Update: Meet today’s homebuyer, an L.A. Land reader

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

No, it’s not Lefty. NF, A longtime reader, writes to describe his recent change of heart and purchase of a single family home in Pasadena. (Update: NF added a few more comments at the bottom of the post).

‘It is funny, at first while I was on the sidelines and simply browsing for homes I agreed wholeheartedly with the majority of your readers; don’t buy, wait it out, the bottom is not even close. It was great hearing about the price drops and seeing the rift between those who commented. The smile on my face when thinking of the greedy speculators who were now in despair was often wiped away when thinking of those individuals who work beyond belief at minimum wage and were swindled by the sketchy mortgage brokers.

‘As I continued shopping around and heard the stories of individuals that purchased homes during the boom I realized how fortunate I was to be in my current position. My wife and I had the opportunity to have a checklist of all we wanted; nice-sized back yard (with fruit trees), 3 bedrooms, remodeled kitchen, a safe and quiet street etc. We found a handful that fit the bill and that we would be happy to own. We did not have to worry about competing offers. We had the peace of mind to think things through rationally. We quickly got pre-approved by several banks and put in offers at about 10% below asking price – we went back and forth with a few homes and ended up paying about 8% below asking price. I was fortunate enough to put 20% down on the house – I am 28 and my wife is 27 but we have tried our best to live frugally the past few years in anticipation of the impending purchase.

‘Yes, the prices of home may/most likely will continue to decrease, but we do not plan on leaving this property for at least 4-7 years; plus the mortgage interest rates are pretty darn good. The tax benefit from the interest payment lowering my taxable income will be embraced with open arms come this April – Thank you Republicans. Plus, I still don’t know what it feels like, but I imagine the pride of owning your own home will feel pretty good.

‘I just wanted to say thanks for educating me on the real estate market. I think most commenters on your site are hoping to enter the market at a bottom so they can get the best bang for their buck. The thing is you can never determine when the market hits its bottom, and plus with the tax benefits from owning a home/mortgage and the ability to pick and choose your home stress free, perhaps entering a little prematurely isn’t that bad.’

Update: Click below to see additional comments that NF added in the comment section.

‘To be fair, I’ll provide a bit more information:

‘As for the price, I watched several houses sit on the market and have their prices slashed over and over again (I know they were artificially inflated). I checked the sale comps (again, I know they may have been artificially inflated) and I took into consideration that this was a turkey and recently remodeled; but I still made sure I was paying less than comps; I paid approx. 600K.

‘As for my financials, we pull in approx 150K base. My wife is an MD but in residency, so her salary will hopefully increase by 3x in one year. I ran the numbers and I can pay this mortgage. Before we make any other purchases, we are strengthening our emergency fund in case something happens to either of us. If worse comes to worse, I still have my fruit trees and I’ll find some “organic” stickers and sell them at the same margins as Whole Foods.

‘The comments have been right on; Yes, I do wish/hope prices rebound and the market turns, but I am realistic, and regardless if it takes 1 quarter to 4 years, for us the bottom line is this:

‘Right or wrong, my wife and I were just not happy living in our one bedroom apartment with our two dogs (Yes two dogs in a one bedroom apt – we moved from NYC) and we wanted a house with space and privacy. The intangibles of living in a house are worth it to us. My story was not an attempt to justify my purchase decision; for my wife and I it was not just a business/financial decision, but more so a lifestyle and personal happiness decision. Rent on a 3 bedroom house is pretty high up there.

‘Finally, I admit my error for thanking the Republicans for the mortgage interest tax benefit. I concede that I know little regarding the history on who passed what tax laws; I should have known better than to mention politics.

‘P.S. My anonymous realtor is a good guy; I worked with him at my prior job at a consulting firm before he left to become a realtor. I trust him and I know he did not feed me (too much) propaganda.’

Your thoughts? Comments? Be nice, for once in your life.
Photo Credit: Getty Images.