That last part isn’t entirely true: some of us were “waiting” as in not currently making enough to buy, but working on it. I literally just started making enough to consider buying a home when COVID hit and the WFH movement took my plan, threw it down a flight of stairs, and pissed all over it.
Houses would have to go down by nearly half in order to make the total cost of the loan equal what it did with the record low rates during covid and the following year.
A 300k house at today’s rates costs about the same over the loan as a 600k house at the record low rates, about 900k over the life of the loan, to paint a picture of how much rates effect your buying power. And everyone locked in to those rates will never sell, which is everyone. Why walk away from that loan. It makes more sense to rent out the house to pay the mortgage than to sell. I know that’s what I’d do, I’ll never walk away from this loan.
So unfortunately, folks who missed those record low rates likely missed the bus, buying will still be possible but it will be much more of a slog, buying a shitty starter home and throwing tons of you’re money into mortgage payments that go mostly to interest.
Pretty much, just another thing that got added to my gigantic pile of “reasons to be extraordinarily depressed in perpetuity” over the last like decade now…
Life is different for everyone, but for me it’s really amazing how it just only gets worse year after year.
Dang I’m sorry to hear that. I feel like I caught the last good wave. I learned to code when the bootcamps we’re booming and cheap and you could get a tech job anywhere easy. Worked my way up to senior engineer and got really good in time to avoid all the layoffs. Took my permanent remote silicone valley salary and moved to a small town and bought my first house on acres of forest right as lockdown hit full swing. Got locked into that sub 3%, got married and have a kid, wife doesn’t have to work, and my salary is very comfortable in this town which is nestled into stunning natural beauty, where the redwoods meet the California coast. It’s paradise.
I locked in a sub 3, and this is basically in my opinion the only plan, I can never walk away from this mortgage, the only way Im not in the house is via renting it out, the difference in prices now and when i bought are almost comically high and its only been 4 years.
Yeah it makes zero sense to give up the loan. It’s the closest to a free loan any normal person can get. I refinanced even like 6 months after buying. The value of the house had gone up by like 100k, so I pulled out 50k, got a lower rate, and my monthly went DOWN. My wife was like, where’s the catch this can’t just be free money, and I’m like, actually it kind of is.
That last part isn’t entirely true: some of us were “waiting” as in not currently making enough to buy, but working on it. I literally just started making enough to consider buying a home when COVID hit and the WFH movement took my plan, threw it down a flight of stairs, and pissed all over it.
Houses would have to go down by nearly half in order to make the total cost of the loan equal what it did with the record low rates during covid and the following year.
A 300k house at today’s rates costs about the same over the loan as a 600k house at the record low rates, about 900k over the life of the loan, to paint a picture of how much rates effect your buying power. And everyone locked in to those rates will never sell, which is everyone. Why walk away from that loan. It makes more sense to rent out the house to pay the mortgage than to sell. I know that’s what I’d do, I’ll never walk away from this loan.
So unfortunately, folks who missed those record low rates likely missed the bus, buying will still be possible but it will be much more of a slog, buying a shitty starter home and throwing tons of you’re money into mortgage payments that go mostly to interest.
Pretty much, just another thing that got added to my gigantic pile of “reasons to be extraordinarily depressed in perpetuity” over the last like decade now…
Life is different for everyone, but for me it’s really amazing how it just only gets worse year after year.
Dang I’m sorry to hear that. I feel like I caught the last good wave. I learned to code when the bootcamps we’re booming and cheap and you could get a tech job anywhere easy. Worked my way up to senior engineer and got really good in time to avoid all the layoffs. Took my permanent remote silicone valley salary and moved to a small town and bought my first house on acres of forest right as lockdown hit full swing. Got locked into that sub 3%, got married and have a kid, wife doesn’t have to work, and my salary is very comfortable in this town which is nestled into stunning natural beauty, where the redwoods meet the California coast. It’s paradise.
Maybe there’s abother boat coming.
I locked in a sub 3, and this is basically in my opinion the only plan, I can never walk away from this mortgage, the only way Im not in the house is via renting it out, the difference in prices now and when i bought are almost comically high and its only been 4 years.
Yeah it makes zero sense to give up the loan. It’s the closest to a free loan any normal person can get. I refinanced even like 6 months after buying. The value of the house had gone up by like 100k, so I pulled out 50k, got a lower rate, and my monthly went DOWN. My wife was like, where’s the catch this can’t just be free money, and I’m like, actually it kind of is.