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Att'n Home owners! Is it worth it?

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by SoSueMe, Apr 20, 2007.

  1. Satchel Pooch

    Satchel Pooch Member

    Hmm. I didn't see you when you drove through my neighborhood.

    I swear to god, we'll never be able to recoup the money we spent on this house (which we love, by the way). You cannot sell a house in this metroplex of a subdivision. There has to be 20 up for sale right now. The one positive is the other day one of the houses had "In Contract" above its for sale sign.

    Tonight, driving home, it had "Lots Of Add-Ons."

    Great. And I just got ketchup on me.
     
  2. SoSueMe

    SoSueMe Active Member

    It's weird. All I hear from people is "God, there are so many houses for sale. We can't sell."

    But yet homes are going for $350,000!

    I don't get it.
     
  3. EStreetJoe

    EStreetJoe Well-Known Member

    Depends on your financial situation.

    Go to a site like realtor.com (or any real estate broker's website local to your area).
    - Find a home you think you'd be interested in buying.
    - Use a mortgage calculator/cost estimator to see what your monthly payment would be with $20,000 down (since closing costs can run $8k-$10k+ depending on the price of the home and the state you're in).
    - See what the annual taxes are on that home and divide the number by 11 (since the banks always take out extra for the escrow) to see how much in taxes you'd be paying a month.
    - If the total of the mortgage payment plus taxes is equal to what you're paying in rent now, then go for it. If it's more, decide if you can afford to spend that much extra on housing.
     
  4. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    Maybe this has been mentioned here -- I know it has elsewhere on this site -- but how in the hell do you folks find a way to save $20K to put down on your first house?

    For any twenty-something sports writer making $25-30K, who has about $150 left each paycheck, after rent, utilities and car/insurance payments are made, where the hell does all that money come from?
     
  5. SoSueMe

    SoSueMe Active Member

    Here's my situation Buck:
    I started an RRSP (registered retirement savings plan) in college. I didn't (and still don't) contribute much, but it's up to about $7,000. My fiancee has done the same, she has $4,000 saved. Then, she also has an inheritence from when she was very, very young when he grandma died.

    In Canada, you can use your RRSP to buy your FIRST HOME ONLY and not be taxed on using the money before retirement.
     
  6. EStreetJoe

    EStreetJoe Well-Known Member


    I got the money for the down payment on my condo in a depressing way.
    My dad was dying of cancer at the time I was getting ready to ditch my apartment which I couldn't stand anymore and buy a place of my own. I asked him to gift me part of my inheritance in advance and he said yes.
     
  7. Birdscribe

    Birdscribe Active Member

    Buck, I got lucky. My dad started buying stocks for me when I was in elementary school (Parkside Elem, near you, BTW). Over time, not only did that put me through school, but it provided the vast majority of my down payment on my initial house.

    My father-in-law helped with the rest (closing costs and the like).
     
  8. qtlaw

    qtlaw Well-Known Member

    I think was 4 or 5. Got it down to 5.25 APR

    As for the down, yeah, some help from the parents helps, but more importantly, we had two incomes with no kids, lived debt free and made saving a priority. Until you make saving a priority, its not going to happen.
     
  9. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    Actually, you can buy for zero down for a first-timer under the Ameridream program -- which basically builds a down payment into the purchase price.
    http://www.ameridream.org/About/FAQ
     
  10. Twoback

    Twoback Active Member

    You buy a house you can afford. You take out a mortgage you can afford. A 40-year term is as dumb a deal as the interest-only loans they were offering that has everybody's butt in a sling now.
    If you can't afford the payment at 30 years, you can't afford the house.
    And if you can get the term to 15 years, do it. It's worth it.
     
  11. Twoback

    Twoback Active Member

    I refied 3 times in 12 months about five years ago. Only $350 in closing costs each time, took me from a fixed 30 at about 7.5 percent down to 15 years at 6 percent, then 5 3/8 and now to 4 7/8. Which I will give up when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.
     
  12. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    My first question would be, "How much was your income tax refund?"

    If it was anywhere near the sickening American "average" of $2,400, there you have it.

    Adjust withholding . . . $2,400 more in your paycheck every year . . . invest it weekly instead of spending it . . . in 6-8 years you have $20,000.
     
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