buying stuff

[cmdrfunk]

At what point can one really go ahead and get a house?

I was under the impression you had to have a chunk saved but after a discussion last night people were urging me to get one now for various reasons. I only have like $3000 saved having only worked for a month.

I don't have any debt except student loans (which i'm only paying a small portion of thank god..or should i say daddy? ) and have a great income for just starting out. (just finished school). I have a good credit score. Can i really just walk out there and be like give me a house and get one so fast?

I always had it in my head that i couldn't do that until like 4-5 years from now, but if i could really could get one now that's better than pissin my money away on rent.

I know 0 about real estate. I just figured out what a mortgage was in the past week

 

[cmdrfunk]

crap i forgot to go back and fix this thread's subject so now no one is gonna read it.

 

[BadGirl]

How many times do I have to say it? "Buy, Buy, Buy"

If a mortgage company is going to lend you the money to do it, which is almost always the case - unless your credit really is in the crapper - you should take advantage of the aggressive real estate market and purchase something now. I don't understand why you would hesitate, frankly.

If you find that you can't afford the mortgage, take in roommates until the rought patch is over with. And if it gets really bad and you find yourself totally over your head, then just sell the dang house. And if/when it comes to that point, you'll still likely come out with a decent amount from appreciation.

"Buy, Buy, Buy".

Yeah, and buy me another cold tasty beverage, you Drink-Spiller.

 

[RoseRed]

Get pre-qualified first so you can move quickly on a potential property. I believe that if you do not have the 20% down you have to pay PMI insurance until the loan is paid down 20% before you can drop it. If I am wrong, I am quite certain that I will be corrected.

 

[BadGirl]

True that RR. But there are creative ways to get around even that obstacle. For instance, getting a conventional mortgage for 80% of the purchase price, and a 20% home equity loan to cover the amount that would have required PMI. In this case, you can get tax relief from both the mortgage and home eq loan interest that is paid throughout the year.

Of course, I don't pretend to be a mortgage broker or banker, so don't know specific details. But I did play a mortgage broker on TV.

 

[cmdrfunk]

Badgirl: i don't listen to you cause you are only one opinion and considering i know nothing about this so i'm getting a consensus while i scour webpages learning a million things about loans and houses etc

And i'm never buying you a drink. That was a spilled drink YOU WEREN'T GOING TO FINISH. How can i ever respect someone who doesn't finish their drink? Me spilling the drink on you seconds after you say you're not going to drink it is nothing but karma.... and besides you didn't bring any receptionists.

My current roommate would definitely move into my house if i were to get one. I doubt he wants to pay the full $980 a month on an apartment he'd have to pay if i were to move. Hell the $480 i'm dishing out now is most of a mortgage payment, isn't it?


RoseRed: thanks.. don' tknow what PMI is yet though.


Badgirl's second post: ok that went right over my head. bye bye information.

 

[RoseRed]

Originally posted by cmdrfunk

RoseRed: thanks.. don' tknow what PMI is yet though.

P? Mortgage Insurance, I can't remember what the P stands for.

 

[Ken King]

Originally posted by RoseRed
P? Mortgage Insurance, I can't remember what the P stands for.

P=Private. PMI insures your lender against loss in the event you default on your mortgage loan. You pay the premium; the lender gets the benefit.

 

[RoseRed]

Originally posted by Ken King
P=Private. PMI insures your lender against loss in the event you default on your mortgage loan. You pay the premium; the lender gets the benefit.

Thanks Ken.

 

[BadGirl]

Originally posted by cmdrfunk
Badgirl: i don't listen to you ...... blah, blah, blah.....

And i'm never buying you a drink. That was a spilled drink YOU WEREN'T GOING TO FINISH. ........Maybe at the last minute I would have finished the drink. But since you spilled it, you never gave me the chance. I should get you for DAMAGES, since said drink spillage caused undue laundry effort on my part......

How can i ever respect someone who doesn't finish their drink? You don't respect anyone anyways....

Me spilling the drink on you seconds after you say you're not going to drink it is nothing but karma.... yeah, my karma ran over my dogma

and besides you didn't bring any receptionists. And I'm not likely too, now. So there.

 

[cmdrfunk]

Originally posted by BadGirl
Originally posted by cmdrfunk
Badgirl: i don't listen to you ...... blah, blah, blah.....

And i'm never buying you a drink. That was a spilled drink YOU WEREN'T GOING TO FINISH. ........Maybe at the last minute I would have finished the drink. But since you spilled it, you never gave me the chance. I should get you for DAMAGES, since said drink spillage caused undue laundry effort on my part......

How can i ever respect someone who doesn't finish their drink? You don't respect anyone anyways....

Me spilling the drink on you seconds after you say you're not going to drink it is nothing but karma.... yeah, my karma ran over my dogma

and besides you didn't bring any receptionists. And I'm not likely too, now. So there.

All true.

 

[czygvtwkr]

CMDR

Being 4 years ahead of you I will offer my advise.

I started out a GS-7 and thought man by the time Im a GS-12 I will be able to afford a nice house. However after 4 years house prices have gone up so fast that Im now a GS-13 and still find buying a house is going to stretch my resources and wish I did it a couple years ago.

 

[cmdrfunk]

Originally posted by czygvtwkr
CMDR

Being 4 years ahead of you I will offer my advise.

I started out a GS-7 and thought man by the time Im a GS-12 I will be able to afford a nice house. However after 4 years house prices have gone up so fast that Im now a GS-13 and still find buying a house is going to stretch my resources and wish I did it a couple years ago.

so was that advice for or against it?

 

[czygvtwkr]

Well my advise is buy what you can afford right now, in 4 years it will probably be worth atleast 25% more than it is right now.

I have been watching prices since I moved here in 2000 and a $130k house then now goes for $180k.

I'd check into a townhouse, just think of it as an apartment that gets you a tax writeoff and equity.

 

[willie]

Before you make a commitment on a house, be sure you can afford to pay for the upkeep. Insurance and taxes will probably be upfront in your monthly payment but repairing the fence, fixing the gutters and maybe even a drain pipe for your driveway Utility bills can also be a shocker especially with baseboard electric. If you're interested in a house in an HOA community, READ THE CONTRACT! You might not want to afford it. I'm most definitely not trying to discourage you. Get what fits your budget.

 

[meme]

Like most of the other posters I suggest BUY BUY BUY or BUILD BUILD BUILD!!!

We bought our house in Maryland a few years ago before the market went sky rocketing. We didn't put any money down except for a few thousand because we used our VA Loan. We only lived there a year and a few months and ended up selling the house and making a nice little profit off of it. We had to move to St. Augustine FL because that is where my husband works. We ended up building a house (took almost a year) but well worth the wait. I think we got alot more for our money opposed to jusy buying outright. I would get pre-approved and see a realtor. Make sure you don't make any major purchases. I have heard major HORROR stories of people getting pre qualified and then having the loan fall through because they couldn't afford the house. Definitely make sure you can afford the upkeep (not cheap.)

Best of luck to ya!

 

[Mayhem]

Originally posted by BadGirl
Originally posted by cmdrfunk
and besides you didn't bring any receptionists. And I'm not likely too, now. So there.

aww damn it... i spilled no drink on anybody

 

[BadGirl]

Poor Mayhem. I'll see what I can do for you, ok? -- BG

 

[BadGirl]

You are a perfect candidate to purchase a home.

You're young, college educated, with no bills other than modest student loans, and your career track offers great earning potential. You are the type of customer that banks would love to have. And because you are currently renting, you don't have any (or very few) of those nasty contingencies to worry about so realtors would love you as a customer.

The only difficulty you may have around here is finding a home in the low-end to mid level of the housing market, simply because of the limited availability. A small starter home or a townhouse would be an excellent place to start. But keep in mind, too, that the longer you think about this, or the time that you contemplate your decision, housing prices are steadily creeping up at an unbelievable pace. The longer you wait, the more that starter house is going to cost.

I know that when I purchased my own house, it stretched my wallet a lot. Ramen noodles became my friend, and finding 10 packages for a $1 was my goal. I didn't take luxurious vacations, I drove a modest car that I had for 10 years, and finding ways to cut corners just became second nature. I took in roommates at first, and then had a couple of part time jobs to supplement my income. It took me about 5 years to get to the point where the mortgage didn't kill me every month. But now that I'm about to vacate my first home and move to my 2nd home, I see the big payoff of scrimping and purchasing the first house. I've sold at a tremendous profit, and that money has now put me in a position where I can move into something bigger with more property. Yippeee!

However, I find myself getting scared for the cost of this new upgraded home. In my wildest dreams, I never thought that I'd pay this kind of money for a place to live, but I also know that it is an investment, and one that likely will offer great rewards in the long run.

Good luck! -- BG

 

[sleuth]

Your salary is not going to increase faster than the home prices around here. If you wait, you're not going to reap the benefits of this seller's market and the houses are just going to be more expensive when you think about buying again.

I came here as a GS-7 2 years ago, and bought as a GS-9 1 year ago. I couldn't really afford it and live comfortably, but I bought anyway.

A good strategy to have is to be willing to pay whatever you can afford per month on a diet of Ramen and not going out. Then, get roommates to augment your income.

That way, if times get tight due to lack of roommates or some other reason, you still have enough to pay your mortgage if you're thrifty. But when you have a roommate, you have some money to spend and save.

Meanwhile, your salary will go up and your mortgage will be fixed, which is a good thing. If you don't buy now, your salary will go up but so will the costs of mortgages.

Just my $0.02.