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I bought my house (suburb of Seattle) for $300k seven years ago. It's been feeling pretty small lately, so I occasionally check Zillow to see what's on the mark
by mynameisash 5y ago
I bought my house (suburb of Seattle) for $300k seven years ago. It's been feeling pretty small lately, so I occasionally check Zillow to see what's on the market. I can't find anything within a reasonable commute (~45 minutes) to work without paying at least $800k, and even then, it's usually a derelict property that probably will need to a few hundred thousand more to bring it up to par.
My three options seem to be:
1. Live with the small house (and awesomely small principal) we have, at least until the bubble bursts
2. Suck it up and pay a ton of money
3. Move far from Seattle.
I'd actually love option 3, but with established relationships in the area, it's not a great option socially for the family.
- ddlutz 5y agoWith spending 300k seven years ago what is the value of the property now? Would't be surprised if it's 600k+. Let's assume you put 60k into downpayment and maybe you've gotten another 40k in principal put in from payments. That's 400k of equity you can put into a new place. Sure this is technically option 2, but it's not as terrible if you compare to people that are buying now without having equity grown for years to help purchase.
- lotsofpulp 5y agoA lot of people get tripped up by nominal prices. Ignore the big numbers, and focus on the return you will be getting using the non callable (and non recourse in WA state) leverage you get with a home mortgage. Unless Seattle stops being attractive to people with high incomes, you have nothing to worry about. Use your current home’s equity to get the house you want. The situation mainly sucks for people who jump on the equity ladder later than those who jumped on earlier. But that is how our society is structured, and I do not see a reason for that to change soon.