Worried | Imamother

amother

Ballota

Mon, May 23 2022, 8:19 am

I’ve changed my opinion on this. I used to think that it was silly to stretch yourself so tight but I’ve seen how homes that no one dreamed would go up in value have doubled. Jewish real estate does not follow the rest of the country bec the supply is what it is and the demand just grows. If you can do it please take a leap of faith and trust hashem will help you. If there’s one thing lakewood real estate has taught me , it’s just buy something! Renting is the saddest waste of money. Another point, just the fact that you’re posting here your concern shows that you’re a financially responsible person. I’m sure your and your dh will figure it out.

amother

Forsythia

Mon, May 23 2022, 8:44 am

Thank you Ballota for wording so well! I'm made to feel like an idiot on this site. I am not sure why I need any hugs. Buying a home for over a million dollars was very hard but we had no choice for various reasons. And BH we are paying back our chovos. I know someone who got a yerusha around 30 years ago. They used the money to live instead of buying a home. They have been paying rent all these years and never bought. Now they need tzedaka to live. How can people feel they know enough about the situation ? Every situation is different!

amother

Ballota

Mon, May 23 2022, 8:51 am

amother [ Forsythia ] wrote:

Thank you Ballota for wording so well! I'm made to feel like an idiot on this site.

You were bashed bec of your line about women not able to make such a decision….this is obviously a huge purchase and should be a joint decision. What would happen if the wife is not working and he is not doing so well and now she has to go work to help pay the mortgage? Just one example of how women should definitely be involved in such a huge decision

amother

Lotus

Mon, May 23 2022, 9:00 am

It really depends on what you mean by "stretched".

Almost everyone is stretched when they buy their first home. So you move in and don't spend additional money unnecessarily. You live with old furniture and do the minimum decorating and just live with it.

In time for most people things balance out because the costs of your home remain about the same but your income rises so eventually the cost of living in your house is much less expensive than if you were renting. And then ultimately you own the house and your housing expenses are either very low or you can downsize and have accumulated a nice nest egg.

That is if you are content to live in the house for a long time and don't buy a new bigger one or use the house as an ATM by taking out second mortgages or a HELOC.

No one can predict the future. If you can afford the house and your jobs are as stable as they can be then you take the leap.

Unless you are buying to speculate you can't worry about what the price of a house might be next year. I owned a house for many years and the value went up and down but it never mattered to me because I didn't plan to sell. What for - if the price was up then all housing prices were up and so where would I move? If the price was down it didn't matter because I didn't need to sell.

amother

Babyblue

Mon, May 23 2022, 9:28 am

amother [ Zinnia ] wrote:

100 percent disagree
There is nothing like owning your own home if you can afford it
Anyways it does not go down in frum areas. It may stay the same but wont go down. In my area houses are selling for above asking. Anyways no one can tell you if you will be able to afford the house in the future. And yes normal to have some worries and have to be responsible but anything can happen from one minute to the next

I disagree as well. We owned for a decade before we outgrew our place and started renting something bigger. It's a lot more stressful overall to be renting than to own, unless you but something old or poorly built/ maintained. But all else being equal, I vastly prefer to own. We're still waiting though.

But I also disagree that housing prices don't go down in frum areas. That's absolutely not true. During the last crash prices dropped everywhere. No place was spared. And where I live now, the asking price is a starting bid. But I've already seen a dip over the last couple of weeks, and houses are not under contract in a day anymore. They can sit. Anyone saying prices don't drop in frum neighborhoods is forgetting what happened between 15 and 10 years ago.

amother

Hyssop

Mon, May 23 2022, 9:50 am

Was the frum residential real estate market as saturated with cash buyers and investors 10-15 years ago as it is now? Maybe I am completely wrong, but I feel like that is where a significant amount of competition comes from these days. That, and parents who are trying to buy homes for their children. It's no longer just families looking to purchase homes. It seems to be investors and extended family members, too, who are making cash purchases, all competing for a much tinier supply... Hard to imagine the frum market tanking with such a wide, expanded range of buyers in this decade? What kind of metrics would contribute to a similar decline?

amother

Freesia

Mon, May 23 2022, 10:01 am

amother [ Hyssop ] wrote:

Does anyone here know people who lost their house after 2008?
Same thing.
People overextended just a tiny little bit on their mortgage. Parents committed to help, the banks closed their eyes.
But then the recession came. People were fired. They had to take jobs that paid a fraction of what they were making before. Parents lost their retirement savings and weren't able to help make up the shortfall.
People defaulted on their mortgage and lost their house.
I personally know multiple families who lost their houses then.

I'm scared of a repeat. Yes, the banks are being better about approving what you can afford. But inflation is making it worse. And if a recession comes and people have to take a pay cut, I just don't see how it can be smart to stretch yourself just a little bit to cover a mortgage.

amother

Babyblue

Mon, May 23 2022, 10:08 am

amother [ Freesia ] wrote:

Yea, all this. Additionally, investors are less likely to put capital into a market that's threatening to crash or even dip significantly. They're also less likely to invest when the economy overall is doing poorly, which is the writing on the wall right now. The stock market is in total upheaval, inflation is sky high. And now that interest rates have gone up, a pool of potential buyers have been priced out. All of this has already contributed to prices leveling and dropping, and it's only the start. The market didn't skyrocket in a day and it's won't fall in a day, it will very possibly be a downturn rather than a crash. But both are options.

amother

Clear

Mon, May 23 2022, 10:08 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I’m under contract on a house that is above our budget, in a surrounding Lakewood area. Because there is a housing shortage, and for several other reasons, we feel we need to go the route of purchasing a particular home (we’re afraid if we don’t buy this one, we won’t find anything better). It’s disappointing that were going to be paying several hundred thousand dollars higher than what this particular house would have costed if we bought it one or 2 years ago, but more than that, it’s really a tight squeeze for our budget. With the housing crisis and the doomsday predictions of markets crashing and home values falling, Is this a bad idea ?? The area were under contract with is very important for our kids and social reasons.

Don’t look back and regret not having bought a few years ago… I do that too but it’s pointless and will only make you miserable. If you wait on buying, then in 2 years from now you’ll be regretting that you didn’t buy now! House prices are still rising steadily now! I bought 2 months ago, at about $100,000 more than it was a year before, but since I moved in, I saw the value of my house has risen by about $30,000! No matter what happens with the supposed market crashes, I don’t believe these houses, especially in the desirable neighborhoods (especially frum neighborhoods) will go down in value.

Everyone’s been saying that everything went down in Flatbush… not true! You still can’t get anything but a fixer upper for under $800,000.

Just buy your house, enjoy its advantages, and don’t look back. You can be sure the value will go up, you won’t lose money,but if you don’t buy now, in a year from now you’ll regret it as prices will definitely be higher! Ultimately try to remember Hashem is in charge of how much money a person has/will have. It’s all part of His plan for you. Mazel Tov on the new house!

amother

Clear

Mon, May 23 2022, 10:10 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

It’s a newer house, less than 20 years old. However I’ve seen in this forum people say that old houses are built better and stronger than newer houses so I don’t know how excited I
Should be that it’s in move in condition , doesn’t need work, and looks pretty nice.

Be VERy happy about all that! I specifically also bought a house that’s only like 20 yrs old, and was very fixed up, because I did not want to have to do work! I didn’t even have to paint, or anything else BH. Not having to deal with the many headaches, potential for aggravation in unforeseen problems, costs and time involved with having to do work, is a huge plus and that was important enough for me to agree to pay a higher price.

amother

Hyssop

Mon, May 23 2022, 10:11 am

Actually... I'd venture a guess that many women on this site DO NOT know people who lost their houses around 2008 purely because of the demographics here. Many women on this site were still in elementary or high school or an apartment then!

That's why I asked. There is a collective "we" here who are lacking context when we talk about another "recession."

So, the market seems to have rebounded, since then.

But are the variables that contributed to home losses appearing again, now? Or is the real estate market in 2022 different? Because that's what the experts seem to be saying. It's NOT the same as 2008. Supply is way different.

I'd love to see parallels, clear differentiators, a legit analysis (not a "who remembers?" speculation) if any of them exist. Because the lack of definite evidence is what drives fear and makes people genuinely worry.

amother

Clear

Mon, May 23 2022, 10:12 am

amother [ Diamond ] wrote:

I’ve been seeing otherwise…Currently looking for a house so I’m constantly on those websites and see updates throughout the day..

I’m seeing the opposite. A close friend of mine is a realtor in the Lkwd, Jackson, etc areas, The houses for the most part are flying off the market, even with bidding wars. The frum areas don’t godown in price.

amother

Clear

Mon, May 23 2022, 10:13 am

amother [ Babyblue ] wrote:

We can afford the crazy prices now and we're still choosing to wait. I can't tell you how it will affect your kids, but my family will not be significantly affected by renting another year or two if necessary. Yes, I would love to be settled. Really, I'm so tired of the frustrations that come with not owning. But I don't want to pay for that for the next thirty years. I can be patient and let it happen when there's more menuchas hanefesh instead of getting caught up in the franticness of the market today. Hashem will provide our home in the right time and I don't think that has to be now.

Let us know in a year or two from now, whether it paid to wait. I predict not.

amother

Junglegreen

Mon, May 23 2022, 10:14 am

amother [ Hyssop ] wrote:

In 2000s investors from around the world were fighting on properties. They were selling 50k over asking price with in data of going on the market. (I remember a home being bought by an Israeli investor the day it went on market we had an a canceled appt to see it)
I know bec we bought then
Our house crashed in value and only now it is back to what we paid.
There were tons of homes to buy raintree was just staring out and ppl were paying insane prices for everything.
Raintree took years for prices to stabiluze again.

amother

Freesia

Mon, May 23 2022, 10:15 am

amother [ Hyssop ] wrote:

The parallels that I see are simple.
Mortgages being committed to that are affordable NOW but with both inflation and a possible recession, they may not be affordable in a year from now.
Parental help that's being common to now to cover mortgages that may not be affordable in a year.

amother

Clear

Mon, May 23 2022, 10:15 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Right now we are in a position to purchase it, but it’s tight. However, the economy seems to be going into a recession, and even though my husbands job is stable and secure, I am still worried that we might be in a situation of a huge expense c”vs, or god forbid his job doesn’t hold the way it is now. My plan was originally to buy something for less, and have a cushion of savings, but there’s a housing shortage in the area we are buying in and I feel stuck/
If I don’t buy this house - that I won’t find anything. I wonder if this bubble we’re in now (high costs, nothing available etc) will pop and I will feel stupid that I spent as much as I did. Although this area is very very popular and from what I see as the trend, families will always pay top dollar to live there (I hope)

Why don’t you discuss your concerns with a Rov and ask his opinion and for a bracha? We did that, and were told to not worry, to spend the money and the way to pay will continue to come from Hashem.

amother

Clear

Mon, May 23 2022, 10:17 am

amother [ Sapphire ] wrote:

Btw I rented until now the headaches of owning are way bigger

Renting is throwing your money straight into the garbage, as opposed to paying your mortgage which is paying off your own property and assuring you can always sell it and make a profit when/if you wish to. Where does your money on rent go?