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Engineer Lenk posted:This is off-topic to the thread, but I'd put retirement before a 529 any day of the week. The oxygen mask scenario applies; get your own on before you help your kid. Definitely way off topic, and I know it's probably not a popular sentiment, but a good bulk of scholarships and grants are need-based. When you save a bunch of money for college, that comes right off the top. If you don't need it, you can't get it. Good article to make you feel better about not saving for your kid's education: http://money.msn.com/saving-money-tips/post.aspx?post=72106ec9-b32c-4fec-8155-e7d0045cba0d
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Feb 15, 2013 10:50
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Leperflesh posted:I'd caution you that your time horizon for keeping this house should be 8-10+ years; are you sure you want to buy, if there's a chance you might meet someone and want to get married during that time? Major life changes can be severely hampered if you own a home that is suddenly inconvenient for whatever reason - your prospective spouse works too far away from your house to comfortably commute, or the home is too small for the family you want to have, or whatever. This is great advice, and I wish I had heard it before I bought my first home. I like where I live just fine, but the house was better as my bachelor pad than it is for my wife and I. We're going to be starting a family in a few years and it simply isn't big enough for us, so I stand to lose a good $30k from the housing bubble debacle.
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Feb 15, 2013 14:27
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Leperflesh posted:You look like you're in great financial shape to me. The only warning sign I see in your post is that you mention you're buying a house as a single person. I'd caution you that your time horizon for keeping this house should be 8-10+ years; are you sure you want to buy, if there's a chance you might meet someone and want to get married during that time? Major life changes can be severely hampered if you own a home that is suddenly inconvenient for whatever reason - your prospective spouse works too far away from your house to comfortably commute, or the home is too small for the family you want to have, or whatever.
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Feb 15, 2013 14:36
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Mary loving Poppins posted:How hard is it to get approved for a mortgage as a single person with not much credit history but a good salary with no gaps in employment since I graduated in 2008? I don't know what my credit score is, all I know is that my student loans and credit card have always had on time payments and I have no negative remarks. My student loans (currently $4,000 at 2.14% and 7,000 at 3.3%) I've been paying on-time every time since 2008 (some started as early as 2004 with interest-only payments until I graduated in 2008). But I never had a credit card until last June. I've had that on auto-pay from my checking ever since, using about 10% of my $6,000 limit for everything but rent. No other lines of credit and my car was bought in cash. You are in a similar position to what I was when I bought. I had no debt, no credit history other than having an emergency credit card on my parents' account, and an engineering salary. My debt/income ratio, 20% down, and proof I had an MS engineering seemed to appease the bank I went with. My $62k salary got me pre-approved for up to $160k home, or $128k loan. You should be in good shape. I'd only recommend getting rid of the student loans before you start trying to get pre-approved and as mentioned, consider having a significant other move in with you at some point.
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Feb 15, 2013 16:44
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Nocheez posted:This is great advice, and I wish I had heard it before I bought my first home. I like where I live just fine, but the house was better as my bachelor pad than it is for my wife and I. We're going to be starting a family in a few years and it simply isn't big enough for us, so I stand to lose a good $30k from the housing bubble debacle. Same here, but for different reasons. I like my house, I really do. I like being able to have my floor speakers and 12" powered sub up loud. I like being able to have 3 grills out on my back porch. I like being able to pull into my garage and go right into my house. But I could have had all those things by renting a house and not buying one. Not that I'm planning on moving anytime soon, or changing careers anytime soon, but to know that I can't do it as easily now kinda sucks. Cool job opening on the other side of the country? Before it would have been a matter paying an extra month's rent to break my lease, sell whatever wont fit in my car and then head out on the road. Can't do that anymore.
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Feb 15, 2013 18:18
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Got the keys last night. And began the first (of many) projects. I'll be shoveling gravel all weekend long. Woo?
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Feb 16, 2013 02:52
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I'm considering withdrawing about $3000 from my rollover IRA from my last job to help get me into my first home. I was wondering if anyone could poke holes in my logic or tell me why this is a stupid idea, so here's the background. I'm 28 years old, and looking to buy my first home in the Las Vegas/Henderson area. I have about $7500 in scratch saved for the home buying process, plus completely empty credit cards. Estimates for absolute worst case closing costs for the range of homes I want (about $105k) is about $10k at 3.5% down, 3.75% interest. Right now I'm paying $1000/mo rent for 1000 sq ft of apartment; from the various estimates I've gotten from my loan officer, I'd be paying approximately $800/mo for a 1300 sq ft home after PMI, property tax, P&I, HOA, etc. So I figure I can withdraw from my IRA penalty (but not tax, I know) free to cover the worst case scenario, and use credit to cover the miscellany of moving (movers, initial shopping spree, etc). I make just shy of $70k/yr gross with max company-match 401k contribution (half of 8%), and my only other major ongoing bill is my car lease payment at $390 per month. (Also food, entertainment, etc. Not huge numbers though.) The way I figure it, with the amount I'd be saving paying for a mortgage over renting, I could make up for the IRA loss via Roth contributions (or increased 401k contributions, I suppose) in like two years, less if I'm diligent. So while I'm normally loathe to consider even touching my retirement accounts, this seems like a winner of a situation. Which obviously means it isn't because I'm a bitter pessimist  . So what am I missing here? What makes withdrawing from my IRA a bad idea? Are the alternatives like loaning out from my (considerably richer) 401k worth considering?(Also, I realize I could just wait and save the scratch normally, but home prices are starting to go up and I've also found a couple places I reeeeeeeeeeealy want to make an offer on as soon as possible.) Ciaphas fucked around with this message at 20:50 on Feb 16, 2013 |
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Feb 16, 2013 20:43
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Ciaphas posted:(Also, I realize I could just wait and save the scratch normally, but home prices are starting to go up and I've also found a couple places I reeeeeeeeeeealy want to make an offer on as soon as possible.) Honestly, I don't think you're in a good place to buy a home. You make good money, but you're low on emergency funds and need to raid your retirement savings to make a minimal down payment. You're also relying on credit for things that you know you are going to need. What happens if you have an emergency, lose your job, etc.? You've got no wiggle room here. Why not take a couple of years and save as much as you can? With your income you should be able to save around $15k/year which will be huge once you're ready to buy. You'll then have 20% for a down payment, plus some extra cash for essentials/repairs (and believe me, you'll have repairs). I know it seems like you'll be saving $200/month on a house payment, but it's not going to work out. All it takes is an appliance going out, a roof needing repairs, a pipe bursting, or anything else that routinely happens in a home to wipe out those "savings". You're also going to need more furniture/decorations for the new place, which gets expensive quickly. Re-reading your post a couple more times, all I see are red flags going up. I almost think it's a troll, except that I feel into a similar trap when I bought my first house. Don't make the same mistake I did. edit: there are 217 pages in this thread, and just about every one of them details a downside to owning a home. Read through it and I'm sure you'll understand what a bad idea buying in your situation is.
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Feb 16, 2013 21:47
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Ciaphas posted:I'm considering withdrawing about $3000 from my rollover IRA from my last job to help get me into my first home. I was wondering if anyone could poke holes in my logic or tell me why this is a stupid idea, so here's the background. Basically what Nocheez said. You should save up for at least a 20% down payment (in fact, most loans are at a 20% down these days, and banks will not give you anything else unless you get PMI which is definitely not worth it). You should have at least a 6 month to 1 year emergency fund, and be able to put enough into retirement on a per year basis before buying a house.
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Feb 17, 2013 01:28
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ntan1 posted:Basically what Nocheez said. You should save up for at least a 20% down payment (in fact, most loans are at a 20% down these days, and banks will not give you anything else unless you get PMI which is definitely not worth it). You should have at least a 6 month to 1 year emergency fund, and be able to put enough into retirement on a per year basis before buying a house. I get what you're suggesting here, but the market is at historic lows. There's a good possibility that by the time he gets to 20% for a down payment, interest rates may have doubled and house prices might have gone up 20-30%. I'm not the expert though, just seems like now is the best time to buy?
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Feb 17, 2013 01:42
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Pillowpants posted:I get what you're suggesting here, but the market is at historic lows. There's a good possibility that by the time he gets to 20% for a down payment, interest rates may have doubled and house prices might have gone up 20-30%. It is, but if you're tapping every penny you have available to put down 3.5%, you are setting yourself up to be part of the next round of defaults. You will no longer have money to buy anything outside your normal monthly spending, let alone handle emergencies. I don't buy into the 20% thing myself--PMI isn't a dealbreaker, and I'd rather lock in the interest rate now, get a nice place, and have more cash on hand--but if you're struggling to put up well under 10%, you're just setting yourself up for failure and pain. Robo-Pope fucked around with this message at 01:50 on Feb 17, 2013 |
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Feb 17, 2013 01:48
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Robo-Pope posted:It is, but if you're tapping every penny you have available to put down 3.5%, you are setting yourself up to be part of the next round of defaults. You will no longer have money to buy anything outside your normal monthly spending, let alone handle emergencies. There is a program in MA called mass housing which is 3% down and no PMI, so that's factoring into our thought process. Do I use that program or move to NH where Ill pay PMI, but have a significantly higher take home due to already working in NH.
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Feb 17, 2013 02:03
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Pillowpants posted:I get what you're suggesting here, but the market is at historic lows. There's a good possibility that by the time he gets to 20% for a down payment, interest rates may have doubled and house prices might have gone up 20-30%. And there is a good possibility that we hit another immediate recession due to some major issue, you're unable to pay the amount, and therefore you are forced to foreclose. In some respect this comes down to the following familiar math problem: Suppose Bob tosses a fair die. What is the chance that it is odd? Now suppose the last 5 coins were even. What are the chances now that the coin is odd? Sure, expectations suggest that in the long term, the market will go up. However, you still need to deal with variance. Pillowpants posted:There is a program in MA called mass housing which is 3% down and no PMI, so that's factoring into our thought process. Would make sense if your job is already stable, you have an emergency fund, and you expect your salary to continue to increase in the future. Be careful of 30 year mortgages, however. ntan1 fucked around with this message at 02:23 on Feb 17, 2013 |
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Feb 17, 2013 02:19
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Thanks all for the thoughts. I can afford to wait to actually have the money for the minimum down, I suppose--I just worry that I'm going to miss my shot at a stupid low 3.75% interest (that I got preapproval for about 3 months ago, fixed 30 year) and the low house prices around here. Otherwise I would wait for the 20% down and not even have bothered asking here As is, you're probably right and I should wait for at least 10%. Still have to pay PMI, but at least I'd be closer to getting rid of it. Buggered if I'm not going to be an extremely sad little man if things turn around before I'm ready, though. Which it probably will given how things tend to go for me  renting is such bollocks, my god Ciaphas fucked around with this message at 03:46 on Feb 17, 2013 |
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Feb 17, 2013 03:44
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The housing market there went to poo poo over the last six years, right? Like a 60% drop. It may look like it's at the bottom now, but really there's no telling how it will go in the near future. Even if it stays flat or starts to recover, you might have to sell unexpectedly, and you'll need maybe $10k+ of cash to be able to do that if you only put down 3.5%. To insulate yourself, save up enough for 10% down, plus ~6 months' expenses, before you buy. That's my suggestion for a reasonable compromise. Plenty of houses and mortgages will still be around for you when you get there. Oh, and don't raid your retirement to buy a house. That may be legal, but it's short-sighted.
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Feb 17, 2013 04:08
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Ciaphas posted:I'm considering withdrawing about $3000 from my rollover IRA from my last job to help get me into my first home. I was wondering if anyone could poke holes in my logic or tell me why this is a stupid idea, so here's the background. Don't do it. If you have $7500 in cash and $3k in your IRA, then you're going to be squeezing every last penny just to get the house. That's a bad situation to be in. And you accounted for things like PMI and HOA, but did you also consider the additional utilities and other monthly costs that people tend to forget are involved in house ownership? It's probable that you're going to be wiping out those additional monthly savings in other monthly costs. Even if you really do save $200/mo, you're going to have to put those savings aside for house maintenance costs, and you may still lose money overall. And if you have to leave within the next 3-5 years then you're probably going to lose money in the sale of the house. Honestly, with your salary and rent at $1k/mo you're sitting pretty. Here's what you should be doing instead: First, you should be contributing to your 401k up to at least your employer match. I'm assuming that you're already doing this. Second, you should be making the maximum Roth IRA contribution each year. You are absolutely making enough money to do this. The deadline for the 2012 contribution is April 15, 2013, so take that $7500 in cash and drop $5k of it into your Roth IRA right now. Third, create an emergency fund. This should be money in a easy-to-access bank account. $2500 is not an unreasonable amount to keep around for emergencies. After those are all done, start putting money into an investment account. Save up for the down payment + additional cash for closing costs this way. Have at least 5% down ready before you make an offer. Don't withdraw from any of the above sources for this. Robo-Pope posted:It is, but if you're tapping every penny you have available to put down 3.5%, you are setting yourself up to be part of the next round of defaults. You will no longer have money to buy anything outside your normal monthly spending, let alone handle emergencies. I agree completely, especially with the bit on PMI. You can eventually get PMI dropped, so you're probably saving more money overall by waiting and getting stuck with a higher interest rate later.
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Feb 17, 2013 04:35
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Every time I hear it's at the lowest ever, I am reminded that they said the same thing a few months ago. Houses won't bottom out until 2014 due to the last of the 5-year ARM loans will finally be dealt with through foreclosure/etc. All evidence I've seen backs this up.
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Feb 17, 2013 04:40
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Oh yeah, I'm company matching my 401k plus a couple percent. Be crazy not to, it's literally free money even if I can't have it for a few decades . The IRA is a rollover from a rather terrible job that's just been sitting and going up and down with the market doing nothing else for six-ish years; it's maybe 5% of my retirement thus far (and getting less every month, with aforesaid 401k contributions). Haven't given a Roth any consideration; I probably should one of these days. (In my grimmer moments, or when I forget my antidepressants, I think I'm not healthy enough to make it to retirement age, and I have no/don't plan to have any heirs. Makes me wonder what the bloody point is. Then I get over it, but still.)
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Feb 17, 2013 04:44
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Ciaphas posted:Oh yeah, I'm company matching my 401k plus a couple percent. Be crazy not to, it's literally free money even if I can't have it for a few decades You should check out the Long term investment and retirement savings thread. In there, you will learn why you should max your employee match - but probably not a penny more - and put the next chunk of retirement money into a Roth or traditional IRA (which is self-directed, and you can put it into literally any investment you want, including the lowest-cost ones available), unlike most employee 401(k) plans which tend to have a poor selection of mostly overpriced funds. Also, if you're serious about being in poor health, you should be aware that many retirement fund options allow you to withdraw distributions early if you are permanently disabled. You may also want to consider a health savings plan, which allows you to save tax-free money for use on medical expenses. QuarkJets posted:Third, create an emergency fund. This should be money in a easy-to-access bank account. $2500 is not an unreasonable amount to keep around for emergencies. I don't think that's enough. He's got $1k/mo rent, so that's two month's rent and groceries and that's all. I think $7k to $10k is a more comfortable emergency fund, and given his income and rent, it shouldn't take very long to save that up.
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Feb 17, 2013 06:34
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Ciaphas posted:Oh yeah, I'm company matching my 401k plus a couple percent. Be crazy not to, it's literally free money even if I can't have it for a few decades If you're going to be dead by 40 then why even consider a house at all? Set up the Roth IRA today, throw $5k at it, and then throw $5.5k at it sometime during the next 14 months. At worst, you end up withdrawing that money a little early for whatever reason. At best, you're making a strong choice for retirement.
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Feb 17, 2013 08:56
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One of the joys, I'm discovering, of owning a house is learning about the 10 million ways there are to do very small things. For example, right now we've got to caulk a few joints on the edge of a deck. The corners are basic 90-degree miter joints with some small gaps we want to fill. "Easy," we thought, "We'll get some caulk and clean that up." But no, it turns out there are many types of caulk -- each with different properties with respect to UV, stretch, memory, water resistance, paintability... Next, I thought, "I'll just do some research online!" But everyone recommends a different caulk for exterior sealing. Some people are super into silicone, other people suggest that silicone might be the worst thing in the universe. All I want to do is prevent water from getting into the joint and causing trouble underneath. Any suggestions? Edit: Also, where are some good resources for the first time owner of a house. Like, covering the basic DIY stuff.
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Feb 18, 2013 03:07
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Pfhreak posted:One of the joys, I'm discovering, of owning a house is learning about the 10 million ways there are to do very small things. I learned this the hard way when my brand-new shower install cracked and leaked water two weeks after caulking it with latex. Use silicone if you want waterproofness (or at least water-resistant-ness).
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Feb 18, 2013 05:17
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Pfhreak posted:... For general info Fine Homebuilding magazine is pretty good. Check your local library for a copy and some back issues. For a more OCD approach to house construction there is always Buildind Science corp., but you have to search in their reports for finer details.
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Feb 18, 2013 06:34
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There's a whole DIY subforum for a lot of what you might be looking for  But I know what your talking about. It's frustrating looking for a sublime answer and instead finding forum after forum of contractors arguing with each other over the best way to do something. I've found the thisoldhouse.com site to be pretty helpful with basic stuff.
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Feb 18, 2013 06:38
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Here's my situation, I'm 29 years old and making about $65k before bonuses, with bonuses averaging around $8k per year. Between my contributions and my employers match I am currently putting 21% of my salary into my 401(k). 7% in Roth, 14% in pretax. The only debt payment I have is $300 split between two student loans (4.25% and 3.25%). I am currently putting an extra $700 a month towards these loans. With no changes to my current budget except moving the extra $700 on my student loans I can afford a $1620 with utilities. I'm not too worried about doing this because the interest rates and payments on my student loans are so low already. Currently my emergency fund is only $6000, however my job is very secure, so up to this point I have been more concerned with paying down my student loans and putting money towards retirement than increasing my emergency fund. I am currently considering buying a place <= $200,000. So far I have been pre approved and given a cost estimate of $1257 per month PITI with 10% down on $200,000. That leaves $363 to put towards utilities. A chunk of my down payment would come from a loan against my 401(k). I know that is frowned upon but this is one of the reasons I've been putting so much into my 401(k). For at least the first year (probably longer, however I want to look at the worst case scenario) I would have a roommate paying about $500-$600 per month plus splitting utilities. I would continue to pay everything I've lined out above from my own budget and put this extra money towards my emergency fund which would have it up to almost $13000 by the end of the first year. The initial maintenance budget would be $2000-$3000 from my last bonus. I will be getting a $300 per month raise around mid year so after that I would be adding that extra $300 to my emergency fund, maintenance budget, or extra payment towards my student loans as well. Based on all that I believe that I can afford a $200,000 house and still maintain my current standard of living without much trouble. Does all of this seem reasonable? Anything I have overlooked?
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Feb 18, 2013 17:15
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You make more than me and my wife combined and we're looking in the 250k range so I think you're good to go. You'll be saving up for the full down-payment though right? How much longer is your loan? Can you wait a year or so and pay it off fast and maybe build up some better savings for the whole house buying process? Also 200k for a house... woah. Congrats on being rich AND living somewhere with cheap houses. Generally when you live somewhere with high-income jobs housing is more expensive. Sounds like you've won the work/housing lottery. Baronjutter fucked around with this message at 17:25 on Feb 18, 2013 |
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Feb 18, 2013 17:23
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Baronjutter posted:You make more than me and my wife combined and we're looking in the 250k range so I think you're good to go. You'll be saving up for the full down-payment though right? I'll have a 10% down payment which will actually allow me to have a non-FHA loan with much cheaper PMI. Waiting is an option, however there is a good chance I would lose out on the roommate in that situation which would end up costing me at least $8500. In my current situation if I wait I could either save up a better savings or pay off my student loans, I wouldn't be able to do both. At the rate I'm currently paying my student loans they will be paid off in about 2 years, under the new scenario where I buy a house they are probably pushed back 2-3 more years, however at only $300 a month and around 3.75% interest the extra interest paid is small enough that it is an acceptable cost for me. My biggest concern is currently the emergency fund, $6k is low, however given my job stability (my company has never laid anyone off in its 38 year history) and my plan to boost that emergency fund I think it is an acceptable risk.
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Feb 18, 2013 18:11
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Baronjutter posted:You make more than me and my wife combined and we're looking in the 250k range so I think you're good to go. You'll be saving up for the full down-payment though right?
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Feb 18, 2013 18:14
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I'm considering buying a home, my financials are 100% solid (20% down ready, appropriate amount earmarked for closing costs, moving expenses and repairs, targeting under 3x my base salary. I know I won't save money compared to renting my 1 bedroom apartment. I want to be in this part of the city for at least 5 years, but there's one thing stopping me. The only options in the neighborhoods I'm interested in within my price range are 1950s-early 70s built houses around 1400 sq ft, or ultra-modern townhomes built 2010+ or even new construction around 1600-1800 sq ft. The townhome community I'm most interested in has a maintenance fee of $200 a month, which seems reasonable given that it covers exterior building maintenance including the roof as well as trash and community upkeep. I see new construction spoken of poorly throughout this thread, can someone tell me why the lead paint, poor insulation, and archaic floor plans make a 50s house on a tiny lot worth the same as a brand-new townhome right down the street? I may just have terrible taste, but I'm interested in hearing some reasons why older builds are preferable. My first impression is that those townhouses sure are shiny, have modern finishing materials, 10' ceilings, kitchen islands and stuff like that.
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Feb 18, 2013 19:01
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three posted:You make less than 65k and are buying a 250k home? That's about as cheap as condo's come here with in-suite laundry. I "qualify" for about 300k but we want to be safe and get a more modest unit. The actual mortgage would only be 200k, maybe less depending on when we buy. There's a huge crash apparently just around the corner according to the canadian housing thread so we just keep waiting and saving. Maybe we'll end up putting 50% down at this rate. We're putting away about 15-17k a year into the down-payment pile and prices keep coming down so the longer we wait the better things get. I'd love to get a huge 1000 sqft place with laundry for like 200k maybe after a crash with like 40% down. Modern construction is fine, it's sooo much better than what they were building 20 years ago. It's fairly regional really, and builder to builder. I'd much rather live in a newer condo than an older one, earthquake standards actually exist now, everything is thicker and stronger, way better insulation and sound proofing, and this crazy idea that people can have laundry right in their suite rather than paying for the honour to do it 4 floors down. Also the crazy idea that the kitchen, eating area, and living rooms can be one big open space rather than 3 horrible tiny rooms. Baronjutter fucked around with this message at 19:16 on Feb 18, 2013 |
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Feb 18, 2013 19:08
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Weinertron posted:I see new construction spoken of poorly throughout this thread, can someone tell me why the lead paint, poor insulation, and archaic floor plans make a 50s house on a tiny lot worth the same as a brand-new townhome right down the street? I may just have terrible taste, but I'm interested in hearing some reasons why older builds are preferable. My first impression is that those townhouses sure are shiny, have modern finishing materials, 10' ceilings, kitchen islands and stuff like that. Old construction is better than new construction because older homes were usually overbuilt in structural terms. They'll also usually be in better parts of town, in more established neighborhoods, and closer to city centers and services because they were built before everyone drove everywhere. Old houses were built by tradespeople who treated construction as a career and took pride in their work. They were built to last forever. You'll have a yard and a sidewalk that leads somewhere you want to go. You'll have a cozy fireplace and a formal living room. New construction is better than old construction because it follows modern building codes. You'll have outlets every six feet, laundry connections, a two car garage, cable in multiple rooms, and more than one light in any given room. You'll have a living room built with a TV in mind and a kitchen built with a microwave and dishwasher in mind. You'll have a media room rather than a formal living room. You'll have insulation in the walls and the ceiling, efficient appliances, a complete HVAC system, double-paned windows, and insulation-wrapped hot water pipes. You'll have bedrooms that fit king size beds, an eat-in kitchen, and a bathroom that's wider than a bathtub. You'll have special foundation reinforcement (where applicable) or storm-proof roofing. You won't have to worry about your roof for 20 years. Old construction is worse than new construction because the walls hide horrible problems, like support beams cut in half, old wiring, leaky pipes with lead solder, and asbestos-lined heating ducts. There are never enough outlets and if you use the hair dryer and the microwave at the same time you'll have a brownout. Your drainage to the sewer, if it's present, will be clay pipes full of roots. You'll have tiny rooms with low ceilings and a tiny kitchen that doesn't have a dishwasher. You'll have the most inefficient heating system possible, and if there's air conditioning it will triple your electrical expenses and drop the temperature by 5 degrees and drip water down the inside of your wall. You'll have single-pane aluminum windows and no insulation in the walls. Your roof will have three layers of shingles on it or will be leaking or both. New construction is worse than old construction because it was built by people hired that morning in a Home Depot parking lot, using the minimum amount of material in order to meet the too-lax building codes, designed to last through the three year warranty and not a day more. New construction sometimes employs new techniques in an incorrect manner, which often ends up trapping moisture somewhere in the walls and causing horrific mold or rot problems. New construction is all about the finishes and not about the structure or mechanicals. You'll get a yard that funnels water into your foundation covered in some sod and maybe a 2-year-old tree. Your brand new roof was flashed incorrectly and water's running underneath all of it. All of the above is true, simultaneously. Home ownership is awesome.
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Feb 18, 2013 23:30
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Tricky Ed posted:All of the above is true, simultaneously. Home ownership is awesome. This is an amazing post, and so true.
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Feb 19, 2013 00:03
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Haha, that is pure genius.
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Feb 19, 2013 01:30
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Nocheez posted:Every time I hear it's at the lowest ever, I am reminded that they said the same thing a few months ago. Houses won't bottom out until 2014 due to the last of the 5-year ARM loans will finally be dealt with through foreclosure/etc. All evidence I've seen backs this up. Perhaps we are looking at two different groups of evidence. Rates are low because the governments of USA, China, Brazil, Russia, etc and the investor classes of the world are buying 30 year Fannie coupons, Treasury notes, and bonds of all types. A few bond indexes: The TNX is up43% since bottom. MTGEFNCL is up nearly the same amount (Bloomberg stopped providing that freely to general public). Bonds are heavily invested in right now and that is ending. The stockmarket is hitting new highs and the housing market is actually growing. In Atlanta we are in a sellers market for the first time in half a decade and other states are reporting housing starts near same level. ARMS aren't a source of foreclosures at all. ARM means Adjustable Rate Mortgage and the adjustments are tied to the indexes that are coming off record lows. Anyone that took out an fully amortized ARM loan in the last decade is currently sitting at either their start rate or LOWER. Foreclosures are dwindling down rapidly as seen by the massive foreclosure law firms in Florida that are starting to fold and the decline in available REO units in real estate markets. The inventory has been mostly unloaded yet till sits above normal levels. Its just not anywhere near the obscene amounts seen from 2007-2010. Money will be pulled from bonds and when that happens, rates will climb. My 'too big to fail' corporate masters agree and are telling us to prepare for rising rates. Yes rates always got better every 6 months... and we've been saying that since 1981 (Click the above link again and look). But when you hit 2 percent on 30 year mortgages, its time to look at the last time rates were that low and what happened next.
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Feb 19, 2013 02:32
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So despite the fantastic advice about how home ownership is essentially the dumbest idea I'll ever have, I'm considering making the plunge. Where I'm living right now the rental market is garbage, with few places going up that fit what I'm looking for. There is little new construction on condos/townhomes/apartments, and the little that does happen is extremely expensive. So financial backstory, I have no significant debts as my student loans are almost paid off, 0 credit card debt. I have a reasonably well paying job in a stable industry. I've got over 20k saved up in the bank. I pay $670 a month in rent for a 2bd/1ba apartment. I don't feel as though I'm throwing money away renting, especially after watching what the housing market did over the last few years. However, I'm tired of living in a place where I can't park my car in a garage, I'm close to too many neighbors, I don't have a porch/balcony to sit out when its warm and I've got these giant goddamn speakers sitting in my storage room. Also I can't have animals. So, I'm going to talk to a real estate officer at a bank soon to get this process started, as there is a handful of places close to where I want to be that are pretty reasonable. Or at least seem good from looking up their information online. I plan on seeing what I qualify for, and then going from there. Going by one of mortgage calculators I've looked at, I'd be looking at about a 100-150 per month increase in housing, including eyeballing insurance and property taxes. So far this doesn't seem like the dumbest thing I've ever done, but I've been wrong in the past. Any thoughts?
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Feb 19, 2013 04:41
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Tricky Ed posted:All of the above is true, simultaneously. Home ownership is awesome. Having lived in a 1100 sq. ft. home built in 1952 and the moving to a 4200 sq. ft. home built in 2005, I know exactly what you're talking about on both ends of the spectrum and you couldn't be any more accurate about everything regarding home ownership. I still prefer my new home, but I hate the tiny suburban hell that all builders create these days.
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Feb 19, 2013 05:35
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I've built in a new subdivision and bought in an established one and that definitely rings true. I also think I preferred the newer construction and I think our next one (hopefully many years down the road) will be another builder. Next time I'm buying my own land in the middle of nowhere to build on though. We'll see what kind of special horrors that brings to the table...
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Feb 19, 2013 05:47
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CitizenKain posted:So despite the fantastic advice about how home ownership is essentially the dumbest idea I'll ever have, I'm considering making the plunge. Where I'm living right now the rental market is garbage, with few places going up that fit what I'm looking for. There is little new construction on condos/townhomes/apartments, and the little that does happen is extremely expensive. Are rental houses not an option in the area where you live?
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Feb 19, 2013 06:13
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CitizenKain posted:So far this doesn't seem like the dumbest thing I've ever done, but I've been wrong in the past. Any thoughts? 20k in savings really isn't much when it comes to purchasing a home - stick to renting and save more. Even though the payment is a $100 increase from the rent you're currently paying, it's the repairs, taxes, and insurance that gets expensive. I spent 10k to repair the collapsed sewer line this past summer.
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Feb 19, 2013 06:20
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JPrime posted:Are rental houses not an option in the area where you live? Very few of them. From what I've seen by pooring over craigslist and local ads is houses are either setup for college students, where a basement is split off for another tenant. Or the house is expensive as it pitched towards the legislature and government employees. So all the local places have figured out they can gouge the poo poo out prices since there is so many temporary residents here. Here is the craigslist for where I live, http://helena.craigslist.org/apa/ Guacala posted:20k in savings really isn't much when it comes to purchasing a home - stick to renting and save more. Even though the payment is a $100 increase from the rent you're currently paying, it's the repairs, taxes, and insurance that gets expensive. I spent 10k to repair the collapsed sewer line this past summer. That is true and I'll keep it in mind.
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Feb 19, 2013 06:49
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