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He watched the housing market ebb and flow, cresting sometime in 2006, when the median price for a Nevada County home topped at $465,000.
Scott Stephan simply wanted to stay close to home. But the 35-year-old heating and air conditioning project manager knew that he would have to wait for the housing market to cool before he could turn up the heat on his own effort to buy a house.
He was going through a divorce when prices were at their zenith, which complicated matters, he said.
“I thought for sure we'd never be able to buy a home in Nevada County,” said Stephan, whose parents live in Rough and Ready. “But eventually, the timing was right and the prices were cheap.”
In April, Stephan married Delia. In June, the couple and Stephan's two young children moved into a $250,000, three-bedroom, two-bath home on five acres in Rough and Ready, not far from his parents.
Though Stephan pays about $550 more a month for a mortgage, the home and patch of land are his. The home, which Stephan said he believes was rebuilt after the devastating 49er Fire in 1988, needs some new windows, siding and ventilation upgrades, which he will pay for with the $8,000 federal tax credit.
“I just wanted to have my own house, so I can do whatever I want, whenever I want,” he said.
That's part of the appeal, Stephan said — making the house his own. He pays more than he did to rent a place, but there's nothing like coming home to a place that's yours, he said.
“We made some budget adjustments and didn't even notice the difference,” said Stephan, who has an $1,800 monthly mortgage payment. “As long as you have decent credit and you know your job is stable, you have nothing to lose.”
The Stephans are among several first-time homebuyers in Nevada County taking advantage of a seemingly perfect storm for those wanting to buy the American Dream. With the median price of a Nevada County house at levels not seen since about 2001, the federal government is offering incentives to put first-time homebuyers into a place of their own.
In addition to the $8,000 cash allowance (the federal government's $8,000 first-time home loan credit offer expires Dec. 1), the U.S. Department of Agriculture is offering loans to people buying houses in rural areas, including Nevada County. The USDA program offers a fixed-rate, 30-year mortgage, and does not require mortgage insurance or cash reserves.
Other loan options include Federal Housing Administration programs that require down payments of as little as 3.75 percent, and loans for public service workers including teachers and firefighters that offer zero-down options.
“I always encourage people thinking of buying a home to talk with a mortgage professional to see if now is the time for them to buy, or if there are credit or other issues ... to be ready in the future,” said Krista Wylder, loan officer for Empire Home Loans.
Some lenders, including Delta Home Loans, report as much as 60 percent of their loans are going to first-time homebuyers during this, the most depressed housing market in a generation.
Steve and Vicki Wills passed the time in a rented home owned by family members in Lake of the Pines, putting the extra money in a savings account.
When housing prices started to slide two years ago amid ominous signs of trouble in the real estate market — foreclosures, repossessions, ballooning payments — Vicki Wills and her husband, Steve, waited patiently, stockpiling cash for a downpayment on a dream home they knew they could afford.
It was tempting for Vicki, a 50-year-old teacher who hadn't owned her own home in a decade, and Steve, a 44-year-old owner of a landscape management company, to take the plunge in a bullish market awash with easy — but dangerous — loan terms.
“We both could have qualified when the market was gangbusters, but we both try to live within our means,” said Vicki Wills.
On July 31, the Willses closed escrow on three-bedroom, three-bath house in Alta Sierra for $306,000.
The couple, raising two children, used a mix of good credit, an $8,000 first-time homebuyers tax credit and savings to buy their home.
“We absolutely knew we were going toward this,” Wills said. “We're not spring chickens, and I wanted to pay it down and put as much toward the principal as possible,” she said.
On paper at least, perhaps Mike Karsikas and his family made the biggest leap of all.
Soon, Karsikas, an advertising sales representative, will move from a Grass Valley low-income apartment complex he and his family have called home for five years into a three-bedroom, two-bath house near Cedar Ridge.
Escrow closed on the home two weeks ago, which Karsikas and his wife, Amanda, bought for $210,000, with no down payment and the government's $8,000 tax credit.
For years, a home of their own was simply out of reach, Karsikas said.
“We were very nervous, very unsure, because people had said they had problems,” Karsikas said. “It's almost unreal how easy it was (to get a loan). It was much easier than I thought it was going to be.”
Like many who go from renting to buying, Karsikas' monthly payments will jump. In his case, they are doubling, from $700 a month to $1,400. But he's building up equity for the future.
“I don't feel like I'm throwing away money anymore.”
Instead, he's investing it. And pulling his own weeds and mowing his own lawn in a place he can call his own.
“I've been truly blessed with this option,” Karsikas said of the federal tax credit. “I'm still in shock because it's something I've worked for.”
Karsikas took the plunge when the market was right. He encourages others to do the same.
“Go for it,” he said. “These times only come around once in a while. I would jump in the pool and start swimming. The feeling it gives you, owning your own home, you just overflow with pride.”
To contact Staff Writer David Mirhadi, e-mail dmirhadi@theunion.com or call 477-4239.
Scott Stephan simply wanted to stay close to home. But the 35-year-old heating and air conditioning project manager knew that he would have to wait for the housing market to cool before he could turn up the heat on his own effort to buy a house.
He was going through a divorce when prices were at their zenith, which complicated matters, he said.
“I thought for sure we'd never be able to buy a home in Nevada County,” said Stephan, whose parents live in Rough and Ready. “But eventually, the timing was right and the prices were cheap.”
In April, Stephan married Delia. In June, the couple and Stephan's two young children moved into a $250,000, three-bedroom, two-bath home on five acres in Rough and Ready, not far from his parents.
Though Stephan pays about $550 more a month for a mortgage, the home and patch of land are his. The home, which Stephan said he believes was rebuilt after the devastating 49er Fire in 1988, needs some new windows, siding and ventilation upgrades, which he will pay for with the $8,000 federal tax credit.
“I just wanted to have my own house, so I can do whatever I want, whenever I want,” he said.
That's part of the appeal, Stephan said — making the house his own. He pays more than he did to rent a place, but there's nothing like coming home to a place that's yours, he said.
“We made some budget adjustments and didn't even notice the difference,” said Stephan, who has an $1,800 monthly mortgage payment. “As long as you have decent credit and you know your job is stable, you have nothing to lose.”
The Stephans are among several first-time homebuyers in Nevada County taking advantage of a seemingly perfect storm for those wanting to buy the American Dream. With the median price of a Nevada County house at levels not seen since about 2001, the federal government is offering incentives to put first-time homebuyers into a place of their own.
In addition to the $8,000 cash allowance (the federal government's $8,000 first-time home loan credit offer expires Dec. 1), the U.S. Department of Agriculture is offering loans to people buying houses in rural areas, including Nevada County. The USDA program offers a fixed-rate, 30-year mortgage, and does not require mortgage insurance or cash reserves.
Other loan options include Federal Housing Administration programs that require down payments of as little as 3.75 percent, and loans for public service workers including teachers and firefighters that offer zero-down options.
“I always encourage people thinking of buying a home to talk with a mortgage professional to see if now is the time for them to buy, or if there are credit or other issues ... to be ready in the future,” said Krista Wylder, loan officer for Empire Home Loans.
Some lenders, including Delta Home Loans, report as much as 60 percent of their loans are going to first-time homebuyers during this, the most depressed housing market in a generation.
Steve and Vicki Wills passed the time in a rented home owned by family members in Lake of the Pines, putting the extra money in a savings account.
When housing prices started to slide two years ago amid ominous signs of trouble in the real estate market — foreclosures, repossessions, ballooning payments — Vicki Wills and her husband, Steve, waited patiently, stockpiling cash for a downpayment on a dream home they knew they could afford.
It was tempting for Vicki, a 50-year-old teacher who hadn't owned her own home in a decade, and Steve, a 44-year-old owner of a landscape management company, to take the plunge in a bullish market awash with easy — but dangerous — loan terms.
“We both could have qualified when the market was gangbusters, but we both try to live within our means,” said Vicki Wills.
On July 31, the Willses closed escrow on three-bedroom, three-bath house in Alta Sierra for $306,000.
The couple, raising two children, used a mix of good credit, an $8,000 first-time homebuyers tax credit and savings to buy their home.
“We absolutely knew we were going toward this,” Wills said. “We're not spring chickens, and I wanted to pay it down and put as much toward the principal as possible,” she said.
On paper at least, perhaps Mike Karsikas and his family made the biggest leap of all.
Soon, Karsikas, an advertising sales representative, will move from a Grass Valley low-income apartment complex he and his family have called home for five years into a three-bedroom, two-bath house near Cedar Ridge.
Escrow closed on the home two weeks ago, which Karsikas and his wife, Amanda, bought for $210,000, with no down payment and the government's $8,000 tax credit.
For years, a home of their own was simply out of reach, Karsikas said.
“We were very nervous, very unsure, because people had said they had problems,” Karsikas said. “It's almost unreal how easy it was (to get a loan). It was much easier than I thought it was going to be.”
Like many who go from renting to buying, Karsikas' monthly payments will jump. In his case, they are doubling, from $700 a month to $1,400. But he's building up equity for the future.
“I don't feel like I'm throwing away money anymore.”
Instead, he's investing it. And pulling his own weeds and mowing his own lawn in a place he can call his own.
“I've been truly blessed with this option,” Karsikas said of the federal tax credit. “I'm still in shock because it's something I've worked for.”
Karsikas took the plunge when the market was right. He encourages others to do the same.
“Go for it,” he said. “These times only come around once in a while. I would jump in the pool and start swimming. The feeling it gives you, owning your own home, you just overflow with pride.”
To contact Staff Writer David Mirhadi, e-mail dmirhadi@theunion.com or call 477-4239.
