I got a letter from a woman at Weichart Realtors over the weekend that just made me laugh out loud in anger. For privacy's sake, let's call her A. Shah. No, that's too obvious, let's call her Aarti S. Here are some excerpts that I particularly enjoyed:
"You might think that you can get more house from a rent payment than you could if you were buying. That may not be true! If you can afford to rent, you can probably afford to buy."
"The general rule is that you can afford a house that costs 1.5 to 2.5 times your annual (gross) income."
"Your monthly mortgage shouldn't exceed 28% of your gross monthly income."
Hilarious! First off, most people rent because they either aren't in a position to buy (life/job unstable), or don't have enough saved up for a down payment. Yes, a down payment is necessary. Even last summer when interest rates were at record lows, financing 100% is still going to cost an arm and a leg because your second trust for anything above the 80% covered by the initial mortgage is going to be a much higher interest rate. And for what I'm paying in rent, which is exorbitant, I doubt very much that I could find even a comparably sized condo that has a mortgage payment equal to my monthly rent, even if I had the capital to put a full 20% down. Let's assume for a minute that the "rule of thumb" is remotely accurate. I wonder what kind of place I could buy for between $91,000 and $152,500. In northern Virginia, certainly not anyplace as nice as where I live now, if anything at all. Maybe a garage... And with my monthly mortage, let's see now, my rent is just under that 28% reccomendation. Perfect! I'd like very much to see what kind of place I could afford under these guidelines in this area. Oh wait, I can! My search on HomesDatabase turned up one result in the prescribed price range. Too bad I have to be a senior citizen first. Maybe Aarti Shah knows something I don't, but I very much doubt that. Her letter just made me so irritated that she would send something like this out. "Hey renter, you can afford to buy! But not really because there's nothing you can afford here! Hahahaha! Sucker." Basically, according to her logic, I need a household income of at least $120K (Emily and I combined don't even make that) to barely be able to afford a crappy 3-bedroom townhouse in a crummy neighborhood. Rock on. And my favorite part about the whole letter is that she actually uses a person with an income of $50K as an example. What the hell kind of place is this person making $50K a year going to buy? Are you insane?? I should call her and tell her I make that much and ask her what I can buy, then chew her out for giving me a glimmer of hope, then crushing my dreams of homeownership. Sweet. Take that Aarti Shah at 571-331-6781
"You might think that you can get more house from a rent payment than you could if you were buying. That may not be true! If you can afford to rent, you can probably afford to buy."
"The general rule is that you can afford a house that costs 1.5 to 2.5 times your annual (gross) income."
"Your monthly mortgage shouldn't exceed 28% of your gross monthly income."
Hilarious! First off, most people rent because they either aren't in a position to buy (life/job unstable), or don't have enough saved up for a down payment. Yes, a down payment is necessary. Even last summer when interest rates were at record lows, financing 100% is still going to cost an arm and a leg because your second trust for anything above the 80% covered by the initial mortgage is going to be a much higher interest rate. And for what I'm paying in rent, which is exorbitant, I doubt very much that I could find even a comparably sized condo that has a mortgage payment equal to my monthly rent, even if I had the capital to put a full 20% down. Let's assume for a minute that the "rule of thumb" is remotely accurate. I wonder what kind of place I could buy for between $91,000 and $152,500. In northern Virginia, certainly not anyplace as nice as where I live now, if anything at all. Maybe a garage... And with my monthly mortage, let's see now, my rent is just under that 28% reccomendation. Perfect! I'd like very much to see what kind of place I could afford under these guidelines in this area. Oh wait, I can! My search on HomesDatabase turned up one result in the prescribed price range. Too bad I have to be a senior citizen first. Maybe Aarti Shah knows something I don't, but I very much doubt that. Her letter just made me so irritated that she would send something like this out. "Hey renter, you can afford to buy! But not really because there's nothing you can afford here! Hahahaha! Sucker." Basically, according to her logic, I need a household income of at least $120K (Emily and I combined don't even make that) to barely be able to afford a crappy 3-bedroom townhouse in a crummy neighborhood. Rock on. And my favorite part about the whole letter is that she actually uses a person with an income of $50K as an example. What the hell kind of place is this person making $50K a year going to buy? Are you insane?? I should call her and tell her I make that much and ask her what I can buy, then chew her out for giving me a glimmer of hope, then crushing my dreams of homeownership. Sweet. Take that Aarti Shah at 571-331-6781
