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I’m quickly learning that the ‘online dating profile’ school of photography tricks applies equally to houses on real estate sites.
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Mar 17, 2019 06:27
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AreWeDrunkYet posted:You can always put a reasonable annual repair cost into a mortgage calculator, but a lot of other risks are harder to forecast. Yeah sure many of them will have a field for maintenance, but many don't, and if you type "Mortgage Calculator" into google it literally gives you a calculator that's just Amount, Rate, Period: Monthly Payment
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Mar 17, 2019 06:40
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Democratic Pirate posted:I’m quickly learning that the ‘online dating profile’ school of photography tricks applies equally to houses on real estate sites. Our realtor told us about a house she saw where the "new paint" inside was literally framed around the unmoved furniture.
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Mar 17, 2019 07:02
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What do people do with saving for assumed house repairs/maintenance? I’ve been putting into savings the equivalent of 2% of the purchase price annually, but it means I end up with a large amount of cash in savings and it seems kind of silly to have what amounts to a much larger e-fund than I’d otherwise need. I suppose it depends on one’s risk tolerance, just curious to hear how other people approach it.
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Mar 17, 2019 11:04
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Chu020 posted:What do people do with saving for assumed house repairs/maintenance? I’ve been putting into savings the equivalent of 2% of the purchase price annually, but it means I end up with a large amount of cash in savings and it seems kind of silly to have what amounts to a much larger e-fund than I’d otherwise need. I suppose it depends on one’s risk tolerance, just curious to hear how other people approach it. can't go wrong with forex. (yes you can)
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Mar 17, 2019 11:52
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Chu020 posted:What do people do with saving for assumed house repairs/maintenance? I’ve been putting into savings the equivalent of 2% of the purchase price annually, but it means I end up with a large amount of cash in savings and it seems kind of silly to have what amounts to a much larger e-fund than I’d otherwise need. I suppose it depends on one’s risk tolerance, just curious to hear how other people approach it. Online savings accounts are back up to playing real interest rates for the last year+. I use an Ally checking account to auto withdraw my mortgage and utility costs and an Ally savings account for efund/next car/next house savings at 2.2%. My wife and I have a separate checking account and credit card for day to day purchases. Direct deposit is split between the two checking accounts.
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Mar 17, 2019 14:17
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No idea where to post this, but what kind of specialist or whatever would help me test the air quality of a house. Things like mold or any pollution? Google seems to confuse me or I'm just confused and dying from all the mold spores.
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Mar 17, 2019 15:05
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Chu020 posted:What do people do with saving for assumed house repairs/maintenance? I’ve been putting into savings the equivalent of 2% of the purchase price annually, but it means I end up with a large amount of cash in savings and it seems kind of silly to have what amounts to a much larger e-fund than I’d otherwise need. I suppose it depends on one’s risk tolerance, just curious to hear how other people approach it. I suppose you could figure out a large amount you could need on short notice (roof replacement?) to keep in cash and put the rest into something relatively safe but less immediate- I'm not sure if CDs or similar are worth the restrictions right now. You don't want it in something volatile though. One thing to consider is that if go several years without needing any work, you're potentially just looking at having lots of stuff come due at the same time and you'll need ray big pile to cover it all at once.
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Mar 17, 2019 15:08
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This house is old as gently caress so even testing for things like asbestos would be good. I don't even know where to start looking for this type of service. (Long story short I'm considering "buying" my dad's house out of probate next month but I would sort of like to know why I suddenly have asthma after staying here)
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Mar 17, 2019 15:08
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Goobish posted:No idea where to post this, but what kind of specialist or whatever would help me test the air quality of a house. Things like mold or any pollution? Google seems to confuse me or I'm just confused and dying from all the mold spores. If you find a mold remediation company, usually they do all sorts of air pollutants. A lot of times they’re the same companies that fix water damage in a home. Just be sure it’s not one of those scam air duct cleaning services. Those are almost exclusively bullshit. And a reminder that every home has mold in it.
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Mar 17, 2019 15:12
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Goobish posted:This house is old as gently caress so even testing for things like asbestos would be good. I don't even know where to start looking for this type of service. This can all be part of the home inspection you should be getting before deciding on a specific set of issues you've decided are the only ones to be concerned about. The inspector I use tests for (or has subs in come cases) mold, radon, asbestos, lead, etc, etc.
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Mar 17, 2019 15:20
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Sometimes it’s good too to hire an inspector that tests for all those things but doesn’t remediate them. I know inspectors that specifically refuse to add remediation to their business because they don’t want people to think they are gaming the tests just to get their business. Which is common (especially with those shady rear end duct cleaning services).
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Mar 17, 2019 15:27
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Thank you guys! I'm mostly concerned about asbestos because I'm more than sure there will be mold issues lol.
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Mar 17, 2019 16:56
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Goobish posted:Thank you guys! I'm mostly concerned about asbestos because I'm more than sure there will be mold issues lol. I get that's what YOU are most concerned about. But you need to be concerned about much more than that, and absolutely need a proper inspection as a component in understanding what the property is actually worth. Appraisals are poo poo and almost never account for deferred maintenance. They are mere "basic statists" of the house (number of room, square footage, etc) as compared to other homes that have sold in the general area that meet those some of those same basic stats with statistical modifiers for those that don't match exactly. Many of these are done as a drive-by or even less. You're in the house buying thread. We're gonna call out obvious gaps in your plans when asking for advice. So you don't get boned.
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Mar 17, 2019 17:07
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Don't take mold lightly, I was taken to the ER and put on a ventilator as a baby because of mold issues. At the time I was diagnosed with asthma but surprise surprise the asthma went away when we moved houses.
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Mar 17, 2019 17:25
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Silly question, I am sure, but does it make a difference if I do one of those "online" preapprovals from my bank vs scheduling time to meet in person at a branch?
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Mar 18, 2019 20:18
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joepinetree posted:Silly question, I am sure, but does it make a difference if I do one of those "online" preapprovals from my bank vs scheduling time to meet in person at a branch? One wastes your time and the other is online.
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Mar 18, 2019 20:20
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Hi House-Buying Thread: I currently rent (in Long Beach, CA), and am happy enough with renting but see the writing on the wall that my rates are probably going to be jacked up 5% every year or so for a long long time. I also just got tenure at a local college, so I essentially am not going to move cities for decades. I'm thinking I should probably look into this home ownership thing or whatever. Right now just in the research stage, with thoughts of actually visiting houses by like May or June to see if it's right for me then. In the OP there was a link for a match-making thread with realtors (previous link: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3504190). The two posters there haven't posted in months/years. Is there anything like that that exists now? Either on SA or on the internet in general.
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Mar 18, 2019 22:36
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Maxwells Demon posted:In the OP there was a link for a match-making thread with realtors (previous link: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3504190). The two posters there haven't posted in months/years. Is there anything like that that exists now? Either on SA or on the internet in general. Before you get into all of that and in the spirit of the thread: what does a house you would consider wanting cost there, what do you make, what you have saved for the downpayment/your emergency fund/your retirement? You already have one of the big questions nailed already.......you have a stable and predicable job in that area for a long time. Which is awesome, but in and of itself doesn't mean "buy.". Time to account for the other variables.
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Mar 19, 2019 01:07
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Motronic posted:Before you get into all of that and in the spirit of the thread: what does a house you would consider wanting cost there, what do you make, what you have saved for the downpayment/your emergency fund/your retirement? That's kind of the point of the slow, methodical research but I can post the numbers I consider important now, and you guys can tell me what else is important Annual Salary: 90k/year Liquid Savings: ~65k Non-Liquid Savings: 0 Retirement: 30+ years out, not yet contributing to 403b Credit Score: 790 Range for Houses in area: 320-400k Monthly Rent: 1650 Maxwells Demon fucked around with this message at 01:56 on Mar 19, 2019 |
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Mar 19, 2019 01:45
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Maxwells Demon posted:That's kind of the point of the slow, methodical research but I can post the numbers I consider important now, and you guys can tell me what else is important So at this point you're $15k shy of a 20% downpayment, which would entirely wipe out your savings which should be 6 months of expenses (after the downpayment), which would be the same as your rent on a $400k property with 20% down not counting taxes and insurance and definitely not counting maintenance and you have no retirement funds. Maybe some other people will have some other opinions, but this sounds like a hard no to me. Perhaps you can change your budget to make the responsible things happen here, but 0 retirement tells me you're not there right now.
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Mar 19, 2019 02:59
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Maxwells Demon posted:That's kind of the point of the slow, methodical research but I can post the numbers I consider important now, and you guys can tell me what else is important I think spending all your savings in one go is going to hurt. (Yes you can make some money back renting out a room, but....... you're going to spend all your cash if you do this.) Plus the realtor fees are what? 3%? So... thats another $9k to $12k. You'll be spending less or the same on taxes but will be spending more on property taxes. Plus fixing poo poo. Personally I think the bubble is going to pop soon. (But I was saying that last year too. Maybe 2020? or 2021?) I would say focus on saving more money now (as well as starting more retirement contributions) for when the market does cool off. (Personal goal? 100k. Who does not like a nice round fat number? 100 or bust!) I say this as someone who really really really wants to buy an house right now. However in my area house prices are about.... 80 to 100k above, compared to 2 years ago. While prices may not go down the full amount I expect maybe them to drop by 30 to 50k... Actually houses in my area are very similar to the price ranges you listed and I'm not in California! **Edit Maxwells Demon posted:In the OP there was a link for a match-making thread with realtors (previous link: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3504190). The two posters there haven't posted in months/years. Is there anything like that that exists now? Either on SA or on the internet in general. Senor P. fucked around with this message at 03:42 on Mar 19, 2019 |
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Mar 19, 2019 03:15
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Instead of listening to a miserable person in a random internet thread who will talk down to you if you don’t make the absolute pinnacle of smart financial decisions, maybe let me know if you are dead set on working with a Realtor and how much you know about the process. I work with Realtors all day every day and I know more about the good and bad of them than probably most anybody here. So I’d like to actually answer your question rather than condescendingly change the subject.
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Mar 19, 2019 03:23
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Mahoning posted:So I’d like to actually answer your question rather than condescendingly change the subject. Nothing condescending about that my dude. Go get the advice of a Realtor(tm) who only makes money when they sell you a house or sell yours. Basic finances be damned.....there is a commission to be made here.
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Mar 19, 2019 03:35
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Motronic posted:Nothing condescending about that my dude. You didn’t answer the guy’s question and then give “advice” (i.e. tell everyone not to buy a home, be an rear end in a top hat about it) without explaining what the benefit even is of 20% down. Which is probably a risk assessment somebody should be making for themselves, not some random person on the internet who knows barely anything about their life situation beyond raw numbers. “It’s basic finances!”  edit: If you can’t tell somebody what the actual differences, benefits and risks are between say 15% and 20% down and allow them to assess those risks for themselves, you shouldn’t really be giving anyone advice based on that little amount of information. Buying a house is not a purely financial decision, despite your efforts to water it down to that and that only. Mahoning fucked around with this message at 04:16 on Mar 19, 2019 |
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Mar 19, 2019 03:51
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You know when you're a kid and you're running around in the street and you nearly get hit by a car and your parents yell at you about it for being irresponsible and nearly getting killed? Being "mean" in this thread is basically that.
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Mar 19, 2019 04:26
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couldcareless posted:You know when you're a kid and you're running around in the street and you nearly get hit by a car and your parents yell at you about it for being irresponsible and nearly getting killed? I mean, cool analogy I guess? But if you actually think “Here I made the decision for you after crunching the numbers: don’t buy” is actually helpful when the person asked a completely different question, that’s....certainly something. I don’t find it particularly helpful. It’s basically the proverbial feeding a man instead of teaching him how to fish. And it does nothing to account for anything other than financial decisions. Like, if it’s gonna cost that person X% more in the long run if they buy now versus saving another $X, TELL THEM THAT. Let that person decide if the X years of building memories and making a home (and paying for poo poo tons of unforeseen problems) is worth it.
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Mar 19, 2019 04:41
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Mahoning posted:I mean, cool analogy I guess? But if you actually think “Here I made the decision for you after crunching the numbers: don’t buy” is actually helpful when the person asked a completely different question, that’s....certainly something. Are we supposed to copy and paste the OP every time a new poster shows up?
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Mar 19, 2019 04:42
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All sound advice. Still in the research phase, good to hear good opinions. Here's hoping the bubble bursts sometime.
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Mar 19, 2019 04:52
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Andy Dufresne posted:Are we supposed to copy and paste the OP every time a new poster shows up? Are you kidding?! The OP (from 6 months after the housing market crashed almost 11 years ago, lol) literally says this: quote:Minimum down payments are over, 20% down payments are in. If you have less than that, you'll have to pay PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) which costs a lot and is money you'll be throwing away every month that you wouldn't have to if you had a nice down payment. That hasn’t been true in.....I dunno, like 6 or 7 years? Not to mention, the OP talks about hiring a Realtor which Motronic says is a no no. Mahoning fucked around with this message at 04:54 on Mar 19, 2019 |
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Mar 19, 2019 04:52
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So now that the market is at an all time high again you think it's a good time to start recommending lower down payments?
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Mar 19, 2019 04:56
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Maxwells Demon posted:That's kind of the point of the slow, methodical research but I can post the numbers I consider important now, and you guys can tell me what else is important I'm not going to say don't buy a house, but I'd ask for some more info to inform my opinion. Very few people can put 20% down and maintain a 6 month emergency fund. If only people that could do that bought houses, well there wouldn't be as many houses sold. Congratulations on achieving tenure at a college, I've heard thats about impossible these days, so congrats, that is something to be proud of. I'm generally pro home buying, even if you don't have the "suggested" 20% down plus 6 months expenses. It depends on your personal risk tolerance. Here's some questions to think about, you don't have to answer them in this thread if you don't want to, but it's something to think about. - Can you afford a house in the 320 to 400K range? Assuming 90K a year is your gross salary, your take home after state, fed, calpers retirement, 403b, insurance, etc is going to be much less. Think about your current take home pay, and then figure out your projected PITI payment on a house. Can you afford that? Also realize that will be the minimum you spend. There's a lot of extra expenses that come along with home ownership. - Is living in a house the right thing for you right now? Renting is not "throwing money away" so stop thinking that now. When I was single I actually liked renting. No yard work to do, if something breaks I called maintenance. If I wanted to move, it was easy to do. 2 hours of every weekend is spent doing yard work now, and there's always something else to do around the house. Living in house has a lot of advantages though. How would homeownership benefit you or hinder you? Think about it. Remember rent+utilities is the most you'll pay when renting. Mortgage + Utilities is the minimum you'll pay while buying a home. - What's your personal life like? I don't know anything about you, but if one day you want to get married, or start a family, that's something to consider. Housing needs change as one gets older, and real estate transactions have a lot of costs involved. Maybe it's not the right time to think about buying a house to live in the next 30 to 40 years of your life. Maybe a future partner has a home, or maybe lots of things. The median homeownership duration is 8.7 years (which is hilarious because thats exactly how long I was in my first house before I bought a larger one). Don't buy a house now an expect to spend the next 30 or 40 years in it. It's not realistic. So think about it. Don't feel pressured into buying a house because you think it's some mandatory step of adulthood now that you're career is set. Make sure it's the right situation for you. For the record I bought my first house with only 3.5% down and used an FHA loan. I bought my second house with 0 down. They even paid my closing costs. I had no issue accepting these risks though, so it's not for everyone. skipdogg fucked around with this message at 05:03 on Mar 19, 2019 |
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Mar 19, 2019 04:59
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Andy Dufresne posted:So now that the market is at an all time high again you think it's a good time to start recommending lower down payments? All I advocated for was being transparent with your advice. What exactly about a 20% down payment is more beneficial compared to, say 15%? Other than the obvious “it’s higher, you have more instant equity” which is literally true at every number above 20% as well. What makes exactly 20% better? I want you to give me a specific answer.
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Mar 19, 2019 05:02
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The reasons already covered are pretty convincing to me. 1. PMI is a cost for which you derive no additional benefit other than being in the house a little sooner. Yes, there are loan products that get you out of PMI but they aren't standard and the rates at those lenders aren't competitive with online brokers. Ultimately you're torching $5k+ vs a conventional or 7/1 where you've shopped the rate. 2. 20% vs 15% equity is the difference in a short sale that wrecks your credit vs. a clean sale if the market tanks next year and you absolutely have to move. ... And we haven't even gotten into the emergency fund. In response to another poster, I don't think anyone should be looking at the average homeowner as the bar for responsible financial decisions. A conservative approach to buying is a way to guarantee you have the ability to go out to eat, take vacations, and enjoy the rest of what life has to offer. Andy Dufresne fucked around with this message at 05:16 on Mar 19, 2019 |
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Mar 19, 2019 05:11
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Andy Dufresne posted:The reasons already covered are pretty convincing to me. Wait, are you saying that you can’t get a conventional loan for less than 20% down? You confused me with #1 and that “torching” comment.
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Mar 19, 2019 05:18
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What's confusing? If you pay PMI the liquidated cost may be $5K. If you go with a 80+10+10 loan or whatever you're going with a lender that doesn't have competitive rates.
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Mar 19, 2019 05:22
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It's also not clear to me what you're trying to say when you argue that you can get a conventional loan without PMI for less than 20% down. They aren't readily offered by most lenders, but you seem absolutely sure that it isn't a problem.
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Mar 19, 2019 05:25
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Not that this makes Mahoning's arguments any more sound, but the UC system offers ARM mortgages below market rate at only 10% no PMI to the first home buy for their professors. This was literally their solution to the fact that their own professors couldn't afford to live in the California cities the campuses were located at, and their recruiting was suffering. I definitely wouldn't have moved to CA with three kids if something like that didn't exist.
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Mar 19, 2019 07:15
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Mahoning posted:Wait, are you saying that you can’t get a conventional loan for less than 20% down? You confused me with #1 and that “torching” comment. Virtually all banks require PMI if you put down less than 20% on a conventional 30-year loan. Yeah okay you can find exceptions, and there are certain low-income programs that don't require it, but in 99% of cases putting down less than 20% means paying PMI or paying PMI by another name (e.g. an 80/10/10 loan)
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Mar 19, 2019 07:20
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I've paid PMI on our loan for a few years now (bought 3/17) and I'm still alive to tell the tale somehow. That said, our mortgage is also a lot smaller due to COL differences in Midwest vs California. We've been lucky with the housing market here so I'm hoping to drop it off after next year's tax assessment and another year's worth of mortgage payments, but of course there is no promises there. My PMI is about $100 a month so certainly not do or die. (But it's $1200 a year down the drain! This is true.) I think the advice of 20% down or die is pretty overkill here, but it is, of course, the optimal financial decision. That being said, I think it's worth considering lifestyle factors outside of finances when looking to purchase. Maintaining a house is a gently caress ton of work even when nothing goes wrong. If I had to do that 100% solo without a partner (or second income, for that matter) to split the load with I would lose my mind. Do you like spending time maintaining a home and yard? Are you a handy person or will you be learning everything from scratch when something small breaks (hi, it's me!)? Also I think you will be shocked at how much higher your mortgage payments in that price range will be vs your mortgage, and that's not even taking into account increased utilities and maintenance costs. Home ownership is absolutely not for everyone, and renting has a lot of huge upsides that a lot of people gloss over. A house in the 400k area on a 90k salary is gonna be very tight, regardless of down payment.
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Mar 19, 2019 13:57
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