just bought a house and I am freaking out

[pioneer98]

I own, and right now it's a PitA, but hear me out... We bought a modest house on the fringes of St. Louis. We stayed well within our means. Like, we were pre-approved for a $300,000 house, but bought one roughly half that cost. When the market tanked and rates went down, we refinanced from a 30 year at roughly 4.5% to a 15 year at 4.125. We kept our house payment the same, and managed to shave 15 years off our loan. We also over-pay every month, to bring down the principal amount. We aren't even 40 yet, and if we push it hard, we could own our house outright in another 7 or 8 years. At that point, we'd only have the cost of taxes and home owners insurance. The burden up front is high, and it has taken a good deal of restraint. But it will be [expletive] liberating as hell to know no mother [expletive] can come take our house away from us. And everything we earn from age 48 forward -- every dime we don't spend -- goes right into my early retirement fund. So, yeah, I am glad we own.

When I went to refinance during the meltdown, it was insane. The bank would give me either a 4.25% mortgage for either a 15 year term or a 30 year. There was no incentive to get the 15 year loan at that time, which blew my mind. So we took the 30 year one at the same interest rate, and we pay ahead when we can. Of course, we haven't paid ahead as much as I'd hoped.

[pioneer98]

That condo that was my first house...I bought it for $84,000 with only 5% down and sold it for like $108,000. Great right? I added it up and I think I darn near spent the $24K I made on the sale fixing it up. It needed a ton of work. I had to put in a new furnace (this was by far the most expensive thing), re-do a bathroom, a half bathroom and a kitchen. The buyer made me put in a radon mitigation system and I also got hit with that special assessment. But I did get that money back, and it was enough for a >20% downpayment on our current house.

I can do most small projects (painting, electrical fixtures, hanging interior doors, etc)...but when it comes to stuff like flooring, tiling, or counters I usually hire someone. I will get adventurous when it comes to fixing up a basement, because if you mess that up it's not as big of a deal. But for very visible and noticeable things like kitchen cabinets and counters, bathroom tile, etc, I hire someone to make sure it gets done right.

[Jocephus]

Michael: Well, it's... [Jan starts crying, high pitched whining] No, don't cry, it's gonna be OK.
Jan: [sobbing] Oh, I know, I know. It's just... I'm sorry. It's just these painkillers that I started taking since the surgery. Ohhh! They make my moods totally unpredictable! Wow! What am I gonna do?
Michael: [whispers] I don't know. [normal volume] Well I guess... you could come and stay at my condo. I think I could back out of the sale. [Jan exhales] Probably get some negative feedback on my eBay profile.

[AdmiralKird]

As far as a home as an investment is concerned, I really wonder what is going to happen to the real estate market when all the baby boomers are no longer around to occupy their homes. Many of the baby boomers' kids that desire home ownership will have already recently entered into their own mortgages or have migrated with the trend of city apartment living. There is going to be a real surplus in housing. We're going to be looking at slowed construction in homes and lower prices for homes across the board. The banks are not going to be making as much due to lower principals on all the homes and also having to lower their interest rates, which is going to slow investment everywhere and stifle the economy.

I guess the one saving grace for the macroeconomy might be the public infrastructure at that point is going to really require some serious work, where banks could secure loans with the local governments and the housing construction workforce could be reallocated to these projects. Either way, I don't see home ownership as an investment being a thing between 2030-2050, and only picking up for a brief period again in the mid 21st century until my generation starts to come to a close around 2065, repeating the cycle.

[TheoSqua]

I bought a house almost 2 years ago. No regrets whatsoever. The time and money spent maintaining it is totally worth it to me. And seeing equity grow in the house is really nice after renting for 5 years.

[mikechamp]

As far as a home as an investment is concerned, I really wonder what is going to happen to the real estate market when all the baby boomers are no longer around to occupy their homes. Many of the baby boomers' kids that desire home ownership will have already recently entered into their own mortgages or have migrated with the trend of city apartment living. There is going to be a real surplus in housing. We're going to be looking at slowed construction in homes and lower prices for homes across the board. The banks are not going to be making as much due to lower principals on all the homes and also having to lower their interest rates, which is going to slow investment everywhere and stifle the economy.

I guess the one saving grace for the macroeconomy might be the public infrastructure at that point is going to really require some serious work, where banks could secure loans with the local governments and the housing construction workforce could be reallocated to these projects. Either way, I don't see home ownership as an investment being a thing between 2030-2050, and only picking up for a brief period again in the mid 21st century until my generation starts to come to a close around 2065, repeating the cycle.

There are approximately 219,000 new mouths at the global dinner table every night. There is still an inherent housing demand. (Well, unless we see population control policies adopted, which is a completely separate topic.)

Having said that, as we: build better, longer lasting structures, have multiple generations living in a home, and stay in our homes longer; we may not see the need to build as many new homes. Of course, natural disasters & accidents (like house fires) are going to annually victimize a certain (albeit small) percentage.

[MrSaigon]

So this is where all the old posters have gone.

Almost all of the wealthy people my family knows got there through property and real estate, which adds a consistent voice to the 'being a grown up' internal and external ones I hear.

I don't want my backyard to be a house that looks exactly like mine. I went camping on the mountain last weekend and saw the most depressing thing on the way: this housing development that was ten miles from anything. WTF is the point of that? You can buy/lease a condo and avoid some annoyances, but then you live in a condo. Just wouldn't work for me. Putting in five years in a big smelly dense as [expletive] SE Asian city has made me want a place where I can extend my arms end to end.

[IMADreamer]

So this is where all the old posters have gone.

Almost all of the wealthy people my family knows got there through property and real estate, which adds a consistent voice to the 'being a grown up' internal and external ones I hear.

I don't want my backyard to be a house that looks exactly like mine. I went camping on the mountain last weekend and saw the most depressing thing on the way: this housing development that was ten miles from anything. WTF is the point of that? You can buy/lease a condo and avoid some annoyances, but then you live in a condo. Just wouldn't work for me. Putting in five years in a big smelly dense as [expletive] SE Asian city has made me want a place where I can extend my arms end to end.

I have never understood wanting to live in a subdivision. All the houses are the same, the HOA Nazis, houses right on top of each other. I just don't get it. I want green fields, trees, and space.

[mikechamp]

I have never understood wanting to live in a subdivision. All the houses are the same, the HOA Nazis, houses right on top of each other. I just don't get it. I want green fields, trees, and space.

I can sympathize with this, and as a subdivision dweller, I agree with most of it. The 1st and 2nd items in your list go hand in hand. Housing density has everything to do with builder profitability (with regards to land) and repetitive style has to do with keeping housing costs down through volume purchases of materials, minimal architectural choices (to help with the material purchasing) and a K.I.S.S. approach when it comes to the labor force.

On the flip side, if you have children, they can live in close proximity to friends and can play together without having to formally arrange a playdate/drive them back and forth. Also, for those who don't want a lot of yard maintenance yet desire a small spot of the world they can call their own, smaller lots hold great appeal. Finally, you are allowed trees in subdivisions. (Usually.) But it would be a lot better if builders adopted more sustainable development practices. If they did that, you wouldn't see the massive clearcutting.

[jim]

My son just bought his first house yesterday. Welcome to the world of mortgage payments, cutting grass, shoveling snow. I tried to tell him.