Wowzeee Wah Wah . . . Nat. Mort. News reports 62% of Americans who recently purchased homes in 2022 and 2023 (at super-low rates) are not managing to make their mortgage payments!

Though several generations ago home ownership was not at prolific.

From the 50s onwards the American Dream has been sold as the leave it to beaver type of home and family. That myth is still perpetuated today in the media. We are conditioned from birth that wd have to go to college, we have to marry, have kids and get that white picket fence house.

This transcends politics and is more cultural. We all know those families who buy the McMansion and have all the expensive toys in the world, two large brand new vehicles on the drive. And we wonder how the ■■■■ do they afford all that. They are not bad people or even stupid just they have bought into media and advertising viewpoint of the world.

The 50s were 70 years ago.

"In 2023 declaring that something is “new” (because, it has been around only since the 1950s) is exactly precisely the same as . . . .
Ward and June Clever declaring something “new” because it has been around since the 1880.

“Don’t get too used too used-to indoor plumbing and electricity, honey. Whale oil and outhouses are the norm.”

Ha you are right, crazy to think the 50s is 7 decades in the past, fair enough.

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indeed,not only can HOA fees be high, but they go up, sometimes a lot. At least with a fixed mortgage, that does not change.

We have an HOA, it was $72 a month in 2011 It went up to $79 in 2022. We took that into consideration when we were looking.

it has its advantages…if you live in a nice neighborhood, one does hot have to worry about a neighbor painting their house black and purple…and they are required to upkeep their front yards…

The place we moved form, was a nice neighborhood, but there were many houses that were…pretty ugly…some just due to not keeping up the maintenance…

A few years ago I looked into buying in a condo.

The monthly fees I saw were ridiculous (deal breaker) in NYC they were so much higher I decided the Mafia must still be involved in garbage collection there.

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The ultimate oxymoron. I’ve always loved that phrase for it.

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$7.00 is a lot? :face_with_monocle:

I just bought a house to use as a rental, HOA is $260.00 per month. But there are a lot of amenities that have to be maintained so I get it. Just have to weight the pro’s and con’s.

My previous home was in a community with an HOA, $120.00 per year. There were some pretty awful colors people painted their homes :nauseated_face:

We get a very nice park, with a full basketball court, huge grass area, playground, and BBQ’s and tables. It is a “private” park, but we have no issues with non residents respectfully using the facilities.

In our old neighborhood, neighbor across the street, used his driveway for storage, with blue tarps covering his stuff…and had a broken down old truck on the space between his driveway and the next door neighbor (who did not mind)

It became an issue when we were trying to sell…The Master was upstairs, and it faced that lovely site. Our realtor called the city, and he got a notice to clean up. (He thought a different neighbor called them…as he complained to me…I let him believe that!)

Yes, Who would live in a HOA? It’s expensive, tyrannical and Karen is always on the board.

HOA’s can work or they can be a real pain. I hate the old farts who have no time on their hands but to act like commando’s. I like the ones who work to improve everyone’s property values.

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image

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Did we really need that visual?

No one does. That’s why we live way off in the country.

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I think people just bite off more than they can chew. What is a good income to mortgage ratio for two people for a lack of a better term. What should you consider?

My first mortgage was $705 back in 1993. I moved in with my then girlfriend, now wife. Our net pay covered that plus $200 in one week.

Our 2nd mortgage in 2003 was 1700. These numbers all include property tax. My wife’s net pay almost covered that in 1 week. At the time mine was around 700. She made a lot more than I.

I never wanted to be house poor. People make that choice. From when we sold our first house, until when we bought our 2nd, we were renting for about 3 years until we could find another suitable house.

You were spending considerably less than 25% of your gross pretax pay on your house payment. Wow! Good for you.

A conventional mortgage allows borrowers to spend 28% of their gross pretax income on the property (mortgage taxes etc combined) Most first-time buyers go WAY beyond that and need a special program or special mortgage to qualify.

Part of it is that houses are larger now (zoning laws.)
Part of it is that small house neighborhoods are now rotten neighborhoods with rotten schools and rotten playmates for the kids.

But yes the “consumer mentality” has changed quite a bit too.