The Home Ownership Thread

[double00]

hm omega may not be moving to 'atlanta' after all

In Atlanta’s Buckhead Neighborhood, Rising Crime Fuels Move to Secede

The potential loss of the city’s wealthiest and whitest area spurs debate as officials move to address homicides and property crime.

www.wsj.com

 

[Van Veen]

When I was about 8 or 9 years old I was woken up around 2:00 a.m. one day to a large boom and our entire house shaking. The neighbors two houses down came home after being in Florida for a couple of weeks and the dad took something down to the basement to plug in and the house exploded. Everybody made it out but the boy who lived there (he was a grade ahead of me) was with his dad in the basement when the house exploded and he and his dad suffered some pretty serious burns over most of their bodies.

IIRC from what my dad found out through the neighborhood gossip, the pilot light in the furnace and/or the hot water heater had gone out while they were gone and the gas had built up in their basement. Flipping a light switch or plugging something in generated an electric spark and the house went up. They did get a large insurance settlement, so at least there's that...

yeah, most gas accidents are due to faulty appliances, not faulty infrastructure. if it's installed correctly, it's very unlikely that gas infrastructure will fail. of course if infrastructure gets damaged, that's a different story. (Durham, NC, 2019)

I remember growing up the pilot light was always a big concern, but modern appliances have a safety valve that closes if the pilot light goes out.

 

[sugarbutch]

Ahem...

San Bruno pipeline explosion - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[brokencycle]

Ahem...

San Bruno pipeline explosion - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Where was #9 when that was installed?

 

[Piobaire]

This is the town where my high school was. I considered Essex a pretty big city at the time as it had 5 or 6k people.

 

[ValidusLA]

A quick Google says average income in Pasadena is about 120k, so given a double income, they're at 4x income.

ETA: whoops, that was household income, so yeah, that's an overheated market I guess.

Pasadena is weird. If you took the NW out, the income mean and median would skyrocket. But yes, the city is overheated. 1

 

[MrG]

The conversation about income multiples is interesting to me. I've never understood why people over a certain threshold are so willing to be house poor. Like, I get it when it's the difference between a dangerous neighborhood with bad schools and a nice one with good schools, or where housing is crazy expensive, but once you get to a certain point, it seems like the benefits of spending more flatten out significantly.

For some context, we financed a bit more than double our then-gross when we bought where we are now, and we were pretty sure we'd both see significant salary growth over the next several years. The bank was willing to give us a lot more, but I didn't like what it would do to our budget.

Fast forward several years, and I was right. We're both pulling down substantially more, like around 80% more in the aggregate. Every now and then, I think that we should be looking for more house, but then I think of all the additional costs that would come with that. I like having my income be "too high" for the house I own, because I love the financial cushion and flexibility. "Upgrading" wouldn't put us in financial peril, but it would certainly mean compromising elsewhere. I just don't get why people look at that scenario and go, "yeah, gonna add 1,000 more square feet and some nicer finishes" just because they can. If nothing else, I would rather spend the money I'd put into a new house on a vacation home.

Again, I get that this is partially a function of the fact that I was able to buy something desirable in the first place, but it's not like I bought my dream home. It's a nice place in a good neighborhood that has most of what I want in a home, but that's about it. I don't understand the logic of people in my situation who just go bigger over and over, nor those who buy at things like 6x multiples.

I will say that I can see a scenario a few years down the line where we upgrade if we have more income growth, but even then it would only be to what people would say we can afford now. I wouldn't go maximize every penny of that theoretical future income.

Edit: I should note that I was poor then working class as a kid. I'd have to guess we were below median the whole time.

 

[Numbernine]

Where was #9 when that was installed?

Of the thousands of welds I made I never had a leak or failed an Xray. True story. Pearly eye and a golden arm.

yeah, most gas accidents are due to faulty appliances, not faulty infrastructure. if it's installed correctly, it's very unlikely that gas infrastructure will fail. of course if infrastructure gets damaged, that's a different story. (Durham, NC, 2019)

I remember growing up the pilot light was always a big concern, but modern appliances have a safety valve that closes if the pilot light goes out.

Most modern appliances don't have pilot lights.

Ahem...

San Bruno pipeline explosion - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

That was a PG&E install iirc and there was something about using a short piece of pipe that not rated for the project

 

[PhilKenSebben]

Depends. Are we talking the years when my dad had a job or the years when he didn't?

Yes.

 

[PhilKenSebben]

I haven't gotten above the Styleforum poverty line. Is that the same as the Federal poverty line?

Yes. You quality for Foo to send you a monthly stipend for custom made western shirts.

 

[Texasmade]

The conversation about income multiples is interesting to me. I've never understood why people over a certain threshold are so willing to be house poor. Like, I get it when it's the difference between a dangerous neighborhood with bad schools and a nice one with good schools, or where housing is crazy expensive, but once you get to a certain point, it seems like the benefits of spending more flatten out significantly.

For some context, we financed a bit more than double our then-gross when we bought where we are now, and we were pretty sure we'd both see significant salary growth over the next several years. The bank was willing to give us a lot more, but I didn't like what it would do to our budget.

Fast forward several years, and I was right. We're both pulling down substantially more, like around 80% more in the aggregate. Every now and then, I think that we should be looking for more house, but then I think of all the additional costs that would come with that. I like having my income be "too high" for the house I own, because I love the financial cushion and flexibility. "Upgrading" wouldn't put us in financial peril, but it would certainly mean compromising elsewhere. I just don't get why people look at that scenario and go, "yeah, gonna add 1,000 more square feet and some nicer finishes" just because they can. If nothing else, I would rather spend the money I'd put into a new house on a vacation home.

Again, I get that this is partially a function of the fact that I was able to buy something desirable in the first place, but it's not like I bought my dream home. It's a nice place in a good neighborhood that has most of what I want in a home, but that's about it. I don't understand the logic of people in my situation who just go bigger over and over, nor those who buy at things like 6x multiples.

I will say that I can see a scenario a few years down the line where we upgrade if we have more income growth, but even then it would only be to what people would say we can afford now. I wouldn't go maximize every penny of that theoretical future income.

Edit: I should note that I was poor then working class as a kid. I'd have to guess we were below median the whole time.

I often get the spiel from family of "you should sell your house and get something better!"

I don't really want to sell since my house is good enough for me with a enough income leftover to do fun **** and spend somewhat frivolously like buying a Porsche without worrying about making mortgage payments. I could sell my house for like $400k but then I'd be spending like $500k+ to get something equivalent in the same area. To me that's a losing situation.

 

[PhilKenSebben]

I often get the spiel from family of "you should sell your house and get something better!"

Nice to see your family points out you live In a **** hole

 

[gnatty8]

The conversation about income multiples is interesting to me. I've never understood why people over a certain threshold are so willing to be house poor. Like, I get it when it's the difference between a dangerous neighborhood with bad schools and a nice one with good schools, or where housing is crazy expensive, but once you get to a certain point, it seems like the benefits of spending more flatten out significantly.

For some context, we financed a bit more than double our then-gross when we bought where we are now, and we were pretty sure we'd both see significant salary growth over the next several years. The bank was willing to give us a lot more, but I didn't like what it would do to our budget.

Fast forward several years, and I was right. We're both pulling down substantially more, like around 80% more in the aggregate. Every now and then, I think that we should be looking for more house, but then I think of all the additional costs that would come with that. I like having my income be "too high" for the house I own, because I love the financial cushion and flexibility. "Upgrading" wouldn't put us in financial peril, but it would certainly mean compromising elsewhere. I just don't get why people look at that scenario and go, "yeah, gonna add 1,000 more square feet and some nicer finishes" just because they can. If nothing else, I would rather spend the money I'd put into a new house on a vacation home.

Again, I get that this is partially a function of the fact that I was able to buy something desirable in the first place, but it's not like I bought my dream home. It's a nice place in a good neighborhood that has most of what I want in a home, but that's about it. I don't understand the logic of people in my situation who just go bigger over and over, nor those who buy at things like 6x multiples.

I will say that I can see a scenario a few years down the line where we upgrade if we have more income growth, but even then it would only be to what people would say we can afford now. I wouldn't go maximize every penny of that theoretical future income.

Edit: I should note that I was poor then working class as a kid. I'd have to guess we were below median the whole time.

This. I bought a good bit below the 2 to 3X income. Housing doesn't matter a whole hell of a lot to me, it's a place to park my **** and keep my stuff. If I was earning double, I'd have bought the same place.

 

[gnatty8]

I often get the spiel from family of "you should sell your house and get something better!"

I could sell my house for like $400k but then I'd be spending like $500k+ to get something equivalent in the same area. To me that's a losing situation.

Wait. You could sell for $400K but an equivalent house in the same area would cost you $500K? You need a new agent son..

 

[Texasmade]

Wait. You could sell for $400K but an equivalent house in the same area would cost you $500K? You need a new agent son..

My house has leaks and visible water damage so I'm knocking money off for that.