Ask HN: Did you purchase a house recently? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Did you purchase a house recently?

4 pointshbcondo7144 comments

If so, how? Did you use a real estate agent? Mortgage rates are the highest in more Than 20 Years[1]. Did you put more than 20% down? Or did you pay cash for a foreclosure, auction, fixer-upper or wholesale home? Are there any sites / apps / services you would recommend for finding a home?

For context, California housing affordability is at its lowest level in nearly 16 years where a minimum annual income of $208,000 was needed to make monthly payments of $5,200[2]

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37171849

[2] https://www.car.org/en/aboutus/mediacenter/newsreleases/2023-News-Releases/2qtr2023hai

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I bought a house last month in Texas using a 30-year fixed loan.

We did use a RE agent, though I'm not convinced they are worth the ~6% they get on the transaction (3% for seller, 3% for buyer), especially on the buying side.

We put 20% down and then payed down to get to a ~5% rate. This was a gamble, but it looks like it'll pay off over the next five-ish years as the rate we would have gotten otherwise would have been substantially higher (as rates go). It was previously a rental home, so not in great shape - but not what I would call a "fixer-upper".

Sometimes you just need to decide whether the home, layout, neighborhood, school district, loan, etc is worth it and, if so, go for it. Assuming you are being responsible to your obligations (kids, for example), live your life the way you want to live it.

I don't know if this meets the "recently" criteria, but:

Bought 22.11: Both sides used a RE Agent. Locked 30 yr fixed rate mortgage at the then-highest rate in at least a decade (7.375%). Put 20% down. The house we bought was the one and only house in the area that I was hoping would go on the market (I had identified it as such perhaps 4 years prior); I had a Zillow "watch" on it, and was doing an initial walkthru of the house within a few hours of getting a "new house on the market" notification email from Zillow). So this was truly a "lightning strikes" situation; we would not have pulled the trigger on any other property, especially at that then-peak interest rate. Also, even though this property is (IMO) very desirable, we were able to ponder whether to go ahead with this buy or not for over a week before making a slightly-below-listing-price offer, with no offers preceding ours. I attribute this lack of competition mostly to the peaking mortgage rates (plus the property price was near the high end of the market). So peaking rates are not bad in all respects.

Our former house was sold 23.02. Both sides used a RE Agent. Our mortgage on this house was 2.625% 30 yr (20% down); the only sad part of this pair of transactions (which happened in SE AZ) was walking away from this mortgage. The buyers' offer was all cash, above listing price (there were others matching this description, all on the first day the house went on the market). We owned this house for 2.5 years, during which it appreciated (after all expenses) 33%, which was much higher than I expected.

I bought it 3 years ago when rates were low. Used an agent. Put < 20% down. I feel bad for people buying now, and am thankful I was able to buy when I did.

Most people buying now have a house already with equality so they're either trading up or using rental income to supplement their affordability metrics.

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