For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for July 23, 2018

So, is this why so many people try to get houses they can’t afford with no regard to the consequences later? Do they get depressed when they look at houses they can afford? I have issues, but this is not one of them so I can’t say I understand it.

I moved a year ago, and finding a house was no easy task. You think you have enough money until you see the homes on the market, and they all start to look like garbage. Then you start to think… what if I payed 50k more? 100k? And once you start looking at the houses you can’t afford, the other houses seem cheap in comparison. The eventual compromise was living further from town and on a busy road, but having a well-maintained home and a large yard. You can’t have it all.

I moved into a modest 17 year old house that was built well. What clinched it was the 5/4 tongue and groove subfloor I could see looking up in the cellar. I made it what I wanted from there. A friend told me a story about crazy home buying. He locked in new construction home in a new neighborhood for a decent price and mortgage rate. He was told that the developer ran out of hardwood for floors and would knock off a few thousand and put in wall to wall carpeting instead. My friend and his wife agreed. Because if they waited for hardwood the locked in mortgage rate would expire. He said the neighbor held firm for hardwood and wound up paying 1/2 a percentage point more on the house. Expensive flooring.

Lots of people in her situation

When I see the huge amounts needed for a down payment I wonder how anyone gets on the housing ladder!

I went for a house I could easily afford. My friends and siblings all spent twice as much. They’ve all had better lives for the last 50 years.

Hard to see how any of the next generation can afford to buy a house without an inheritance to help. Even two modest incomes are no longer enough.. and when one of those has to take time off (or is laid off) disaster.

a swell sister-in-law conversation

Its the same as it ever was. What was true in the 1980s is even more true today. We are over 65, sold our house in Texas and moved to Oklahoma. gave ourselves a $175K limit but those homes were either cracker boxes or had a huge problem after 3 months looking, we looked over our finances and told our relator to go for any house up to $225K, she talked to our mortgage Co and they went ahead and preapproved us for house up to $225K. We were going to put $25K in cash down but lender said could not with our mortgage. Made no difference, we got 3.1% interest and found a great house in an excellent neighborhood.

My parents bought a house over 50 years ago. 10 rooms, 2 baths $17,000.00 with a 5% interest rate for 25 years.

If you have to buy a certain level house to have a social status you have the wrong friends to begin with. Who cares what complete strangers think of you.

I’m middle, middle class.

Years ago my bank said I could get a loan for about 30 Thousand more than what I required to buy the house I wanted. I knew what my budget allowed, & asked the if they expected to get my monthly payments, if I took out what they offered.

I don’t quite get the punchline, but with Phil working as a musician / music teacher, they are nowhere near upper class or middle class.