|
Orange_Lazarus posted:Probably a dumb question for a BFC regular to make but can someone explain to me why people care so much about the property value of their primary home? I mean if prices go down it doesn't matter because the price of other homes went down as well. If prices go up it doesn't matter because the next house you buy will likely be priced higher as well. I'm 32k underwater on my mortgage right now because my condo nosedived in value in the two years afer I bought it(despite throwing 8k in extra principal curtailment the past two years). I've wanted to move for three years. I can't move. That sucks. Nail Rat fucked around with this message at 15:42 on Jan 10, 2014 |
#
¿
Jan 10, 2014 15:38
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 15, 2024 10:29 |
|
|
sanchez posted:He said it was below 60 outside, the inspection company may have had a policy not to run units below that due to the possibility of damaging them. I'm not sure how likely that is, but our inspector did the same thing. FWIW the very experienced HVAC repairman I use always tells people the same thing when they get their HVAC serviced. To be safe he actually tells them do not run the AC under any circumstance if the outside temperature is below 70. Nail Rat fucked around with this message at 03:11 on May 22, 2014 |
|
#
¿
May 22, 2014 03:07
|
|
|
Alternately you can open a new reward credit card when your credit is back to 700ish. Adding an extra account in good standing actually helped my credit score by like 5 measly points when I opened one last month despite the hard check, and the credit limit was nearly 3 times the limit of my existing card.
Nail Rat fucked around with this message at 14:27 on May 22, 2014 |
|
#
¿
May 22, 2014 14:04
|
|
|
slap me silly posted:Do never buy... If you want a condo, it's ok to buy a condo. No it's not. All the negatives of home ownership (stuck and can't move if market takes a dive, have to pay for your own repairs and maintenance which can be wildly expensive if they affect the outside of the unit at all, etc.) and very few of the positives - if there's a party one floor up or across the hall, you're hearing it even if you're not invited. Oh and peoples' pipes bursting above you at 2 AM is fun too. It doesn't matter if you take good care of your plumbing, because if your neighbors don't, you get some nice water damage and good luck figuring out who they were and getting them to pay for your drywall repairs. Never buy a condo.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 30, 2014 17:44
|
|
|
TacoHavoc posted:Don't worry, only inspections, repair proposals, underwriting, insurance, and even more exciting steps to go! And the buyer's remorse, can't forget that.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 22, 2014 23:05
|
|
|
Leperflesh posted:Like, I put more time and effort into decisions about what graphics card to buy for my computer. Sometimes people only have a couple months to move, and you need to pick a place quickly in that instance since it's not like you can get through closing in two weeks usually once you do find a place you like. Of course, I'd say better to rent in that situation, but some people are just dead-set against ever going back to renting. quote:HATE HATE HATE HOUSE BUYING Selling is a thousand times worse. -I listed my place February 17, after spending a year and a couple grand fixing it up and saving up for a relocation. -I realized in March I needed to replace a sliding glass door with a blown seal. I did so. -I received a lowball offer April 1. We went back and forth and settled on a price under asking price but something I was at least willing to do on April 6. As is the norm in Illinois, the contract said they would perform an inspection and serve notice by April 13. -On the morning of April 14, I received word that very late the previous night, they had asked until April 27 to perform an inspection  -I responded immediately that I would give them until April 20. No word back. -On April 18, they say they want to do the inspection April 19. Great! Inspection happens. -No word on the 20th. On the 21st, I get back their demands. It's mostly cosmetic issues they're asking for unreasonable replacements for and two minor electrical issues. -I immediately respond that I will take care of the electrical issues and grant them some credit for the other issues, because I just want it to go away. -No word back. I have my attorney serve notice at the end of the day April 22 that I want a response by April 23. -No word back. My attorney says both at the end of the day on the 23rd and this morning that I want a response immediately. -I tell my attorney at noon today to tell them that if I don't have a response by close of business, I am terminating the deal and putting the property back on the market. 18 days off the market is enough if we won't have a deal. God drat gently caress this process to hell. If one of you is this couple, I hope you die. Nail Rat fucked around with this message at 20:37 on Apr 24, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Apr 24, 2015 20:29
|
|
|
Mind_Taker posted:I don't think I ever want to buy a house... You now have your head in the right place! If you think buying and maintaining is unfun, imagine trying to sell after something like that. Closing costs are a lot bigger on the sale side too (title insurance and agent fees for both sides...)
|
|
#
¿
Jul 27, 2015 15:52
|
|
|
LabyaMynora posted:Yeah, this is me with my previous owners, except instead of $500, or $5000 equity in the house, they brought over $6000 to closing. I had to bring 35,000 to closing, 30k of which was a loan, just to sell my condo. Hooray for buying in 2009 and then realizing I didn't want to live there a few years later.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 30, 2015 14:40
|
|
|
QuarkJets posted:401k loans are also useful if you have some sort of really high interest loan that you can pay off with lower-APY 401k money. As an extreme example, if you're getting charged 20% on some hosed up personal loan and you have the option of borrowing $10k out of your 401k to eliminate that, then I'd say that's a great deal and you should jump on it. One of the big problems with 401k loans is that if you're ever fired or quit, they immediately become due. And if you have a big outstanding 401k loan, and your company knows that, they might use it against you when it comes to raises, bonuses, etc. ("what's Mike gonna do? quit?  " )I have a high-interest personal loan due to selling a very underwater home, but I wouldn't for a second consider using a 401k loan for that reason.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 11, 2015 20:19
|
|
|
Dwight Eisenhower posted:Yeah, if your credit isn't poo poo and you don't max out every available line of credit, you can take out a personal loan to pay back your 401k in the worst case and be no worse off than you would be sitting with the personal loan, except for paying less interest over the time period where you had the 401k loan instead of the personal loan. That doesn't address the employer using knowledge of the loan against you (as evidence they have leverage over you), though. And they totally would. quote:But since the 401k loan amount is never huge anyway (usually it can't be less than 50% of the principal, iirc?) This really depends on how big your 401k is, doesn't it? If you had 300k in your 401k, you could take out a 150k loan. Nail Rat fucked around with this message at 15:52 on Aug 12, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Aug 12, 2015 14:25
|
|
|
sadus posted:It's a horrible idea, but you can always cash it out when leaving a job I believe, it counts as income but you can settle up the balance owed on the loan out of that. At least it's an option if anyone is ever specifically threatened like that. I'm more just referring to the passive advantage they get when it comes time to salary reviews, etc. If an employer thinks you need the money badly, they're likely to give you less. Offering them visibility to the fact you have a large loan out works against you professionally. Case in point, a colleague who had a large (10k+) 401k loan out to cover a custody battle got a 1k raise, which may not have even been 1%. By comparison, in six years I've never gotten less than a 4% raise at this company. The cumulative effects of being screwed out of $3k a year could very well over time have more of an effect than extra APR on a personal loan. Of course, he did leave shortly afterwards, but we both think that perceived immobility/lack of leverage on his part was used against him in salary decisions. Nail Rat fucked around with this message at 16:37 on Aug 12, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Aug 12, 2015 16:33
|
|
|
Well, I personally feel the rest of you are not jaded enough about employers. Employers are in general horrible people because it all comes down to them wanting to make the most money by spending the least money. The COO makes all salary decisions in our company, and every dollar he gives out is a (small) amount off of his own year-end bonus. I believe in that context, he would use any and all information he has available. 
|
|
#
¿
Aug 12, 2015 21:49
|
|
|
central posted:stuff There's no way you should buy this place. Besides the fact you may have to replace some of that stuff or give monetary concessions to find a buyer, the closing costs on selling generally run about 10-12% total sale price. There's almost no way you wouldn't be eating a big loss in only 3 years just from that.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 20, 2015 14:58
|
|
|
Buying a house at the same time as having an infant sounds like an even worse idea than normal (it's a terrible idea to start with)
|
|
#
¿
Oct 9, 2015 22:41
|
|
|
An easy thing that might not be obvious if you haven't painted yet: -Take off all your outlet covers and switchplates one-by-one, see if there' obvious signs of mold or water damage hidden by someone who just painted over them.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 29, 2015 16:13
|
|
|
Yeah if you can't save up for a down payment in a few years, you won't be able to pay back the main mortgage AND pay back your mom at the same time later. It sounds like you two have a lot of debt already. This is just about as bad an idea as there possibly could be.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 4, 2015 16:44
|
|
|
Just remember if you live in a cave to make sure it's on high ground. You don't want a good rainstorm or two to ruin all your worldly possessions.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 4, 2015 18:41
|
|
|
skylined! posted:Standardized stuff: FHA loan , 3.5% ($4,550) down, $2,195 in financed up front mortgage insurance; so the loan is for $127,645 regardless of lender Don't put 3.5% down on a loan, what are you doing. In ten years you'll have paid way more than 6500 in PMI.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 16, 2015 15:29
|
|
|
striking-wolf posted:In short, is there anything we should be aware of when planning to get a mortgage a few years down the road? Would it be a very bad idea to do it in a year when I was on, say, 60% salary? The year after being on 60% salary? Will they care about/understand the circumstances? This all depends on what 60% salary is and what size of mortgage you're going for. They will probably treat your salary as being the worst case scenario, i.e. if you do it in a 60% salary year they'll consider that salary for whether you can make payments. If 60% salary is $70,000 and you're trying to get a $140,000 mortgage, that's probably not a problem. If 60% salary is $40,000 and you're trying to get a $250,000 home, it probably will be.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 22, 2015 19:37
|
|
|
antiga posted:I think bankruptcy/foreclosure is worse in people's imagination than in reality when in a strategic default scenario. As long as you have a reference for a rental and don't have any huge expenses coming up you can survive a while with poo poo credit. I've heard horror stories about bringing +$50k to closing and I can't imagine doing that. I brought around 35k to closing. Bought my condo for 143k in 2009, sold it for 92.5k in 2015. It sucks but with income over six figures, I would never be able to declare bankruptcy (especially as I had no credit card debt) and I probably will be buying again in only 3.5 years (so about 4 years after selling). Since at best I'd be eating over a quarter of the loss on a 1099, it just wasn't worth the risk of a deficiency judgment, etc. Never buy (unless you're really, really sure). Nail Rat fucked around with this message at 15:27 on Dec 28, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Dec 28, 2015 15:25
|
|
|
Elephanthead posted:In a recourse state you are still on the hook for the difference unless your bank is some not for profit or something that doesn't garnish all your money. Exactly. As I'm in a recourse state, the best case scenario would be still needing to pay about 30% on the difference owed versus auction. It just didn't make sense to strategic default to (possibly) save 15k after all is said and done(since they add fees, etc. to the balance of the loan as the foreclosure process goes on). After it sold at auction, they would send me a 1099 for the difference (I believe this is the case even in non-recourse states; the forgiven debt is considered income). It's entirely possible you could send up owing more in taxes than it would have cost to pay off the loan, since you don't know what it will sell for at auction, and the loan balance will be inflated by legal fees, etc. by some unknowable amount. Just mailing them the keys isn't how simple it is in recourse states, also, there's a much more involved, pain in the rear end process usually, which involves needing to be in the home but avoiding being served foreclosure notice in person (as if you are served in person and not by publication, they can get a deficiency judgment against you; otherwise, they can only 1099 you for the forgiven debt). Believe me, I considered and weighed my options for years before just deciding to cut my losses. Nail Rat fucked around with this message at 19:42 on Dec 28, 2015 |
|
#
¿
Dec 28, 2015 19:33
|
|
|
Hashtag Banterzone posted:On the downside we closed Dec 8th and will be moving Sunday in the cold. I'll take moving in the cold over moving in sweltering heat 10 out of 10 times, so it could be worse!
|
|
#
¿
Dec 30, 2015 21:29
|
|
|
Someone's clearly pulling off what they were trying to do in Office Space, and laughing on a beach with YOUR seven cents!
|
|
#
¿
Dec 30, 2015 23:19
|
|
|
QuarkJets posted:People get caught doing it all the time. It's called the headshot for a reason. People also get away with it all the time.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 4, 2016 20:43
|
|
|
With regards to "throwing money away" on not buying a house...even if the Seattle market is gaining 7-15% per year.... -It won't last forever. It never has, it never will. There will always be a crash at some point or at least a plateau. When the next tech crash happens, think of just how hard that will hit Seattle with foreclosures and short-sales, and what that will do to the value of the surrounding properties. -The S&P 500 has annualized gains of 8% over long enough period of time. -In general, you need to budget about 2-3% of home value per year for maintenance. There's a big haircut off the supposed advantage over investing in mutual funds. -If your mutual funds go down, you aren't prevented from moving. If the Seattle market crashes and you want to move to a different city or a different part of Seattle, too bad. I'd say just invest money in mutual funds and ignore people who talk about not throwing money away on rent. Real estate is not an investment if you are consuming your dividend by living there instead of taking the dividend by renting it out. It might double in value in 20 years, but you also may have paid so much in repairs, taxes, etc. by then that your gain is actually small or nonexistent. Hell, you could lose money in the long haul. That's not to say never buy (but never buy, kind of), it's just, buy if the price is worth it to you and you do seriously want to stay in that same place for decades. The big advantage of home ownership in my opinion is being able to do whatever the hell you want, within reason, especially if there's no neighborhood association (which is why I'm completely anti-condos nowadays). Nail Rat fucked around with this message at 23:23 on Jan 4, 2016 |
|
#
¿
Jan 4, 2016 23:20
|
|
|
OSU_Matthew posted:Well, my house used to belong to the town's mortician, so... you might be on to something. It could also be a treasure cache 
|
|
#
¿
Jan 8, 2016 14:58
|
|
|
QuarkJets posted:It's pretty high, but not crazily so for a male in the US under the age of 25; he could just have a low deductible and possibly one of those cars that is really expensive to insure. Turning 25 is probably what he's referring to when he says that his car insurance rates will go down in two years. I never had car insurance over like 120 a month, and when I had that, everyone was amazed that it was that high. 440 a month is incredible.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 12, 2016 17:12
|
|
|
 at those rates, I would do whatever it took to structure my life to not require a car.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 12, 2016 23:01
|
|
|
slap me silly posted:Hahahahaha! Yeah dude you don't understand mortgages and the secondary costs of home ownership. Please don't buy a place in your early 20s.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 16, 2016 16:59
|
|
|
I'm no expert but I'd be amazed if you were turned down for a 20% loan on a house that is only 1X annual income. I believe the standard is something like 3X income. However, make sure you put 20% down, not 10. You make plenty of money, it's worth spending a little to avoid PMI. Nail Rat fucked around with this message at 18:17 on Feb 6, 2016 |
|
#
¿
Feb 6, 2016 18:13
|
|
|
Andy Dufresne posted:There are plenty of situations where it makes sense to hit up a retirement account for a down payment. 401k loans are cheaper than PMI or bad loan terms, and there are plenty of people stocking away $20k per year in Roth IRA + 401K who don't have 50k in their checking account. So why can't they just wait until they have 50k in their checking account?
|
|
#
¿
Feb 20, 2016 13:39
|
|
|
Dislike button posted:This is a stupid argument and has nothing to do with what he is saying. I'm sure everyone would love to have $50K in their checking account, not having it doesn't mean you shouldn't or can't buy a house. So if i want to buy a house, I'm an idiot for waiting 3 years and paying the down payment with cash instead if taking a 401k loan then? Because that's literally what I'm doing. To me, the money you're putting into a 401k to max it is untouchable. That's what you have to do to not eat cat food in retirement. It's not just in a 401k for shits and giggles. Maybe you could just enlighten past this is "stupid". Because if you have to default on a 401k loan, you're pretty much hosed. Like yes, everyone would love to have 50k in their checking account, but I don't see why this is an argument that people shouldn't have 50k if that is the down payment on their house of choice. Is waiting 1-2 years that bad? Are they so sure this is the absolute perfect time to buy and in 2 years it's too late? quote:401ks allow you to defer taxes, while ]cash in your checking account was presumably fully taxed. But what if you're already maxing retirement accounts every year irrespective of other considerations? Considering the lack of defined pensions many of our parents had, I think this is the point these need to start from, assuming they're not leaving you money and you don't want to work until 75. dislike button posted:You paid interest on a mortgage Wow maybe you should have just waited and paid cash, idiot Yeah down payment is totally the same thing as mortgage I'm amazed that in the "do never buy" thread actually having 20% cash is considered ridiculous. Because it sounds like the answer is more like "always buy." Nail Rat fucked around with this message at 03:58 on Feb 21, 2016 |
|
#
¿
Feb 21, 2016 03:25
|
|
|
Without city tax, real estate taxes are how schools, etc. get funded. The people in the suburbs are more willing to pay high taxes for schools because it beats five figures per kid for private.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 21, 2016 14:54
|
|
|
Andy Dufresne posted:We've spent the last page talking about it, scroll up. It's not that you can't afford a 20% down payment, it's that you've been diverting a huge portion of your income to retirement savings instead of cash accounts. He said though you should be able to afford both the retirement savings and saving for a down payment, which I also agree with, but you're talking past him a bit by saying "but you've been putting money into retirement accounts that's why you don't have the cash!" His point was you should be able to do both before you take on the liability of a home. Clearly you disagree, but it's a personal preference I suppose.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 21, 2016 16:47
|
|
|
having 20% down isn't just about the payment/PMI. If you only have a little bit down, you're more at risk of being underwater when you want to move. Less of a factor if you're sure you want to stay there for ten years or so.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 22, 2016 19:35
|
|
|
QuarkJets posted:Not necessarily; in many termite-prone areas getting a monthly preventative treatment is pretty normal even if you've never had damage. Yeah my parents get it done every 2 months and they've never had an infestation in their 2003-built home.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 25, 2016 02:47
|
|
|
Drunk Tomato posted:Believe me I don't WANT a condo, but there are just no detached houses under half a million here that I would feel happy in. I would love a row home but they don't exist in my area, it's either SFH or condo. Or townhouse if you're really lucky. It sounds like you shouldn't buy, then. I bought a condo. Don't buy a condo. Unless you really love it and it's a great deal and you are okay with all of the downsides of a condo. Selling my condo was the happiest day of my life, other than the $35kish I had to bring to closing 
|
|
#
¿
Mar 3, 2016 17:42
|
|
|
DaveSauce posted:OK so I hosed up. We put an offer on a nice looking house, and they accepted it. poo poo. Congrats! The nice thing is that when you do an inspection, if you decide you want out, you can make an absolutely ridiculous request and if they don't honor it, you're pretty much able to walk away with just losing the money from the inspection. You'd get your earnest money back. You have a lot more leverage during the inspection contingency than your realtor will tell you (because they just want the deal to go through), so use it. I wish I had when I'd bought my place, because the fuckers who bought it from me sure did. Do not move faster than you feel comfortable if your realtor is pressuring you. Your realtor is not your friend. They just want their 3% commission. Nail Rat fucked around with this message at 15:46 on Mar 4, 2016 |
|
#
¿
Mar 4, 2016 15:44
|
|
|
OSU_Matthew posted:Re: Commuting--I recall hearing somewhere that the happiest people commute <45 minutes, so that's something to take into consideration. I can vouch for that. When I last moved I went from an hour and a half commute to 35-40 minutes. An hour and a half or so saved every day, for five days, adds up to a lot of personal time each week. Not to mention that the longer your commute is, the greater the odds for a severe delay. Waiting 2 hours for the commuter train to show up because the switches were freezing doesn't make for a fun January Monday, and being stuck for hours in a traffic jam due to an accident isn't much better.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 14, 2016 14:32
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 15, 2024 10:29 |
|
|
It really depends on the market too, there are a lot of markets where it's not uncommon to get a home for 15% below listing price. Granted, I know Seattle's not one of them.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 17, 2016 21:48
|
|