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skipdogg posted:Next year I doubt I'll go over the standard deduction, so my tax situation won't be as good next year. Check your state standard deduction even if you are a little below the federal standard. My deductions totaled $200 less than the federal which cost me $30 but by itemizing I got to take $11,200 itemized instead of $3000 standard on my state taxes. That saved me almost $500 in state taxes, it could just be Georgia having a super lower married standard deduction though.
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Feb 20, 2011 04:51
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Leperflesh posted:Yeah, it doesn't really matter if the IRS doesn't specifically seek out and investigate lots of homeowners to see if they might be renting out rooms without reporting it. The point is that he could be audited for another reason (or just randomly) and if he is... he's committing a felony by deliberately cheating on his taxes. The IRS will not be kind. I would sympathize if it wasn't such a monumental pain in the rear end to calculate all of the deductions/depreciation related to renting out a room to balance out the income. I just tried to do it on the piddly $5400 I get from my brother to rent 1/3rd of the square footage in my house. I just closed out the tax software without saving changes halfway through. I'm not paying an accountant a few hundred dollars just so I can say I paid the IRS the same exact amount, just technically more correctly.
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Feb 21, 2011 20:24
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Dik Hz posted:You do realize that low interest rate = higher sticker price, right? Do you have anything to back that up? I took a quick look at the prime interest rate compared to historical real estate prices and no sort of huge correlation jumped out at me. If anything, houses in the late 70's early 80's should have been approaching free if that was the case. Of course it makes sense that if interest rates are lower that people should be able to take out larger mortgages thus house prices should rise, but I don't see that that is actually reality.
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Feb 23, 2011 01:00
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gvibes posted:Big kitchen and two bathrooms. If you pay $10,000 to remodel a 5'*5' room you are incredibly stupid or wealthy enough to not care. I couldn't imagine spending more than $5,000 if you were paying someone else to do the work for you and that's replacing everything short of the studs. I've priced mine out at $1,500-2,000 for materials. New Vanity, floor tile, toilet, bathtub, and various little accessories. Raise that up a little bit if you want to tile the bathtub nicely. $10,000 is absurd unless you love wasting money on needlessly expensive toys. All new cabinets, countertops, and appliances really shouldn't cost you more than $10,000 unless you splurge on granite and have an absolutely gigantic kitchen. You really need to base the level of upgrades to the cost of your house as well. If you own a $500,000 house buyers would be expecting granite countertops, tile everything, etc. Then most of your $40K investment might be coming back to you, and would help you sell quicker. A $40K kitchen and bathroom remodel isn't going to make your $100K house a $140K house in almost every case.
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Feb 25, 2011 21:56
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Talk with Citibank about a short sale and have your family put in a $30,000 cash offer, then have your family give you the house?
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Mar 28, 2011 21:42
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Nocheez posted:Calculon: I don't foresee her even getting the loan when her debt to income ratio is likely to be so bad. But its not, because if her Aunt and Uncle "technically" own the condo then the mortgage is probably in their name. Going $180,000 more in debt when you are on the hook for a $150K mortgage on a property worth $50K does sound pretty stupid to me. Unless she wants to gently caress over your aunt and uncle by not paying the mortgage and walking away (maybe even collect some rent too). That's a fresh start!
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Mar 29, 2011 21:38
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solarisin posted:My question really is - Do i really have to pay an inspector to come out within 7 days of the bid being accepted? I understand that i may or may not lose the earnest money i put down, but i would like to minimize my cost if everything goes awry. It could be longer if you have your realtor make your due diligence period longer in your contract. Either way you are probably going to have to suck it up and have an inspector out before you know on the status of the loan. It isn't worth risking your thousand(s) of dollars in earnest money because you didn't want to pay someone $300 for an inspection in time.
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Apr 10, 2011 14:02
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Dbhjed posted:I am just wondering "If something breaks" argument is the only thing out there to deter someone from waiting until they have bigger payment. Nope, this one is pretty easy: $130K @ 5.2% $350 in taxes per month $560 in interest per month (This only drops to $500 at the end of year 7) $75 in higher insurance rates (Lets guess $25 for renters vs $100 in homeowners) $65 in PMI = $1050/mo to own Or you can rent for $250 less, avoiding the risk of depreciation and maintenance. Just in your ITI it costs you more than renting and that is all "throw away" money. Oh you don't have to pay $9,000 up front to rent either. Change 5.2% to 3%, $4200 in taxes to $1000, no PMI, and raise the cost of rent to $1000/mo and you have my position 2 years ago. It took that drastic of a difference to make me consider buying over renting and I'm probably just barely breaking even on the cost.
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Apr 12, 2011 02:09
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Skipping the agent saves you 6%, so yes, skip the agent.
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Apr 26, 2011 13:02
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Thank god that you can escape that condo without having to pay money at closing and get the gently caress out of it your realtor is the same as every other one who believes we will be magically back at bubble prices in 2 years for no reason.
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May 2, 2011 21:41
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Kashwashwa posted:Also, I'm looking at buying a house without a real estate agent. Are there any complications with legalities and forms required, that I wouldn't be aware of because of this? Or will the Lawyer advise me of everything that's required? Any reason you are looking to buy without an agent? If Canada works like the US, if the buyer has no agent, the selling agent will just take the full 6% commission rather than having to split it 50/50 with a buyers agent. There is no reason to not have a buyer's agent in the US.
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May 4, 2011 15:58
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dalstrs posted:So I guess it could be considered a short sell if we can get the bank to take less than what is currently on the mortgage. This was mentioned in another thread as an answer to one of my questions, but short sales are not allowed to friends or family members. The bank will not approve a short sale from her to you. They will be happy to accept full payment though. Also, there is no reason to "give her some money on the side" instead of being on the up and up and actually paying full price if you aren't using agents, which you shouldn't. The bank will take what she owes, and at closing she will get a check for whatever is over that amount.
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May 9, 2011 19:27
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Ah I forgot about the extra fees part. For that amount I have to assume part of it is back taxes and accrued interest. Maybe an unpaid home equity loan or HOA fees that there is a lien on the house for?
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May 9, 2011 21:06
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Buyer's agent may be a deal breaker for them, as that means they are losing 3% when they weren't planning on it when selling to you. Hire a lawyer to represent you for a flat fee.
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May 10, 2011 00:05
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Exactly how low are you expecting a $300,000 mortgage to be? With a 20% down payment at 4.5% that is still $1200/mo in principal and interest, $300 for taxes, and with insurance and HOA fees you are probably looking at close to the $1800/mo rentals. Only $300 of that is actually going towards your principal for the first few years anyways. Not to mention you will be eating 6% in realtor fees ($18,000) when you move in 3 years that is essentially $500/mo more being thrown away. Plus the risk of the house decreasing in value. Or taking a while to sell. You are risking a lot of money purchasing for only 3 years. And what the gently caress St. Louis, $1800/mo for a 2 bed/2 bath? Is that what $300,000 getting you as well or do you get a proper house for that? Are there no "For Rent" signs up in the neighborhoods you would be looking to purchase in?
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Jun 21, 2011 21:27
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Leperflesh posted:I'm thinking maybe he's only looking at glossy pamphelets or newspaper listings or something, because even just a glance at the St. Louis craigslist apts/housing for rent list shows that prices aren't nearly that high. I would guess that St Louis is similar to Atlanta where there is a huge suburban housing market but also some business districts that command a premium and he wants to live in one of those for a short commute.
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Jun 21, 2011 21:44
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3.1% would get you knocked down into $1500-1600 PITI range with $400 of that going to principal. The 6% base transaction costs are what are going to be what murders your ability to break even with renting. Not to mention betting your $60,000 down payment that the housing market stays stable in your area 3 years down the road. If your job is stable and you realize that this may be a terrible financial decision its up to you to decide whether you want to lose the extra money for the lifestyle. You can clearly afford it with your income.
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Jun 21, 2011 23:31
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Konstantin posted:You shouldn't have any accounts at the bank you have your mortgage with. If you ever miss a payment, the bank will withdraw the money from your account, charging you large fees, especially since the withdraw probably overdrafted the account. If your current bank has the best rates, by all means get the loan from them, but close your other accounts and take them somewhere else. Everything I have ever heard on this issue says this isn't the case and that just because you have a checking/savings account with the same bank as your mortgage does not give them the right to auto draft your mortgage payments from it. Source?
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Jun 28, 2011 14:03
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OlSpazzy posted:Does that all make sense? No, Do Never Buy. I think that is Do Never Buy2 when you are saying you are buying a property with two of your bros.
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Jul 2, 2011 16:54
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MH Knights posted:Should fixer-uppers be avoided? Do you have a large amount of cash on hand to complete all of the work that needs to be done? If not you will want/need to go down the route of a 203k loan to get the rehab work written into the loan. It will be a bigger pain in the rear end, and you will probably just end up with a house worth $87K + whatever amount you had repaired if you are lucky. Red Flags: You didn't post any savings so I assume you have $0 to your name. Being single. Unless you are planning on staying that way for quite a while. How do you make $40k/yr and only take home $2100/mo? $710 might get you a $100K mortgage including taxes and insurance if your county has relatively low taxes (1-1.5%). It won't get you to $120K. Living in an old house in Wisconsin will cost you an arm and a leg in the winter unless you want to freeze to death, more $$$. You didn't post why you wanted to buy a house. Its assuredly an unwise financial decision so you probably won't get anyone telling you its a good idea here. Look for houses for rent instead of looking to buy.
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Aug 30, 2011 02:23
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Zero VGS posted:Beats the stock market at least, right? The same logic you are applying to houses (They are really cheap!) as a reason to get into them is the same reason you should be purchasing stock right now. Are you maxxed out on your tax advantaged retirement accounts?
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Sep 5, 2011 16:29
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Your math does work, and essentially boils down to you making ~$21K over 6 years if everything happens perfectly. But if the price of the condo decreases, your HOA needs to raise fees, you can't sell it when you need to, buyers ask for 3% concessions for closing costs, you have to move early, the unit needs a new roof, taxes go up, or anything else happens comes directly out of that profit. Or you could just invest that $64K and if you average 5% over 6 years you make $21K. Do never buy your apartment.
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Oct 13, 2011 19:25
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