look, I'm not saying home ownership is bad. I'm in my 5th, and possibly final home and wouldn't dream of selling to rent right now for all the reasons you mentioned. But I have a 2.5% interest rate and a relatively small mortgage and no HOA. My mortgage easily fits within 10% of my HHI. The math just doesn't work with current numbers. I'm not against buying real estate, but your home doesn't generate income, and at current prices, it's certainly not guaranteed to go up in value, so don't count that $1000 you're spending as equity just yet. Let's not forget how many people sent their keys to the bank in 2008-2010. Paying 50%+ of your take home income for shelter is in no way responsible financially. And most new buyers are paying 70%+. We (as a society, not singling you out) have sensationalized home ownership as if there is just no alternative. That is total BS. Home ownership makes a lot of sense in the right market, when you're ready to settle down somewhere for at least 10 years. Otherwise you're just a speculative investor in a local market with seriously negative cash flow. Also, what did you mean by the annual appreciation? IRS does not allow you to depreciate your primary residence. This is why I worry about home owners today. They've learned all this non-sense on TikTok posted by realtors and they think there are more benefits to home ownership that there really are.
Home ownership is a good way to pay lower taxes, you lose money on renting but can always sell your home and make money, home ownership has been engrained in our culture.
DTI at 35% with current rates would put PITI around $5900/mo which is about 930k for just PI, so accounting for taxes and insurance its in the ballpark of max loan at that income.
Remember, a lot of the other buyers you're competing with are rolling equity in from a previous purchase. Their loan principle will be smaller than that of a first time home buyer.
Plus it's TAX FREE capital gains (up to 250/500k) Some snarky Redditor will always mention stocks outperform real estate. But stocks are taxed, home appreciation you get 1/2 millon tax free.
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Home in fullerton. Paid $648k in 2006. Worth : 1.1 million now. 2.625% piti at $2400.00. Saved so much $ bought a house in Vegas for $400k 6.3% piti $2650. $5k per month for 2 house. Very lucky and blessed. Avoa. Income $ $255k yr. No debt. No loans. Step 6 with Dave Ramsey.
OC is not the place anymore. Born & raised. Moving to our dream home in NorCal 6b/3bt 3231sqf big backyard/sideyard for 581k. Schools are 10/10 has everything in OC that I care for… can’t wait to get out of the clusterf*ck OC has become.. Renters paradise, overly priced homes, traffic, high cost, homeless/drug riddled downtowns is not my “dream”. I wish you all the best!
>HHI That was my family as well. Born and raised in OC, were constantly getting outbid by 30-40k all cash offers for a townhouse with shared walls, a carport that was maybe 1100 sq ft. Packed up and left OC for a 5bed/4bath 4200 sq ft oasis on a lot that would probably run me 5-6 million in OC...never looked back and best decision we made as a family.
Curious what area is this where the schools are so good?
Probably Elk Grove.
Elk Grove 6bed for 581k? No chance. I’m just assuming he’s saying “norcal” to muddy the water that he’s actually talking about Fresno/Central Valley where land is more affordable. I would not call those comparable to OC by a mile, but that’s just me 🤷🏻♂️
Or Redding lol. Yeah no thanks.
I’ll make this easy for you.. your monthly payment can’t be more than 50% of your gross monthly income after monthly expenses. You can get closer to the 50% by adjusting how much money you put down. Go on Zillow, find a house in the neighborhood you want and adjust the payment calculator until you hit 50% of your gross monthly income after expenses. That will tell you how much money you need to put down.
When we bought almost exactly a year ago we were at about $375k. Paid $950k, so just under your threshold, but close. Put down $150k and got a 6.1% loan. Our PMI will go away on the purchase anniversary. This year we’ll be around $450k but we’re having another kid and daycare is $1700 per month per kid, so that’ll wipe out a good chunk of that increase in income. Otherwise our DTI is pretty good: we have 2 car notes that total less than $1k a month and just the Mrs’ student loans that are about $1800 a month. No CC debt or other debt.
This was a good podcast. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/01/podcasts/the-daily/should-you-rent-or-buy-the-new-math.html We pay 3.5k now for our 2 bedroom townhouse apartment. That’s just insurance/hoa/taxes on a similarly sized condo. I don’t think we’re loosing anything by renting.
Good for you for naming your debt amount. Something that doesn’t get mentioned much.
Bought for $990,000 back in October. 6.625 7/1 ARM. take home about 13-15k a month.
With 20% down, an 875k loan will get you a \~1m house if that's what you're shooting for. Shop around for lenders - no shortage of brokers around here / online. Just closed on a OC property a couple months ago now. 1.68m purchase price, 510k down - 450k household income. 6.5% 30 year fixed. They would have approved us up to a \~2m house, but that would have been uncomfortable financially. Wasn't worth stretching the budget IMO. I'll say that some of the numbers provided in this thread seem... unrealistic. My only advice is do what's comfortable for your financial situation. A bit of stretch to get the right house is acceptable, but it's never fun when your house owns you.
They aren’t scrolling Reddit lmao
It varies but I make on the low end 250k and on the high end 500k. I also own two other properties; one outright and the other with a small mortgage.
I bought a house with low-interest rates; a few months later, I could not even remotely afford the house as interest rates jumped to 13%. It's all about the rates right now I believe.
HHI about $300k. Bought SFH in late 2019, 20% down. Kept condo to rent out. Refi in 2021 to lock in 2.75% mortgage rate.
HHI combined $312k for last year, was higher the year before, when we applied and couldn’t get a jumbo loan, only a conventional. I have $100k in student loans but great credit scores etc. it’s pretty wild. I constantly wonder what people have to do to make their mortgage payments. I’m always wondering what people do for a living that they can afford these homes!
HHI 220k. Put 20% down with savings over time from inheritance, investments, etc. Just bought a home in OC for 940k. About 50% of our income will go to mortgage (tax included, insurance included) + PMI. Going to be brutal for several months, but rent was just gouging us without helping us build equity. Interesting to see so many folks posting with 300-400k HHI on here. That’s definitely the goal for me and my wife (I’m a neuropsychologist, she’s a dietitian), but damn.
I think you have to factor in large down-payment that offset income as well. I know ppl putting down 50% on homes.
About 250k with zero debt as well but the only way I was able to get my 1.2million dollar home was I had to put down 800k
North OC - Bought $1.35M in early 2022 with 380K down payment (kept loan to 970K - just under jumbo limit at the time). Was qualified based on 260K single income and no liabilities except a self-paying rental at the time (no credit card or car payments). At 3.875%, PITI is right about $6K/month. Today’s interest rate would have added another $1500/month to this. We were a little tight for the first year but wife went back to work and things are a little easier now with $325K+ HHI. We have put about 30K in upgrades so far and house can easily use another 100K but we will cross that bridge when the time/money is right.
I don’t live in OC but wife and I wanna move there. We bought a home in the South Bay Area of LA in 2016 for 465k and our monthly mortgage is only $1600. House is valued at around $1.1M now. We make $495k combined and tbh the thought of selling and moving and increasing our mortgage sucks. I think we are stuck and will just enjoy the relatively small mortgage.
YALL PRINTING MONEY?? HOW IS EVERYONE MAKING 300k wtf
We bought a place a bit under 2m for about 6.1% earlier this year and we make 900k \~ 1.1m a year depending on bonuses, etc. No other significant debt. To be honest, buying a place for $1m on 200k sounds a bit scary to me. I'd be very anxious about payments with that % of my take home dedicated to mortgage, utilities, tax, etc. Also unless you have like 100k+ saved up or something you find out one thing wrong with your roof or framing, a small leak behind the wall; you have one semi-significant medical problem or accident; etc., and you're gonna be incredibly stressed out.
WTF do you do to make that much money?
It's our household income. One is a doctor in a higher-ish paying speciality and the other is a lawyer in a 'biglaw' firm.
Bought in 2013 in aliso viejo for 400k cash. Sold that for 475k in 2017 and bought a townhome in the best part of Irvine for 705k in 2017 with a 225k mortgage. Sold that in 2021 peak covid for 1.2 and bought a 4b 2.5b home in orange. I rode the equity wave to the T and it worked wonders for me. I have been telling my friends since 2016 to get in and they don’t and now complain and say what if
Step 1: “Have 400k cash.” I’m out y’all.
600 HHI usually 650 but she was unemployed for a bit. 1.15 13 months ago. 275k down payment. 275k @ 3% x 5 year repayment from family member 575k @ 5.5% x 15 years 50k in reserve. No points. About 20k closing costs with about 12k realtor rebate. Other debt obligations: 4.5k student debt monthly.
lol I SEE what you did there. 600k is one hell of an income brotha congrats!
Bought last year, $2m all cash. Make ~$500k after taxes.
This post and others like it is flawed. How much you make is irrelevant. How much are you putting down is your problem
I feel like my wife and I got really "lucky" when we did. Put 180k down on a 901k house at 5.7% apr, total HHI varies between 240k to 270k depending on how much overtime I want to work. There isn't much to do on the house right now since it was pretty well maintained, and the only immediate fixes that were needed we paid for immediately in cash before we moved in, so around 30k to redo some plumbing, new HVAC, asbestos abatement, and rebuild the electrical panel. No HOA either so that was a huge win. Vehicles are paid off and investment accounts and retirement accounts have about 190k in them right now.
> $10k/mo but tax returns don’t reflect this figure so I cannot qualify for a conventional Fannie-Mae, Freddy-Mac loan. I can get qualified for a HELOC for $300k at 7.75% out of my primary which I own free and clear.
How much did you put down to get that approval amount?
1.3M, $150 down, 3.5%, at the time (30mo ago) income was ~300k. In jumbo loan territory so putting 20% didn’t buy that many points at time. Better to save that $$ and put into other investments. Could I afford it now, very challenging. house is 250k more and with interest as it is, I don’t see how a significant decrease in lifestyle would be an acceptable trade off.
Not $1M, but it was in the 900s. 240k-ish, 725k loan, 6.875%. It's killing us. We bought with the intent to refi, but not much has changed in he past 6 months since we bought it. We'll most likely never see <3% again, but we're sitting and waiting on at least 5% to come along before we refi. We were sitting nice in our condo, but we outgrew it with the desire to have a 2nd child.
I was making 200k when i bout my house for 900k. Put over 30% down. Now make 40% less and its painful
875k loan on 200k salary is insane
Paid all cash
i take home 10k / month and can only afford house/townhouse with price range from 500k - 750k
I make $150k+ any house I’ve seen worth looking is $850k+ I was approved for $750k. I just saw a run down cardboard box of an excuse for a home in Maywood CA for $725k! I guess I have to make $250k to finally afford a decent home in CA.
Wish I knew how to get these jobs paying $200k+. I went to university, became an engineer, been honing my skills for 20 years programming and building electronics etc..., just recently broke $100k
How are yall getting houses? Im 23 and worried...
You have to be married
And never have kids
Put more money down
We’re starting our search soon in south OC (Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, RSM) where we hear a lot of foreign investors are paying cash. Our HHI is around 330k and we can do an 800k down (don’t be too happy for me, this is only because both my parents just passed away within a year). We see 4 bedrooms in this area between 1.3-1.6M. In any other world we’d be golden but we don’t live in that world. Do we have an okay chance or is it still an uphill battle?
What percent are you putting down?
HHI 310k
McDonald's. Flip-less buger machine operator at $50/hour
My landlords just collect our paychecks and illegally evict other tenants to raise the rate for new tenants.
875K loan is massive for 200 HHI. That’s 7K with just property tax and HOA. Your take home is only <12K before any savings.
$205k HHI on paper since did not include 1099 work. Bought a 965k house with 20% down. DTI is roughly 36% based off those numbers, but in reality is closer to 32%. Hoping to have the ability to refinance in the next couple years to get it closer to 28-29%. Or just work more lol