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Old 05-15-2008, 12:08 PM
DebbieL DebbieL is offline
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Location: Victoria, BC
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I agree with DisneySteve, you can't buy a house right now, and I'm not sure you have the discipline to keep up with all the associated costs that ownership brings anyways. You have been renting for 10 years and saved nothing.

Your income seems okay (depending on your area). What are average incomes where you live? I think it is a spending problem, as opposed to an income problem. If you live in an extremely high cost of living area (like me) then I might look more at the income side of things. The bank really doesn't care how tight things will be for you, so who cares if they are "willing" to give you a loan if you can come up with the downpayment? They will foreclose if you fall behind, and then you'll have nothing anyways.

I'll use my DH and I as an example for you. Where we live it is well over half a million (actually the average is over $600K) right now for the average price on a house. It's ridiculous. The average HOUSEHOLD (not individual) income is somewhere in the low 60K's range. Our combined income is currently close to 90K, and we wouldn't buy a place if you put a gun to our heads. Being house poor is not on my list of things to do. I also have a daughter. Just last month I sold my car (a 2003 Corolla) and am now commuting to work and college by bicycle. My husband still has his vehicle. We save money every month (I save over 1K monthly just from my income). We rent for just under $900/month, so for us to buy would make no sense right now. We will consider it when prices come to a more sane level, and we have a HUGE down payment.

You need patience, and the discipline to start saving your money. A house is WAY more expensive than you probably think with all the maintenance and taxes, etc. Just wanting a house isn't a good enough reason to justify buying a house. Heck - I want one too, just not badly enough to sign my life away on a huge mortgage (and yes, I'm sure the bank would be MORE than happy to "help" DH and I out with a mortgage too).
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