That’s a lot of money, but being debt-free and having a decent income puts you guys in a great position. Your friends may be super duper house poor and financially stressed, so they may not be able to afford it either. Just save up the cash a little at a time and keep hustlin’ — I’m sure you’ll be able to buy a home in no time!

Just a thought-keep an eye on foreclosures and short sales in your area. Many times, you can get a much better deal with a bank-owned home, instead of a “retail” home. We bought a short sale home in FL in 2009, but back then, they were plentiful!

In the meantime, enjoy renting and use all the extra time you have being renters to keep up those side hustles! Seriously, sometimes it’d be so nice to be able to call someone else and not have to deal with maintenance things ourselves.

I live in Southern California too, and I feel frustrated about the housing market FOR SURE. It just feels hopeless. My only suggestion would be opening up your search outside of your neighborhood/area, into places that aren’t viewed as highly but are still safe. I have friends who live in Santa Ana, and their neighborhood is very safe, just not one of the ‘nice’ Orange County neighborhoods.

But, even the cheaper places around here are still outrageous. I tend to feel discouraged when I think about it, so I’m just focusing on saving for now. Blerg.

Girl, I feel ya. The Auckland market is even worse (and because we’ve had such big issues with construction in recent years there’s no way I would want to risk buying, say, a townhouse, not to mention they don’t hold value here – though that might change over time – like normal houses). The mortgage payments on a $400-500k house are not actually as bad as I thought – it’s the down payment that’s the killer.

People I know who have bought houses (and have managed to do with 20 percent down because lending has tightened up around here) have done so with parental help. Well, except possibly for one girl and i have no idea how she did it or if she had parental help, or how much she earns. I do know she bought a $550k house with a little over 20% and is paying about $500 a week for it. Which means she had well over $100k deposit (just a couple years out of uni) and that boggles my mind.

Ah I think it will be so long before we buy a home, but you two have done a great job! I know it will only be a matter of time before you two find the perfect house for you. I’m really glad Eric is now all settled with his work too. 🙂

Would you and your husband consider starting with a condo or townhouse?

My husband and I are about the same age as you and your husband. We purchased a townhouse in California (Los Angeles) area last year. While it is by no means our forever home, it will be perfect for the next 8-10 years, giving us time to save up for another down payment and possibly keeping the townhouse as a rental property, or selling the townhouse at a profit (hopefully).

I honestly never thought we would be able to find something we can afford, but we did, renovated it, and are very happy. I recommend having a good agent (interview a lot of people) and a mortgage lender you trust. Go out and drive around Orange County. Explore different neighborhoods. I’m sure you can find something you can afford.

I hate california home prices (but I love California). It’s insane. My husband thinks we are going to sell and buy another house within the next few years and I think that is insane. I feel lucky to have gotten the house we did when we did without thinking of the cost of doing this all over again now that prices are on the rise. We were able to get a VA loan with no down and no PMI or else I don’t know how we would have managed it. If you do it before you feel ready you might regret it so I think it’s great that you are waiting but at the same time I’m sure it’s stressful to think of it being out of your reach.

I do agree with Lori. We just bought a house, and it’s been expense after expense. Part of me wonders if it’s worth it. I’m glad we bought a smaller house than most, because utility bills do increase. Our budget went up about $500 a month. Which is about how much we are paying in principal ($500). It’s nice to have more room, especially when family visits which is quite often. If we had upgraded to a bigger apartment, our rent would have gone up by almost $500 too.

We just sold our beautiful home and moved into an apartment after 7 years in the house. I know that “owning” a home is something that many people our age feel like they are supposed to do and it does feel like it’s a good choice and that it’s your own place in the world. In reality, though, you are just renting from the bank with all of the maintenance and liability. We never one time were even close to not making our mortgage and have tons in savings, but we wanted the option of accepting opportunities without being so tied down and liable. Our house was $170,000 and in a great, desirable neighborhood. It had granite and wood floors and vaulted ceilings and crown molding. It still was pretty hard to sale and it was really stressful. After 7 years, we essentially broke even and walked away with nothing. In addition to the sticker price, there is also 6-7% realtor fees (we went through zillow.com to avoid some of that). There is also insurance for the house, which for us was $120 a month (versus $120 a year renting). It also cost a lot more in electric (basically double for us owning vs. renting). We also had to have a lawn service because our lawn had areas that needed pesticide, etc. My husband worked tons and still had to spend a good chunk of his Saturdays mowing. We also could not have picked up and moved or changed jobs or made choices for our family based on priorities alone with a big (to us!) mortgage. I cannot imagine being financially liable for such an expensive house as your are talking about. On top of that, if anything goes wrong, it’s completely on you guys to fix it. I had one friend who had extensive flooding and another that had an upstairs and downstairs A/C go out at the same time shortly after buying that cost $20,000 to repair. I know that “owning” a home sounds like a great idea, but in reality it truly is a huge liability with very little difference between it and renting. We paid about $100,000 in mortgage over 7 years plus money for extra electricity and insurance (plus more gas since my husband worked 30 min. away). That’s about $15,000 a year, plus an extra $2500ish for added electricity and insurance. I know that might sound low, but that was with a $170,000 1700 sq. foot house. We are THRILLED with renting again and knowing that we can pick up and go with very little notice and that we aren’t liable for any problems that arise. We are in a better area with more to do and I am home with my little one without any financial strain or stress. Renting to me is about OPTIONS. I know home ownership sounds like a great idea, but it really really ties your hands and you become tied to debt. There are some tax breaks, but they pale in comparison to resale costs and things breaking. There is a stigma about renting long into adulthood, but if I were in your area, especially with the job changes you guys have had in the last few years and the idea that you would like to start a family relatively soon, I would keep renting (maybe upgrade the rental if need be) and stash cash. There will be another time when housing prices are at a low. That might be 5-10 years from now, but you will have the cash to really make a sound investment and the years under your belt to be sure that you know where you will want to work and live. I’m not trying to be a downer, I just really wish someone had had this conversation with me before we bought. Our house was beautiful, but it wasn’t worth the cash difference of renting and saving the difference (much less the stress 🙂 )!