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Leperflesh posted:
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Jan 20, 2016 13:09
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Leperflesh posted:But gently caress no, we don't neeeeed it. I'm reacting to how often I see people, sometimes in this thread, behaving as though literally their only option in life is to spend way too much money, going into crippling debt, taking a huge risk with their finances, and so on to buy a huge house because they have two kids and so they absolutely have to have a 4bd, 2ba 2500 square foot house with a two car garage and a yard. They "need" it, and make serious concessions to their other life priorities to get it. Well, you obviously feel very strongly about it, and that's fine  But you're lumping in people like me that didn't "make serious concessions to their other life priorities" at all to get a house - the combined mortgage + insurance + taxes + etc. on the house we bought is actually $1 less than the rent + HOA fees we were paying at our last place. Which in turn is about $300/month less than the condo we used to rent. Sure there's other expenses for repairs and stuff too, but we saved for that, and we're doing fine.quote:Americans work too hard, take too little vacation, spent too little time raising their own children, don't save enough money for retirement, and - I'll argue - probably spend too much on housing expenses for spaces larger than they need, which represents a sacrifice, directly or indirectly, of all of the other items on the list. If it makes me a wasteful and stupid American, then so be it, but trying to stuff ourselves in an 800-1000 sq ft place would drastically reduce our quality of life and be far more of a sacrifice than the slightly higher mortgage we're paying.
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Jan 20, 2016 13:27
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OSU_Matthew posted:You know this means that you're going to have to get a boat, right? Yes, we're pre approved for A LOT more than that house, but I'm not an idiot (well, I might be, but I'm not going to drop 4x my gross on a house). We owned a house before, so I'm not new to buying, I just have heavy concerns about getting into a house we might not be able to get our money out of due to the size and cost vs the rest in the neighborhood.
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Jan 20, 2016 14:00
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Anybody else remember that woman who couldn't afford a house but wasn't willing to have kids until she owned a house? And of course, wasn't willing to not have kids. Many times people are really -S- posted:I just have heavy concerns about getting into a house we might not be able to get our money out of slap me silly fucked around with this message at 16:02 on Jan 20, 2016 |
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Jan 20, 2016 16:00
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-S- posted:So my wife and I relocated for a job and we are now house hunting. We've found one we like a lot, but I have some concerns: Are there neighborhoods nearby where homes go in the $225k to $240k range? I would feel more comfortable buying a house in that range if there are recent sales for similar amounts, even if its not the same neighborhood. It seems like the sellers are already taking a hit for having the biggest house in the neighborhood. If you can get the house for $85/sqft and the other houses are going for $100/sqft, then would that be enough of a discount to make you feel ok knowing that you might have to sell for 15% less per sqft than your neighbors in 8 to 10 years?
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Jan 20, 2016 16:17
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moana posted:Hey, I'll be in Honolulu this February! We should do a mini BFC double date Shoot me a PM when the time gets closer, sounds like a great idea.
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Jan 20, 2016 17:54
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Ugh. Closed on Friday. Got a surprise call from the title company today, turns out the UPS box they dropped the signed loan paperwork into was burgled, and therefore my personal information was compromised, and they need to get updated loan documents from my bank so that everything can be redone. I hate not being in control of this crap. Do never buy.
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Jan 20, 2016 19:05
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kys posted:Update: This is the e-mail I got from my original lender after I confronted him with a better Loan Estimate from a competitor:
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Jan 21, 2016 01:01
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kys posted:Update: This is the e-mail I got from my original lender after I confronted him with a better Loan Estimate from a competitor: This is almost verbatim the tactic our account managers try to pull all the time  We can't compete on price so you're signing up for a raw deal.Until you've signed something you don't have a deal so he can gently caress off with that commitment bullshit, brokers are the scum of the earth and I know for a fact if they think you aren't looking they'll raise their own commission on you behind your back.
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Jan 21, 2016 03:03
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Leperflesh posted:My wife and I bought our 1188 square foot house six years ago. We have no kids, and don't want them. And we've totally filled our house with our hobbies and cats and books and all manner of crap. On top of that, it's usually people who have been living in 600 sqft apartments that suddenly want to move into a 2500 square foot house, and usually with no money left over. "Have fun with all of your empty space, guys!" Deathwing posted:If it makes me a wasteful and stupid American, then so be it, but trying to stuff ourselves in an 800-1000 sq ft place would drastically reduce our quality of life and be far more of a sacrifice than the slightly higher mortgage we're paying. Okay but aren't you the guy who bought a 1500 sqft house? I think that's a totally reasonable size
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Jan 21, 2016 06:09
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QuarkJets posted:Okay but aren't you the guy who bought a 1500 sqft house? I think that's a totally reasonable size Of course you do, cause that's the size you bought. I have the ~2500 sqft house and I still think that's reasonable as we'd lower or quality of life significantly going down to 1500. Deathwing said in his original post he could go larger, without children. We are having children, we own two dogs, and we have people constantly staying in our guest room and I'd prefer them to have a nice amount of space when they do. I just don't get why it's necessary to judge other people for their preferences on something like this. We could've paid for our house in cash and buy the furniture we did without remotely having to touch our tax advantaged space. We didn't because our mortgage rate was low. We chose to live outside of the city because it's a 5 min commute for my husband. If we lived in the city our lifestyles would be different and we'd have a smaller space but we'd spend more on going out. My circumstances are not yours, nor is anyone else's. Knowing of a few families making poor financial decisions doesn't mean anything. Rurutia fucked around with this message at 13:34 on Jan 21, 2016 |
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Jan 21, 2016 13:28
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There's a large segment of the population that is constantly looking for reasons to feel guilty and terrible about everything and everyone and they will judge all your decisions for one reason or another. There's even a whole cottage industry of guilt porn publications like Harpers that cater to this segment. I wouldn't worry too much about pleasing this segment with the "correct" square footage, it's an impossible task.
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Jan 21, 2016 16:03
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Rurutia posted:Of course you do, cause that's the size you bought. I have the ~2500 sqft house and I still think that's reasonable as we'd lower or quality of life significantly going down to 1500. Deathwing said in his original post he could go larger, without children. We are having children, we own two dogs, and we have people constantly staying in our guest room and I'd prefer them to have a nice amount of space when they do. We (Deathwing and I) would have liked to go larger, but we were very conscious of keeping our mortgage payment in range with what we were paying in rent, etc. We won't have kids but we are planning on adding a couple of large dogs to our family, plus I basically have a whole spinning/weaving/knitting studio stuffed into our spare bedroom and spilling over into the living room AND work from a home office that could be larger, so we will need some kind of extra space eventually. Whether that means buying a larger house, adding an addition or some kind of outbuilding we'll have to wait and see.
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Jan 21, 2016 16:59
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TastesLikeChicken posted:We (Deathwing and I) would have liked to go larger, but we were very conscious of keeping our mortgage payment in range with what we were paying in rent, etc. We won't have kids but we are planning on adding a couple of large dogs to our family, plus I basically have a whole spinning/weaving/knitting studio stuffed into our spare bedroom and spilling over into the living room AND work from a home office that could be larger, so we will need some kind of extra space eventually. Whether that means buying a larger house, adding an addition or some kind of outbuilding we'll have to wait and see. Yeah, our area is strange. Our monthly mortgage + insurance + property tax is I'm actually not sure where I'm going to put my sewing/instrument/yoga station once our kid's born! I like having the living room relatively clear of all that so I'm not worried about people coming over spontaneously. (My husband and I are pretty messy.) I keep hoping that I'll one day find a super cheap foreclosure or short sale and get lucky, lol. Or win the lottery. Rurutia fucked around with this message at 17:08 on Jan 21, 2016 |
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Jan 21, 2016 17:02
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Pryor on Fire posted:guilt porn publications like Harpers What? Did Rebecca Solnit hurt your feelings? When was the last time Harper's shat on someone besides a very deserving governmental figure or organization?
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Jan 21, 2016 17:22
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It's not really the point of this thread, and I'm not aiming this at anyone in particular because I don't know anybody's lives well enough to judge them, but in general giant houses and the large lots and suburban infrastructure required to maintain them are kind of maybe a little destroying the fabric of our society and the environment. That doesn't mean I have a prescribed house size or development pattern in mind, and my ideas for policy changes to bring things back into balance aren't relevant to this thread or to people's individual choices.
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Jan 21, 2016 18:39
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Rurutia posted:Yeah, our area is strange. Our monthly mortgage + insurance + property tax is If you move after 5 years you will pay 10% on closing/realtor costs and 5% on maintenance. That's $37500 on a 250k house over what you would pay for renting. Then you have the opportunity cost of having all that money tied up in a house instead of in a retirement account.
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Jan 21, 2016 18:41
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lampey posted:If you move after 5 years you will pay 10% on closing/realtor costs and 5% on maintenance. That's $37500 on a 250k house over what you would pay for renting. Then you have the opportunity cost of having all that money tied up in a house instead of in a retirement account. I am aware of the argument you're making, obviously you can't compare the two payments to draw conclusions about the overall financial impact of buying. It's just a monthly cash flow comparison. However, your calculations are overly simplistic and your closing costs are too high. Further, we didn't want to rent a 800 sqft 2 bedroom since we wanted to adopt 2 dogs and have 2 children. I only used that particular example because TastesLikeChicken was talking about wanting to stay in the same mortgage payment range of what they were paying in rent, and that's what we lived in before (albeit much more expensive because it was in downtown Seattle). Fwiw, before we even started looking for houses, I did do the calculations based on the comparison with the 800 sqft 2 bedroom and we break even at 3 years based on all costs, 5 years with very extremely conservative assumptions (in favor of renting). FISHMANPET posted:It's not really the point of this thread, and I'm not aiming this at anyone in particular because I don't know anybody's lives well enough to judge them, but in general giant houses and the large lots and suburban infrastructure required to maintain them are kind of maybe a little destroying the fabric of our society and the environment. That doesn't mean I have a prescribed house size or development pattern in mind, and my ideas for policy changes to bring things back into balance aren't relevant to this thread or to people's individual choices. Yeah, this is one of the things that gets me conflicted. =/ I loved living in downtowns of big cities in my late teen to mid twenties and I appreciate the idea that the best way for our society to grow and live is upwards not outwards, but at a certain point there was a choice of the kind of life we wanted vs our idealisms. It's like how as much as I understand the environmental impact of the beef (or just meat) industry I still eat beef. I choose to only buy from local farms that raise them in the best way they can, but that's only because I can afford to. I can't say that if I couldn't afford to, I would abstain.
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Jan 21, 2016 19:50
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Hey guys, I have a refinance question: For whatever reason (AKA to make them more money), but lender contacted me about seeing if I wanted to refinance to remove the PMI on my mortgage. I only closed in August (so like 5 payments so far). My mortgage (with everything, taxes, PMI, insurance) is ~$2200. PMI is ~$133. He said that the refinance would cost a month's mortgage payment, so $2200, but during this process I would be "skipping" a payment due to refinance. He said I could roll the $133 into an principal payment and keep my monthly payment around the same or lower the monthly payment. He said the new loan would be for my current payoff principal. This is a 30 year fixed at 4.125% which is what my current mortgage is. Seems like the payoff point for this is like 16-17 months, but I'm wondering if I'm missing some shady tactic or something. Anything I'm missing here or should be thinking about or asking him?
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Jan 21, 2016 20:46
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Rurutia posted:However, your calculations are overly simplistic and your closing costs are too high. My closing was 9.4% for the HUD-1 line 1400 divided by the purchase price, including both the buyer and seller portion. The realtor only charged a 5% commission. For the maintenance costs, 1% per year is a rule of thumb but your actual costs will depend on the condition of the home for short amounts of time. For the 3-5 year break even were you including the costs of selling your home? Were your buyer+seller closing costs much lower than 10%?
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Jan 21, 2016 21:11
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lampey posted:My closing was 9.4% for the HUD-1 line 1400 divided by the purchase price, including both the buyer and seller portion. The realtor only charged a 5% commission. For the maintenance costs, 1% per year is a rule of thumb but your actual costs will depend on the condition of the home for short amounts of time. For the 3-5 year break even were you including the costs of selling your home? Were your buyer+seller closing costs much lower than 10%? Maintenance is an accurate estimate, but our home is relatively new and well taken care of (we do pay more for upkeep to keep it that way) so actual costs in the last 3 years have been much less. Selling costs here are 6%, if we sell and the company of whereever we're moving doesn't pay for the closing costs we were thinking about just paying for a listing on MLS and paying for a real estate attory. Of course they were included in my calculations.  edit I didn't include any sort of concessions to the buyer like paying their closing costs etc. I'm not sure why a few thousand extra at selling matters when the break even point is already a year past and is for renting an apartment a third of the size without the space we need for the family we're growing. Rurutia fucked around with this message at 21:22 on Jan 21, 2016 |
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Jan 21, 2016 21:15
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My closing costs were $5,200 on a home purchase of $390,000. 1.33% Edt: Misunderstood what you were looking at. sorry. emocrat fucked around with this message at 21:23 on Jan 21, 2016 |
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Jan 21, 2016 21:20
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I just looked at my HUD for buying this house and the sellers paid 6.3% from that 1400 line. And that included several concessions and repairs we negotiated for. Our realtor paid our closing costs, which were 2%. So total I guess is 8.3% (in reality it was just the 6.3% because the 2% our realtor paid was out of that 6.3% the sellers paid), but I'm not planning on paying the buyer's closing costs. It's not a buyer's market here and it's not the norm. edit I should also note that my closing costs which were paid for included the inspection, appraisal, attorney fees, all lending company fees, etc. Rurutia fucked around with this message at 21:34 on Jan 21, 2016 |
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Jan 21, 2016 21:29
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Rurutia posted:Maintenance is an accurate estimate, but our home is relatively new and well taken care of (we do pay more for upkeep to keep it that way) so actual costs in the last 3 years have been much less. Max selling costs here are 6%. Of course they were included in my calculations. The selling costs will usually be 6% for the seller on a home, and the buyer will have to pay for things like transfer tax, city transfer tax, appraisal fee, title services, title insurance, loan origination fee, recording fees, HOA move in or transfer fee, pest inspection, and discount/points on loan. Not all of these will apply to every location, and in some cases they will be split between the buyer and seller. In some areas like Cleveland suburbs this can be much higher because of required city inspections and repairs before the home can be transferred. Alameda County requires a sewer lateral inspection, and then repair or replacement if there are any leaks, before transferring the title. This is $5k+ for most homes with clay pipes. Some of these will be factored into the selling price instead of listed as closing costs but you would not have to pay them if you were not selling your home. As a new home buyer you should find out the closing costs on your GFE for the specific type of loan and the area you are buying your home, but 4% is a rule of thumb for buy vs rent.
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Jan 21, 2016 21:51
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Yeah I clarified why I was confused in the post right above.
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Jan 21, 2016 21:53
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intervoid posted:Hey guys, I have a refinance question: For whatever reason (AKA to make them more money), but lender contacted me about seeing if I wanted to refinance to remove the PMI on my mortgage. I only closed in August (so like 5 payments so far). My mortgage (with everything, taxes, PMI, insurance) is ~$2200. PMI is ~$133. He said that the refinance would cost a month's mortgage payment, so $2200, but during this process I would be "skipping" a payment due to refinance. He said I could roll the $133 into an principal payment and keep my monthly payment around the same or lower the monthly payment. He said the new loan would be for my current payoff principal. This is a 30 year fixed at 4.125% which is what my current mortgage is.
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Jan 22, 2016 01:02
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So far the only places I've checked for mortgages are our credit union, and a bank recommended by someone at work. Are these online lenders really worth looking in to? Yes, we got the line "ooooh don't go giving your information to everyone that's how you get junk mail!!!" from the bank we're talking to primarily. Our credit union is hard to talk to, but only because the mortgage person assigned to us was out on medical leave or something for a while. The rates we're being quoted by both are on the low end of what's CFPB.gov is listing for rates in our area/credit score. Is that the end of it, or should we start looking at other lenders?
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Jan 22, 2016 02:15
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QuarkJets posted:Okay but aren't you the guy who bought a 1500 sqft house? I think that's a totally reasonable size No argument here obviously, glad you agree  Honestly, as my lovely spouse implied - I don't think we could go much smaller at this point, and i'd probably go around 1700-2000 sq ft or so if we could afford it. I think much above that *would* actually start to feel wasteful...though more land would be nice since I think we'll be ordering half a seed catalog this spring :P
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Jan 22, 2016 02:29
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DaveSauce posted:So far the only places I've checked for mortgages are our credit union, and a bank recommended by someone at work.
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Jan 22, 2016 02:42
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QuarkJets posted:Okay but aren't you the guy who bought a 1500 sqft house? I think that's a totally reasonable size Wife and I just sold our 1300sf townhome recently that was way too small for us and we have no kids. Prior to wife moving in, I had 3 bedrooms that made up my sleep area, a workout room, a home office, and 1.5 bathrooms that made for a very difficult two weeks while the only shower was out of service because the bathroom was being remodeled. When wife moved in I lost my home office and workout room so her belongings could go somewhere and the one car garage became a zero car so we could store all her stuff. If all you need in your house is a place to eat, poo poo, sleep, and watch TV then 1500sf is fine. I want all that plus a home office, a workout room, a basement for my music equipment, a guest bedroom, garage big enough for both our cars, an extra bedroom for future kids, and these are just basic requirements... I could definitely fill extra rooms with a home theater, Lego display room, the possibilities are endless. We're in the market now to buy a new house and it better be big enough for everything we need and want now, and for the next 30 years. 2000sf is the minimum for that. I do, however, think formal living rooms are a complete waste of space and gently caress them forever. The Shep fucked around with this message at 03:01 on Jan 22, 2016 |
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Jan 22, 2016 02:58
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Cop gay. So What posted:I want all that plus a home office, a workout room, a basement for my music equipment, a guest bedroom, garage big enough for both our cars, an extra bedroom for future kids, and these are just basic requirements... I could definitely fill extra rooms with a home theater, Lego display room, the possibilities are endless. We're in the market now to buy a new house and it better be big enough for everything we need and want now, and for the next 30 years. 2000sf is the minimum for that. America.txt
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Jan 22, 2016 03:18
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Rurutia posted:I just don't get why it's necessary to judge other people for their preferences on something like this. Because we're humans, and humans judge everyone on everything even when they don't intend do. It's really not a big deal. What I don't understand is why you care about what other people think about the size of your house. It's not like the people in this thread have in any say in the matter anyway. Some people in a forum on the internet lamenting about the steady growth in average house size shouldn't effect you at all
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Jan 22, 2016 04:07
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Cop gay. So What posted:If all you need in your house is a place to eat, poo poo, sleep, and watch TV then 1500sf is fine. I want all that plus a home office, a workout room, a basement for my music equipment, a guest bedroom, garage big enough for both our cars, an extra bedroom for future kids, and these are just basic requirements... I could definitely fill extra rooms with a home theater, Lego display room, the possibilities are endless. We're in the market now to buy a new house and it better be big enough for everything we need and want now, and for the next 30 years. 2000sf is the minimum for that. I just wrote some humblebrag nonsense about how I live in a small space but erased it, either way, I don't really understand how stuff like this can feel like requirements and not over-the-top indulgences to you. Jeffrey of YOSPOS fucked around with this message at 04:12 on Jan 22, 2016 |
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Jan 22, 2016 04:09
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Deathwing posted:No argument here obviously, glad you agree Being able to garden is pretty awesome. Frankly, we don't use up nearly enough of our yard on growing food (we have some herbs and a baby banana tree), but that's a situation that I'm trying to fix
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Jan 22, 2016 04:11
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Cop gay. So What posted:Wife and I just sold our 1300sf townhome recently that was way too small for us and we have no kids. Prior to wife moving in, I had 3 bedrooms that made up my sleep area, a workout room, a home office, and 1.5 bathrooms that made for a very difficult two weeks while the only shower was out of service because the bathroom was being remodeled. A 400 sqft studio is fine for that. And I would never buy a house with only one bathroom (because layout and design is more important than size) unless I was living by myself quote:I want all that plus a home office, a workout room, a basement for my music equipment, a guest bedroom, garage big enough for both our cars, an extra bedroom for future kids, and these are just basic requirements... I could definitely fill extra rooms with a home theater, Lego display room, the possibilities are endless. We're in the market now to buy a new house and it better be big enough for everything we need and want now, and for the next 30 years. 2000sf is the minimum for that. Formal living rooms are a waste of space but a Lego Display Room isn't?  Frankly your post reads like one of those articles where people making $300k/year complain about how little spending money they have. "After paying the maid, the gardener, and the nanny, plus the mortgage on our 3000 sqft luxury home and payments on 2 sports cars, there's hardly any money left at all! Our taxes are simply too high!" QuarkJets fucked around with this message at 04:18 on Jan 22, 2016 |
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Jan 22, 2016 04:14
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Dik Hz posted:How much down do you have. What are current mortgage prices at in your neighborhood. (You can check at zillow). Would you be paying up-front PMI on the new loan? And you're not really skipping mortgage payment so much as extending the term by 5+1 payments. I originally put 5%. So LTV is still ~95%. My house is about in the middle of the road price-wise for my neighborhood. I asked if there were any additional costs, and he said the only cost for me is the closing, which would be ~$2200. I understand the extending payments, hence putting skip in quotes.
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Jan 22, 2016 04:14
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QuarkJets posted:Because we're humans, and humans judge everyone on everything even when they don't intend do. It's really not a big deal. It's a discussion, I don't personally care what people think (I think I've said that before). It's not going to change the size of the next house I buy, or how I feel about my current house. But it is something I don't get and I'm curious about, it just doesn't seem worth judging. Do you judge rich people who have several properties, because they'd prefer to have their own 'place' where they feel most comfortable when they travel? My reaction is, good for them, they earned it and at least they're putting money back into the economy rather than hoarding it. I don't think that makes me any less human than you. I get the bad with money thread, it's frustrating to watch your friends and family piss away their financial security or childrens' college fund or perversely entertaining to watch strangers dig themselves into their own holes. Those are true consequences with meaning which (in a way) deserve to be judged. But that's jmo.
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Jan 22, 2016 04:17
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Please forgive if this has been asked a million times but what kind of closing costs can I generally budget for? (I'm in CA if that matters.) I've been hearing ~$9,000 on a $250,000 house but that seems high.
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Jan 22, 2016 04:23
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Boof Bonser posted:Please forgive if this has been asked a million times but what kind of closing costs can I generally budget for? (I'm in CA if that matters.) I've been hearing ~$9,000 on a $250,000 house but that seems high. Seems high. http://www.bankrate.com/finance/mortgages/closing-costs/california.aspx
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Jan 22, 2016 04:29
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| # ? May 28, 2024 06:32 |
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Rurutia posted:It's a discussion, I don't personally care what people think (I think I've said that before). It's not going to change the size of the next house I buy, or how I feel about my current house. But it is something I don't get and I'm curious about, it just doesn't seem worth judging. Do you judge rich people who have several properties, because they'd prefer to have their own 'place' where they feel most comfortable when they travel? My reaction is, good for them, they earned it and at least they're putting money back into the economy rather than hoarding it. I don't think that makes me any less human than you. Yes, I do. Most people do. Buying a vacation house that you use two weeks each year is an incredibly excessive waste of resources. I also judge people who build lush green golf courses in a desert (I mean congratulations to them for having enough money to do that, but I'm not going to applaud such an enormous waste of resources, and lol at the Just Cause fallacy that you threw in there) If you disagree, then I think we should make a thread in D&D to talk about it. Because this is a topic that interests me but it is starting to veer away from relevancy to the thread.
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Jan 22, 2016 04:38
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