That's great and all. But people also need to sit down and really figure out if they can just "afford the payment" or "afford the house" because there is a difference.

You need to know if you can afford maintenance, upkeep, lawn care, etc. When I bought my house, I had almost $10k put aside for stuff you need. Lawnmower, trimmer, yard tools, etc, and anything that came up that needed attention. The past 4 years have cost me nearly that much taking down sick trees alone, then my central air breaking down, hot water heater needed replacing, fridge crapped out a few months ago, dishwasher did the same the first month I moved in.

Owning a house is more than the payment. So make sure you can really afford the house, not just the payment.

This is one of the biggest issues I see with younger adults who are trying to move from renting to owning/mortgage. I hear all the time “well I can afford an $1800 rent payment, so of course I can afford an $1800 mortgage payment.” Principal and interest is only one part of paying for a home.

While that might be true with some people doing very well financially, it’s not necessarily true for most because you have to factor in property taxes, home insurance (way more expensive than renters insurance), and any upkeep or repairs that could occur that you wouldn’t be responsible for as a renter. That $1800 mortgage principal and interest payment is more like 2500-2800 for the complete monthly payment after adding in tax and insurance in CT.

And even though I own a “newer” house (about 22 years old) it’s amazing how often things break or repairs/replacements are needed for expensive appliances. All of that needs to be factored in to the question of “can I afford the home” that many often overlook.

Yes, I want more people to be able to afford/buy a home. But I also want them to be in a financial position to smartly and responsibly do so so they’re put in a stressful or financially dangerous situation down the road.

I used the first thing homebuyer mortgage to buy a small multi family where I live in one unit and rent the other. It’s a great first step in between renting and buying some McMansion you can’t afford.

Inventory is bare...860 total homes in the state under $300K which is more than likely the price point for new Homebuyers.

that’s a great deal, for both you and the tenant.

Unfortunately, these funds are close to running out and I haven't heard anything about them getting replenished again. As of this comment there is ~1.3 million left in the fund and it goes quickly, probably only about 10 days left according to a mortgage person I work with.

Time to own funds

Honestly, that is a lot to happen in 4 years.

Good info, CT Junkie author needs to throw that in there.

Contrary to what your realtor will tell you there has never been a worse period to buy a house in my adult life.

I planned on the trees (each tree cost between $1200-1500 and i took down 6), but yeah the appliances were not. What really sucked was the dishwasher shit the bed the first week I was in the house, my wife then got in a car accident 2 days after totaling her car. But you have to think about WHEN something is going to need to be replaced, not IF.

Point is, shit breaks/needs to be maintained and you need to be prepared. For example, the air filters for my central air/Heat get replaced every 4 months and a box of 3 is $80. You're going to need lawn equipment/snow removal equipment, etc and they all need maintenance. And if you think "I'll just pay someone to do it" call around and get prices, you may shit your pants. Learn how to maintain your own stuff.

Another example, When my central air went down, it was a simple capacitor. Just the service fee was $150, the part and install was about another $250. In the middle of summer, that's a big deal

par for the course for anything affordable now days

I've said it before, but CT is like a construction desert coming from growing parts of the US.

Talk about blowing your one opportunity to match the strongest housing demand this state has had in an entire generation. People won't forget.

I highly recommend it. Paying your bills with someone else’s money is a great feeling.

oooooh that’s not going to go over well here - this sub hates landlords.

There is actually nothing here to cheer about.

😂 oh, I’m aware, I had a bunch of whiny malcontents tell me what a terrible person I am for mentioning it last week.

You must be pretty young

Well said

I don’t know because other worse times (the 80s and earlier) they were at least building new housing stock. We had less housing starts in 2022 than 2021 and less in 2021 than 2020. Plus we never saw the huge increase in building in the mid 2000s that lead to the 08 crash like other places.

That's a fair point. I guess I was just thinking about interest rates.

Blame it on the COVID. It became too costly for builders to build due to supply chain disruptions. I know, because I tried to work with some of them. It looks like materials costs are coming down, so let's hope the market bounces back soon.

title was kind of clickbait for sure

You actually live in it though. That is called house hacking.

I don't think your type is hated on the same level not even close to traditional landlord.

Until maybe next year? Who knows.

Using the 80’s is not apples to apples. Yes rates were in the teens, but there was active new construction and home prices were a fraction of what someone is paying today for a 50’s/60’s build.

The lack of inventory is crazy. In my town there is exactly one 4 bedroom home under 500k and it’s been on the market for months. Everything else in that range that comes up is under contract with days.

I used TTO. I knew I would be in my home for a while so it made sense, and it brought my mortgage payment down to a reasonable place while letting me put less down. Would be great if rates weren’t so awful but it is what it is.

That’s literally what this article is talking about, that a portion of the $600 million Lamont has earmarked for affordable housing is going to put money into the funds of this program.

Or about 48 assisted people. Using an average of 30k/applicant

That’s not true because look at the sun belt. Homes starts are at record highs. This year and 2022 might be down but exploded in 2021 and early 2022x

Interest rate for mortgages are probably around where they should be. They were historically low. It's a way healthier percentage now.

Yeah I really just meant relative to where they were 6 months before I purchased but you’re totally right.

I thought so too, but feel free to go to the post last week. Holy moly, there was no shades of grey whatsoever.

Look!

There goes our tax dollars!

TTO has been around for quite a while

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Your mortgage person should reserve the funds the first business day you are under contract.

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umm that's exactly what I said.

I missed it

House prices still need to adjust to these higher interest rates. Without TTO they are pretty unaffordable for first time homebuyers. Unless you’re moving here from out of state with a nice high paying remote job.