Comments on: Home Buying: What We Want

By: When you don’t know how much your partner makes. | When Life Gives You Lemons

Thu, 12 Dec 2013 15:28:46 +0000

[…] I always know – and if I don’t, I ask and he tells. He knows how much I make as well. We have common goals and while we each pay half of everything except for maybe date nights, we don’t have a common […]

By: I Have BIG News | When Life Gives You Lemons

I Have BIG News | When Life Gives You Lemons — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 10:39:08 +0000

[…] my post from August about what we wanted in a house, I listed the following things. See beside the bullet in orange for whether or not we got […]

By: Weekly Favorites, Gratitude, and Giveaways #79 | Budgeting In the Fun Stuff

Weekly Favorites, Gratitude, and Giveaways #79 | Budgeting In the Fun Stuff — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 05:07:15 +0000

[…] Vodka with Home Buying: What We Want Proof that we all have different priorities. And that Houston, TX is cheap comparably if […]

By: Deena Dollars

Deena Dollars — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 18:03:23 +0000

Not trying to nit-pick, but I wanted to point out that a $450k mortgage for 25 years with a 3.99% interest rate, which I believe you said in the comments of your last post would be what you were looking at, would be a $2,372.78 minimum payment per month. I am not sure if that extra $200 per month would be a huge difference, but I wanted to make sure you had the right numbers. The amortization calculators online always default to a 30-year mortgage (which gives you the $2,150), but the new 25-year rule means that you have to adjust that setting.

By: shanendoah@the dog ate my wallet

shanendoah@the dog ate my wallet — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 18:14:49 +0000

I’m jealous of the skilled trade folks in your family. C and I can only do so much (and it’s not much).
We loved our first house, but hated the commute. Our second house is okay, but our lives are a lot better.
I think there can be a lot of trade offs, but with your plan- buying a distressed property that you can then fix up to how you like it, you should be pretty stet.

By: Elizabeth @ Simple Finance

Elizabeth @ Simple Finance — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:34:22 +0000

I agree, HOA dues are a waste… these days, it’s tough to find a nice neighborhood in the USA without an HOA. You said 8,000 sq feet of land – do you realize how small that is? My lot is just over 10,000 sq ft and is not even a quarter of an acre!

By: Jen

Jen — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 20:44:33 +0000

I live in the Lower Mainland too and we have struggled with the housing challenges. I’m sure to outsiders, $375k – $450k sounds like a crazy high amount. We’re about 10 years older than you I suspect which made things easier for us since I had a small condo before the crazy big price increases happened. I’m impressed that someone of your age and generation is able to make this happen!

Question for you: Are you comfortable with the demographics and safety in the areas that you are looking to buy a house? We live in Langley, but found that there were a number of “rough” areas in Langley (and of course in Surrey) that have more reasonable housing prices… but with the downside of “rougher” neighborhoods. I generally found “city” of Langley to be a big rough (vs. Township) and of course there are a lot of tough areas of Surrey (‘tho they are probably evolving).

Other than those areas, I don’t know of much that is here or west of here that have many detached houses less than $450k? That said, I respect your decision not to share too many details 🙂

By: Kim@Eyesonthedollar

Kim@Eyesonthedollar — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 14:31:21 +0000

To echo some of the other comments, housing is so expensive in your area! Just curious if the salaries are also higher or if people just have to devote a huge portion of their income to own a home.

By: Daisy

Daisy — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 19:20:57 +0000

In reply to Anne @ Unique Gifter. The idea is to get away from the city. I feel rushed all the time on the "other" side of the bridge. I prefer the suburbs 100x over, but that's just me. My hope is that there will be a lot of locations open to us in the lower mainland by them, assuming the prices drop!

By: Daisy

Daisy — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 19:20:01 +0000

In reply to Kathleen @ Frugal Portland. Hahaha, no way. I could debate that for hours. I loved having a huge back yard as a kid. But I don't want just one :)