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Originally Posted by exitspeed
Yeah, it's crazy how different parts of the country or even different cities in the same area vary so much.
I was watching that House Hunters where they were in Chicago and the prices area crazy just compared to Milwaukee (where I live). And I love and HATE Chicago. I love Milwaukee. But on that show there was a POS bungalow going for $350k and a decent one for $400. Heck I can build a brand new amazing house here for $400 just 15 miles out of downtown (in Milwaukee traffic that would be about a 15 minute drive). But then we have areas right near downtown like Fox Point, and Whitefish Bay (or White Folks Bay as it's called) where a house like the one in Chicago would be $500k.
As far as remodeling, I don't quite get their costs. I think for the shows they have a budget and not all factors are built into the cost as they would a normal consumer. THAT or labor is extremely cheap in CA where most of these houses are renovated. One of my clients locally is a top remodeling company and they do bathrooms alone for $60k. And I'm not talking gigantic bathrooms, just nice ones. So again, I don't think the renovation costs quoted on the shows are accurate or if they are they are accurate to CA only.
My wife and I are finally at a point where we want to buy another house and we're looking in the $300k range. Another thing that comes into play that I don't know if anyone mentioned yet is Taxes. We have really high taxes here. We wrote and offer on a house in a very sought after neighborhood (in Milwaukee Co where the taxes are crazy) just a few weeks ago and the taxes were $6700/ year. That made up almost $600 of the mortgage we would have had. Now if we bought a house for the same price in Waukesha Co (next to Milwaukee where we used to live), City of New Berlin where we used to live, the taxes are like $4500. That only adds $375 to our mortgage. Obviously that makes the home more affordable. The only reason we even considered the higher tax home was because of the house being on the most beautiful park in the state of WI (a State that receives multiple awards every year for our parks) and the house being built buy a specific architect, etc etc.
But yeah, buying and affording a house is a big decision. But owning a home has so many advantages to renting. God I can't wait to get out of the place (renting) I'm in now.  |
Oh taxes... I pay about $2800 a year on property taxes. Though I can't really complain as there's a ton of new schools, parks, and recreational areas around here that are well maintained by the city. At least I can see where my tax dollars are going.
That house looks great by the way... I should dig up a few pictures of our place.
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Originally Posted by g35gabby
That is crazy high taxes compared to here. Last year were paid $775/year. The prior year it was 875. My dad built a complete log home on an acre of land and 2500sq ft, and his taxes aren't much more than 1600. It was appraised at over a million, but because he literally assembled it with his bare hands and a friend who is a contractor, it only cost about 350k to build.
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HAHA I wish my taxes were that amount a year. And it's only going to go up once I finish the basement.
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Originally Posted by cured13
Nobody here talk about the real numbers and every home owner believe that they "built equity" and can only get richer when signing that 30 years mortgage.
Tell me the real cost of living in that 2 bedroom one bathroom house without cutting on water, heat or electricity usage and then lets compare it with cost of renting similar size apartment.
I can understand if you say "it's an image thing" or "I love to stay home and work in my own garden" or "because my mom said so" but the numbers doesn't add up at least in Toronto. Less and less young couples can afford buying that house yet you want me to believe that in 5, 10, 20 or 30 years you will sell your houses and get even or make profit?
I like to visit my friends in the summer, having a beer or two at theirs backyard but feel sorry for them when the summer is over. Love the possibility of working in your own garage but there is only so much you can do there if you have assholes neighbours.
I don't know who is buying today but I know that most of the people hate math and are not good at it.
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Wait what? "Real Numbers" are the figures that you calculate when purchasing a home. Hydro and water are factored into the cost of living for your mortgage when you're getting your loan.
Building equity is applicable only when you are maintaining your current residence, and that the market is strong. It's a lot harder to get approved for a mortgage in Canada because of the new lending laws. Gone are the days of people taking 30-35 years to pay off their homes. 25 years is the longest term you can borrow for, and the CHMC is a heck of a lot stricter as to whom can borrow (and under what terms).
Banks are still somewhat unrealistic as to how the calculate what you can actually afford since they only tie hydro and water, and property taxes to the costs.
"Real cost of living" is what you make it. It's like a lot of people here have mentioned. Live within your means, and you'll be fine. Purchase a expensive home that's beyond your means, just because the bank thought that you can carry the costs, then I wish you good luck, because you will need it.