And the answer...........well, that varies by the day.
Recently we have dipped our toes back in the roiling waters of real estate, and are even taking the serious and necessary step of getting pre-qualified. The big question isn't what we can afford, which I know regardless of what we qualify for, but rather what we want and what we are willing to settle for at said affordable price.
What we know for certain is that the market is still not very settled. Depending on the relative optimism or pessimism of the person you ask, we are either at the bottom and starting to slowly rebound or still careening towards the abyss. What is a fact is that prices are less than they were 2 years ago, sometimes significantly so. This opens up areas we were not able to consider previously.........though we are still severely limited in our purchasing power in said areas. We have to decide things like: Is it better to be on busy street in a desirable area, or better to be in a less desirable area instead? Is it better to be close in, or have a nicer home? Is 1 bathroom okay?
Even once you decide on the where and the how, then you have to figure out the what. Such as, what does the house NEED to have and what would you LIKE the house to have and what could you care less about? Garage? Finished basement? Square footage? The list goes on.
Then, you have to decide not what you can afford, but what number you are comfortable with. Plus, here in Portland, houses next to one another frequently have incredibly disparate taxes (ranges from $900 to $5000/yr for similar priced homes). So matching priced homes can end up costing hundreds of dollars more a month.
All that remains certain at the moment is that we have a lot of time to decide and, based on what we have seen via open houses, that is a good thing since our price range seems to only include locations we aren't considering and, within the locations we are, a bunch of complete crap.
Still, its fun to look, though somewhat frightening as well. More to come as always.
2 comments:
Yay! If ya'll buy a house, then you'll have to stay around longer! No moving to Florida!
~J
That's my not-so-secret plan Josh! Although Florida never has and never will be on the table as an option.
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