One of my goals is to eventually be able to purchase a house. Many of my nursing colleagues are purchasing homes that are worth $450,000, $500,000 or even more. Sadly, my budget is about half of that or even less, which means the houses I have to choose from are not appealing. Most of them are small, old, or both.
I am just curious how other nurses manage to purchase decent houses? I've been looking through my income, and I just can't find a way to make it possible to incorporate such a house into my budget. I am salary, so there are no opportunities for overtime.
What are other nurses' experience with buying houses? How did you make it work? Did it require switching jobs? Inquiring minds want to know!
That was the prevailing wisdom before 2008 housing crash. It could happen anytime. My house lost an enormous value but the mortgage had been paid off. After Trump was elected, the price went down even more because of the lack of deductibility of the entire property tax bill. The OP is a single women who shouldn't buy more house then she needs. We no. longer have the luxury of unvolatility. IMHO.
The difference is that he 2008 housing crash was in large part subsequent to the bond market and mortgage backed securities "crash". There was insanely "easy money" that dried up. Now although rates are great it is much harder to qualify for loans. Also, we have scarcely if ever seen the combined pressures of production "squeeze" (mainly from Covid) along with massive infusion of money supply into the economy. There are of course no guarantees but it is likely that home prices in low tax states like Florida, Texas, Nevada, and Tenn. offer some of the best "inflation hedges" to be found.. Also at least here in Florida most of the homes that can be purchased near Disney for around 400K can double as a rental and earn upwards of 2K per month after paying the mortgage. I just tried to rent one for visiting family and the "going rate" for a four bedroom (with a pool) was around $300.00 per night. I live in a vacation rental community (as a renter) and 95% of the homes have been rented out during the entirely of the covid lockdown scenario (as vacation rentals). There is also the "income tax savings" of living in a low tax rate state. Let's say my SO and I decided to move to California and we kept our Washington tele jobs. At around 250K each our state income tax bill would go from 0 to around 50K per year more and we probably could not rent a four bedroom home with a pool in a gated community for $1800 per month or buy one (if we could afford to buy which we cannot with our debt) for around 400K. Also not sure how much the "single" part should drive her decisions. I'm 52 and technically still "single" although I've been with the same person almost 30 years.
The difference is that he 2008 housing crash was in large part subsequent to the bond market and mortgage backed securities "crash". There was insanely "easy money" that dried up. Now although rates are great it is much harder to qualify for loans. Also, we have scarcely if ever seen the combined pressures of production "squeeze" (mainly from Covid) along with massive infusion of money supply into the economy. There are of course no guarantees but it is likely that home prices in low tax states like Florida, Texas, Nevada, and Tenn. offer some of the best "inflation hedges" to be found.. Also at least here in Florida most of the homes that can be purchased near Disney for around 400K can double as a rental and earn upwards of 2K per month after paying the mortgage. I just tried to rent one for visiting family and the "going rate" for a four bedroom (with a pool) was around $300.00 per night. I live in a vacation rental community (as a renter) and 95% of the homes have been rented out during the entirely of the covid lockdown scenario (as vacation rentals). There is also the "income tax savings" of living in a low tax rate state. Let's say my SO and I decided to move to California and we kept our Washington tele jobs. At around 250K each our state income tax bill would go from 0 to around 50K per year more and we probably could not rent a four bedroom home with a pool in a gated community for $1800 per month or buy one (if we could afford to buy which we cannot with our debt) for around 400K. Also not sure how much the "single" part should drive her decisions. I'm 52 and technically still "single" although I've been with the same person almost 30 years.
The 2008 crash was also driven by the subprime mortgages that many unsuspecting people received and were unable to pay when the economy tanked. The subprime mortgage market and stocks were driven by greed and taking advantage of naive homeowners. I witnessed coworkers trapped when their interest rate skyrocketed and then were unable to refi to a decent fixed rate loan. One her broker talked her into a 2 year adjustable refi when fixed rates were around 5%, the lowest it had ever been at the time. He told her don't worry about it, you can refi again. They make bigger commissions by steering people into bad loans. She found that wasn't the case and she almost lost her home. Another coworker's loan hit 20%! I was shocked and wouldn't have believed it was possible. She lost her home after burning thru all her retirement savings. The greed is disgusting. It shouldn't have even been legal, but our govt is sold out to the corporations against it's own people!
Yes you will be better off financially if you live in a tax free or low cost state, but that is not always possible for everyone because of family or a spouses job. Not to mention these states tend to pay nurses the least and have crappy working conditions without any unions to try to improve things!
Silverbells is single and only has one income to pay for a mortgage. While you say you are too, you have two incomes. Also you and your girlfriend are going to be making good money so if you are concerned about the high tax rate of CA then stay in a no tax state.
Most people aren't saddled with the six figure student loan debt that is your biggest problem. It is the main reason you can't afford a home.
Student loans are the worst, most dangerous debt out there in my opinion. There are no bankruptcy options and the income based repayment plans so far have been failures, so people counting on them may very well regret it, especially as they may lead to negative amortization where the interest capitalizes and the loan increases exponentially! Over 100,000 seniors are having their social security garnished for unpaid student loans.
While a few people have had sympathetic judges that did allow their student loans into bankruptcy, that is the exception. I'm so glad mine are paid off and I won't take out any ever again. I especially fear for the many older workers who take out student loans trying find a new job as between age discrimination and health they may very well find themselves unable to pay the money back.
The 2008 crash was also driven by the subprime mortgages that many unsuspecting people received and were unable to pay when the economy tanked. The subprime mortgage market and stocks were driven by greed and taking advantage of naive homeowners. I witnessed coworkers trapped when their interest rate skyrocketed and then were unable to refi to a decent fixed rate loan. One her broker talked her into a 2 year adjustable refi when fixed rates were around 5%, the lowest it had ever been at the time. He told her don't worry about it, you can refi again. They make bigger commissions by steering people into bad loans. She found that wasn't the case and she almost lost her home. Another coworker's loan hit 20%! I was shocked and wouldn't have believed it was possible. She lost her home after burning thru all her retirement savings. The greed is disgusting. It shouldn't have even been legal, but our govt is sold out to the corporations against it's own people!
Yes you will be better off financially if you live in a tax free or low cost state, but that is not always possible for everyone because of family or a spouses job. Not to mention these states tend to pay nurses the least and have crappy working conditions without any unions to try to improve things!
Silverbells is single and only has one income to pay for a mortgage. While you say you are too, you have two incomes. Also you and your girlfriend are going to be making good money so if you are concerned about the high tax rate of CA then stay in a no tax state.
Most people aren't saddled with the six figure student loan debt that is your biggest problem. It is the main reason you can't afford a home.
Student loans are the worst, most dangerous debt out there in my opinion. There are no bankruptcy options and the income based repayment plans so far have been failures, so people counting on them may very well regret it, especially as they may lead to negative amortization where the interest capitalizes and the loan increases exponentially! Over 100,000 seniors are having their social security garnished for unpaid student loans.
While a few people have had sympathetic judges that did allow their student loans into bankruptcy, that is the exception. I'm so glad mine are paid off and I won't take out any ever again. I especially fear for the many older workers who take out student loans trying find a new job as between age discrimination and health they may very well find themselves unable to pay the money back.
Well don't forget my plan B Dogecoin and moving to Costa Rica. Let's see if they can garnish me in the jungles. There is also my "roaming nomad" option living in an older paid for RV using Sat uplink for internet and living largely on BLM land out West. You see I have some options. There is also the possibility of a hyperinflated currency that will let me pay my loans off one week and buy a loaf of bread with the next weeks pay. Thermonuclear war, and a solar flair EMP or Yellowstone Caldera explosion are other attractive options.
The 2008 crash was also driven by the subprime mortgages that many unsuspecting people received and were unable to pay when the economy tanked. The subprime mortgage market and stocks were driven by greed and taking advantage of naive homeowners. I witnessed coworkers trapped when their interest rate skyrocketed and then were unable to refi to a decent fixed rate loan. One her broker talked her into a 2 year adjustable refi when fixed rates were around 5%, the lowest it had ever been at the time. He told her don't worry about it, you can refi again. They make bigger commissions by steering people into bad loans. She found that wasn't the case and she almost lost her home. Another coworker's loan hit 20%! I was shocked and wouldn't have believed it was possible. She lost her home after burning thru all her retirement savings. The greed is disgusting. It shouldn't have even been legal, but our govt is sold out to the corporations against it's own people!
Yes you will be better off financially if you live in a tax free or low cost state, but that is not always possible for everyone because of family or a spouses job. Not to mention these states tend to pay nurses the least and have crappy working conditions without any unions to try to improve things!
Silverbells is single and only has one income to pay for a mortgage. While you say you are too, you have two incomes. Also you and your girlfriend are going to be making good money so if you are concerned about the high tax rate of CA then stay in a no tax state.
Most people aren't saddled with the six figure student loan debt that is your biggest problem. It is the main reason you can't afford a home.
Student loans are the worst, most dangerous debt out there in my opinion. There are no bankruptcy options and the income based repayment plans so far have been failures, so people counting on them may very well regret it, especially as they may lead to negative amortization where the interest capitalizes and the loan increases exponentially! Over 100,000 seniors are having their social security garnished for unpaid student loans.
While a few people have had sympathetic judges that did allow their student loans into bankruptcy, that is the exception. I'm so glad mine are paid off and I won't take out any ever again. I especially fear for the many older workers who take out student loans trying find a new job as between age discrimination and health they may very well find themselves unable to pay the money back.
Well said. I just this moment Googled what a typical down payment rate was and up popped an ad for a mortgage with 0 % down! 2008 is recent history but we have become history deniers as well as science deniers. I don't even want to know if ARM mortgages are still available, but plenty of suckered have been born since 2008 to become suckered by Wall St.
The difference is that he 2008 housing crash was in large part subsequent to the bond market and mortgage backed securities "crash". There was insanely "easy money" that dried up. Now although rates are great it is much harder to qualify for loans. Also, we have scarcely if ever seen the combined pressures of production "squeeze" (mainly from Covid) along with massive infusion of money supply into the economy. There are of course no guarantees but it is likely that home prices in low tax states like Florida, Texas, Nevada, and Tenn. offer some of the best "inflation hedges" to be found.. Also at least here in Florida most of the homes that can be purchased near Disney for around 400K can double as a rental and earn upwards of 2K per month after paying the mortgage. I just tried to rent one for visiting family and the "going rate" for a four bedroom (with a pool) was around $300.00 per night. I live in a vacation rental community (as a renter) and 95% of the homes have been rented out during the entirely of the covid lockdown scenario (as vacation rentals). There is also the "income tax savings" of living in a low tax rate state. Let's say my SO and I decided to move to California and we kept our Washington tele jobs. At around 250K each our state income tax bill would go from 0 to around 50K per year more and we probably could not rent a four bedroom home with a pool in a gated community for $1800 per month or buy one (if we could afford to buy which we cannot with our debt) for around 400K. Also not sure how much the "single" part should drive her decisions. I'm 52 and technically still "single" although I've been with the same person almost 30 years.
I think the OP just wants a house to live in, not rent out. She's an extremely busy single woman who is looking for a place to call home.
I think the OP just wants a house to live in, not rent out. She's an extremely busy single woman who is looking for a place to call home.
Yes but having "the option" to rent a house is a good. Consider this house https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4184-Oaktree-Dr-Davenport-FL-33837/98475124_zpid/ which we actually looked at before my SO decided to leave her previous job and join me at mine last Oct. It was generating in excess of 10K per month in "gross rental income" (in a gated community with an amazing water park). There were other homes (4 bedroom) at the time available in the same community for about 350K that were generating around 8K in gross monthly income. Also, prices have gone op about 10% since we looked last Oct.
I think your mileage may vary depending on where you live. I bought a very cheap home that was actually quite nice for the price and am extremely glad I did. Having a mortgage payment that I don't dread paying because it won't leave me broke is worth not having a more desirable home.
I do have friends that have an entire paycheck dedicated to their mortgage, and they're always picking up overtime and usually quite stressed. I think as a nurse you can have a home but I think it is wise to live below your means so that when times are bad you still have a roof over your head.
Follow this sensible advice and you can't go too wrong. Is having a very nice house worth the OT and stress?
Perhaps if you start small, you will be able eventually to have a house you are super proud of?
And it's what in that house - love, peace - that matters most.
A duplex may be another good option since it allows earning rental income that may partially (or completely) cover the cost of the mortgage although appreciation is usually less. I still lean towards the nomad lifestyle but it's not for everyone.
myoglobin, ASN, BSN, MSN
1,453 Posts
The difference is that he 2008 housing crash was in large part subsequent to the bond market and mortgage backed securities "crash". There was insanely "easy money" that dried up. Now although rates are great it is much harder to qualify for loans. Also, we have scarcely if ever seen the combined pressures of production "squeeze" (mainly from Covid) along with massive infusion of money supply into the economy. There are of course no guarantees but it is likely that home prices in low tax states like Florida, Texas, Nevada, and Tenn. offer some of the best "inflation hedges" to be found.. Also at least here in Florida most of the homes that can be purchased near Disney for around 400K can double as a rental and earn upwards of 2K per month after paying the mortgage. I just tried to rent one for visiting family and the "going rate" for a four bedroom (with a pool) was around $300.00 per night. I live in a vacation rental community (as a renter) and 95% of the homes have been rented out during the entirely of the covid lockdown scenario (as vacation rentals). There is also the "income tax savings" of living in a low tax rate state. Let's say my SO and I decided to move to California and we kept our Washington tele jobs. At around 250K each our state income tax bill would go from 0 to around 50K per year more and we probably could not rent a four bedroom home with a pool in a gated community for $1800 per month or buy one (if we could afford to buy which we cannot with our debt) for around 400K. Also not sure how much the "single" part should drive her decisions. I'm 52 and technically still "single" although I've been with the same person almost 30 years.