Strategy for those priced out?

fisher44 wrote: ↑In my case I can afford the average house ($400k) but it's slim pickings in ottawa at that price point, and if houses are appreciating 7-10%/year ($30k on the average house), that's something like an extra $1500-$2000/year in mortgage payments. It's unlikely that my salary will steadily increase $2000/year!

fisher44 wrote: ↑Is there a 'best' option for this that most people accept?

In my case I can afford the average house ($400k) but it's slim pickings in ottawa at that price point, and if houses are appreciating 7-10%/year ($30k on the average house), that's something like an extra $1500-$2000/year in mortgage payments. It's unlikely that my salary will steadily increase $2000/year!

Options I've been looking at:

+ Continue to save and hope that prices decrease
+ Move to smaller town and look for work elsewhere
+ Buy crappy house that i can afford
+ Stretch myself and get something decent (I'm approved for a lot more than $400k but would have to actually live like a monk to make ends meet.)
+ Stretch myself and get a half-decent duplex and try my hand at being a landlord and pray I don't have to live like a monk or deal with *****ty tenants all day long.

I know rfd is full of house-rich millionaires with multiple dwellings, but surely there's one or two other people in my situation who have only recently been able to afford a house and missed the great glorious boom of the 2000s-2010s.

fisher44 wrote: ↑Is there a 'best' option for this that most people accept?

In my case I can afford the average house ($400k) but it's slim pickings in ottawa at that price point, and if houses are appreciating 7-10%/year ($30k on the average house), that's something like an extra $1500-$2000/year in mortgage payments. It's unlikely that my salary will steadily increase $2000/year!

Options I've been looking at:

+ Continue to save and hope that prices decrease
+ Move to smaller town and look for work elsewhere
+ Buy crappy house that i can afford
+ Stretch myself and get something decent (I'm approved for a lot more than $400k but would have to actually live like a monk to make ends meet.)
+ Stretch myself and get a half-decent duplex and try my hand at being a landlord and pray I don't have to live like a monk or deal with *****ty tenants all day long.

I know rfd is full of house-rich millionaires with multiple dwellings, but surely there's one or two other people in my situation who have only recently been able to afford a house and missed the great glorious boom of the 2000s-2010s.

fisher44 wrote: ↑Is there a 'best' option for this that most people accept?

In my case I can afford the average house ($400k) but it's slim pickings in ottawa at that price point, and if houses are appreciating 7-10%/year ($30k on the average house), that's something like an extra $1500-$2000/year in mortgage payments. It's unlikely that my salary will steadily increase $2000/year!

Options I've been looking at:

+ Continue to save and hope that prices decrease
+ Move to smaller town and look for work elsewhere
+ Buy crappy house that i can afford
+ Stretch myself and get something decent (I'm approved for a lot more than $400k but would have to actually live like a monk to make ends meet.)
+ Stretch myself and get a half-decent duplex and try my hand at being a landlord and pray I don't have to live like a monk or deal with *****ty tenants all day long.

I know rfd is full of house-rich millionaires with multiple dwellings, but surely there's one or two other people in my situation who have only recently been able to afford a house and missed the great glorious boom of the 2000s-2010s.

loriblum wrote: ↑What if you looked for a crappy house that you can afford and do some DIY renos to turn it into a home that you want?

Or...

Look at smaller homes (semi, links, attached)

Or....

Increase your amortization period (this is totally dependant on what you're doing right now in your number crunching, of course)

Or....

Change your search parameters (ie 3 beds instead of 4 beds, 2 baths instead of 3 baths, unfinished bsmt, etc...)

popbottle wrote: ↑Yes. Many people are shocked when they are told that 35 year amortizations are still available with a conventional down payment. Further, there is no modern evidence that interest rates can spike to silly amounts. Having said that, for people concerned about a rate rise, both 10 year and 25 year closed mortgages are available for about 3.7 and 7%. Also the specific person looking to buy discuss as job, however, that does not mean salaried individuals are the only people that can buy.

fisher44 wrote: ↑Is there a 'best' option for this that most people accept?

In my case I can afford the average house ($400k) but it's slim pickings in ottawa at that price point, and if houses are appreciating 7-10%/year ($30k on the average house), that's something like an extra $1500-$2000/year in mortgage payments. It's unlikely that my salary will steadily increase $2000/year!

Options I've been looking at:

+ Continue to save and hope that prices decrease
+ Move to smaller town and look for work elsewhere
+ Buy crappy house that i can afford
+ Stretch myself and get something decent (I'm approved for a lot more than $400k but would have to actually live like a monk to make ends meet.)
+ Stretch myself and get a half-decent duplex and try my hand at being a landlord and pray I don't have to live like a monk or deal with *****ty tenants all day long.

I know rfd is full of house-rich millionaires with multiple dwellings, but surely there's one or two other people in my situation who have only recently been able to afford a house and missed the great glorious boom of the 2000s-2010s.

Piro21 wrote: ↑Move to a medium-sized US city if you can and buy there. A coworker of mine bought a house, cash, in Austin for around half the price of an equivalent one here.

justaskthescientician wrote: ↑You're a classic example of why home prices can only go up so much.

If your salary doesn't increase by that much a year, then you can't afford to buy at those higher prices. Assuming that most people's salaries won't increase by that much either, then who is going to be buying these homes at those higher prices?

Don't get me wrong. Now is still a good time to buy if you want a house to live in. In that light, every time is a good time to buy, unless you plan on moving again and again soon/frequently. But if you're buying for investment purposes...

garmium wrote: ↑I would say OP is a classic example of why homes won't crash below X amount.

garmium wrote: ↑Real estate will only crash when people don't want to own. Markets don't care about affordability. Markets care about demand and supply.