[mercyteapot]

Originally Posted by hope3456

Correct me if I am wrong on any of this, but to my understanding, for RN's in Cali starting pay is 25-30 dollars an hour. People must consider this pretty good since they are flocking to get into nursing school. However, it seems on this board that many RN's do not consider themselves making enough to own a home, or to cover cost of living. So what type of jobs do people have out there that give them such a high income to enable them to afford these homes? Also, in a previous post someone said that only 1 in 7 households are able to afford a home. Does this mean that many, or most households just have the 'interest-only' loans or ARM's? How do other professionals, such as teachers, police officers, make it then?

That 1 in 7 figure only refers to new homeowners. Many other professionals have owned homes for years and ''buy up'' with their capital gains from each prior purchase.

[Sheri257]

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[TheCommuter]

Originally Posted by hope3456

How do other professionals, such as teachers, police officers, make it then?

Many schoolteachers in California are married to educated professionals. Assume you're a schoolteacher who earns $57,000 yearly after ten years working for the same school district and married to a chemical engineer who earns $70,000 yearly at a factory. The combined income is $127,000 per year, which is enough to qualify for a mortgage in California.

Many police officers have spouses who are middle income earners. Assume you're a cop who earns $48,000 yearly and married to a payroll accountant who earns $60,000 yearly. The combined income is $108,000 per year, which is barely enough to qualify for a mortgage for an average California home.

Unmarried cops and teachers would find homeownership difficult, if not impossible. However, married cops and teachers who have middle income spouses can find a way to realize the dream of homeownership.

[Sheri257]

Speaking of bubbles ...

The April numbers are in. Looks like the market is slowing down even more:

http://www.dqnews.com/RRSCA0506.shtm

[Sheri257]

Originally Posted by mercyteapot

That 1 in 7 figure only refers to new homeowners. Many other professionals have owned homes for years and ''buy up'' with their capital gains from each prior purchase.

Yeah, but you can still lose money. We bought our house for $150,000 and (at least for now) it's worth $300K. If I put that equity into a $400 or $500K house that's closer to coastal areas, my mortgage would still be higher than what I'm paying now. A new loan isn't cheap either, and moving can cost a lot also. Plus, your property taxes would be much higher.

If we ever move again and buy another house in California, we'd have to do what we did last time ... do a lot of research to figure out what the next cheap boom town is going to be. That is ... if you want to come out ahead financially.

[anonymurse]

Rent or buy? Try the CEPR housing cost calculator:

http://www.cepr.net/calculators/hb/hcc.html

[NickiLaughs]

Housing bubble totally popped. They're selling brand new homes in our area (inland empire) what we bought a fixer upper for. The only thing that reassures us is that we have a bigger yard!
But we bought a 3 bed/2 bath on quarter acre with original hardwood floors for 260k. (I don't think that's expensive) considering together we make 90k a year. (I'm an LVN btw) so an RN would fare much better.

[TheCommuter]

I returned to my former city of residence last month, which happens to be in the Central Valley. My parents live there, so I was visiting them for 10 days. Back in '05 and '06, you could not find a decent home for under $250,000 in this particular city. Now, I am seeing billboards that advertise new homes for $190,000 and up. Also, I saw a whole bunch of foreclosure signs as I was driving through the different neighborhoods. It's really a sad situation.