I try not to obsess over the housing market. Yet, it’s a hard thing to avoid when my plan is to buy a house this year in Los Angeles county. Housing here in sunny California has been on an upswing these past 18-months that has had me freaked out.

I have been terrible at posting lately. Between work (teaching), school (finishing up my second credential), and life in general, I’ve hardly had time to do much of anything else, let alone post an article! However, finances are still my top priority around here:

Since this is the year to buy a home for us, I’ve been keeping a close eye on our real estate market. It’s crazy, but the Southern California market has rebounded almost back to where it was during the peak of the housing boom. Not quite as crazy, but almost. So finding a home below $400,000 will be a challenge.

The end of the year is drawing near and my quarterly goals systems has really worked quite well this year. Part of that success is due to having a steady stream of income, and part of the success is due to making my goals obtainable and very timely.

We have a solid plan in place to purchase a house within 12-18 months. We’re on our way to having a substantial down payment within that time frame. In the meantime, we’re still renting and that rent is going up.