7% interest rate?!

[Christine]

Yup. We did. That's how we paid our rent. That $35k was our income INCLUDING the housing allowance, which was a whopping $1050 a month when we were first starting out. Our rent was $1200/month. My husband's base pay was $1997/month. I didn't have a job yet when we first moved down here. I left my job in the Bay Area and had to find work with a temp agency.

When you live on base, they take 100% of your Basic Allowance for Housing. It's not free. And you get the "privilege" of living in projects quality houses on toxic land with toxic water supplies. No thanks. Housing on military bases became privatized a LONG time ago. You can do better for your BAH off base.

DLGal, is your DH enlisted? I'm around a TON of military in a high COLA (granted not as bad as SoCal, but close enough). The military seem to have no problems purchasing homes, moving on, getting another home etc. They are all officers. The enlisted are absolutely shut out. My husband was enlisted for 8 years (of course prior to when they got more generous with military pay) and we were close to starving sometimes. Buy a house? No way.

It was nice, after he separated though, to be able to get a VA loan. Interests rates at teh time were around 12% and we got "lucky" with an assumed VA mortgage at 8%. Woo-hoo.

 

[Christine]

DLGal, is your DH enlisted? I'm around a TON of military in a high COLA (granted not as bad as SoCal, but close enough). The military seem to have no problems purchasing homes, moving on, getting another home etc. They are all officers. The enlisted are absolutely shut out. My husband was enlisted for 8 years (of course prior to when they got more generous with military pay) and we were close to starving sometimes. Buy a house? No way.

It was nice, after he separated though, to be able to get a VA loan. Interests rates at teh time were around 12% and we got "lucky" with an assumed VA mortgage at 8%. Woo-hoo.

@DLgal, nevermind, just saw that your husband was an officer.

 

[tvguy]

Yup. We did. That's how we paid our rent. That $35k was our income INCLUDING the housing allowance, which was a whopping $1050 a month when we were first starting out. Our rent was $1200/month. My husband's base pay was $1997/month. I didn't have a job yet when we first moved down here. I left my job in the Bay Area and had to find work with a temp agency.

When you live on base, they take 100% of your Basic Allowance for Housing. It's not free. And you get the "privilege" of living in projects quality houses on toxic land with toxic water supplies. No thanks. Housing on military bases became privatized a LONG time ago. You can do better for your BAH off base.

Yes, my wife grew up in base housing until 1967.....other than her first three years when her dad was stationed in France where there was no base housing. Pretty much cookie cutter housing no matter where the base. Cinder block walls, hardwood floors and having to put up with surprise inspections.
Our former neighbor's son is in the Navy stationed in Seattle. He has been assigned to Guantanamo Bay for 18 months, so he loses his housing allowance which actually covers all his rent. He can't move his furniture so he will be paying, out of pocket, for 18 months storage in Seattle.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The broker who represents who knows how many lenders at the start of the process said to expect an interior inspection would be required.

You're confusing a lender requirement (which we didn't disagree on) with a procedure in general.

What you pasted in said most lenders require an appraisal done by a state certified appraiser, a point I never debated. But there are drive-by appraisals, software generated and interior along with the exterior. I've had 1 exterior and interior when the house was built for the county information purposes, I've had 1 exterior/drive-by appraisal combo with software generated and 1 waiver all in the last 8 years.

I'm admittedly tired today so this is all I got left on the topic but if you want to learn more about drive by ones you can. It was something the big lenders and the government was also doing more of to more people in the early days of the pandemic because you know..covid but it also normal procedure depending on various factors.

On another note can honestly say never have had fruitcake

 

[tvguy]

I doubt very much this tradition is still alive unless the grandmothers are doing it.

No idea who is behind it, but it is there, and the major bakeries seem to list fruit cake as an item on their Wedding Cake menu.

 

[CdnCarrie]

No idea who is behind it, but it is there, and the major bakeries seem to list fruit cake as an item on their Wedding Cake menu.

last couple wedding I went to was all about cupcakes....

 

[DLgal]

DLGal, is your DH enlisted? I'm around a TON of military in a high COLA (granted not as bad as SoCal, but close enough). The military seem to have no problems purchasing homes, moving on, getting another home etc. They are all officers. The enlisted are absolutely shut out. My husband was enlisted for 8 years (of course prior to when they got more generous with military pay) and we were close to starving sometimes. Buy a house? No way.

It was nice, after he separated though, to be able to get a VA loan. Interests rates at teh time were around 12% and we got "lucky" with an assumed VA mortgage at 8%. Woo-hoo.

Not enlisted, but stationed in a combination of San Diego and Seal Beach (in Orange County) and now San Diego again. We know lots of other officers who bought houses. Most were able to do so when stationed in low COL areas, then they sold the homes for a profit and bought again, repeat, repeat, repeat. We started out in a high COL area and never went anywhere cheaper. We also know several people who bought homes in CA prior to the housing crash in 2008 and literally had to foreclose on them, damaging their credit for a long time.

I only worked for a few years and then became a SAHM. Our kids are both special needs so working was off the table for several reasons. So, this is our reality. You simply cannot compete for homes with VA loans in high demand sellers markets. No one wants to deal with them. Without 20% down, you're out of the housing game. We have lived paycheck to paycheck for the majority of my husband's career. We have only been able to start saving in the last couple years.

 

[Christine]

Not enlisted, but stationed in a combination of San Diego and Seal Beach (in Orange County) and now San Diego again. We know lots of other officers who bought houses. Most were able to do so when stationed in low COL areas, then they sold the homes for a profit and bought again, repeat, repeat, repeat. We started out in a high COL area and never went anywhere cheaper. We also know several people who bought homes in CA prior to the housing crash in 2008 and literally had to foreclose on them, damaging their credit for a long time.

I only worked for a few years and then became a SAHM. Our kids are both special needs so working was off the table for several reasons. So, this is our reality. You simply cannot compete for homes with VA loans in high demand sellers markets. No one wants to deal with them. Without 20% down, you're out of the housing game. We have lived paycheck to paycheck for the majority of my husband's career. We have only been able to start saving in the last couple years.

Yes, the San Diego market is tough. As you know, my son moved out there and I was toying around with the idea of maybe looking at areas conducive to retirement. I mean I really liked the "small" feel of San Diego and everything it offers. Well, ugh, no, that's not happening. Looking it over-55 communities with not much for $1.5M. That's not happening where I live and housing is deemed expensive here.

Alternatively, you did not have to get stationed in Northern Maine. Awful.

 

[DLgal]

Yes, the San Diego market is tough. As you know, my son moved out there and I was toying around with the idea of maybe looking at areas conducive to retirement. I mean I really liked the "small" feel of San Diego and everything it offers. Well, ugh, no, that's not happening. Looking it over-55 communities with not much for $1.5M. That's not happening where I live and housing is deemed expensive here.

Alternatively, you did not have to get stationed in Northern Maine. Awful.

I know its awful to say, but our only hope of home ownership here is a MASSIVE housing crash, basically. I mean, if homes even come down to 2015 levels, we will be golden. It will mean our country is in a huge recession, but it would finally give us an "in."

 

[barkley]

I know its awful to say, but our only hope of home ownership here is a MASSIVE housing crash, basically. I mean, if homes even come down to 2015 levels, we will be golden. It will mean our country is in a huge recession, but it would finally give us an "in."

that or save till your dh retires and buy in an area where the then prices are comparable to california's 2015 levels. we left california in '07 and it was like a trip back in time seeing rental prices and housing costs like we hadn't seen since the '90's. costs here like everywhere else have gone up but it's till a bang for the buck and we have multiple neighbors who are retired military from higher cost of living areas (we are also a big draw b/c of the vets hospital nearby).

just for the heck of it i just googled what our area's median home price is vs. san diego in 2015. san diego (back then) came in at $115,000 MORE than our red hot market today. if our market continues to cool it could be another (out of state) retiree buyer's market.

 

[RamblingMad]

I know its awful to say, but our only hope of home ownership here is a MASSIVE housing crash, basically. I mean, if homes even come down to 2015 levels, we will be golden. It will mean our country is in a huge recession, but it would finally give us an "in."

The military should really pay different amounts due to cost of living. This is true of other professions. I can't wrap my head around it. Of course, you do get much better benefits and retirement.

 

[Colleen27]

Watching my mother deal with 2 flights of steps in her house, I definitely don't want a 2 story house with laundry in the basement. No big deal when I was growing up in that house at a young age, but I owned a single story and no way would I want a 2 story looking forward into "retirement" years.

That's the major thing that makes me think our current house might not be our last, though I am in the planning process to move the laundry from the basement to the walk-in pantry on the main floor as part of our kitchen renovations. I don't know that I'll want a house where all the bedrooms are upstairs in another 30 years.

It more of heat rises thing for us. If I lived in a cold climate I wouldn't care so much.

That's another of those things older houses did better. No open floorplan and vaulted ceilings here so the heat doesn't settle upstairs too much, especially if we keep the door at the base of the second floor stairs closed. And the kitchen is the only part of the house that is single-story, with a ceiling a foot higher than in the two-story part of the main floor, so even cooking heat gets sequestered pretty effectively.

Not enlisted, but stationed in a combination of San Diego and Seal Beach (in Orange County) and now San Diego again.

I feel for you. I don't know how anyone affords to live there at all! DD21 is applying to grad schools and UCSD is at the top of her list of US schools, but campus housing has waiting lists and the idea of having to figure out off-campus housing on Michigan wages and San Diego prices is horrifying.

 

[barkley]

The military should really pay different amounts due to cost of living. This is true of other professions. I can't wrap my head around it. Of course, you do get much better benefits and retirement.

i've always wondered just how great the average retirement is b/c it seems to be the career with the highest number of retirees that inevitably end up working in other jobs immediately after 'retiring'. i interviewed massive numbers of career military retirees who were eager to get into so much as entry level civil service jobs after they had served long careers and seemed very due a restful retirement.

 

[greeneyedchick]

We have refinanced several times. It's not that hard to do. Have a spreadsheet that figures out the refinance costs versus the cost savings of the lower interest rate. If you are going to save more than the closing costs, then it makes sense to do. Also, it's possible that the rates keep going up. Then you'll regret not locking in something at 7% if you don't buy soon.

 

[RamblingMad]

i've always wondered just how great the average retirement is b/c it seems to be the career with the highest number of retirees that inevitably end up working in other jobs immediately after 'retiring'. i interviewed massive numbers of career military retirees who were eager to get into so much as entry level civil service jobs after they had served long careers and seemed very due a restful retirement.

Think about it. You get a pension in your 40s. And then, you get to work 25 more years in another profession and create more retirement funds. If you do this properly, you're in great shape financially.

We have a lot of retired Air Force in our IT networking department.

 

[DCLMP]

i've always wondered just how great the average retirement is b/c it seems to be the career with the highest number of retirees that inevitably end up working in other jobs immediately after 'retiring'. i interviewed massive numbers of career military retirees who were eager to get into so much as entry level civil service jobs after they had served long careers and seemed very due a restful retirement.

A lot of them are late 30’s and early 40’s when they retire. I think they only have to do 20 years. Why wouldn’t you start a new career and collect your pension at the same time.

 

[GreatLakes]

7% isn't that bad and is close to my original mortgage. I refinanced and am paying very low now but we are looking to move in the spring. We want more space. I'm toying with a 3/1 ARM to lower my initial rate (5.58%) with the idea we will be in a falling rate environment after 3 years. As much as I'd like to pay a lower rate I'd much rather see prices drop or at least slow in rising and would trade off a temporary higher rate to do so.

 

[DLgal]

that or save till your dh retires and buy in an area where the then prices are comparable to california's 2015 levels. we left california in '07 and it was like a trip back in time seeing rental prices and housing costs like we hadn't seen since the '90's. costs here like everywhere else have gone up but it's till a bang for the buck and we have multiple neighbors who are retired military from higher cost of living areas (we are also a big draw b/c of the vets hospital nearby).

just for the heck of it i just googled what our area's median home price is vs. san diego in 2015. san diego (back then) came in at $115,000 MORE than our red hot market today. if our market continues to cool it could be another (out of state) retiree buyer's market.

We can't leave the area. We are tied to the special education services for adult transition for our 2 autistic kids, at least for the next 6 years (youngest is a HS junior). Husband retires in a few months. He's likely to find a second career/job right in our area, so no need to move. Moving away is not something we are considering at all. This is our kids home and the disabled adult support services are wonderful here. That is the most important consideration for us even well into our later years. We will need to continue to support them both in some capacity forever.

 

[DLgal]

The military should really pay different amounts due to cost of living. This is true of other professions. I can't wrap my head around it. Of course, you do get much better benefits and retirement.

They do pay different amounts for housing allowances based on duty station zip codes. And that is tax free income. Ours for a San Diego duty station zip code was just raised to $5196/month. It had been $3996 before.

 

[DLgal]

i've always wondered just how great the average retirement is b/c it seems to be the career with the highest number of retirees that inevitably end up working in other jobs immediately after 'retiring'. i interviewed massive numbers of career military retirees who were eager to get into so much as entry level civil service jobs after they had served long careers and seemed very due a restful retirement.

The average military retirement pension is between $2000-4000 per month. You get 50% of your highest 36 months of compensation at 20 years, then an additional 2.5% for every year over 20, to a max of 75% if you retire at 30 years. An 0-6 retiring after 30 years is loking at a $9500/month pension while an E9 at 20 is gonna be around $3250/month. So, it varies quite a lot.

My husband's pension will be around $6200/month and he will be 44 years old. That's only about 2/3 of what we need to maintain our current quality of life, so he will need to start a second career, although there is a lot less pressure to find a high paying job.

Many military retirees also receive VA disability payments as well, and that can go as high as $4000/month. So, they do "take care" of you after service. But it requires being pretty broken.