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mattgm1995 t1_jdwwvy8 wrote

Reply to comment by [deleted] in Officially less homes for sale in Greater Boston than any other time during pandemic market craziness. by [deleted]

For context my wife and I are $180k in HHI and we can’t afford a home where we want. 3 beds and 2 baths are $450k +. It’s insane

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[deleted] OP t1_jdwzg7v wrote

Your main issue is that you're trying to buy a home that's 2.5x your income, that's pretty conservative. A lot of people do 4-5x, whatever the max the bank will loan them. So in some cases you're losing houses to people who make less money but willing to spend more on the mortgage. I'm not telling you to spend more than you're comfortable with, just putting into perspective what some people around here will do to get a home.

$450k is entry-level now, it's actually the most competitive market segment due to high demand from first time buyers, but also extremely low supply (people with low mortgage rates are stuck in their starter homes and can't move up without incurring a massively bigger payment).

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mattgm1995 t1_jdxaauv wrote

I don’t think the fact that I’m not willing to overextend and jeopardize my retirement savings is the issue… supply is the issue.

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[deleted] OP t1_jdxcxqe wrote

Even the old “boomer rule” of 28/36 resulted in spending a little over 3x household income on a home. So yes you’re thinking quite conservatively. Not a bad thing, but it’s not going to get you anywhere in today’s housing market. I don’t realistically see a path forward to increasing supply in Greater Boston.

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DrNostrand t1_jdzkos1 wrote

this is the way, make sure the home checks some boxes for when you go to sell "decent schools,close to commuter roads/rails, decent garage" and youll make your money back.

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UltravioletClearance t1_jdxy280 wrote

Out of everyone I know who bought a home in the past 30 years, almost all of them purchased more than they could afford according to dated "rules of thumb." The dirty little secret is you either need to be filthy rich or "house poor" to own in this state. It's been that way for many years.

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whoeve t1_jdx02z8 wrote

Even in the places I don't want I still can't afford a home without it needing lots of work. Houses are just straight up 50% more expensive compared to pre-pandemic. My income certainly ain't up by that amount.

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Hottakesincoming t1_jdxier9 wrote

It really depends on the area. Sale prices on houses in my admittedly less desirable neighborhood are only up 20%, maybe 25% from 2019, but that's not actually far off from inflation. It's mortgage rates that have really raised the cost of owning a home, combined with inflation way outpacing salaries.

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aime10123 t1_jdypstk wrote

Where are you looking? 3 beds 2 bath is closer to 600k where I'm looking

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