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Leperflesh posted:Yeah. That's like a foreign concept to me. There are houses in the Bay Area for 100k - they're in the bad parts of Richmond, a really, really nasty neighborhood filled with gangs and murders and sky-high burglary rates. The idea of a place with 100k houses that's actually a nice place to live... it's crazy. Iowa. Maybe not exactly $100K but it's hovering around there. We bought our first home in '07 (just before the bubble burst yo!) for $128K in a nice, quiet, clean neighborhood. Downside? It's Iowa. Oh yeah, and I checked the assessed value the other day - $123K. Sweet.
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Oct 2, 2009 22:15
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GOOCHY posted:You can't afford to buy a house. It's a bad idea all around. That doesn't even take into account that if you have 80 large in savings why in the world are you looking for a 3.5% down FHA loan? I fully understand the value of liquidity but if you're buying a home with only 3.5% down you're looking at mortgage insurance costs that'll eat you alive (plus probably an interest rate that's higher than you could have otherwise gotten with a normal 20% down payment). I guess I should have made some things more clear, the interest rate quoted to us was 4.875% and the monthly payment of $1,520 does take into account taxes, HOA, MIP etc. Also, we have zero debt and no other monthly payments other than utilities. We think 20% would be an insane down payment considering the interest rate and the fact that our 80,000 savings is in mutual funds, which on average do better than 5% growth. Our current rent is 1,000 a month and we get by fine with our income. My wife COULD find a job if need be, it would just be in a bad part of town where she doesn’t want to teach. This really seems like a pretty good situation to me, I don’t see what could go horribly wrong, even if housing prices drop in the next two years, we plan to stay in a house for a lot longer than that.
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Oct 3, 2009 01:21
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Zfuut posted:I guess I should have made some things more clear, the interest rate quoted to us was 4.875% and the monthly payment of $1,520 does take into account taxes, HOA, MIP etc. Also, we have zero debt and no other monthly payments other than utilities. We think 20% would be an insane down payment considering the interest rate and the fact that our 80,000 savings is in mutual funds, which on average do better than 5% growth. Our current rent is 1,000 a month and we get by fine with our income. My wife COULD find a job if need be, it would just be in a bad part of town where she doesn’t want to teach. This really seems like a pretty good situation to me, I don’t see what could go horribly wrong, even if housing prices drop in the next two years, we plan to stay in a house for a lot longer than that. You're being ignorant as to potential pitfalls. I wish you luck if you decide to move forward in this endeavor.
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Oct 3, 2009 01:45
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Zfuut posted:I guess I should have made some things more clear, the interest rate quoted to us was 4.875% and the monthly payment of $1,520 does take into account taxes, HOA, MIP etc. Were you quoted 4.875 on an FHA 3.5% down loan? Because if so, that's pretty awesome. That's more like the sort of rate I'd expect to see on a conventional loan. Also whenever someone lists things they've taken into account and it includes "etc." I cringe. "etc." should never appear on a spreadsheet with a number next to it. It's impossible for anyone to know whether you've really taken everything into account (presumably, the reason you're here asking for advice) if you're not explicit and detailed.
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Oct 3, 2009 02:46
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Zfuut posted:We think 20% would be an insane down payment considering the interest rate and the fact that our 80,000 savings is in mutual funds, which on average do better than 5% growth. If you have a trust fund, do you have parents who are super rich and will bail your rear end if things go bad? That's the only case in which I would think it'd be okay for you to buy a house. It's really not a good idea. Is your wife on unemployment right now?
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Oct 3, 2009 03:30
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Leperflesh posted:Were you quoted 4.875 on an FHA 3.5% down loan? Because if so, that's pretty awesome. That's more like the sort of rate I'd expect to see on a conventional loan. Yes the rate is 4.875 for 30 years and the seller covers closing costs Monthly payment Principal + interest – 1,190.97 Property tax (est) – 191.00 Hazard insurance (est) – 31.33 FHA monthly mortgage insurance – 101.37 HOA per month -38.00 Total – 1,552.68 My job is very secure (I work for a government hospital that has poured a lot of time and money into my education). I’m surprised at all the negativity; I understand that currently we do not make a lot of money. But I have more savings than most people (80,000 in stocks and 125,000 in less easily accessible investments). I do not think paying the mortgage is a problem even if we both get fired. I am getting really freaked out though because we will likely apply for the loan + put in an offer later this week. Also, the neighborhood is Pulte which seems really credible; however they make us to sign the house contract and put 5 grand to hold the house before we apply for their loan (of course if we don’t get the loan we don’t lose any money), is this strange? Also they are telling us another buyer is closing in, do agents do this to try and get you to hurry?
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Oct 3, 2009 04:57
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Actually, does anyone here any knowledge of general repair prices? Like how much would it be to repaint, redo plumbing, water heater, windows, and fix a crack in a foundation? Cause that seems to cover most of the damage to a lot of the HUD junkers being sold around here.
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Oct 3, 2009 05:05
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Zewle posted:Actually, does anyone here any knowledge of general repair prices? It will vary drastically by market but general contractors will be more than happy to give you an estimate.
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Oct 3, 2009 05:29
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Good idea, how should I phrase it to one to sound the least like an ignorant stuttering jackass? I know it's impossible to give a real estimate without seeing "the" property or even having numbers, but would saying it'll probably be a small single story, 2, maybe 3 bedroom house give someone in the area at least a vague way to suggest a possible price on those things? Keep in mind I only mean an idea within 10s of thousands of dollars so I'm not looking for even remotely exact numbers. I see a lot of foreclosed HUD homes around here for like, 50-80K that I would pay 150K for in livable condition, so assuming its not like 70K and up for this work, it'd be worth it.
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Oct 3, 2009 05:38
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Zewle posted:Actually, does anyone here any knowledge of general repair prices?
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Oct 3, 2009 07:26
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Zfuut posted:Also, the neighborhood is Pulte which seems really credible; however they make us to sign the house contract and put 5 grand to hold the house before we apply for their loan (of course if we don’t get the loan we don’t lose any money), is this strange? Also they are telling us another buyer is closing in, do agents do this to try and get you to hurry? The $5k is "earnest money" and required for any offer you make. Before you make an offer you should be pre-qualified, which just means you've run the numbers and your broker agrees you can probably get a loan at x interest rate, etc. After you make an offer, you should be pre-approved for a specific loan by your broker. After your offer is accepted, you then apply for the actual loan. At that point you have to submit all the evidence of your income, finances, etc. again, even though you already did it to pre-qualify. This is how it has been explained to me, yesterday actually, because we just put in an offer and it sounds like we're at the same stage as you. Your agent should be explaining the above very clearly to you! If you're not getting hand-held through the process, your agent isn't doing their job. Also who is telling you another buyer is closing in? If it's the seller's agent, well, sure. Your offer probably included a statement that allows the seller to share the terms of your offer (because if you restrict them from doing so, that's a negative thing that can discourage them from accepting your offer). Likely other bidders are also doing that, so, the seller is free to tell you (or anyone) that there's other bids and how much they're for. They usually won't tell you the exact number though, because they don't want you to bid $100 over the high bidder... they want you to give them your best offer, in hopes it'll be thousands over the next guy. This sucks but it's how things are. If the seller's agent is actually willing to tell you the exact number of the next highest-bid, that's fantastic for you, because it tells you precisely how much you need to bid to win. It is up to you to decide if that number is worth it to you or not, of course. But keep in mind that it is in the seller's interest to imply you need to make a quick, high bid. They want to sell the house fast, and for lots of money. Listen to your own agent, and be willing to walk away from a deal if you aren't satisfied... don't pay more than you really want to pay, or buy a house you're not really happy with, just because you're being pressured. As for the rest of your numbers... it seems you've accounted for most of the monthly costs. Be sure to budget for a higher energy bill if you've been living somewhere smaller or renting a place where utilities were included. Also include a healthy ongoing budget for maintenance.
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Oct 3, 2009 21:38
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Zfuut posted:I guess I should have made some things more clear, the interest rate quoted to us was 4.875% and the monthly payment of $1,520 does take into account taxes, HOA, MIP etc. Also, we have zero debt and no other monthly payments other than utilities. We think 20% would be an insane down payment considering the interest rate and the fact that our 80,000 savings is in mutual funds, which on average do better than 5% growth. Our current rent is 1,000 a month and we get by fine with our income. My wife COULD find a job if need be, it would just be in a bad part of town where she doesn’t want to teach. This really seems like a pretty good situation to me, I don’t see what could go horribly wrong, even if housing prices drop in the next two years, we plan to stay in a house for a lot longer than that. This is a really bad idea. Houses cost a hell of a lot more than the monthly payment and taxes. Insurance, heating costs, higher electricity bills, tons and tons of unexpected expenses around the house. We bring in 3 times that income and only pay about 1000/mo in mortgage+tax and I can tell you that the non-mortgage costs are almost higher than the mortgage and can be pretty brutal. For an example, we just bought a 9yr old house, after inspection nothing was really wrong, just needed some patio doors replaced. 5 months later we have spent probably 8,000 on various things that weren't required at the time but became evident over time. I can't even fathom paying 1520 just on tax/mortgage on that salary. I also don't have 200k (?) in investments ready to pull out when my plan comes crashing down around me, so maybe you will be fine.
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Oct 5, 2009 18:21
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Woohoo! First-time Homebuyer's Credit check just came in the mail. Based on previous timeframes in this thread I thought it wouldn't come until November or December, but it only took 6 weeks for it to get here. Excellent!
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Oct 6, 2009 18:57
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Zfuut posted:Great advise in this thread so far Don't do it. I make more than you and my wife works and makes something similar to what you make, and that would be the extreme limit of what we could afford if we truly didn't give a gently caress about paying for anything else ever. Like IRAs or cars breaking down or anything nice/fun ever.
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Oct 7, 2009 04:51
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We backed out of the whole house buying idea before signing anything (cold feet). I think we are going to wait a while and see what happens with the home market here.
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Oct 7, 2009 05:49
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Anyone have appraisal issues? I guess up until like two months ago banks could just use their own appraiser and there weren't many problems, but my broker told me that there's no federal regulations that state it must be a third party appraiser. I can't get into details until the deal (hopefully) goes through, but I was curious if anyone had problems and how you dealt with it. We've sent the bank an entire page worth of reasons why it should be re-evaluated, but apparently they have to sign off on it even though the appraiser himself already said there'd be no problem looking at it again.
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Oct 9, 2009 15:40
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Zfuut posted:We backed out of the whole house buying idea before signing anything (cold feet). I think we are going to wait a while and see what happens with the home market here. That's a good idea. AZ is crazy right now and I don't think it's hit bottom yet. Keep taking advantage of cheap rental rates for a while.
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Oct 9, 2009 17:15
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Prices are still falling. Home Sellers in U.S. Cut Prices by $28.4 Billion, according to Trulia. Do note this detail: quote:Closely held Trulia collects data from brokers and agents, third-party providers and multiple-listing services. For the survey, it looked at homes for sale as of Oct. 1 -- about 3 million properties, excluding foreclosed homes and undeveloped land -- and calculated how many had previously been listed for a higher price. Some were lowered more than once. However, they also take data from another survey: quote:According to a separate survey released today by real estate data service Zillow.com, U.S. buyers paid a median $6,525, or 3 percent, less than the final listing amounts on properties bought in August. Excluding the foreclosures skews the numbers, I suspect, because I think a lot of them are selling for more than asking price. At least around here they certainly are. So what we're seeing is non-foreclosures having to accept underbids because of the ongoing cheaper supply of foreclosed houses. Some of that is probably overly-optimistic head-in-the-sand sellers ("...this house is great, it hasn't lost its value like those other crappy houses!"), but it still does reflect a real overall drop in prices in August, and that's worth paying attention to.
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Oct 9, 2009 19:58
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The mortgage rates as of late are just too good to pass up. My wife and I are refinancing the house into a 15 year note @ 4.5% APR. We're coming from a 7.375 30 yr. fixed so, while the payment won't be all that much different (we pay $250 on top of our mortgage payment every month directly to principal) - the amortization table is absolutely sweet.
GOOCHY fucked around with this message at 02:00 on Oct 12, 2009 |
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Oct 12, 2009 01:57
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I have a question about the first time home buyer tax credit (8k). I'm pretty sure the answer is "no I don't qualify" but thought I'd ask anyway. My wife before we were married sold her home in 2007. We married in 2008, and bought a home in 2009. Do I(we) qualify for the tax credit?
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Oct 14, 2009 19:00
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BrokenLinux posted:I have a question about the first time home buyer tax credit (8k). You don't qualify; you both have to meet the three year rule. I assume the home your wife sold was her primary residence.
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Oct 15, 2009 01:20
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First off, thanks for a great thread. A lot of the questions I originally had as a potential home buyer have been answered, and I'm now leaning back away from things. The market I'm in is a bit unusual - Buffalo, NY. Prices are dead, dead cheap here. I've been looking at starter homes in the $50-$75k range. Not perfect places, but something to begin from. This is why it's so tempting. While my financial situation is rough, the idea of being able to get into a nice little suburban house for $750/month is really tempting. Right now, I'm in the midst of an immigration battle to get my fiancee into the US. As a result, my savings are pretty much gone and I've got a wedding/green card processing/covering her student loans for several months ahead. I know that in a year we'll be in a MUCH better financial position (I've got a great job, and she's already got a good job offer waiting, plus we'll be past the worst of our expenses). But we need a place to live, and with real estate prices that low around here I'm having a hard time saying no. We'd be shelling out just as much for an apartment as we would a house. Give me a little backup on this one. I want to say yes, but my gut's saying no. What price is really too good to pass up?
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Oct 16, 2009 05:35
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You are absolutely correct to wait till next year. There will be plenty of houses then, too... probably for just as cheap in your area, as there are no signs of a sudden surging economic recovery in Buffalo, NY. If you want one very good reason, just consider; you'll get much better terms on your mortgage when your finances are in order. The loan qualification process takes into account your savings... if you have no savings, even if the loan is tiny and you can easily afford it, you might not qualify, or you might qualify but only get a high interest rate. There is no price that is "too good to pass up" if it is money you don't have or can't afford. Remember, houses are priced at what the market will bear. If you see houses going for $50k, that's because that's what they're worth - appraisals and handwaving be damned. It's not a "bargain". A bargain is something priced below the market, where you'd have to scramble to compete with others to be first in line, where you could immediately turn around and re-sell what you got for a significant profit. That's very unlikely to be the case for the houses you're seeing. Get your finances in order, get your marriage done with, get into a position where you can devote the massive time and effort and stress to housebuying, and you'll be much better off in the long run.
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Oct 16, 2009 06:00
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Record quarterly foreclosures: up 23%Ritholtz posted:During Q3, one in every 136 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing — a record high. This quarter was the worst 3 month period since the great Depression. We're still on our way down, folks.
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Oct 16, 2009 20:52
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So I'm reading up about this $8000 tax credit going to people who buy a house before December 1st. What counts as the date of purchase? I'm told escrow lasts 45-60 days. Is the date of purchase the beginning or the end of the escrow period?
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Oct 18, 2009 04:01
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You get the 8k credit if you completely close by Nov 30. That means you got the keys and the house is unquestionably yours.
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Oct 18, 2009 05:23
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BlessedBullet is correct. Given the current date, if you made an offer today on a bank-owned house, you might close in time. On a normal, non-short sale house, you could probably close in time. On a short-sale, probate, etc. type sale, it is probably too late. If you're only just now thinking of getting prequalified and starting to go looking for houses, it seems unlikely to me that you'll be able to close by Nov 30th. Also, everyone else seems desperate to also try and close by the 30th, and I believe that is causing a lot of bidding and excess offers on houses at the moment, which invariably means prices are driven up a bit... probably by aroud $8k, if not more. So, if you are serious about wanting to buy a house, I suggest that the $8k is nice to have, but you shouldn't worry too much about missing the deadline... and in fact, think seriously about waiting till december and then making offers around $5-10k below what comparable houses closed for in october/november. There have been rumors of discussions in congress about extending or renewing (or even enlarging) the tax credit. I have no idea what the odds are on that one. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 08:35 on Oct 18, 2009 |
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Oct 18, 2009 08:31
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My mortgage lender told me on Friday that lenders are no longer "guaranteeing" that you can close by Nov 30 since we are now within 45 days. I'm trying to get an offer negotiated this weekend and she said I should be okay if things get moving on Monday or Tuesday. If you are counting on the $8000 I would make your offer contingent on closing by Nov 30 at this point. After this week I wouldn't even consider it any longer unless you have a deal in the works. ndPunkOne fucked around with this message at 16:02 on Oct 18, 2009 |
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Oct 18, 2009 15:59
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You could get it done with an all-cash offer for another week or two, I expect, if you were willing to skip appraisal/inspection and so on.
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Oct 18, 2009 18:39
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Hey guys, I have a question about getting my money back from the bank, here is the quick rundown. I purchased a house with an FHA loan and began the financing process with BoA and was charged a $475 origination or start-up fee. I wait for BoA to process my loan. Soon enough, the date that I am to have acquired financing by passes, leaving me in breach of contract. The seller (foreclosure bank owned) agrees to extend my financing date by a week. During this time, BoA finally decides to check if the property will be FHA approved and it turns out it is not (due to some random stipulation in the HOA). I don't have enough money to do a conventional loan so again I breach contract by not obtaining financing and the deal falls through. At this point I'm still out the attorney fees, the inspection fees, de-winterization fee, and BoA origination fee. I am waiting to hear back on what the loan officer will say, but is it typical to expect (or worth fighting with the bank) to have any or all of that original fee refunded since the deal fell through?
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Oct 19, 2009 04:46
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I have a question about PMI. I'm going to be in a position to buy a house with my wife in about 3-4 years. My personal stock portfolio is purely dedicated to house investment and it has around $15,000 and is doing very well (I bought most of the stocks at the bottom or near the bottom of the current financial crisis and my advisor is a smart, conservative planner whom I trust) and we have $20,000 from a recent wedding. My concern is that given the economy, it might be tough to make the traditional 20% down payment, let alone all the additional costs - realtor's commission, closing costs, etc. unless I make some risky investments. I would rather not make risky investments. A meh-at-best starter home in the central/northern New Jersey area is around $275,000. That's $55,000 for a 20% down payment. This most likely won't be the only home we ever own, but we do want a home that we could have a kid in if we wanted to. So we can't get a house in a shithole city with lousy schools. My question: how much would PMI hit us for the length of the loan? Would it be feasible to pay PMI for 5-6 years and then refinance? Would that eliminate the PMI? I guess I'm looking for PMI 101. This way, I can plan investments and savings accordingly for 3-4 years.
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Oct 21, 2009 15:46
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PMI policies tend to differ from lender to lender, which is why it's difficult to give out general advice on it. In my experience, PMI was going to be about 0.6% of the cost per year. So for a $300,000 house that'd be $1800/yr = $150/month. In terms of getting it removed, I've read several different policies with that. Some lenders remove it automatically at 22%. Others allow you to file a petition at 20%. My lender automatically removes it at 20% but failed to tell me until late in the process that that was only after 2 years minimum. Also I believe PMI is tax deductible if you are below a certain wage. Personally I did everything I could to try to find ways to avoid PMI, because it's really money you are just throwing away, though I suppose you could say the same about the interest on your mortgage payment.
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Oct 21, 2009 16:42
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First time home buyer tax credit question: Was your check sent to your old residence or the new one?
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Oct 21, 2009 17:13
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MJP posted:I have a question about PMI. FHA loan: PMI required for 5 years if you don't have 20% down, even if the day after you close you find $50k and apply it to the principal. PMI under FHA loans are about half of what you pay for PMI on a conventional for whatever reason. Conventional loan: PMI required if you don't have 20% down. There is no minimum amount of time. PMI under conventional is pretty expensive compared to FHA loans. Anecdotally ours is $108/mo for $137800 borrowed. It may vary lender to lender, but from what I've heard they are required to remove PMI at 22% equity, but you can request it be removed at 20%. The 2% difference is probably just the continuation of the gravy train trying to suck every last penny out of you because it may be inconvinient to remember you can have it removed at 20%. Again, depending on the lender they may balk and say you have to get it appraised at that point to make sure you have the right level of equity. I would venture to guess this would happen more often with crappy lenders, or in market shitfest meltdown mode.
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Oct 21, 2009 18:31
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An alternative to PMI is to get a conventional 80% mortgage and a second loan (typically 10% or 15%) to cover the rest. I am told this used to be common but now requires a very good credit score. I'm doing this right now actually. After crunching the numbers, putting 10% down with an 80/10 mortgage will save me over $100 a month versus a 90% mortgage plus PMI (at the current interest rates). But I think at higher interest rates, a second loan becomes less attractive relative to PMI.
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Oct 21, 2009 18:49
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geetee posted:First time home buyer tax credit question: Was your check sent to your old residence or the new one?
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Oct 21, 2009 21:28
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CNN Money says "Homes: About to get much cheaper." Fiserv, a financial information and analysis firm, is forecasting significant drops in most markets in the US between now and June of next year. Of course, I suspect this forecast is based on the expiring tax credit not being renewed by congress. If it is, that might entice more buyers into supporting the current prices or preventing drops from being as severe, I dunno.
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Oct 22, 2009 06:12
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I got the ball rolling on my re-fi. Note to others - refinancing, if you're not folding the costs into the loan (which I'm not...) - is expensive. 
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Oct 22, 2009 16:41
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GOOCHY posted:I got the ball rolling on my re-fi. Note to others - refinancing, if you're not folding the costs into the loan (which I'm not...) - is expensive. Depends on where you live. My refi was 660 bucks, though I didn't need a new appraisal.
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Oct 22, 2009 18:05
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I'm in the process of buying a home. It's a short sale and two weeks ago, the bank sent out someone to get the house appraised. My offer was accepted June 30th. This is nerve-wrecking! Haha... Every week I call or hear from my agent only to be disappointed when I hear I have to wait some more. My agent tells me that having the house appraised is basically the last step before final agreements. I just hope it we can close within a month. I would really hate to be so close to getting the tax credit and not getting it. For people who bought homes on short sale, how long did it take from appraisal to closing? edit: Forgot to mention that they've accepted my offer on 6/30, nearly 4 months.... process fucked around with this message at 20:23 on Oct 22, 2009 |
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Oct 22, 2009 18:17
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