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$682/mo with 4k in income they could afford to rent that house out at any price if they needed to move. It's less than half what our old 1br apartment cost 
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May 12, 2011 13:58
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sanchez posted:$682/mo with 4k in income they could afford to rent that house out at any price if they needed to move. It's less than half what our old 1br apartment cost And our plan is to rent a room to a friend and see how that works, if it doesn't then we kick um out. Even if the price does drop more, it isn't going to take another 80 thousand dollar drop. The house a few doors down rents for $850 a month and it is the same floor plan. The tough decision now is if I should take a new job in the same town that pays twice as much, and offers a ton overtime. Regardless, we plan on making the normal payment and hopefully two principal payments per month. It was posted earlier in the thread, but from what I've found, PMI is still tax deductible but how does that work. Our PMI is 82.78 per month.
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May 12, 2011 16:44
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I was looking under LAN but couldn't find anything from my region, so I am gonna post it here. Does any one know anything about Robb and Stucky? The nearest one is about an hour away in Las Vegas and their website isn't giving me much info on selection and prices. They are going out of business has anyone been there and seen their products and prices? Is it over priced cheap quality furniture like a lot of the stuff I am finding, or is it decent. My girlfriend and I went to IKEA in Costa Mesa, CA but we didn't really dig it, well I did but she was a bit skeptical. Does anyone have any suggestions for furniture in the Las Vegas area? We are seeming to have the best luck with Big Lots, we don't want to spend a ton, but we want some decent stuff. Google isn't helping me much. Most of the websites are saying come visit our showrooms and look, but we don't have much time to drive 100 miles each way and randomly explore. Thanks for the help, and sorry if this is the wrong thread but it seemed like the best place.
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May 13, 2011 03:24
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Rabid Anti-Dentite! posted:And our plan is to rent a room to a friend and see how that works, if it doesn't then we kick um out. Even if the price does drop more, it isn't going to take another 80 thousand dollar drop. The house a few doors down rents for $850 a month and it is the same floor plan. The tough decision now is if I should take a new job in the same town that pays twice as much, and offers a ton overtime. Regardless, we plan on making the normal payment and hopefully two principal payments per month. It was posted earlier in the thread, but from what I've found, PMI is still tax deductible but how does that work. Our PMI is 82.78 per month. I don't mean to offend you, but have you considered not painting it a color that doesn't look like doggy poop?
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May 13, 2011 05:00
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haha yeah, thats first on the to do list. We just need to figure out the best way to do so, then get the OK from the HOA.
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May 13, 2011 05:17
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Is it a stucco exterior? You're going to have to do a lot of coats and use a lot of paint. Going to serious suck especially since it looks like you live in a desert area.
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May 13, 2011 15:29
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Rabid Anti-Dentite! posted:haha yeah, thats first on the to do list. We just need to figure out the best way to do so, then get the OK from the HOA. It looks fine. Don't waste your time and money on paint until it *needs* new paint due to wear and tear.
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May 13, 2011 15:33
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How do all of you handle maintenance? All the online guides and suggestions I've read say plan for up to 3% annually. Is that realistic? The house I'm looking at is pretty new, so I hope the costs aren't that high. If I were to set aside like $5k for only home issues (things like leaky roof or blown out AC, not small crap like new paint or trim), and then refill that account as necessary, is that a better way to look at this? Granted, the money that I have in my hypothetical budget for maintenance will still probably be saved in a separate money market account and not spent on hookers and blow. Other news, I got my FHA loan info back. 15 year fixed at 4%. Woooo!
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May 13, 2011 16:16
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I bought a relatively new house and they cheaped out on everything you can imagine. Luckily a neighbor was an HVAC tech and offered to refill my A/C refrigerant for cheap, otherwise I could have easily worn out the unit and had to replace it all. My roof is also needing replacement, and the nickel and dime stuff that crops up here and there. 3% a year sounds high, but not unreasonable.
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May 13, 2011 16:35
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You do need to make sure to set the money aside though. My HOA found that out last year when our 4 story elevator died and cost $70k to replace. Thankfully they had $75k in reserves, but now there's nearly none, so fingers crossed that the roof holds for another 10+ years. We had to replace all the 30 year old windows in our place at a total cost of $10k, none of which we'll get back when selling. The only 'gain' from that will be slightly lowered heating costs. Can't wait to become a renter again.
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May 13, 2011 16:42
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Nocheez posted:I bought a relatively new house and they cheaped out on everything you can imagine. The worst houses are those built during a housing boom.
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May 13, 2011 17:50
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Throatwarbler posted:The worst houses are those built during a housing boom. It was built in 1998, I bought in 2006. I understand and agree with what you're saying, though.
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May 13, 2011 18:29
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Jorath posted:You do need to make sure to set the money aside though. My HOA found that out last year when our 4 story elevator died and cost $70k to replace. Thankfully they had $75k in reserves, but now there's nearly none, so fingers crossed that the roof holds for another 10+ years. I have the cash to set aside, thats not a problem. I didn't want to just blindly throw $300-$400 a month into a maintenance fund when I already have enough to cover most things that would come up plus the deductible on my homeowners insurance. Obviously after something happens that makes me dip into that fund, I would build it back up to an acceptable level again. This is for a single family detached, so my top fears are roof, heat pump/AC unit or plumbing problems.
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May 13, 2011 19:32
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DJCobol posted:I have the cash to set aside, thats not a problem. I didn't want to just blindly throw $300-$400 a month into a maintenance fund when I already have enough to cover most things that would come up plus the deductible on my homeowners insurance. Obviously after something happens that makes me dip into that fund, I would build it back up to an acceptable level again. Rabid Anti-Dentite! fucked around with this message at 01:54 on May 14, 2011 |
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May 13, 2011 22:53
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double post
Rabid Anti-Dentite! fucked around with this message at 02:37 on May 15, 2011 |
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May 14, 2011 14:33
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When applying for a mortgage, is it legal to withhold that a large sum of money in your savings account belongs to a parent? If so, can somebody point me to some documentation to that affect?
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May 15, 2011 00:57
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Mary loving Poppins posted:When applying for a mortgage, is it legal to withhold that a large sum of money in your savings account belongs to a parent? If so, can somebody point me to some documentation to that affect? It is a huge no-no to be showing money that is not yours, or is owed to someone 'off-the-record' when applying for a mortgage. In fact, it's a violation of federal law not to declare the 'gift', some have referred to it as 'the headshot'  . If it is not a gift, and you have been holding on to it for some time, you will want to disclose it so that they do not consider it when underwriting your mortgage. You do not want them considering income and assets that are not rightfully yours, aside from the law it's not a good idea because they could approve you for something you cannot financially support.
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May 15, 2011 01:04
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TraderStav posted:It is a huge no-no to be showing money that is not yours, or is owed to someone 'off-the-record' when applying for a mortgage. In fact, it's a violation of federal law not to declare the 'gift', some have referred to it as 'the headshot'
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May 15, 2011 01:19
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Mary loving Poppins posted:And this is pretty much my argument verbatim, but unfortunately the other party to this argument refuses to be convinced on common knowledge alone. Do you have links to any sort of laws relating to misrepresented savings (not income)? Not handy, but I'm sure some googling will do it for you. For what it's worth, this is your mortgage, tell your other party to f-off and the issue is between your lender and yourself. You're the only one who has skin in the game here. Citing legal statutes and precedent isn't the only way to end a debate, if your ethics and values are such that you feel that it would be lying or deceptive regardless of the legality, tell them that. I'd love to hear how someone will argue with someone's conviction to honesty and transparency.
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May 15, 2011 01:38
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TraderStav posted:Not handy, but I'm sure some googling will do it for you. For what it's worth, this is your mortgage, tell your other party to f-off and the issue is between your lender and yourself. You're the only one who has skin in the game here. Citing legal statutes and precedent isn't the only way to end a debate, if your ethics and values are such that you feel that it would be lying or deceptive regardless of the legality, tell them that. I'd love to hear how someone will argue with someone's conviction to honesty and transparency. By the way, it's not my mortgage. I was asked my opinion of somebody else's situation and I answered truthfully and now the relationship is suffering either because I gave an opinion or because of the opinion I gave, probably both.
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May 15, 2011 04:41
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On the application it says to list your assets. Then at the end of the application it says do you swear that what you wrote here is true? Doesn't get any more black and white than that. And yeah lying on a contract won't necessarily get you thrown in jail, but can sure as hell get you sued/forclosed/punished. Make the counter argument "hey why don't we just list their cars and houses and all the rest of their poo poo as my assets on the application as well?" And of course I'll second what TraderStav said: if you're doing it to increase your buying power, it's a stupid loving thing to do because after you get the loan you still only have the lovely buying power you actually had.
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May 15, 2011 04:45
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Mary loving Poppins posted:I'm not trying to dismiss the moral and fiscal responsibility points you've made because I totally agree. But my next question is in terms of the law - does it matter if the money is seasoned > 3 months? I'm thinking not, because it's essentially a loan if the money is withdrawn at some point in the future, right? I'm not an attorney, so I can't cite the statutes. Take the moral high ground and insist that it's unethical and all that you need to know to take your position. Then put the onus on them if they need legal proof to support their scheme.
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May 15, 2011 14:55
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I'm sure it varies from one bank (and perhaps state) to another, but; when I was doing the full paperwork for my loan, I was required to provide bank statements for the full previous year. They noted the money I had gotten from my mom as a gift and required her to provide information and sign a paper saying it was a gift. (I've subsequently decided to pay her back, but I had no obligation to do so - it was specifically given as a gift, I'm just concerned about my mom's finances as she approaches retirement and has faced some expensive home repairs recently). Anyway point is, if that big chunk of cash was deposited just three months ago, I think it's likely your friend will be asked to document where it came from.
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May 15, 2011 18:43
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Leperflesh posted:I'm sure it varies from one bank (and perhaps state) to another, but; when I was doing the full paperwork for my loan, I was required to provide bank statements for the full previous year. They noted the money I had gotten from my mom as a gift and required her to provide information and sign a paper saying it was a gift. (I've subsequently decided to pay her back, but I had no obligation to do so - it was specifically given as a gift, I'm just concerned about my mom's finances as she approaches retirement and has faced some expensive home repairs recently). It does vary by bank, I just went through the process with two banks and only needed two months of statements. But had to declare it was all my money with no liens, registered or otherwise.
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May 15, 2011 19:26
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Mary loving Poppins posted:I was asked my opinion of somebody else's situation and I answered truthfully and now the relationship is suffering either because I gave an opinion or because of the opinion I gave, probably both.
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May 17, 2011 14:49
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I figured this was the best place to post this, point me elsewhere if not. I am buying a house, well my fiancee is. We've been working toward this goal for months since poo poo hit the fan with family. Well, her credit was low (Not really enough stuff to have credit), and we've been working it up. We finally got her credit up to the minimum (I know just barely scraping it). The minimum credit we needed was a 630. When we pull the credit through freecreditreporting.com, I showed a 631 Experian/Equifax and a 630 through Transunion. We went to the bank and are getting everything together, but my loan officer just called me and said that their credit reports are showing 590-603 depending on the reporting agency. Another bank loan officer said they use a different algorithm to check credit, is this true?
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May 17, 2011 16:56
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Gothmog1065 posted:I figured this was the best place to post this, point me elsewhere if not. I am buying a house, well my fiancee is. We've been working toward this goal for months since poo poo hit the fan with family. Well, her credit was low (Not really enough stuff to have credit), and we've been working it up. We finally got her credit up to the minimum (I know just barely scraping it). The minimum credit we needed was a 630. When we pull the credit through freecreditreporting.com, I showed a 631 Experian/Equifax and a 630 through Transunion. We went to the bank and are getting everything together, but my loan officer just called me and said that their credit reports are showing 590-603 depending on the reporting agency.
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May 17, 2011 17:02
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gvibes posted:Does your fiancee have 20% down and >3 month emergency fund? Is her job/incoem stable? Is she planning on living here >~7 years? Why is her credit bad? No (USDA 100% loan), yes (Working at the same place for 4 years, good pay, Yes. Her credit is bad because she only has her student loans and some hospital overdues (One paid off, not showing properly on one report). It's a short history. It's been coming up very well, paid off one, the other should be coming off soon. She has two positives on her account (A furniture place with 100% good payments and a new credit card).
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May 17, 2011 17:07
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Gothmog1065 posted:No (USDA 100% loan), yes (Working at the same place for 4 years, good pay, Yes. IMO, if you can't put a penny down, and if you have had to recently borrow money to buy furniture, you probably should not be buying a home. But maybe if the rent vs buy comparison is crazy in the area, it could make sense if you are comfortable taking a huge risk.
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May 17, 2011 17:29
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We bought furniture on credit to help her credit, not because we couldn't afford it. We don't have a down payment because we had to buy a car after spending quite a bit fixing another one. The places around here either don't allow pets or are pretty expensive for this area, whereas we could get a 3 BR/2BA house for $550 a month (approx), which is $150 a month more than what we're paying for now in a house that the internal structure is basically rotten in. We know the risk, and we're ready to take it. We've been together for 3 years now, and are getting married, and we're ready to settle. So back to the original question, do banks use a different system for checking credit?
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May 17, 2011 18:04
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Gothmog1065 posted:We bought furniture on credit to help her credit, not because we couldn't afford it. We don't have a down payment because we had to buy a car after spending quite a bit fixing another one. This right here is a huge red flag that you are not financially ready to buy a house. But, I'm sure you are going to do what you want to do anyway. And each bank could have its own algorithm for determining scores or who they want to extend credit to or not.
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May 17, 2011 18:12
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Gothmog1065 posted:So back to the original question, do banks use a different system for checking credit? Yes. Every bank has its own actuarial process for evaluating the risk of an applicant. They use the credit report extensively, of course, but they may weight different points on the report differently than the reporting agency does. Hence, your credit score from a given agency is more of an estimate when it comes to getting a loan. I would suggest that you guys tough it out for another year. Even if you manage to get a loan with the bare minimum credit, your terms are going to suck, right? Take the time to save some money, both for the down payment, and for the inevitable expenses that come up when you move into a new home. Also you're getting married, that's a chaotic and stressful time... going through a home purchase at the same time just adds a huge load of extra stress and time. Do yourselves and your relationship a favor and get the wedding done with, save up a few thousand dollars, and then take your improved credit score and go find a place you'll be happy with, knowing you're not going to be raped by the bank.
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May 17, 2011 18:35
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Gothmog1065 posted:The places around here either don't allow pets or are pretty expensive for this area, whereas we could get a 3 BR/2BA house for $550 a month (approx), which is $150 a month more than what we're paying for now in a house that the internal structure is basically rotten in.
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May 17, 2011 18:44
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Gothmog1065 posted:So back to the original question, do banks use a different system for checking credit? That's a pretty big difference from one report to the other, but not beyond the realm of possibility. The website you used doesn't look like it's a real FICO score. The fake FICO scores aren't always exact. They might "average out" to be roughly equivalent to real FICO scores, but for a single individual, they can vary wildly. Try to get a copy of the report that the loan officer pulled & see what the deal is. Also, the other advice in this thread is good, as much as it might sting to read that you should wait. Personally, I was looking at houses early last year to try to take advantage of the first time home-buyer credit, but after reading threads like this one and talking to some people with my interests at heart, decided to wait a year. And then a year passed, and I decided to wait another 6 months to try to let my credit score get high enough to get a good interest rate. Even though I probably would have saved some meager amount of money by buying last year (depends on a lot of variables), it would have been a riskier proposition with a minimum FHA down payment. You feel much more confident searching for homes when you have your 20% sitting in an investment account.
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May 17, 2011 23:27
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lapse posted:That's a pretty big difference from one report to the other, but not beyond the realm of possibility. The website you used doesn't look like it's a real FICO score. The fake FICO scores aren't always exact. They might "average out" to be roughly equivalent to real FICO scores, but for a single individual, they can vary wildly. Try to get a copy of the report that the loan officer pulled & see what the deal is. Actually, data just showed that prices fell on average more than the homebuyer credit so everyone lost whatever equity that got them. Waiting was prudent. The right time to buy is when you can properly afford it and the price is that which you can proper afford. :$
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May 18, 2011 00:13
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USDA loans require a yearly payment that is I think 3% of your loan value. This is called a guarantee fee, which keeps the loan secured in your name. You pay that for i think as long as you are less than 78 percent owner. I looked into that loan, basically its PMI that you pay up front. Are you in a "rural" area? If not then you can not get that loan, I would talk to some banks and get some pre approvals. I thought we could get a decent house payment on a bigger house, and was wayyyyy wrong after we got done talking to the bank. Get all your facts together first. There are still closing costs, around 5-6 grand, plus deposits for utilities, so make sure you have some money saved, and you might consider a home warranty, typically 350-400 up front. We had quite a bit saved, and with the 3.5% down payment and closing costs and all the inspections, we are cutting it close. And the 3.5% down payment didn't really dent the savings account, and now we are putting off on furniture for a month or two to get our savings back up. We could have waited longer, and probably should have waited longer, but we really really wanted this house. Oh and our credit scores were 760's and they put us at 4.75 fixed. Interest rates may stay low for a while yet, get the credit up, then try again, you rate will probably get a much better rate. Figure out everything, assess your situation and then adjust accordingly. just my two cents.
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May 18, 2011 02:20
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So one of my wife's coworkers bought a 5000 sq ft mansion in Michigan for $1 and found that houses are so expensive in the DC metro area that it's cheaper to buy some land, do the hook-ups, setup the foundation, and ship the house ($80k). A comparable house in the area would cost about... $1.4 million, so you'd need about $280k just for a down payment, then you'd have a mortgage for a ridiculous amount. I think instead of saving up the $200k for a stupid down payment on massively overpriced housing I might want to try the same thing. That is, buy a good plot of land, pick out a house somewhere in flyover counter, maybe bulldoze whatever's there, put up the money upfront for transportation and setup, and enjoy the immediate equity gain by virtue of having a much bigger house than the cost of buying an existing house in the neighborhood. It'd certainly achieve my goal of having no mortgage ever again in my life. So... anyone want to shoot my idea down?
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May 18, 2011 04:50
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necrobobsledder posted:So one of my wife's coworkers bought a 5000 sq ft mansion in Michigan for $1 and found that houses are so expensive in the DC metro area that it's cheaper to buy some land, do the hook-ups, setup the foundation, and ship the house ($80k). A comparable house in the area would cost about... $1.4 million, so you'd need about $280k just for a down payment, then you'd have a mortgage for a ridiculous amount. I think instead of saving up the $200k for a stupid down payment on massively overpriced housing I might want to try the same thing. That is, buy a good plot of land, pick out a house somewhere in flyover counter, maybe bulldoze whatever's there, put up the money upfront for transportation and setup, and enjoy the immediate equity gain by virtue of having a much bigger house than the cost of buying an existing house in the neighborhood. It'd certainly achieve my goal of having no mortgage ever again in my life. If a house in that area would cost $1.4m I can't imagine an open plot of land would be that cheap either. What are the chances she's dropping this mansion in the middle of nowhere an hour outside of DC?
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May 18, 2011 04:57
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senor punk posted:If a house in that area would cost $1.4m I can't imagine an open plot of land would be that cheap either. What are the chances she's dropping this mansion in the middle of nowhere an hour outside of DC? Plus, if municipal code requirements and such are different in MD/VA than in MI, that might be an additional expense. I don't see how shipping a fixed, stick built home could be done for 80k though, that's insane. I didn't even know it was possible, you'd pretty much have to tear down the house piece by piece and rebuild it, the amount of labor involved would be immense and it would take months.
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May 18, 2011 05:41
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Well, it's good to know the difference between a "real" credit score and a "fake" credit score. leperflesh posted:Yes. Every bank has its own actuarial process for evaluating the risk of an applicant. They use the credit report extensively, of course, but they may weight different points on the report differently than the reporting agency does. Hence, your credit score from a given agency is more of an estimate when it comes to getting a loan. quote:Do yourselves and your relationship a favor and get the wedding done with, save up a few thousand dollars, and then take your improved credit score and go find a place you'll be happy with, knowing you're not going to be raped by the bank. quote:Does the $550 include taxes and insurance? Rabid Anti=Dendite! posted:USDA loans require a yearly payment that is I think 3% of your loan value. This is called a guarantee fee, which keeps the loan secured in your name. You pay that for i think as long as you are less than 78 percent owner. I looked into that loan, basically its PMI that you pay up front. Are you in a "rural" area? If not then you can not get that loan, I would talk to some banks and get some pre approvals. I thought we could get a decent house payment on a bigger house, and was wayyyyy wrong after we got done talking to the bank. Get all your facts together first. There are still closing costs, around 5-6 grand, plus deposits for utilities, so make sure you have some money saved, and you might consider a home warranty, typically 350-400 up front. We had quite a bit saved, and with the 3.5% down payment and closing costs and all the inspections, we are cutting it close. And the 3.5% down payment didn't really dent the savings account, and now we are putting off on furniture for a month or two to get our savings back up. We could have waited longer, and probably should have waited longer, but we really really wanted this house. Oh and our credit scores were 760's and they put us at 4.75 fixed. Interest rates may stay low for a while yet, get the credit up, then try again, you rate will probably get a much better rate. Figure out everything, assess your situation and then adjust accordingly. just my two cents. I'm trying to keep the fiancee happy with some of this (She doesn't want to move anymore than we have to), most of the rental houses in this are are complete trash (Especially if you have animals), and the house we're renting (and the landlords) suck. End point is we can't do it right now, so we're going to have to wait. It's not even really a choice.
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May 18, 2011 05:52
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