@turtledove13 My wife and I are looking by at leaving Ohio and PCSing to NorCal next year for my twilight tour. We sold a house in Sacramento May 2020 and we really wish we held onto it. Now we are looking at new builds in the Sacramento area in the $600K range. By taking a Bay Area billet as a married E-7 and with my wife working the mortgage is very feasible with dual incomes and expect the VA loan rates to lower in a few years. We always lived debt free and find it very possible to get by alright.
We bought in 2020(KC)and 2022(TX). Low interest rates and VA loan. Had to sell our KC home and use equity for new house. Have an extension request in now pending approval so we can stay here another year. We're getting sucked dry by the cost of living wife is about to have to go back to work instead of staying with the kids. If we don't get extended we'll be in trouble and probably won't be able to buy at next duty station.
@turtledove13 Only way we were able to buy in NJ last year, was because while stationed in HI, we bought right before the boom. While it sucked to go from 2.25% to 5.5% rate, the 30% appreciation on our HI home made it possible to put a big enough down payment to bring the mortgage within our BAH.
Long story short, people buying homes are probably those that already had homes before the boom.
@turtledove13 No wife and kids but I’m entertaining an airstream in SD with my gf and cats. VA loan assumptions are possible but good luck coming up with the difference.
@turtledove13 Married E6 looking into the DC area, I'm actually able to find quite a bit of things I can afford on the ~3100/mo that they give us. Then again Idk if these places get into bidding wars or not, but list prices with a 6% interest rate that Navy Fed seems willing to give seems doable. They're not the best, not the worst places.
@turtledove13 I know an E9 who has a home in North Carolina that pays $550 for his mortgage. Meanwhile, I make almost $4K in SoCal BAH and can’t afford a home. I was approved for $750K and was going to put down $100K. Kept getting outbid. I would’ve been out of pocket at least $1K for my mortgage.
I feel like it’s not fair but they’re paying me to have a roof over my head, not to make sound financial investments. Unfortunately I’ve live in privatized housing most of my career. But, I do have a pretty good savings. Win some lose some. Really wish I had a home of my own though.
@turtledove13 Enlisted E-6, husband is a civilian. We bought a house last August in Florida. Probably wouldn’t have been able to do it in California though.
No HOA, no money down. Not a GREAT rate but affordable, and we knew if we didn’t pull the trigger then it would just get worse. We will refinance when rates drop. Still beats the possibility of rent increasing every year though.
@turtledove13 Mostly through creative financing and owning other properties, As a Single E6 I was able to close on a few properties in the last 12 months. The interest rates do suck I agree, but there are a lot of interesting ways to work through the hurdles.
As many have said it ok to NOT be able to purchase a home in the area that you are at, everyone has different goals and risk tolerances. If OP or anyone else wants advice please feel free to reach out and im more than happy to share how Im doing and give free consulting with no charge. I was recently in a class and hearing how much NCOs are struggling to afford the bare minimum made me more concerned than ever for the junior enlisted that are being given these assignments as we can't fit everyone on base housing plus has them commute to work. just my two pennies.
@turtledove13 I was able to do it as an E6 in SoCal with a roughly 5% interest rate. The thinking is that if I get the property while other folks are hesitant to buy, I could always refinance at a lower rate in the (hopefully short) future.
I should also note that my commute to work is 1 1/2 hours both ways every day. BAH goes entirely to the mortgage and I come out of pocket with base pay to cover the difference .
In my mind, it’s worth it to own property. And I can always get lessees.
@turtledove13 Move from San Diego to midwest. Buy homes here.
What I’m doing right now.
Get super savvy with 203k loan and find a burnt down piece of shit that’s got squatters in it.
Find those open to Seller finance. I’ve thought a couple times of being the bank on my places in San Diego to demand a higher price but give people a 4-5% interest rate to offset my capital gains tax.
granted I bought last year in august before the rates went to complete shit also.