Chewy Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 (edited) We bought this place (it was a foreclosure) just about 2 years ago now for around $360k... market is up luckily and last I could figure, with the current prices and the fixes improvements my wife and I have done since moving in we're probably sitting just under $400k. Good for us, but utterly insane if you ask me... the cost of living here is just nuts. At the peak of the market, before everything went south, the loan value on this place was at $675k.... would explain why it was foreclosed on LOL. From what we gathered (based on transaction history and talking with neighbors who were here before we moved in) the guy bought the place new in 2001/2002 for around $420,000 on one of the funky interest only apr loans, then took out loans against the house, bought a huge ski boat, bought a huge toy hauler, some cars, etc. Then as it does the market reset and he lost everything. His loss = my gain Lets hope the market here in Cali stays stable for a little bit... we took a bath on our last place when the market went to crap. Didn't lose money, but certainly didn't get much out after spending 7 years there. How many square feet is the house Dylan? Mines around 2600 with a 3 car garage and a finished egress basement. 4 bedroom 4 bath, and a pretty large corner lot and I paid the same as you did. Chris I don't have any real photo's of the outside of mine. It's not green out yet and we just moved in three weeks ago. Here's the back and the lot layout. Front: Edited March 19, 2012 by Chewy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z71_Denali Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 i'm house hunting now... not too much to pick from in Midland, TX though! everything we find is a 3 or 4 bedroom, 2200-2800 sq ft for between $300k-$350k. and my wife wants a pool! luckily our realtor told us someone he is in contact with will be listing their house April 1st. he said it was built in 2008, its a decent sized 3bed/2.5bath, 3 car garage, pool, outdoor kitchen, and a section off to the side that was paved and fenced in and used to store a RV trailer (perfect spot to detail cars) we're hoping its in our price range! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Adam's Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 How many square feet is the house Dylan? Mines around 2600 with a 3 car garage and a finished egress basement. 4 bedroom 4 bath, and a pretty large corner lot and I paid the same as you did. Chris I don't have any real photo's of the outside of mine. It's not green out yet and we just moved in three weeks ago. Here's the back and the lot layout. around 2600 w/ a small 2 car and a large lot by SoCal suburb standards which by all other standards is tiny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewy Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 around 2600 w/ a small 2 car and a large lot by SoCal suburb standards which by all other standards is tiny. No basement though? That's NOT all that bad then... I see some of these "flip this house" episodes where they're paying 360 for a house that's 100,000 dollar house here and they're flipping it and selling it for 500,000 ++++ THAT blows my mind. My question is how do these people pay for them? Are mortgages different in Los Angeles or something? I know what my payment is and some of these people are first time buyers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z71_Denali Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 No basement though? That's NOT all that bad then... I see some of these "flip this house" episodes where they're paying 360 for a house that's 100,000 dollar house here and they're flipping it and selling it for 500,000 ++++ THAT blows my mind. My question is how do these people pay for them? Are mortgages different in Los Angeles or something? I know what my payment is and some of these people are first time buyers. agreed! $350k is our absolute limit, but i'm basing that on my income alone, in case my wife chooses not to work after we have kids. i just can't justify paying more than $2500 a month to a mortgage & taxes. especially when i'm renting an apartment and garage for half that right now. if i were to stay in houston, i could get the same house we're looking for in Midland, for $200k at the most! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewy Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 agreed! $350k is our absolute limit, but i'm basing that on my income alone, in case my wife chooses not to work after we have kids. i just can't justify paying more than $2500 a month to a mortgage & taxes. especially when i'm renting an apartment and garage for half that right now. if i were to stay in houston, i could get the same house we're looking for in Midland, for $200k at the most! I was lucky and with the sale of our old home and savings, I was able to put a HUGE amount down on this house. Our payments are 1729.00 with taxes and insurance escrowed. 1100 or so without. 30 year 3.875% That payment is just shy of twice what our old home was. We're a single income family. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxspeed Posted March 19, 2012 Author Share Posted March 19, 2012 (edited) We built our house in 1997, for a cost of 239,900 and its now appraised just under 500k. It has 4 br 2.5 baths. I finished 3/4 of the basement myself so we have around 2,500ish sq' and it sits on just under an acre. We added the pool (36 x 18) with an auto cover. I mentioned to my wife I wanted to pop some stock options and buy a Vette, she said she wanted a pool. So we compromised and got the pool. But I didnt compromise when I bought my Camaro. My wife handles all the finances but we owe around $165 (guessing) and 12 more years to go. Our rate is 3.5% Edited March 19, 2012 by Maxspeed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IMADreamer Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 I think I will not post my shanty in a thread full of mansions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikegeaney Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 That's NOT all that bad then... I see some of these "flip this house" episodes where they're paying 360 for a house that's 100,000 dollar house here and they're flipping it and selling it for 500,000 ++++ THAT blows my mind. Don't ever move to New England then.....especially not close to Boston. I'm less than 10 miles into Boston. My job is moving to the Research Triangle Park in Raleigh, NC next year. I checked out houses for comparison sake. $350k down there and you are styling. $350k here and you get a spider shack that needs $100k worth of work. It's all relative I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewy Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 I think I will not post my shanty in a thread full of mansions. Uhm... We all start somewhere man! Come-on! Just the fact that anyone owns a house is HUGE. Think of all the people that rent their whole life. A lot of us take it for granted, but owning a home is a HUGE luxury. Also a HUGE liability, and sometimes a HUGE PITB! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IMADreamer Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Uhm... We all start somewhere man! Come-on! Just the fact that anyone owns a house is HUGE. Think of all the people that rent their whole life. A lot of us take it for granted, but owning a home is a HUGE luxury. Also a HUGE liability, and sometimes a HUGE PITB! PITB is certainly right. I put a new roof on last year, this year it looks like I'm digging up my sewer. It's never ending. lol Sometimes I think I should have kept renting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudiOx Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 (edited) This is ours right when we moved in Christmas 2004. No window treatments...nuthin! The landscape has since filled in. As you can guess based on our move in date, we're underwater despite paying off a ton of it. We dropped another 7.5% in the last 30 days. So we're around $71/sqft now (down 51% since '06) not including the unfinished full basement. But fortunately we have jobs and love the house. Edited March 20, 2012 by Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewy Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 (edited) This is ours right when we moved in Christmas 2004. No window treatments...nuthin! The landscape has since filled in. As you can guess based on our move in date, we're underwater despite paying off a ton of it. We dropped another 7.5% in the last 30 days. So we're around $71/sqft now (down 51% since '06) not including the unfinished full basement. But fortunately we have jobs and love the house. As long as you don't move, it won't hurt! lol Good looking house! Edited March 20, 2012 by Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3PedalMINI Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 :drool: You sir have my dream house, Gorgeous man! loving the cedar eves :drool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z71_Denali Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 As long as you don't move, it won't hurt! lol Good looking house! +1 i would love to own a house like that right now and never leave!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxspeed Posted March 19, 2012 Author Share Posted March 19, 2012 I think I will not post my shanty in a thread full of mansions. This wasn't my first house. My first was a small 1 bedroom cape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPEGXP Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Wow, this makes me realize that I don't really have any pics of my home! I will take some this year though. There is a sunroom on the left, and I have a small backyard, because I'm on a corner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckkilo3 Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Just a single story brick veneer house. It's paid for so it works for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryanbabz71 Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Here is ours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill-V8V Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 This wasn't my first house. My first was a small 1 bedroom cape. I had one of those capes as my first house, except someone crammed 4 bedrooms into it It wasn't much to look at and it rained upstairs the day I moved in but I was still damn proud of it cause I owned it I ended up fixing it up and selling it for close to 3 times what I paid for it. But the only problem with selling at the top of the market is buying at the top of the market at the same time, oh well, such is life. It's all good if you have a roof over your head Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whiterp199 Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Still living with the parents, but They are only here for half the year! I plan on riding it out for a few more years so I can buy as soon as I move out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 It's a house. Garage These were a couple years ago. House has new windows and shutters now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill-V8V Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I hate when they get all covered in snow like that, glad we didn't have to deal with that this year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I hate when they get all covered in snow like that, glad we didn't have to deal with that this year Believe me! I'm 2 years older. I'm glad I didn't have to deal with that crap this year either...............yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill-V8V Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Last year 90 inches of snow, this year 9. I liked this year MUCH better :bow: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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