A recent study from mortgage website HSH found that a person looking to buy a home in San Diego needs to make at least 130 thousand dollars.
San Diego ranks third in the list of least affordable metropolitan areas across the country, following San Jose and San Francisco.
For many recent home buyers they can attest to just how expensive it can be.
Jennifer and Aaron Uy just moved into their new home in Caramel Mountain Ranch. They sold their first house in November and have since been living with her parents.
Slowly but surely trying to unpack the boxes the fill their garage, "We’re just slowly trying to get through everything I don’t know where our plates are yet but we’ll get through it."
They tell NBC 7, they weren’t expecting to sell their home so fast but after one week of having the house listed, they got three offers. There was a point where they questioned whether or not to wait, "What if the prices go up and we miss out on a little more profit?” Aaron tells us.
Once they sold, they knew the road to buying a new home would be a little more difficult, "We couldn’t buy right away because everything was so expensive."
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Like many San Diegans, they had to adjust their search many times, Aaron tells us, “We found three different homes and each time got outbid by someone who had a lot more money to put down."
Jennifer says they searched for homes in Santee, Scripps Ranch and went to as many open houses as they could find, "There was a wide spectrum you know it was either affordable and there was a lot you had to do to fix it up or it was move in ready and way to expensive."
For them, the house they found is the right fit.
Aaron is also a realtor and says while the study results can be intimidating, don’t let it scare you from house hunting, "A lot of people look at the numbers and it’s very intimidating because you’re like I don’t have 130 thousand dollars! That’s just crazy."
He says the best thing anyone can do before starting the buyers process is sit down with a realtor and lender, "Really take a look at what’s out there. You may not have to put the whole 20 percent, 10 percent, 5 percent. For first time home buyers there’s programs that are really good."
