# In a position to buy a house within a month



## Dark Edea (May 4, 2021)

Just curious about the housing market and concerns over interest rates and building material costs. I can and want to buy a house and can make it happen very soon. I have a decent interest rate locked in (for now) but have worries about inflation and the value of my money. Not to mention the general value of my existing property, though that is another issue.

On the one hand, I worry that I may be buying too soon, as the market looks like it might falter within a year or so. On the other hand I am worried that my savings may be worth less if I wait and that interest rates will become very burdensome. What are your general thoughts on buying a home and property in mid 2021?

Again, just curious. Not going to quote you for advice or anything. Thanks.


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## Just A Butt (May 4, 2021)

buy DSP's condo


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## Dark Edea (May 4, 2021)

Just A Butt said:


> buy DSP's condo


That has no land and probably smells bad.


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## MediocreMilt (May 4, 2021)

Dark Edea said:


> Just curious about the housing market and concerns over interest rates and building material costs. I can and want to buy a house and can make it happen very soon. I have a decent interest rate locked in (for now) but have worries about inflation and the value of my money. Not to mention the general value of my existing property, though that is another issue.
> 
> On the one hand, I worry that I may be buying too soon, as the market looks like it might falter within a year or so. On the other hand I am worried that my savings may be worth less if I wait and that interest rates will become very burdensome. What are your general thoughts on buying a home and property in mid 2021?
> 
> Again, just curious. Not going to quote you for advice or anything. Thanks.


Don't buy oceanfront. That global warming finna steal your land like an Injun.


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## Antarctic Hellbeast (May 4, 2021)

Just A Butt said:


> buy DSP's condo


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## ToroidalBoat (May 4, 2021)

It's insane how housing prices have skyrocketed.

In the 1990s, $100,000 (USD) could buy a detached house.

In Current Year, you're lucky to get a condo with that.


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## Not Really Here (May 4, 2021)

Buying with cash or a standard fixed rate loan?
If it's a fixed rate loan then inflation just means you can pay it off faster.
Home values depend more on location and less on national trends, if the local economy is somewhat stable the home prices will stay the same.
As they have in San Francisco throughout the jackbooted lockdowns, or in Texas where fleeing Californians are pushing the market up.
TLDR too many variables, not enough information.


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## mindlessobserver (May 4, 2021)

Money is free right now. Just make sure you have enough cash to pay your closing costs.


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## RussianParasite (May 4, 2021)

Be prepared for unforeseen expenses if this is your first time owning a home. There are a lot of things you don’t think about when it comes to maintaining a home that are expensive.

Anyhow, like other have said money is free and Yellen signaled a rate hike in the future meaning interest rates are likely to rise. I’d take advantage of this— this isn’t a 2008 situation. That said, please do not overspend.


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## DeadFish (May 4, 2021)

For 35k you can live in a bunker in the badlands

Great I can t find the link


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## Least Concern (May 4, 2021)

Housing prices have gone crazy in the last half a decade. IANA economist but I'd be very surprised if it turns out we're not in a bubble of some sort. If I were you, I'd keep saving for a few more years and see if the market takes another dive. Maybe in three years you can get twice the house for the same money, and by then you'll have an even bigger down payment.


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## Uncle June (May 4, 2021)

Was thinking about buying some land for ~100k. Not ready to build a home given how fucked everything is, but might as well take advantage of those sweet interest rates and build a home 2-3 years down the line when things improve.


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## ToroidalBoat (May 4, 2021)

Least Concern said:


> Housing prices have gone crazy in the last half a decade.



Found this on CNBC:

How much housing prices have risen since 1940



> Here’s how much the median home value in the U.S. has changed between 1940 and 2000:
> 
> 1940: $2,938
> 1950: $7,354
> ...


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## Poppavalyim Andropoff (May 4, 2021)

buy old house close to town
knock it down & split the land to 2 houses
sell 1 & rent 1/live in it
you just got a free house*


* figure of speech


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## Toolbox (May 4, 2021)

MediocreMilt said:


> Don't buy oceanfront. That global warming finna steal your land like an Injun.


In, like, 100 years at least. If you're worried about the well being of your children's children, possibly.


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## Massa's Little Buckie (May 4, 2021)

You should probably wait. Prices are going up since money printer goes brrr.


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## Niggernerd (May 4, 2021)

Dark Edea said:


> Just curious about the housing market and concerns over interest rates and building material costs. I can and want to buy a house and can make it happen very soon. I have a decent interest rate locked in (for now) but have worries about inflation and the value of my money. Not to mention the general value of my existing property, though that is another issue.
> 
> On the one hand, I worry that I may be buying too soon, as the market looks like it might falter within a year or so. On the other hand I am worried that my savings may be worth less if I wait and that interest rates will become very burdensome. What are your general thoughts on buying a home and property in mid 2021?
> 
> Again, just curious. Not going to quote you for advice or anything. Thanks.


Buy in a predominantly nigger area. Save lots of money and the community does a garage sell for you and steals buys everything  from you as well so no need to worry about lifting a finger.


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## Thomas Highway (May 4, 2021)

Buy while you can.

The market is going to get worse.


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## Badungus Kabungus (May 5, 2021)

Fixed rate? Hit that shit like it's going out of style, cause it literally is. Land is always a good investment. Keep some finances on hand for maintenance as shit will break, usually at the start of each season. Cost of lumber can be an issue, maybe not the best idea to plan out any extensions or major renos right now. May be a good idea to keep some lumber on hand for fixing shit like fences and gazebos, though.


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## TheRedChair (May 5, 2021)

ToroidalBoat said:


> It's insane how housing prices have skyrocketed.
> 
> In the 1990s, $100,000 (USD) could buy a detached house.
> 
> In Current Year, you're lucky to get a condo with that.


Disagree. Am looking at a 2 bedroom home in N California in a good size town for 150 grand. 
It really depends on what area you want to live in and what you want to do with it down the road.
For me it's another income investment property. 

It's either that or going with some of my investors in buying an apartment near a college. 
I'm my case it does not matter how high the market goes. All it matters to me is What I can get as a rental as well as what I can do to write it off on taxes.

Let me tell you a little secret.  A lot of the super rich... Like Musk Buy their property and take incredibly low lending rates that are being offered by the banks.  They buy more tangible assets and do the process over again.   And of course you write it off your taxes... legally. 

And even though Musk bought into Crypto, its all financed money off of real world assets in the first place.


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## Cup Noodle (May 6, 2021)

It's according to where you live and the local real estate market.  Where I live it's a seller's market.  House and land prices are overinflated due to people fleeing places like California and New York.  It's the worst time to buy here.  I'm sure California and New York have great home prices right now though.


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## Boston Brand (May 6, 2021)

Depends where you live, the location, how much land/house you want.

Honestly, balance is key. Say you have a house in a good location but its older and needs some work done? Worth it, you can fix up an old house, you're stuck with location.

Others have pointed out lumber prices have made a lot of renovations expensive right now, but a cheap one that adds tons of value to any home? landscaping and gardening. A thousand dollars of plants and bricks can add ten times as much value to the home.


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## VIPPER? (Jul 3, 2021)

Nthing "It Depends where you live"
My area is absolutely bonkers right now,  due to mass immigration from the rest of the country mostly due to covid (my area did well for cases, and remote work has made the market all over very strange) and a spattering of usual chinese speculation on properties they never even see in photos let alone use, and higher caste indian-owned businesses importing indian low-caste mongoloid slaves.

While lumber is bonkers pricey too, a lot of renovations don't necessarily mean re-framing the house. Fresh paint, new siding (made of vinyl or some shit), plumbing and electrical repairs, etc.

Also, maybe wait a bit. A lot of the really egregious recent shoot-ups in price are directly traceable to covid bullshit, but that's starting to wane. Even if it's not a bubble, you'll at least see more stuff on the market as cerbniggers start failing to make payments on their crackhomes, whiteys realize that homesteading is hard, and pajeets start returning to the office and want to live closer.


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## reptile baht spaniard rid (Jul 3, 2021)

If you can be sure you’ll live there for ten years+ it doesn’t really matter much all the other stuff. 

Even buying at the peak of the last bubble was “ok” if you could afford it and were willing to live there whilst the prices did their thing.


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## qu_rahn (Jul 3, 2021)

Market is starting to slow down a little bit where I live. The most desirable houses are still snatched up the same day, but more properties are staying on the market for several days...weeks in some cases

You better do it before they make buying property illegal for white people


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## Systemsprenger (Jul 5, 2021)

A couple points - This is not investment advice, just a perspective, guided by very recent history and basic due diligence with property investments; 

Sensible for you to decide whether you're aiming to purchase an investment property or a homestead.
I'm going to assume in this post it's the former (I have more IRL experience there).
Please have a good read about the mid 00's housing crash, at least three times. This is absolutely vital reading for anyone contemplating an investment in the property sector.
Fundaments wise, property (a traditional hedge against currency inflation) is being snapped up by retail and institutional entities in many countries. Some people who'd received stimulus checks are attempting to 'smartly' game the system by investing in property with COVID related fiat payouts.
The US average Home Price Index is still rising and 'topping'; in trade-speak, we're somewhere between a 37.5-50% Fib retracement from the previous trough of 308, so we're likely in overbought conditions (ie. not a wise time to buy a saturated market): https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/USSTHPI
Some readers may balk at my utilisation of technical trade indicators here - This is not rational (technical indicators are just that; newbs use them as sure-fire trade signals, fatal misunderstanding). 
Note the HPI's acceleration in recent quarters - This is a direct reflection of retailers and institutions doing precisely as described in bullet point 2.
Consider your area. Refer to the HPI for said area. Treat it as your 'technical' analysis to supplement whatever 'fundamental' analysis you do (eg. gentrification, recent investment from larger entities in said area, safety, insurance, 'sellability' if you ever decide to cash out).
In terms of the probability of a housing market crash, I suspect there will be a major correction (perhaps up to 30-50% reduction in value from wherever the future top is) within the next generation. People are purchasing property, in part, for speculative investment purposes - A lot of these people won't realize their ideal returns, for various reasons. This will result in a gradual sell-off, which may (or may not) accelerate, depending on the overall housing market condition.

I'm generally very bearish on the integrity of the US as a cohesive nation, and - in addition - I envisage a large proportion of the over 60 year olds who own property (they are over-represented for obvious reasons) will unfortunately succumb to either morbidity associated with native COVID infection, or excess mortality from any delays relating to receiving timely treatment (the pandemic meant that millions in the world have had cancer progression, untreated diseases, late heart attacks etc.).

A market crash (in the truest sense) would only really occur if adverse market psychology kicks in (panic selling) *IF* excess mortality is realized, and it coincides with both a coincidental downturn in the market, with some other major background factor (I would bank on sociopolitical instability). An artificial flash-crash triggered by foreign actors (namely the Communist Chinese) also can't be ruled out.

A nice safe purchase would be a multi-apartment block in a relatively safe US state situated near a major resource (eg. hospital, college, network route if in a satellite town near a city), with a fixed rate loan (which you could always pay forwards quicker), then renting that sucker out for another 15-20 years.

Whatever you (and readers) do - Good luck, don't feel rushed into a decision, due diligence always trumps frenetic action.


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## Pee Cola (Jul 5, 2021)

Boston Brand said:


> Honestly, balance is key. Say you have a house in a good location but its older and needs some work done? Worth it, you can fix up an old house, you're stuck with location.


Yep. You can fix a shitty house but you can't fix a shitty neighbourhood. As an added bonus, you can save up and fix said shitty house over a number of years, building equity along the way.



Boston Brand said:


> Others have pointed out lumber prices have made a lot of renovations expensive right now, but a cheap one that adds tons of value to any home? landscaping and gardening. A thousand dollars of plants and bricks can add ten times as much value to the home.


Bathrooms are relatively cheap and easy to fix up too.



Poppavalyim Andropoff said:


> buy old house close to town
> knock it down & split the land to 2 houses
> sell 1 & rent 1/live in it
> you just got a free house*
> ...


Does that work anywhere other than Australia's major cities? It's a no-brainer if you're somewhere like Sydney or Melbourne, but you gotta pay to play. Probably a bit less ouchy money-wise if trying this in Adelaide or Hobart, but idk how this strategy would translate to the USA. Planning regulations can be really strict (HOA, anyone?) and half the country is full of houses that can't even be given away.

/not financial advice


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## Kujo Jotaro (Jul 9, 2021)

Boston Brand said:


> Depends where you live, the location, how much land/house you want.
> 
> Honestly, balance is key. Say you have a house in a good location but its older and needs some work done? Worth it, you can fix up an old house, you're stuck with location.
> 
> Others have pointed out lumber prices have made a lot of renovations expensive right now, but a cheap one that adds tons of value to any home? landscaping and gardening. A thousand dollars of plants and bricks can add ten times as much value to the home.


Maybe if you're a faggy boomer, I'm not paying extra for your aesthetic tastes that I'll now have to either take care of or remove myself.


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## Boston Brand (Jul 9, 2021)

Kujo Jotaro said:


> Maybe if you're a faggy boomer, I'm not paying extra for your aesthetic tastes that I'll now have to either take care of or remove myself.


Don'took at me, I'm not the one who made up home resale values... homes with pretty yards sell more than ones with no yard or a poorly maintained one.


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## Socrates (Jul 19, 2021)

DO NOT BUY INTO THE MARKET RIGHT NOW. It's going to top out. Buyers are souring on pricing, and there's a supply glut coming. Lumber has already crashed 60% from its record high this year.


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## Uncle June (Jul 19, 2021)

Vitruvius said:


> DO NOT BUY INTO THE MARKET RIGHT NOW. It's going to top out. Buyers are souring on pricing, and there's a supply glut coming. Lumber has already crashed 60% from its record high this year.



When would you say it'll crash? 

I'm selling next month lol.


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## Socrates (Jul 19, 2021)

Uncle June said:


> When would you say it'll crash?
> 
> I'm selling next month lol.


Not a clue, but if you're trying to get in on the record pricing get that shit sold ASAP.


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## Uncle June (Jul 19, 2021)

Vitruvius said:


> Not a clue, but if you're trying to get in on the record pricing get that shit sold ASAP.


Yeah as long as it doesn't "CRASH" I won't be too asshurt. I was one of the assholes back in '08 who sold his home right AFTER the crash and its haunted me ever since. It was a cheap piece of shit but still. If I lose a couple grand I'll sleep in peace. 

Pretty fucked that both times I've sold was on the precipice of a crash.


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## fnaarf (Jul 19, 2021)

ToroidalBoat said:


> It's insane how housing prices have skyrocketed.
> 
> In the 1990s, $100,000 (USD) could buy a detached house.
> 
> In Current Year, you're lucky to get a condo with that.


My uncle talked a woman down from 125k to about 90k on a detached house in good repair, with enough land for expansion if he wanted. A few years later and he's put enough work into the place to bring it to 175-200k easy. The primary factor is being nowhere near a city, where land is still abundant and therefore not a hotly contested resource.


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## Overly Serious (Jul 25, 2021)

So it's been a couple of months now. OP - did you reach a decision?


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## Bassomatic (Jul 25, 2021)

Grats.  Also right now sellers market. I suggest holding out till Dec.


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## mindlessobserver (Jul 26, 2021)

fnaarf said:


> My uncle talked a woman down from 125k to about 90k on a detached house in good repair, with enough land for expansion if he wanted. A few years later and he's put enough work into the place to bring it to 175-200k easy. The primary factor is being nowhere near a city, where land is still abundant and therefore not a hotly contested resource.


The "put work into it" meme is very real. My home sold for less then a 100k a decade ago and the people who bought it went all out. Brand new wood flooring, repaint and repair, homemade back porch complete with a homemade children's swing in the backyard. Even went so far as to redo all the electrical sockets to make them USB compatible. I felt perfectly fine buying it for waaaay more then 100k.

The underwriters for my home loan sent someone out to look at the property because the price difference between past sale and current was so huge. They came back that it was actually being undersold. Big ups to the people who worked on it. They deserved that six figure profit.


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