We have updated our Cost of Ownership Calculator, and today I am going to explain the new features.
Asking Price: $826,800
Address: 53 Plantation Irvine, CA 92620
Is this what free travel costs?
A phone and a wallet and a new ipod
Your grace and your last shreds of dignity
Are thrown away as you begin to plead
For what you believe could be your life or your teeth
Your love or your money or your wife to be
There’s answers to questions you’ll forever seek
Why did you do it to me?
Cost of Living — Tunic
As I reflected on the design and layout of the Ideal Home Brokers site, I began to ask myself what questions people might have that we can answer here at the IHB. One of the first questions people ask when they begin their home search is “how much house can I afford?” We can answer that one.
I am not a mortgage broker, and I have no doubt there are programs where you can finance much larger numbers than what we show in our calculator. The calculator shows what people can really afford using conservative financing metrics; what people can finance is different — it shouldn’t be, but it is. Lenders occasionally create new Ponzi Schemes where terms and the amounts financed are unstable, as was the case during the Great Housing Bubble.
Using the Calculator
To begin working with the calculator, you must press the button, “click to edit.” This opens the spreadsheet and will allow you to change cell entries. Confine your changes to the second column marked “Inputs.” Do not refresh the page or navigate away during your work, or you will lose your changes. Your work cannot be saved.
The sheet comes pre-populated with generic entries based on historic norms in the Inputs column. There are many formulas in this column as well, but you can overwrite them with your own data. Any critical formulas are in the Calculations column; don’t change them.
Your Personal Analysis
Since the primary determinant of affordability is gross income, the spreadsheet starts there. Input that number plus any non-housing monthly debt obligations you have.
The spreadsheet default is for an FHA purchase. The maximum purchase price based on your income is calculated, and the remainder of the calculations are based on those numbers. If you change the downpayment from the FHA-standard 3.5% to a higher number, the calculation will change to metrics based on historic financing standards.
Cost of Ownership
If you are not interested in financing criteria, and instead you can plug in a specific property’s purchase price and see the cost of ownership as described in Rent Versus Own and IHB Property Valuation Reports.
No Comparable Data
Without having comparable sales and rental data for a specific property, there is little else that can be calculated. I had originally intended to provide a spreadsheet similar to the one that generates our IHB Property Valuation Reports. It can’t be done without data on comparables.
Asking Price: $826,800
Income Requirement: $156,536
Downpayment Needed: $165,360
Purchase Price: $898,500
Purchase Date: 12/28/2007
Net Gain (Loss): -$121,308
Percent Change: -8.0%
Annual Appreciation: -4.6%
Address: 53 Plantation Irvine, CA 92620
Beds: 4
Baths: 4
Sq. Ft.: 2,268
$/Sq. Ft.: $365
Lot Size: 3,000 Sq. Ft.
Property Type: Condominium
Style: French
Stories: 2
Floor: 1
Year Built: 2007
Community: Woodbury
County: Orange
MLS#: S589422
Source: SoCalMLS
Status: Active
On Redfin: 2 day
One of great locations, step to the park, school and shopping center. Open floor plan, one bedroom w/bath downstairs, plus powder room, Total 4 bedrooms with 3 1/2 bathrooms. Marble entry, built-in media cabinet. Bamboo hardwood floor at Kitchen and Dinning area, Upgraded Carpets, KitchenAid Stainless Steel Appliances, Stainless undermount sink & faucet, Huge Center Island & Full Splash Granite Countertop. Nature stone in Master Bathroom, Tiles in all bathrooms and Laundry Room. Plantation Shutters at all windows, Recess lights and j-box in all bedrooms. Fiber optics phone/internet, satelite ready, wireless security system, professionally finished yard w/slate stone hardscape & auto sprinkler systems. Built-in cabinet in garage.
