Never the less, the young man should very carefully consider
the prospect that the house will take total control of his wallet.
The payments for P+I, and taxes aside, there will be
capricious and immediate demands for attention from the house.
From the roof to the plumbing to the electrical appliances,
at the most inopportune moments possible, will come calls
for the emergency application of scads of cash.
Sometimes, the other parts of life, sensing that they might be
shortchanged, will issue their own demands – the car, the dentist, the job changes.
Add in the unanticipated costs of “Oh, I gotta have…”, which you will find as soon as you
have empty rooms, and you’re settling onto the end of a very short chain.

Yeah, it’s nice to have your own space, make noise when you want
but like everything, it comes with a cost, a lot of which is buried in invisible print.
Best of luck to you.

Yeah, that was kind of my first thought, but then I’m amazed by the number of folks who are convinced this is the bottom. For them, that house represents a great opportunity… and even now there are plenty of buyers.

Interesting- good for a guy who likes to have a lot of projects- cars, boats, etc. Flip gone bad?? Looks like the seller is going to kiss about $50K goodbye on this one. I’m a little surprised it hasn’t sold, but you never know until you’ve seen it in person.

I stand corrected, if it could be purchased for $300-325K. There’s nothing wrong with that, it would probably work out to be very close to renting an equivalent home. My only caution would be that in three years there very well could be a selection of similar homes for $300K, and a few short sales or maintenance deferred repos for $200. And while Bill may qualify for the payment, I think he would find it a bit tighter than he imagines if the raise doesn’t come through. Best to wait, nothing to lose and perhaps much to gain.

Velvet Turtle? Disco?

I would add that Seattle Bill should practice making mortgage payments for at least 6 months since they’re used to $400. They can pay the difference to a savings account and increase their savings…try on that payment before you’re stuck with it. (looks like you said this all ready)

If this person is considering a bank owned home, FHA 203k’s are pretty popular these days…especially a streamlined 203k which allows up to $35k to be financed with the purchase price.

That also goes for Herman @ 53 and anyone else making assumptions about the quality of this guys life.

I still think $300K is a bit of a stretch for $50K/yr and $50K total savings. It would have to be move in ready with relatively little maintenance required.

http://www.redfin.com/WA/Sammamish/5215-192nd-Pl-NE-98074/home/263100

How about this? You might not think it’s “nice”. But it’s not bad as a starter. It’s in my neighborhood so be nice…

http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/reb/1427274641.html

Thats the place I was thinking of but forgot the name Saratogas Trunk… Benfranklin Bank used to be on the corner and across 520 was another nightclub. I forgot the name……..

Lollipop Park? Scotsman…..I was born in 1966…never knew of Bellevue till 1986.

I grew up in Bay Area and its never the same since Frontier Village got swept away!

Buy what??? Show me that nice home for $300K on the eastside.

Is the quality of life improvement you will get with the house worth the monthly cost and the hit to savings? If so, and you picture yourself being happy in that house for a lot of years, go for it.

Once you have estimated realistic costs, then you can look at whether you can afford it. I like The Tim’s idea of taking rent + savings for a few months, but I would use what you have been saving for the last few months to get an estimate. I don’t see the need to keep “test driving” budgets over and over. If your paycheck (net) goes up by $500/mo, you can afford about $500 more. If you need more money than what you come up with and think you can live on a bit less, then try it out, but consider furniture and other housing related things you will want to be buying.

Oh, and keep in mind you will still want to be saving something. If rent + savings amounts to $1600/mo, you may only want to spend $1200 on housing if you feel the need to save $400 for a rainy day.

Don’t buy anything that has been flipped or any new construction condos/townhouses unless you know how to spot shoddy workmanship and cheap materials and/or they offer a good home warranty. There are a lot of places out there with little more than cardboard holding up the granite counter tops.

What about Pizza and Pipes in downtown Bellevue and Bernies and Bottoms next to Bellevue Square?

And then there was always Yonny Yonson’s in the Sternco Center…

Anybody remember “Saratogas Trunk”?

Wow! Thanks for sharing, that was so cool!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sedanman/489255053/

As many have stated, buying could be a good if it’s not for financial reasons and Seattle Bill really wants to own a home.

If it IS for financial reasons, and is just an urge to do something with that saved money, investing it may be a better option– historically stocks have provided far better returns than houses, and investing in a low-fee index fund is a relatively safe way to see returns on investments. I don’t see that comparison come up much here, because this site is real-estate focused, but my point is there may be better ways to put that money to use and see returns on it.

Tim’s affordability calculator is cool. Also, I haven’t seen it mentioned yet on this site, so thought I’d link to it, awhile ago the NY Times made an online calculator where you can compare renting vs. owning. It is here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/10/business/2007_BUYRENT_GRAPHIC.html

Ridiculous.

Seattle Bill – Sounds like your making plenty of money and living below your means which is a great situation to be in. As long as living at $400/mo is tolerable I would continue to do so and build wealth. That being said, sometimes its necessary to move (fiance for me) but I would advise against doing so until you have a sizeable down payment and are settled in the new job. Best of luck!

Am I crazy to think like that?

“I’ve lived well below my means for years (and also been a Seattle Bubble reader for that amount of time).” Me too, and it sucks. I’ve been putting a lot of things off until I have a house but I REFUSE to pay too much.

Wow- The Mustard Seed and Black Angus. I’ll go back further- the VW dealership on 116th. 1967. How about when the Seafirst Tower @ 13 stories was the new “skyscraper” in Bellevue? Treachery and old age overcome youth and beauty again… ;-)

This week they told us they will be laying off a sizable portion of management by the end of October…

Keep renting and saving bro.

Eastgate still had a Denny’s across the freeway from BCC and Jafco was just down the street from Flakey Jake’s AND Trident Imports…

All car dealers now I think, Lexus and Porsche, etc.

Ahh, but see, I am originally from San Francisco and spent time in Reno as well, remember?

Back when it was called Marriott’s Great America in Santa Clara and the Turn of the Century became the Demon and a kid fell off of Willard’s Whizzer!!

Sigh… can’t go back huh?

So it appears we used to hang in the same area. How’s this.. Remember Hoagy’s Corner? How about the Mustard Seed at Crossroads? The Black Angus night club ? Are they even still there? The pitch and put? Jafco-way gone! Ming Tree-way gone!

Ahhh the Good old Days of Bellevue. Moved there when I was 20 from San Jose. Now when I drive down NE 8th Street and NE 4th I’m simply amazed.

Your cash flow will be the envy of many, and you can live a nice debt free life.

Things are getting worse. Don’t believe the media hype. Cash will be king (preferably in a different currency)….Wait at least one more year.

Regards,

Kirkland Bankruptcy and Real Estate Lawyer

I know people making double what he makes now, and make double what he will be making if he gets his raise, and these folks don’t feel comfortable buying in the Eastside now.

Find something to rent for $1000 a month. You will see what it is like to spend more than double what you are spending now on housing, you still will pay less than buying so you can save, and you will get more for your money so you will live better.

With annual rent multiples over 20, it’s an easy decision to rent.

SO like someone stated earlier, continue to rent and save the difference and see how that lifestyle suits you.

As for earning potential, depends on your field. As an RN for ten years now the best we see these days is a 3% annual raise. Sure, early on you get those teaser ‘anniversary raises’ but those go away after about 5 years.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125599683058895389.html

Wow. Best. Statement. Ever.