Renting Or Buying

[Craig.]

House values have grown 35% PA over the last 3 years.

Their values will continue to improve on the whole too. There's no such thing as overpriced here. If people are paying those prices, they ARE the prices. They may be high, but the demand is obviously there in abundance too.

Yeah just as long as China want our coal or there is actually coal in the ground! What happens to housing prices when it isn't there? There is nothing else to support that type of money. The market will be a trainwreck

Wherever there is mining, prices shhot through the roof.

And wages shoot through the roof in those regions even moreso.

Tell that to the guy in the street who works in a goverment position or at Bunnings, Woolworths or Harvey Normans! He's on the same money as guys working in those same stores in much cheaper areas! These people leave the area and this creates shortages in the workforce, all because real estate agents and greedy Vendors want to add miners tax

The reality of it all is that some things will always be out of reach. If it's not viable now, change something to work towards your goal. If it's just not achievable, reduce your expectations.

Reduce your expectations to the point where you accept you will always be renting?

So that's why it is a good thing that there is so many shipping containers available?

[Kimberley Scott]

You could join the Army and marry the first fat chick you find and walla, cheap rent in a DHA house. Works for some.

Scotty

[Dillz]

You could join the Army and marry the first fat chick you find and walla, cheap rent in a DHA house. Works for me.

Scotty

I bet it does....

[Kimberley Scott]

Fark it cannot edit it to make him look stupid as well, If I could be bothered there would be a shaking fist emoticon.'

Scotty

Edited 11/04/08 06:53 AM by Kimberley Scott

[Craig.]

You could join the Army and marry the first fat chick you find and walla, cheap rent in a DHA house. Works for some.

Scotty

I earn quite a bit more than what I would in the army and I reckon my wife might have something to say about me going off and marrying the first fat chick I come across.

I'm not complaining guys. I am just trying to highlight the fact that in some areas of Aus, housing affordability is out of reach for many. Some here may never have actually travelled out of there area to realise this so I am just trying to highlight it.

I really feel for the guys I mentioned earlier who work at the Dept of Transport or Harvey Normans. If they are on what is considered an average wage, they just cant afford to own a home here.

Personally, I could afford to buy a house, even here! I have a deposit saved up ready to go. I choose not to though because we aren't going to be here forever and if/when the coal price dives so will the local real estate market IMO. It is the wrong time to buy as the market is at its peak. I can see people losing money rather than doubling it in 10 years.

So instead I put money into an investment portfolio (which is not doing so great lately either but that's only an issue if I sell and it will recover) and rent.

The size of mortgage required to own here would stretch me a little though, particularly when my wife leaves work to have kids ( twins expected later this year). The thought of having that much debt also hangs heavily on my mind. Its depressing me just thinking about it!

The thing on my mind is what if I lose my high paying mine based job and have to settle for a lower paid one in town?

Bye bye house and we got nowhere!

[Kimberley Scott]

Mate the general rule of thumb is that you will not loose if you buy a house (as long as some thought went into it), WA is the exception to that rule and I am sure that there are other pockets as well. Mate my post was not a shot at you, it was e general sh*t stir, hey what else have I got to do, my T is gone.

Scotty

[Dillz]

Fark it cannot edit it to make him look stupid as well, If I could be bothered there would be a shaking fist emoticon.'

Scotty

lol

[Craig.]

Mate the general rule of thumb is that you will not loose if you buy a house (as long as some thought went into it), WA is the exception to that rule and I am sure that there are other pockets as well. Mate my post was not a shot at you, it was e general sh*t stir, hey what else have I got to do, my T is gone.

Scotty

I didn't take it as a shot at me Scotty. Its all good mate!

I reckon Mackay is one of those pockets that you speak of. Artificially high pricing due to the mining industry. Everything costs more here, even basic things like food. I travelled 900klm to buy my new T ute and saved $8K. Local dealer wouldnt budge. If I didnt buy off him the next fella through the door would.

We have a similar thing happening to what is going on in WA with the mining driving everything up. It will all keep increasing in value too, until there is no more coal left. Almost all of the local industry revolves around the mining industry. Once its gone this place is in danger of becoming a ghost town.

We plan to buy elsewhere too ( on the sunny coast) but have decided to double our deposit before we commit . Just cant afford to have a mortgage on an investment property in the SE of QLD and pay the high rents in the place we live in here as well, particularly on one wage.

Edited 11/04/08 07:09 AM by craiginmackay

[phantomchic]

c'mon dags are you seriously gonna

get OFF this

Shift this

find all these

every 6 months

[Mat]

.

Places like Sydney and Perth are the same if not worse. With a 20% deposit that means a $400K mortgage which means repayments of somewhere approaching $900 a week. Now in 10 years that mortgage will still be $900 (give or take depending on interest rates) but how does the average bloke on the street afford $900 a week repayments in 2008?

This is what worries me... im almost 25, have wasted 99% of my money on cars, girls and being young. Dont get me wrong I dont regret most of those things but I have NFI how someone like myself is able to afford a reasonable house in the near future.

I earn OK money for the work I do (not qualified, 38hrs a week about 52-55K) but if I want to get into the market, I wouldnt even earn enough to cover a 350K loan. I understand starting at the bottom but simply cant see the point of buying a sh*tta for 250K and spending 100K fixing it. Would rather just buy something newer / less work.

Cant see the point of 70% of my wages paying off a house either. Doesnt leave you all too much to live a decent life.

A girl at work bought a 460K house in Hocking (hardly a top quality suburb). 3-4 years old but very nice. She takes home $3000 a month, her partner who works at the mines and takes home 5.5K a month. Their mortgage is almost 4k but what are the chances of him being at the mines in 20 years time? What happens when she falls pregnant and looses an income and introduces a baby (figure these cost lots lol).

Can see that trend being an issue though. Buying a decent house on a miners wage might sound good now but you still have to earn the same money (well more since everything rises) in 10 years time. Might be an issue? Perhaps we will see a decrease in people having children?

Seems a lot of people in WA are in a similiar position. Big question is will house and land prices drop or do we have to stay at home longer and find other investment options.

Another girl at work is renting and the house got sold. Shes looked at some places and people are bidding MORE than the owner is asking. Crazy times indeed!

Edited 11/04/08 03:51 PM by Mat