Owning a home in California

If you find out let me know. My husband is a contractor and builds custom homes and we can not afford one with the way the market is. I am hoping it will be better when I graduate and am making money. I have always heard that you do not make any money working for some one else, but every time I turn around there is some business expense and gas is so expensive....I could go on. After I graduate I would be glad to get the you know what out of this state...

My husband and I have a home, we both work full time, I also have a 2nd job......there is just no other way....unless you were born in California or have a rich family member to bail you out....

We bought our first home with an inheritance left to us by dh's grandmother. That was in 1992. Otherwise, we'd still be in renter's hell.

Fear not! There is a way:
1. Save up for a down payment. You can do this by sharing an apt, reducing on the number of lattes you buy each week, etc.
2. Apply for BMR housing. Many cities (especially around the San Francisco Bay area) have first time home buyer programs. You attend some educational seminars (usually sponsored by the city) and then you can be put on the waiting list to obtain BMR (below market rate) housing.

For example, in Mountain View, CA (near Palo Alto and Stanford) the city likes to give preference to (public safety employees i.e. fire fighters), teachers, the people who have live in the same city at least 2 of the last 4 years (renters), and then people who have worked in Mtn View for at least the last 2 years. http://www.ci.mtnview.ca.us/city_hal...ome_buying.asp

Here's some info for San Francisco:
http://www.sfgov.org/site/moh_page.asp?id=48083 (the program)
http://www.sfgov.org/site/moh_page.asp?id=17815 (some units available now)

And Palo Alto, CA:
http://www.paloaltohousingcorp.org/bmr/purchase/

If you do a Google search on BMR housing <city> you can bring up housing for the city or county you're interested in. Some times, it takes a little bit of patience, but if you apply now, you'll be able to seek your housing dream with these programs! Good luck!

We bought our home when the market bottomed out 10 years ago, made a huge down payment with a recent inheritance otherwise we would not have one. The market is getting really soft right now which gives people hope. You can get some affordable condos but have to compromise where you live.

A few years ago Spring Valley (here in San Diego) gave first time homebuyers a lump sum of money for a downpayment on a home in SV. Now that's the kind of program to get into!

[quote=love-d-OR;2511166]Hi guys,

So we all know that the cost of living in California is high. I have been looking at the real estate market and can't seem to understand how I would ever be able to afford a home without working two jobs or having a roomate. For those of you who own homes/condos/lofts how do you deal?

If you feel this is too personal of a question PM, just curios to know if I will ever be able to afford my dream...




Well, California is a large state, if your open to what part you want to live you can surely find a nice place. I moved here 5 years ago prices were great then but flew sky high, we live in a relitively new city, it's growing very fast too fast! our down side is no hospitals, but they are working on that. Look around you might be surprised.

I don't live where I work and have owned my homes, two, for the past 30 years. Real estate here in California is downright obscene. The only positive outcome with this disastrous market is home values will re-set to the prices they are really worth. That home that sold 5 to 10 years ago for $300,000 and now worth $800,000 will go back down to a more realistic value and become more available to all. This does hurt those who have owned their homes for many years but will hurt only those who have maxed out their equity and could be upside down on what they owe and what the house is worth. When I have re-financed my home I have always left quite a bit of equity for a rainy day or for times like this. If people can have patience and wait a while, maybe 1 to 2 years, real estate will start to be more affordable. Down payments of 10-20% will always be the rule, so this is the time to save, save and save. Suzy Orman said this was going to happen 2 years ago on one of her shows. Very wise woman!

Long ago, I felt the same way as you do. Houses were running $180k but I was earning $30k. About 9 years later, I had been saving my money diligently. I'd been married for about a year, continuing to save like crazy, and together we earned about $65k. The market had tanked and we got into fixer-upper in a remote community for $150k. We did a ton of work on it ourselves and sold two years later in a rising market to clear $55k. I found a new job with a substantial raise and we used the profit from our first house to provide the 20% down on our new place.

Our new house is about 30 years old and is smaller than many. We also live in a less-desirable community but we're OK with it. We've built a lot of sweat equity here
and been careful not to look at our equity as an ATM. In a few years, we'll look at moving to a nicer house in a nicer area. That'll be some 20 years after we bought our first house and 30 years after I graduate from college.

The point is, it can be done if you're very frugal over a long period of time and you are flexible about where you live and the type of house that you'll accept. It also helps a lot if you and/or your spouse are willing and able to do repairs and improvements yourselves.

Me and my wife just purchased our first home in the central valley (Modesto) about 6 months ago. We had no down payment, 3 bed 2 bath 4 car garage on a 1/2 acre for $340,000 and we are barely in our mid twenties. Wanna know how? We have no debt, live within our means, have impecable credit and both have great jobs. My wife will break about 90k this year as an Ortho nurse and Ill make about half that in another profession. So you see it's not impossible, you just have to set limits on your spending and know what you can afford.