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Did everyone's utilities really go up during the apartment->house transition? Our peak power bill in the summer in our apartment was over $300, in the house this year it was half that. Same thermostat with the same settings, the house central AC unit is a good 10 years old, apartment looked to be at least 20 so perhaps that's the difference.
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Sep 27, 2011 13:46
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sanchez posted:Did everyone's utilities really go up during the apartment->house transition? Our peak power bill in the summer in our apartment was over $300, in the house this year it was half that. Same thermostat with the same settings, the house central AC unit is a good 10 years old, apartment looked to be at least 20 so perhaps that's the difference. The shared living space helps keep utilities lower than in a single family home.
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Sep 27, 2011 14:03
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hello internet posted:The reason why I ask with such uncertainty is a halfway decent apartment where I currently live and would be looking to stay are already $800-900 a month and it almost seems like financially buying a house with prices being down seemed like a possibility. I'm just weighing my options. Are you unmarried? Get a roommate and bring your living expenses down to nothing, and have some company to boot!
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Sep 27, 2011 14:06
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My electric bills went down from a 850 square foot duplex to a 1700 square foot house. I was running around $180 in the duplex, and I'm at $130 here. Both are gas for heat. The obvious huge difference is that I have a house built this year which is very energy efficient vs. a almost 30 year old duplex with poo poo insulation and a horrible HVAC system that could barely keep up.
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Sep 27, 2011 14:08
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Bovril Delight posted:My electric bills went down from a 850 square foot duplex to a 1700 square foot house. I was running around $180 in the duplex, and I'm at $130 here. Both are gas for heat. The obvious huge difference is that I have a house built this year which is very energy efficient vs. a almost 30 year old duplex with poo poo insulation and a horrible HVAC system that could barely keep up. Yes, it depends on where you came from and where you move to, but as a general rule, a modern apartment is going to be cheaper on the utilities than a modern SFH. This is often because some utilities are subsidized or incorporated into rent as well.
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Sep 27, 2011 14:14
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It depends on your house/apartment. I live in one built in 1946 with 1140 square feet. I paid about $250 a month to run central air, and I have a budget amount for gas of $87 bucks, and I am always under. With an updated furnace and A/C, and blown in insulation I could likely half those amounts. Is it worth the 8k it would cost is the difference in a house versus an apartment.
Insignificunt fucked around with this message at 15:44 on Sep 27, 2011 |
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Sep 27, 2011 15:11
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sanchez posted:Did everyone's utilities really go up during the apartment->house transition? Our peak power bill in the summer in our apartment was over $300, in the house this year it was half that. Same thermostat with the same settings, the house central AC unit is a good 10 years old, apartment looked to be at least 20 so perhaps that's the difference. Mine went down. I used to live in some "luxury" apartments and my electric was outrageous. I had a 1000 sq ft 2 bed/2bath apartment with 9 ft ceilings and single pane windows that faced the west. My electric bill in the summer would routinely be 230 to 240 dollars here in San Antonio where electricity is pretty cheap. I moved to a new energy efficient home with over 1700 sq feet any I've never had a bill higher than 170 dollars and this summer Texas hit some serious heat records. Thermostat was set to 71 degrees in both places.
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Sep 27, 2011 15:16
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archangelwar posted:Yes, it depends on where you came from and where you move to, but as a general rule, a modern apartment is going to be cheaper on the utilities than a modern SFH. This is often because some utilities are subsidized or incorporated into rent as well. Also you're not heating/cooling as many exterior walls, which helps a lot.
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Sep 27, 2011 16:24
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Ozmiander posted:Whoops, they accepted my offer of 60k with 6% concessions. Woe is me! 
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Sep 27, 2011 16:31
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FISHMANPET posted:Also you're not heating/cooling as many exterior walls, which helps a lot. And most people move up in square footage when they move into a house. It's anecdotal, but of the 8 or so people I know who bought houses including myself, every one of them moved into a larger place than their apartment was.
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Sep 27, 2011 19:06
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I just refinanced two years ago and now the rates have dropped so much since then that I'm starting to think about doing it again. The first refi was a loving nightmare (do never borrow PHH). So torn.
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Sep 27, 2011 19:09
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Merrill Grinch posted:I just refinanced two years ago and now the rates have dropped so much since then that I'm starting to think about doing it again. The first refi was a loving nightmare (do never borrow PHH). So torn. In the same boat. My refi closing date is on the 7th. I hate refinancing so much. It's absurd how hard they make what is ultimately a very simple process. 90 days of financial statements to prove that I can pay $200 less per month? What?
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Sep 27, 2011 20:55
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moana posted:My condolences, I'll keep you in my prayers for your closing More bad news. I did some math and i'll be spending anywhere from 150-250 less in gas per month depending on how much i drive vs ride a bike to work. I also got a peak at the seller's utility bills and the modest house will end up costing almost 75% less to heat/cool than our current ancient/falling down apartment. That all combined with spending ~490-560 (estimated) a month in combined mortgage/tax/pmi/etc vs resigning a new lease here for $860 a month means i may not get hosed right away! It make take a year or two! HOORAJ! 
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Sep 27, 2011 21:49
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Does anyone have any good resources for a noob's guide to *building* a house? Maybe just a typical timeline with the standard intricacies of it or whatever. Long story short, my boyfriend's parents are sitting on a bit of money they want to put into building their smaller dream house to live in after they retire in a few years, on the empty land they own next to their current gigantic house (something they've been talking about doing for years). My boyfriend and I, and his older brother* can live in the new house free of rent/lease term if we sort of manage things with contractors and all that during the building process, because the parents are busy running their own business 12 hours a day. My boyfriend and his brother are both engineers and the brother has about a million contacts, including their carpenter uncle and his contacts, so I feel out of the loop while they run the show, but I still want to earn my free rent, whether it's applying for permits or just simply being present during the daytime when work's being done or just picking out tile and cabinets or whatever. I don't want to feel like I'm just along for the ride damnit, I want to contribute intelligibly to their conversations! *The brother is in his late 30s with a career and a wife and kids about 4 hours away, but is commuting about once a week to work at the family business while he tries to convince his family to move here and build/buy their own house. He's been crashing on our couch, but in the future house he will have a bedroom and possibly a whole separate wing to live in when he is here.
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Sep 27, 2011 22:36
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sanchez posted:Did everyone's utilities really go up during the apartment->house transition? Our peak power bill in the summer in our apartment was over $300, in the house this year it was half that. Same thermostat with the same settings, the house central AC unit is a good 10 years old, apartment looked to be at least 20 so perhaps that's the difference. Mine went up very little. My apartment was old and had lovely appliances and AC. Even though the house is bigger, I'm more conscious about turning off lights, using ceiling fans and using a programmable thermostat. The only thing that really changed was having to pay water/sewer on my own (a whopping $15 a month) and trash.
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Sep 28, 2011 01:25
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FileNotFound posted:In the same boat. My refi closing date is on the 7th. I hate refinancing so much. It's absurd how hard they make what is ultimately a very simple process. I just refinanced and it was super simple. Called the broker, locked it in. Signed a few papers. Sent him My w-2 and a pay stub. Waited 3 weeks or so until it was setup. Walked in signed the papers. Walked out. No fuss, no getting jerked around. My wife and I's credit scores are both over 800, our income to loan (forgot the metric) was really good, I could probably take a job making 50% less and still do it. Plus 20% paid, and dealing with a small bank. $1200 for refinancing, dropped to 4%. So maybe our good situation helped out how easy it was? Although I think simply small community banks rock.
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Sep 28, 2011 02:00
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hello internet posted:The reason why I ask with such uncertainty is a halfway decent apartment where I currently live and would be looking to stay are already $800-900 a month and it almost seems like financially buying a house with prices being down seemed like a possibility. I'm just weighing my options. Remember, you will be in that house for possibly DECADES. Pick a place you will be happy with and will accommodate whatever changes you see happening to you in that time. And if possible, go for cheaper. Nice finds exist at good prices, so look at the lower end of the spectrum as well as the higher end. A $100K house is not necessarily better than a $35K house! One may look slightly better and have fresh paint, but the $35K may just need cosmetic work to be a great place (I saw a place that was great but slightly out of my price range that needed a few $K of work, but I am surprised it didn't go for twice the price). We're going into fall and winter, so homes won't sell as fast as they will in the spring, so you have time to look and decide if that's what you really want. You can do it if you REALLY want, but it won't be easy living by any means. Just make drat sure you get what you want.
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Sep 28, 2011 07:21
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Fire Storm posted:Remember, you will be in that house for possibly DECADES. Pick a place you will be happy with and will accommodate whatever changes you see happening to you in that time. I never expected to be in my home for as long as I will be there. I bought it as a young bachelor, with a nice big living room but no dining area. That was what was important to me 6 years ago, but now that I'm married things have changed. Now my computer/hobby room is going to need some renovation to make it more usable to me and my wife. We almost bought a new place, but I'm glad we didn't because the cost to move is extremely high.
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Sep 28, 2011 14:19
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Fire Storm posted:And if possible, go for cheaper. Nice finds exist at good prices, so look at the lower end of the spectrum as well as the higher end. A $100K house is not necessarily better than a $35K house! One may look slightly better and have fresh paint, but the $35K may just need cosmetic work to be a great place (I saw a place that was great but slightly out of my price range that needed a few $K of work, but I am surprised it didn't go for twice the price). Don't do this. I bought a "bargain" house for $52k in Bumfuck that only "needed a few $K of work" and what it got was a full gut and renovate. Even the second floor's floor joists were in wrong, never mind the colossal mindfuck that the walls presented. The other sub-$50k houses I had looked at had severe water damage, or was in a bad neighborhood, or in the city where I didn't want to live, or otherwise had major structural damage. Sure, there's bargains to be had if you're lucky enough to find that diamond in the rough, but I'm telling you, if you're looking on the lower end of the house pricing spectrum, you will be putting elbow grease into that house. DO NEVER BUY cheap houses 
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Sep 28, 2011 15:07
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drat Bananas posted:Does anyone have any good resources for a noob's guide to *building* a house? It also however does have some great simplified checklists towards the back of the book so if you really wanted to you could make use of most of the knowledge without having read or even understood it. It is a little old now (2001 or so) so some of the loan info. and advice is out of date but the particulars of the paperwork are still accurate. You might want to look into dry stack construction if you decide to DIY most or all of the home. Its supposed to be one of the cheaper and easier ways to build, but beware that doesn't mean it will actually be easy or cheap to do. drat Bananas posted:Maybe just a typical timeline with the standard intricacies of it or whatever. PC LOAD LETTER fucked around with this message at 23:10 on Sep 29, 2011 |
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Sep 29, 2011 23:05
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I started talking to an agent recently about listing my townhome. CMA is down about 40k from what I paid 3 years ago. That puts me just underwater. Looks like I had my head in the sand the last couple years. I didn't really pay attention to what others were selling for in the area...when will we see the bottom ?? DO NEVER BUY
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Sep 30, 2011 03:48
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I've gotten into real estate investing and connected with other investors. Just an FYI for those looking to buy, don't shy away from short sales! We've recently begun to get houses as low as 50-60% of BPO! And the last house I picked up took less than a month from time of offer to acceptance by the bank. They've drastically reduced the prices they're accepting and greatly improved the process. There are some amazing deals out there 
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Oct 1, 2011 04:04
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Socratic Moron posted:I've gotten into real estate investing and connected with other investors. Just an FYI for those looking to buy, don't shy away from short sales! We've recently begun to get houses as low as 50-60% of BPO! And the last house I picked up took less than a month from time of offer to acceptance by the bank. They've drastically reduced the prices they're accepting and greatly improved the process. There are some amazing deals out there Price is hardly the only component of value.
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Oct 1, 2011 04:24
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TraderStav posted:Price is hardly the only component of value. True, but if you can't make a buck off of low prices and high rents now then you probably never will.
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Oct 1, 2011 08:54
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I am still surprised how high rents seem to be climbing as home prices fall...you would think they would be related.
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Oct 3, 2011 13:54
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LorneReams posted:I am still surprised how high rents seem to be climbing as home prices fall...you would think they would be related. They actually are, inversely related. Home prices fall due to either low demand or high supply. This is a case of both, as many homeowners cannot purchase another home due to either owning one underwater or financial reasons. This is driving rents up as people are renting more homes than purchasing one for themselves.
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Oct 3, 2011 14:03
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My house would be far, far cheaper to buy than rent, even including taxes, insurance, etc. I'm paying 1395 a month rent, and I think it'd be about 900 on the mortgage. If I paid what they were asking. Which I wouldn't. I think Stav hit the nail on the head, but drat it's frustrating.
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Oct 3, 2011 15:00
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Carooe posted:My house would be far, far cheaper to buy than rent, even including taxes, insurance, etc. I'm paying 1395 a month rent, and I think it'd be about 900 on the mortgage. If I paid what they were asking. Which I wouldn't. That's just the cost of rent vs. the cost of a mortgage. Add in repairs/appliances/maintenance and it's a whole new ballgame. A new roof will likely cost $6,000, which is 50% of the yearly mortgage for instance. Nocheez fucked around with this message at 15:13 on Oct 3, 2011 |
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Oct 3, 2011 15:09
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Nocheez posted:That's just the cost of rent vs. the cost of a mortgage. Add in repairs/appliances/maintenance and it's a whole new ballgame. A new roof will likely cost $6,000, which is 50% of the yearly mortgage for instance. Which is precisely why as soon as I am able to, I'm offloading my rental property. I have a 24 month tenant in there, and I'm 'making a profit' every month in that it's covering my fixed costs. But one roof/siding job will wipe away 5 years of profit. (this is not taking into account any depreciation/accounting trickery) I am thankful that for the most part, my financial burden is eased by the high rents since I needed to move for work and underwater on the home.
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Oct 3, 2011 15:21
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I gave up on selling my house. I can't afford to short sell it, and foreclosure isn't an option I'd like to take. On the bright side, taxes and insurance included, the mortgage runs just under 700 bucks. It's pretty reasonable, however my utilities are out of control.
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Oct 3, 2011 15:24
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I'm paying $600 a month for rent right now in a really nice apartment...that happens to be located in the ghetto. We're looking to buy next year and I'm pretty sure I'll be doubling my expenses, but really...6k for a roof?
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Oct 3, 2011 17:46
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Pillowpants posted:I'm paying $600 a month for rent right now in a really nice apartment...that happens to be located in the ghetto. That's on the low end. It can easily get to 10k for one. Probably 7-14k for siding. Furnace will set you back around $2,500, A/C is $2,000. This is why renting is touted as a better deal financially. You may pay an additional 200-300, or even 400 dollars more a month than an equivalent home. But that $2400-4800 in "discount" can go real quickly when you purchase a home. Especially when a pipe bursts in your nicely finished basement and you find out that your homeowners policy only covers the clean up, and not the replacement of your finished carpets, walls, furniture and TVs. Or when you find mold in your closet and have to rip everything out to do some exploration at the source. Or have to replace a slab of concrete in your driveway at $400 a pop. Or your one of your sprinkler lines busts a hole and will cost $250 to fix AND give you a fun day of dealing with a flooded yard. Orrr.....or...orr.................... DO NEVER BUY
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Oct 3, 2011 17:55
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TraderStav posted:A/C is $2,000. My, aren't you the optimist? I've been seeing quotes more like $4500-6000, not $2000.
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Oct 3, 2011 18:10
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cstine posted:My, aren't you the optimist? I've been seeing quotes more like $4500-6000, not $2000. In 2007, I paid $5,200 for a Carrier 2.5 ton A/C and a Furnace replacement in my 1700 square foot (then) home. The furnace was the most expensive part, as we upgraded some part of that. I didn't even shop it around. If that's a good price, then I got stone-lucky.
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Oct 3, 2011 18:15
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One of the big issues in the Rent vs. Buy argument for me is the option to leave. If you're renting you can just let your lease expire, or pay the penalty to break it and that's it, you are done. There's no selling, no fees, no months on the market. You pack up and leave. Take me for example. I bought a house about 2 years ago. Yay for me!. But now I have a kid and another on the way, I'd like to move closer to family. Maybe Dallas or Baton Rouge, something like that. I can't. I can't currently get out of my house without bringing money to the table. If I would have rented a house (and there's plenty of rentals in my exact same neighboorhood). I would be in a much better position to do what I actually want to do. I might have paid up to 200 more dollars a month in rent, but I would have had the option to leave whenever I wanted to.
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Oct 3, 2011 18:17
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Pillowpants posted:I'm paying $600 a month for rent right now in a really nice apartment...that happens to be located in the ghetto. I've gotten several quotes for a new roof for my 2 story 1700sq foot house and 2 car detatched garage. Average quote price has been 10K. How much do you think a new roof should cost?
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Oct 3, 2011 20:30
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Pillowpants posted:
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Oct 3, 2011 21:19
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Pillowpants posted:We're looking to buy next year and I'm pretty sure I'll be doubling my expenses, but really...6k for a roof?
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Oct 3, 2011 21:27
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An average roof on a California house lasts about 30 years, apparently. Major booms in construction occurred here during the 1950s and 1980s. Those are 30 and 60 years ago, respectively. A lot of people are getting new roofs right now. My neighbor across the street just got one. Mine has probably 10 more years on it, but I figure I should be ready to replace it in five, just in case it deteriorates faster than expected. When you spread the cost of a roof out over 30 years, it's not that expensive, but if you're not prepared for it, it can be a huge and sudden expense. By the way - I urge any of you who do get a new roof, to get a white one. more info. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 21:31 on Oct 3, 2011 |
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Oct 3, 2011 21:29
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Leperflesh posted:By the way - I urge any of you who do get a new roof, to get a white one. My HOA forbids this, and it would be pretty ugly besides. I'd do it if I could, and hopefully a prospective buyer wouldn't be put off by it.
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Oct 3, 2011 21:32
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