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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. You aren't shipping a house that far for "just" $80k. Normal moves of homes like that are usually across a few miles, not from Michigan to DC. And if you can't move it in one piece, you're stuck cutting it up in truckload-sized pieces and then reassembling them on site. Which is going to involve a LOT of work on both ends.
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May 18, 2011 06:38
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They managed to be able to have it shipped via barge apparently, so they're not cutting up the house into pieces or anything it seems. I'm totally skeptical myself so I'd like to do some fact checking, but I was just curious to see if my intuition matched with reality. Only way I can see it realistically hitting $80k is if the labor is really cheap in Michigan and DC. Thing about DC is that even though it's the strongest economy in the US overall, manual laborer jobs haven't come back either.
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May 18, 2011 08:52
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necrobobsledder posted:They managed to be able to have it shipped via barge apparently, so they're not cutting up the house into pieces or anything it seems. I'm totally skeptical myself so I'd like to do some fact checking, but I was just curious to see if my intuition matched with reality. Maybe it's possible to ship it that way, but I doubt it's at all practical. You'd have to hire your own cargo ship for the journey, somehow transport a whole house to the port, load in on the ship, and then do the reverse once you got to your destination. I'd be shocked if it could be done for less than a million, let alone 80k, if it could be done at all. I mean, I'm sure the equipment for loading houses onto ships is available for hire at your local seaport, which certainly has the room to get the house near the docks in the first place.
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May 18, 2011 10:51
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I need a new place to live soon and I'm thinking of buying instead of renting. I've been living with family for the past few years and have managed to save up some money, and I wanted to run my situation by the collective expertise of you fine goons. Income: $5300/month before taxes Down Payment Available: up to $30,000 Credit: ~770 last time I checked myfico Job Status: Stable, I will be based around this area for at least 5 years. Current Debt: $340 car payment (lease) $120 student loan (I owe $7000 more total to Sallie Mae) (Plus I spend a lot of money every month on misc. crap, but up to this point I've been able to save between $1200-1800 a month.) I'm looking at condos/townhouses in the northern suburbs of Chicago where housing is pretty expensive and property tax is crazy high. Specifically my range is somewhere between $120,000 and $200,000 - and I am looking at both bachelor pad type condos as well as 2br/2ba units which would allow me to optionally take on a roommate in the future. The reason I am now leaning towards buying is because all the reasonably priced (~$1000/mo) 1br/1ba apartments around this area seem kinda crappy - I'd have to pay at least $1500/mo for a nicer apartment and that seems like a ton of money to pay for rent when I could be paying most of that towards a mortgage instead. I don't know if this is a good reason to buy - maybe I need some sense talked into me? Anyhow I'd appreciate any feedback.
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May 18, 2011 14:37
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necrobobsledder posted:They managed to be able to have it shipped via barge apparently, Did this really happen or is it just someones idea? It seems insane to me.
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May 18, 2011 16:25
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Seed posted:The reason I am now leaning towards buying is because all the reasonably priced (~$1000/mo) 1br/1ba apartments around this area seem kinda crappy - I'd have to pay at least $1500/mo for a nicer apartment and that seems like a ton of money to pay for rent when I could be paying most of that towards a mortgage instead. I don't know if this is a good reason to buy - maybe I need some sense talked into me? Anyhow I'd appreciate any feedback. The rent is too drat high is not a valid enough reason to buy. Do you really like that area? Could you be happy living there for 10 years? You don't say your after tax income, or give a real indication of what the property taxes might run. It's important to get a real number for the monthly cost of a place at the bottom and top of your price range.
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May 18, 2011 16:41
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sanchez posted:Did this really happen or is it just someones idea? It seems insane to me.
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May 18, 2011 16:42
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sanchez posted:Did this really happen or is it just someones idea? It seems insane to me. This is going to be a great urban legend.
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May 18, 2011 16:59
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senor punk posted:The rent is too drat high is not a valid enough reason to buy. Do you really like that area? Could you be happy living there for 10 years? My net income is about $3950/mo, and property taxes in this area are 2-3% which I think is pretty high. If I went the 1br route, I would be paying about $1200-1500 a month (including mortgage, tax, HOA fees, utilities, cable/internet). If I went the 2br route it'd be closer to $1600-1800 a month but I could get a roommate if I wanted to help with that cost. I like the area enough to even be considering buying. I am pretty tied to my job here and could definitely stay for 5-10 years, and don't plan on getting married for 5+ years either (I'm 25).
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May 18, 2011 17:29
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Seed posted:If I went the 1br route, I would be paying about $1200-1500 a month (including mortgage, tax, HOA fees, utilities, cable/internet). If I went the 2br route it'd be closer to $1600-1800 a month but I could get a roommate if I wanted to help with that cost. I wouldn't want to buy something where I'd be forced to take on a roommate (aka be a landlord) just to feel comfortable with rent.
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May 18, 2011 17:33
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Seed posted:My net income is about $3950/mo, and property taxes in this area are 2-3% which I think is pretty high. Be extra sure that you can rent out a second bedroom and not have a problem with the HOA. I personally do the same and while I started out able to afford my mortgage on my own, changes to my retirement contributions mean that I actually need the roommate income at this point, otherwise I'd be going out maybe once a month and eating rice and beans seven days a week. Also, if you wanted to move but had trouble selling, or couldn't sell, I would look into what their rules are on subletting, and if they do allow it, what would the place get for rent in that area? edit: Chin Strap posted:I wouldn't want to buy something where I'd be forced to take on a roommate (aka be a landlord) just to feel comfortable with rent. 100% behind this. I think I could survive without my roommate's money, but at best my lifestyle would be a lot more limited than it is now. senor punk fucked around with this message at 17:36 on May 18, 2011 |
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May 18, 2011 17:34
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Seed posted:.... and that seems like a ton of money to pay for rent when I could be paying most of that towards Here, I fixed that for you. How old are you? Are you married? I'm going to say DO NEVER BUY.
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May 18, 2011 18:21
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skipdogg posted:Here, I fixed that for you. Oh come on, in his next post he states he's 25 and unmarried, though I agree with you. Seed it sounds like you have the finances needed, but I'd still advise against getting locked into a place at this age. You say you've been living with your family for a few years, have you lived on your own before? Have you lived on your own as an adult (not in college)? I feel like it's probably worth renting for a few years to find out what you like and get comfortable on your own and actually maintain a budget. Just to drive home skipdogg's point, of the $1217 a month that I pay towards the mortgage only $260 goes towards principal. Add in another $610 a month for the co-op costs and I'm effectively "throwing away" $1570 a month towards interest, property tax, and the cost of insurance, maintenance, and some of the utilities for my place. Thank god I'm not throwing my money out the window by renting 
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May 18, 2011 18:45
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I've watched a couple of those shows where they move houses. I think it could be done for $80k. They excavate around the foundation and then put inflatable bags under the house and lift it up onto rollers. Takes like two days. Ports often have facilities and infrastructure for moving very large pieces of cargo. If there's a clear path from the property to the port where they can run a wide load, it's possible to move an entire house in one piece. You do it at like 4 AM, they close a two lane road and run the equipment right down the middle at like 10 MPH. I suspect that she's going to have more expenses after the house is placed at its new location, though. Lots of plaster work and painting and what have you. And even if it costs double, it's still a huge savings over buying a $1.2M house. I think it's pretty clever.
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May 18, 2011 19:07
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senor punk posted:I'm effectively "throwing away" $1570 a month towards interest, property tax, and the cost of insurance, maintenance, and some of the utilities for my place. Not that I disagree with you - Seed, it doesn't sound like the financial incentives are really strong enough for you to saddle yourself with a house at your age as opposed to renting, even if renting gives you a "crappier" place, since buying and owning a house is a LOT more than just your mortgage payment. However, senor punk, you pay for property tax, the owners' insurance, maintenance, and possibly some utilities in your rent check as well. They just don't come itemized on your invoice nor are they specific to you. The big difference, of course, is that you lower your risk exposure to those costs being higher than expected or rising without warning, which is a huge deal from a financial perspective. But you can also end up massively overpaying for them depending on the market. In either case, you pay for it, though. To say that you're only throwing it away on those things in the case of owning is misrepresenting the situation. Interest is indeed a completely avoidable expense by renting, though.
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May 18, 2011 19:13
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Sophia posted:Not that I disagree with you - Seed, it doesn't sound like the financial incentives are really strong enough for you to saddle yourself with a house at your age as opposed to renting, even if renting gives you a "crappier" place, since buying and owning a house is a LOT more than just your mortgage payment. However, senor punk, you pay for property tax, the owners' insurance, maintenance, and possibly some utilities in your rent check as well. They just don't come itemized on your invoice nor are they specific to you. I know those are paid for by rent, the point I'm making is that the vast amount of what I pay each month goes towards everything but the principal. Seed, like plenty of people (myself included before I bought) doesn't want to rent because it's just throwing away money, but doesn't seem to realize that you throw away plenty of money when you own too, and you get saddled with the added bonus of a large amount of debt, while building equity at a very slow rate.
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May 18, 2011 19:28
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Sophia posted:Not that I disagree with you - Seed, it doesn't sound like the financial incentives are really strong enough for you to saddle yourself with a house at your age as opposed to renting, even if renting gives you a "crappier" place, since buying and owning a house is a LOT more than just your mortgage payment. However, senor punk, you pay for property tax, the owners' insurance, maintenance, and possibly some utilities in your rent check as well. They just don't come itemized on your invoice nor are they specific to you. Weighing in just to say that when I bought my house at 24, I had no idea what I wanted in my home. I even managed to buy a place with a detached garage, how the heck did that one get by me?! Over the years I have lived there I have found a large list of things I would definitely want in my next home (which I close on next week!) that I didn't even think I would have ever cared about. Down to the little things like what direction my property faces, what kind of street am I on (a through way, or low-traffic side), how far I am from the nearest main street, tree cover, layout considerations, the best place to sit down and read outdoors or in, etc... you name it! For this reason alone, just rent a house or two for the next few years. Figure out HOW you like to live, not how you THINK you like to live in a home.
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May 18, 2011 19:28
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senor punk posted:Oh come on, in his next post he states he's 25 and unmarried, though I agree with you. Seed it sounds like you have the finances needed, but I'd still advise against getting locked into a place at this age. You say you've been living with your family for a few years, have you lived on your own before? Have you lived on your own as an adult (not in college)? Yeah, I lived by myself in college but after graduating I moved into my sister's house and have been there for 3 years now (I'm getting kicked out for her boyfriend). My main concern is with the apartments around this area. Since it's a fairly pricey area to rent/live in, the affordable apartments ($700-1000/mo) are all pretty ghetto and I really don't want to deal with that. The nicer ones that I'd actually *want* to live in are $1300-1600/mo, and it's hard for me to wrap my head around paying that much in just rent. Yes, I have been looking on craigslist/padmapper for shared housing but haven't found anything ideal on there. I guess what it comes down to is me wanting to maintain a decent standard of living as far as housing goes. I don't want to settle for a cheap place (either the above mentioned apartments or some shared rooming found on craigslist) and I feel like my finances are in pretty good shape so I shouldn't necessarily have to. It feels like my options are: -Rent cheap and probably be unhappy with it (shared or crappy apt) for ~800/mo and still able to bank $1000+ a month. -Rent nice and be satisfied for $1300-1500 month but have very little positive cash flow (and this scares the poo poo out of me). -Buy and ??? definitely not profit. So yeah, looking at this it does seem like I should rent for a bit even if it means not being able to keep banking cash like mad like I have been. At least I'll still have all my savings and have flexibility. Thanks senor punk, your post was helpful!
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May 18, 2011 19:33
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Seed posted:I need a new place to live soon and I'm thinking of buying instead of renting. I've been living with family for the past few years and have managed to save up some money, and I wanted to run my situation by the collective expertise of you fine goons.
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May 18, 2011 19:33
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Seed posted:It feels like my options are: If it makes you feel better I make about $50 / month more than you, rent a one-bedroom for $1400 / month with no roommate, and still save $700 / month in cash and do my 401(k) contribution and my Roth contributions. And I don't live on Ramen and beans to do it - I have a car (and parking it is freaking expensive), an expensive gym membership, a fancy phone, nice food, plenty of gaming systems and games, full cable, take plenty of cabs, go on nice vacations, etc. If I wanted to cut back (or needed to because of student loans or other debt) I easily could and still save what I'm saving now. So buck up - it is possible! Unless you have massive cost outflows that I don't know about, of course, in which case I'm sorry. 
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May 18, 2011 19:39
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and do it up while you're young, making decent money, and unattached. I'd kill to be able to float from high-rise to high-rise apartment in Chicago and trying out new neighborhoods. Even if my family and I picked up and moved from Michigan to IL, we'd be in a suburb because we need a yard, and my wife doesn't want to raise our children in the city, etc. Be responsible, but enjoy it before someone else has an opinion on your decisions. 
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May 18, 2011 20:04
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Sophia posted:If it makes you feel better I make about $50 / month more than you, rent a one-bedroom for $1400 / month with no roommate, and still save $700 / month in cash and do my 401(k) contribution and my Roth contributions. And I don't live on Ramen and beans to do it - I have a car (and parking it is freaking expensive), an expensive gym membership, a fancy phone, nice food, plenty of gaming systems and games, full cable, take plenty of cabs, go on nice vacations, etc. If I wanted to cut back (or needed to because of student loans or other debt) I easily could and still save what I'm saving now. Yeah, it does make me feel better. I won't be able to blow lots of money on clothes and random electronics like I have the past few years, but that's a good thing. I may actually have to keep a somewhat strict budget, welp. I'm going tomorrow to look at a couple nicer apartments in a building that is in high demand (they only have 2 vacancies opening up in the next 2 months, which is probably a good indication).
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May 18, 2011 21:41
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Gothmog1065 posted:Well, it's good to know the difference between a "real" credit score and a "fake" credit score. Everyone that has given you advice to wait is spot on. A year is nothing when it comes to home ownership. Save up a down payment, save up an emergency fund, and then think about buying a house. Anything less is just asking for a financial disaster.
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May 18, 2011 23:03
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Realtor called today and asked if I wanted to be on an HGTV show about buying my first house. This should be fun!
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May 18, 2011 23:12
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DJCobol posted:Realtor called today and asked if I wanted to be on an HGTV show about buying my first house. This should be fun! What show is this so I can PVR a goony purchase.
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May 18, 2011 23:32
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quaint bucket posted:What show is this so I can PVR a goony purchase. I'll post more when I find out some more details.
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May 19, 2011 00:23
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Seed posted:Yeah, it does make me feel better. I won't be able to blow lots of money on clothes and random electronics like I have the past few years, but that's a good thing. I may actually have to keep a somewhat strict budget, welp. Yeah, order of operations here, there's a right and wrong way: The bad way: 1. Buy a home 2. Be forced by financial hardship to learn how to budget The good way: 1. Learn good spending habits and how to budget and save 2. Buy a home Both methods can work, but with the second, if you fail with step 1, you aren't potentially facing foreclosure and/or financial ruin.
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May 19, 2011 00:59
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DJCobol posted:Realtor called today and asked if I wanted to be on an HGTV show about buying my first house. This should be fun! I demand you go through the whole show and right at the end, bail out of the whole home buying idea by saying directly into the camera, "DO NEVER BUY."
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May 19, 2011 01:35
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This is an amazingly awesome thread with lots of great insight. Here's a story I have from helping my girlfriend through the process of buying the house she has now. The place we were renting was going into foreclosure, so we had a limited window of time to find a new place (about 3 months). It was sucky for me too, since I was between jobs and had no income coming in. We have a couple of pet parrots and also take care of a couple of raptors(birds of prey) for a local non-profit. Getting rid of the birds wasn't an option in the short amount of time we had, and every single rental option said "no way" to anything that wasn't a single cat or small dog. Her parents suggested that we stop "throwing money away" with rent, and they would help with a down payment on a house. Thus began the hunt for a new home. It took all three months to find a place, and what an adventure it was. It turned out to be quite a learning experience, and overall the entire process left a strong negative effect on us both. I think much of it was due to having such a strict time constraint combined with the fact that neither of us had any experience dealing with realtors or real estate before this point. First lesson learned: Deal with a good Realtor. This will be an absolute MUST for the next time. The agents we dealt with were a middle-aged husband and wife team, and I thought they were the most inept and idiotic people in that profession. Unfortunately, I learned these agents were friends with a relative of hers, so she decided to use them instead of risking upset in the family. Every single conversation was dripping with that used-car salesperson tone of polite-but-fake small talk. We provided details like budget constraints and what kinds of features we were looking for, but that didn't stop them from showing places that were completely inappropriate. They also had a propensity for projecting their own likes and dislikes of a particular property into the mix. They weren't direct or blunt about it, but neither of us appreciated some of the comments that came up. I told my girlfriend that next time, family be damned, we're going with a referral from a trusted friend or figure something out where we don't deal with idiots. Second lesson:Everything can affect your interest rate or the bank's decision to lend to you. Before you decide you really like a place and want to make an offer, get all the technical details you can about a piece of property. My girlfriend was approved for a loan with a very low interest rate, and also qualified for some kind of First Time Home Buyer incentive too. However, certain kinds of houses and properties were not eligible for the kind of loan she was getting for one reason or another. This goes back to the realtors being idiots too, because she actually got as far as putting an offer in and doing inspections on a couple of places before the bank came back and said no. That's hundreds of dollars spent that we couldn't get back. And what did we get from the realtors? "Sorry guys, we'll have to look more closely at the listings next time." It's not exactly a good feeling when you're expecting to deal with knowledgeable and savvy professionals, and you discover that you could do exactly what they're doing if you spend a couple hours with Google and MLS listings. Why did the bank say no? In one case, it was because of the type of foundation the house had. In another case, it was the kind of septic system installed. In a third case, it was because there was NO septic system installed at all. That house in particular really pissed both of us off, because it was amazing in every other way. It was at the base of a mountain, bordering a state forest. The scenery was great, the location was great, and its price was well within the budget. The problem was that the water table was too high to allow a traditional septic system to be put in. Instead, waste water was pumped into a large tank above ground. A honey truck would have to come by once or twice per month to drain the tank. This would cost about $250-$350/month, but the overall cost of the house was low enough that we could swing it. Still, the bank said "NO WAY". The only way she could buy the house is if she could buy it with cash in hand. Who the gently caress has $225k sitting around like that? Third lesson: A lot of houses just plain suck. That septic story was just the beginning. We live in Anchorage, Alaska, where everything costs a poo poo-ton more than it should. It's also the land of lovely houses and the Quarter of a Million Dollar Fixer-Upper. I learned that building codes and standards didn't exist for much of the state until the mid-1990's. There was also a huge housing boom in the late '70s and early '80s. Lots of houses getting built really fast without any kind of mandatory code for construction, electricity, plumbing, etc. means people cut corners in the worst possible ways. And that translates into all kinds of poo poo getting uncovered during inspections and the bank not approving a loan on those properties. I'm sure it was all for the best in some ways, because several places were beyond awful. I'm talking about houses with foundations consisting of 4 pressure-treated wooden posts driven into the ground. One place with a wooden foundation had extra soil pushed up against the sides to hide the fact that it had no concrete support anywhere. And these are places that sell for $215k-$260k. These kinds of things make the concept of affordable housing that much more laughable. We had to stick to houses that on the upper end of our budget range because the bank refused to approve a mortgage for all the places we looked at in the low and mid ranges. Fourth lesson: Home Inspectors. God drat them all. You know that money you saved up for a down payment? Hahaha... some of it goes to a home inspector. The inspector is the guy that comes around, shines a flashlight into dark corners and then sparks off the next round of negotiation shitstorms. If an electrical conduit doesn't bend at a certain angle, if your dryer vent isn't sealed with the special RED fire caulk made AFTER 2004, or if the garage door opener is plugged in to an extension cord, it goes on the report. If there is a crack in the garage floor, or if your hot water heater and boiler aren't elevated 18 inches off the garage floor or protected by a 4-foot tall, 8-inch diameter steel post that prevents you from driving into them, that goes on the report. All kinds of things, some practical, some seemingly idiotic, go on the home inspection report. Then, the seller has to review them and decide what, if anything, they will fix, and how that affect the price of the home. No matter the case, every "problem" the inspector finds MUST be fixed before the sale goes through, or else the bank won't approve the loan. Then, once everything is fixed, the inspector must come out again and do another inspection. Oh, and each time he came out, it cost us $350. So, that was $700 down the drain for the 2 houses we put offers on that the bank eventually said no to. It was $1050 for the house where my girlfriend is at now because the guy had to come out 3 loving times on account of the seller not fixing everything the first time and refusing to pay for his mistake. So all in all, $1750 went down the drain just for home inspections! And this finally leads to... Lesson five: Congratulations, Home Owner, get ready for your poo poo to break! Not even a month after moving into the place, poo poo started breaking down. The boiler, which the inspector said was less than 5 years old, took a poo poo and needs to be replaced before next winter comes around. The repairman said the inspector must have been smoking something, because the boiler is evidently well beyond 5 years old. The radiator baseboards need to be replaced as well. The doorknob to the back door literally fell off the door after being used twice. 2 months after moving in, the pipes leading to the toilet burst for an unknown reason, completely destroying the toilet and some drywall in the process. Some electrical problems surfaced, and more plumbing problems came to light as well. She hasn't even been in there for a year, and will spend about $10k JUST IN REPAIRS. So, to potential buyers out there, don't completely deplete your savings on the down payment. poo poo will go wrong, and since you're a home owner, it's all on you to get it fixed. If you're not handy or just don't know any better, get ready to fork over serious cash. Then there's all the other stuff that's almost impossible to notice until you actually live in the new house. The people next door like to have parties really late into the night. All the loving time. You don't see things like that when you're looking at the place at 3PM or 6PM during the week. So, while buying certainly has its merits, it can also be a giant pain in the rear end and cost way more than you anticipate. There is a lot of money being made off of you purchasing a home, and naturally, everyone involved is going to push and persuade you to buy so they can get their cut and move on to the next sap. Now that I'm working full time again and we're both making about $40k/year, I'm hoping we can bide our time and save over the next few years until something we both like comes along. I think the main thing we'll focus on next time is taking our time. Buying a house is a grueling process already, but it's that much worse when you're trying to rush through it.
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May 19, 2011 01:46
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Hazardous Taste posted:This is an amazingly awesome thread with lots of great insight. Here's a story I have from helping my girlfriend through the process of buying the house she has now. This is a great write up and I think you highlight a lot of the issues that many people overlook or just simply don't know about. It sounds like you dealt with a very bureaucratic loan, perhaps an FHA? Although, this sounds like even more stringent standards than an FHA. To clarify, if it were a conventional loan, the bank doesn't do any inspection of the property. That is only for the home buyer to find out what the 'as-is' condition that they put the offer in on when they submitted the purchase agreement. That agreement is contingent on the homebuyer determining what the condition is and then agreeing that it is acceptable to move forward. That being said, everyone has their hand in your pockets and WILL get their pound of flesh in the process. Think you're solid because you have $20k and are going to put 20% down on that $100k house? Bull poo poo! Put aside 2-3k for closing costs, 2-3$k for prepaids, $350 per appraisal (if you bid on multiple houses), $200-300 for buyers agent services at closing (YMMV), $400 for a GOOD INSPECTOR, and maybe another $100 for the bottle of fine scotch you'll need to forget it all. Now you're no longer eligible for that sweet NON-PMI (or MIP if FHA) loan and you'll get hosed there. In the case of FHA, they add 1% of the loan value TO THE LOAN (so your payment spikes), then 1.1% (1.05% for loans >5% down) to the interest rate FOR A MINIMUM OF FIVE YEARS REGARDLESS OF EQUITY. That being said, homeownership rocks... I think. (definitely empathize about the animals, if I hadn't known where I wanted to live before I got my promotion and transfer (to the area I wanted to live, BING!) I don't know what I would do about my dog and two cats that I adore. No place would take us to rent...)
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May 19, 2011 01:56
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Thanks, TraderStav! I can't remember what kind of loan it was exactly. There was also something special about it because my girlfriend is part Native American, which helped get her some awesome interest rate of 3.5 or 3.6%. My pasty whiteness couldn't touch an interest rate that low, so it's kind of like a bonus. Also, since I was basically freelancing at the time with a laughable amount of income, it was decided that I should stay out of the whole loan application process.
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May 19, 2011 02:24
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Hey hazardous, what a coincidence. I just closed on my house recently and I also live in Anchorage. What part of town did you buy in? I'll type a better post when I'm not on my iPhone I just saw your l's and said "I'll be damned" and just had to post.
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May 19, 2011 07:38
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Everything the above poster said is correct. There are so many things that the inspector somehow doesn't catch and you won't notice until after you move in it is insane. I bought an apartment building when I was 23 and it cost me almost $60,000 in repairs alone to fix it up and get it ready for tenants and this definitely took a few years off of my life dealing with all the stress involved with owning property. These days things are fairly calm but it is so hard to get excited at my whopping $400 "profit" each month when I have these retards loving up my washer/dryers or having to call out a plumber or drain the septic tank or SOMETHING every other month that I have to constantly keep paying for. There are so many more costs involved with owning a house than just the mortgage bundle that you would be a fool not to have an extra $10,000+ on top of your down payment, no matter what condition the inspector says the house is in.
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May 19, 2011 13:01
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Bozart posted:To contribute my own - my father went to school for architecture and could do home improvement stuff (probably learned more from this old house than anything) and he would always try to do things right and have home improvement projects going. The only problem was he would get caught up in one thing, get it 50-80% done, then stop and start another. For most of my childhood we didn't have one of the bathrooms working, one of the bedrooms had no drywall, there were holes in some walls. Doing it right is great, but get it done before you start another. I grew up the same way. My parents came into some money and decided to buy a house. It wasn't bad, but it was over two hundred years old and the previous owner neglected the poo poo out of it. My parents, however, thought they could fix it all up over time and live in it forever. And to be fair, they have done a remarkable amount of work on it. But now it's settling, floorboards are going out on it, and it just needs constant amounts of work. When I was growing up we would have stretches where parts of the house would just be cut off because my parents--both working, mind you--couldn't be bothered to fix anything until it became NECESSARY to do so. We didn't have a living room for two years because doing hard stuff like putting up drywall and such is a bitch after working a full week. It only became NECESSARY when we had a squirrel bust in and start tearing up poo poo. Moral? gently caress fixeruppers. Get a real house.
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May 19, 2011 15:17
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We viewed a house last night that really has no curb appeal, but was recently completely renovated inside and is actually finished really nicely. The fact that it's just ready to move into is a huge appeal (especially for the wife). http://imgur.com/a/WnNyy#dSlhv My concern is about what could have potentially been hidden during renovations I guess... About 1/3 of the basement was finished as you can see in picture 1 of 5. The other 2/3s of the basement is a crawl-space type area that also has the furnace and water heater. And I guess I'm a bit concerned about the fact that it has a cinder-block foundation because of the fact that they have the potential to leak. The home inspector will probably have something that tells him the amount of moisture in the basement, but is that enough to rely on? In any case, in the picture you can see how the walls jut out a bit - I'm wondering what the reason would be for that? Is there anything I can possibly look out for in a newly renovated home?
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May 19, 2011 15:45
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I'd recommend pulling the permits for the renovated work. If they don't exist, run away or at least presume it's all garbage that will need to be replaced.
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May 19, 2011 17:54
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IratelyBlank posted:...There are so many things that the inspector somehow doesn't catch and you won't notice until after you move in it is insane... There are so many more costs involved with owning a house than just the mortgage bundle that you would be a fool not to have an extra $10,000+ on top of your down payment, no matter what condition the inspector says the house is in. I should also add the detail that the inspections performed on all the houses are non-invasive. That means the inspector is not allowed to pull up the carpeting and see the rotten subfloor soaked and spotted with pet urine. He can't cut a small hole in the wall to see the water damage, bad pipes, open wiring held together with twisty ties, or mold running rampant. Since the seller slapped on a fresh coat of paint everywhere, it all looks and smells like fresh new goodness. There is still quite a bit you can see from looking at everything on the surface, but it's also easy to hide some things. And the giant "AS IS" on the contract combines with the seller's frame of mind that their house is worth way more than what you're offering, so they think you can go gently caress yourself if you have the slightest notion they're going to do any more than is legally necessary to sell that house. Of course, not all houses are like this. However, these can be issues if you're looking into purchasing your first home and have a limited budget. You'll most likely be looking at homes that are over 25 years old. With building standards and materials being different back then, combined with decades of use and abuse, it would be unrealistic to expect nothing needing some maintenance. Anti-Hero posted:Hey hazardous, what a coincidence. I just closed on my house recently and I also live in Anchorage. What part of town did you buy in? What up, fellow AK goon? The house is near the Campbell Creek Science Center, in the Elmore and Abbott area. Technically, the house belongs to my girlfriend though. The combination of being under the gun to find someplace within 3 months, everything being so damned expensive, my unfortunate lack of employment at the time, and some other factors led to us splitting up. Fortunately, now that things have calmed back down and we're both rational again, we're patching things up and getting back together. Where abouts did you end up finding a place?
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May 19, 2011 18:17
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This just another reminder to people to NEVER buy a condo and that HOAs loving suck. I finally worked it out that it would in fact be profitable for me to keep my condo but rent it out, and now the stupid loving HOA is telling me that I can't rent it out because they have a cap of 30% rentals in the complex. I'm on a waiting list, but can't afford to have 2 mortgages with no rental income offsetting one of them, so I may end up having to sell my condo at a wash. Maybe that's for the best though so I can rid myself of this bullshit. Whoever said that HOAs are made up of loving old rear end cunts who have nothing better to do with their lives was spot on.
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May 19, 2011 20:28
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jerkstore77 posted:This just another reminder to people to NEVER buy a condo and that HOAs loving suck.
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May 19, 2011 21:16
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jerkstore77 posted:This just another reminder to people to NEVER buy a condo and that HOAs loving suck. I can do you one better... Before I moved in to my townhome, I read the regulations packet they sent me which had a section on leasing. However, once I closed on the property and moved in, I was finally sent the updated regulations packet which banned all leasing/renting back in 2008 and requires the unit owner to reside in the place. ALWAYS call the HOA and make sure you have the most up-to-date rules and regulations before closing.
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May 19, 2011 22:17
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