Homeowners- Please Read!
- Thread starter RODSCALIP5
- Start date
I bought my first home about a year and a half ago, and I have never been happier! It's amazing how much money you throw away renting. You will have much more responsability, but after a short while you really get into it.
Get as much house as you can afford. That is the best advice I can give you. Try to avoid interest-only loans if you can, although most mortgage brokers will tell you differently. Sometimes they are helpful if you know that the house/property will gain value very quickly, but it's usually best to have that equity for when you move onto your next house.
Good luck with it! It's probably the best thing you can do financially.
Get as much house as you can afford. That is the best advice I can give you. Try to avoid interest-only loans if you can, although most mortgage brokers will tell you differently. Sometimes they are helpful if you know that the house/property will gain value very quickly, but it's usually best to have that equity for when you move onto your next house.
Good luck with it! It's probably the best thing you can do financially.
mountjonas
Member
- :
- 2013 VRM MS3
Notorious said:
My brother in law used to live around there. He bought a condo for 60k and sold it almost two years ago for 220. Lucky bastard
the only thing with condos you have to factor in is the association fees. if you can find an old house for slightly more with no association you actually are generally better off. if you're handy that's a plus on the fixer up places.
the plus side to condos are that you have relatively no yard maintenance costs. condo insurance is less than home insurance too. I know in socal I bought my 1st place (a townhouse) for 195k and sold it for 325k 4 years later.
If you're sure you will move in around 5 years definitely look at getting an 5/1 arm.
my utils went up slightly from an apartment -> townhouse. but went up a LOT from the townhouse -> house w/ yard. the nice thing with the townhouse was that the garbage/sewer were included and the landscaping as part of the association fees.
the plus side to condos are that you have relatively no yard maintenance costs. condo insurance is less than home insurance too. I know in socal I bought my 1st place (a townhouse) for 195k and sold it for 325k 4 years later.
If you're sure you will move in around 5 years definitely look at getting an 5/1 arm.
my utils went up slightly from an apartment -> townhouse. but went up a LOT from the townhouse -> house w/ yard. the nice thing with the townhouse was that the garbage/sewer were included and the landscaping as part of the association fees.
I'm just outside of Austin TX so if numbers seem low, thats because you live in the most insane state of the union. But maybe you'll find some of this worth reading.
I was paying $600 month for rent.
Now I'm paying $1150 for a 3br/2ba house(but that includes all the taxes/insurance and crap). By owning a house and itemizing my taxes I got $3500 back(I was getting like $300-400 before). Roll that $3500 off my payment and I'm down to $880.
Then I'm renting a room to a buddy for $350.
Now I'm down to $530 and most my utilities are shared.
Utilities are marginally higher...except for water which is three times as much because of the damn lawn.
And I'm getting all the equity while I'm here instead of it vanishing forever. And then there will be capital gains when I do sell.
Home ownership really makes sense to me. That's why it blows me away that some stupid kids on here blow thousands of $ on their car.
I was paying $600 month for rent.
Now I'm paying $1150 for a 3br/2ba house(but that includes all the taxes/insurance and crap). By owning a house and itemizing my taxes I got $3500 back(I was getting like $300-400 before). Roll that $3500 off my payment and I'm down to $880.
Then I'm renting a room to a buddy for $350.
Now I'm down to $530 and most my utilities are shared.
Utilities are marginally higher...except for water which is three times as much because of the damn lawn.
And I'm getting all the equity while I'm here instead of it vanishing forever. And then there will be capital gains when I do sell.
Home ownership really makes sense to me. That's why it blows me away that some stupid kids on here blow thousands of $ on their car.
mountjonas
Member
- :
- 2013 VRM MS3
association fees for townhomes also include insurance on the outside of the house. so all you have to insure is your belongings. i never liked association fees, but once i learned that part of it is for insurance, i wasn't opposed to it. the other thing with associations for single family homes is that they'll keep everyone in check, like with rotting cars in driveways and what-not. true, some can get pretty strict with rules, but i figure if everyone has to abide by the same rules, i'm okay with it.
MinnowGT said:
What does ARM stand for? If you end up staying in the house for 10 years.... is a 5/1 ARM worse?
BTW does anyone know what they look for most when applying for your first home loan... or what they put the most emphasis on? Income, credit, etc, etc. I think my credit is great but I don't know because I got my identity stolen last year.
This thread has really helped me out. Thanks guys.
BTW does anyone know what they look for most when applying for your first home loan... or what they put the most emphasis on? Income, credit, etc, etc. I think my credit is great but I don't know because I got my identity stolen last year.
This thread has really helped me out. Thanks guys.
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mountjonas
Member
- :
- 2013 VRM MS3
income and credit are both important. they want to know if you can afford it and if you'll keep up on payments. when you go to a mortgage company, they'll run your credit and you can see if there's any shennanigans going on.
edit: be careful though, most lenders will over qualify you. alone, i pre-qualified for 350k, but i knew that i would be living paycheck to paycheck. so we did the math first to find out how much we were willing to spend.
edit: be careful though, most lenders will over qualify you. alone, i pre-qualified for 350k, but i knew that i would be living paycheck to paycheck. so we did the math first to find out how much we were willing to spend.
I have an ARM loan. I was told at the time that it would be an 1% increase or decrease a year, depending on the interests rates at & market at the time. With this in mind, here's what I got.
My first year was 5.75%, Second year went down to 4.75%. Third year went back up to 5.75. Fourth year remained the same at the 5.75. Now since interests rates have increased over this past year, it is going up again now to 6.75. And I'm selling the house.
I bought my house at $142k about 4 years ago. I now have $136k left to pay on it (which wont happen because I'm selling the b*tch and moving to Florida.. lol) It was a new construction and made to my specifications. Home owners assoc. was only $14 a month, but had no luxuries like a pool, playground, etc. I also live in a good area near some very expensive homes, with good schools and low taxes.
Within the last two years the taxes have increased to an extra $400 a year in property taxes alone. Just about every few houses is for sale, making it hard to get out of my own house due to competition. The high schools went on a "choice plan" meaning that whether you live in a good area or bad area, your kid will probably be bused anywhere in the county! So that really nice, brand new high school that you were hoping that your kid would go to in the nice part of town will now be turned into another juvenile detention center pretty much. The assoc fees went up "x" amount of dollars for them to mow a piece of grass about 25 feet long at the entrance. The other houses in the area recently sold on an average of anywhere from 4 months to a year. The utilities are crazy. The winter is usually $200 a month in gas alone. Electric is about $75 monthly during winter and $200 in the summer. And water is $55 a month. This doesnt include cable, phones or satelite.
So what I'm saying is.... had I stayed in an apartment for a few years, I could've left at any time. Now that I own a house and trying to leave to Florida, it seems like the worst decision I ever made. So if you plan on being somewhere, check the market, know how long you plan on staying there and if you get an ARM lown, it will go up and down like a yo-yo depending on the market rates at the time. Mine would have eventually gone up to "no more than 10%." Like I was going to wait for that to happen. yeahhhhh right.
My first year was 5.75%, Second year went down to 4.75%. Third year went back up to 5.75. Fourth year remained the same at the 5.75. Now since interests rates have increased over this past year, it is going up again now to 6.75. And I'm selling the house.
I bought my house at $142k about 4 years ago. I now have $136k left to pay on it (which wont happen because I'm selling the b*tch and moving to Florida.. lol) It was a new construction and made to my specifications. Home owners assoc. was only $14 a month, but had no luxuries like a pool, playground, etc. I also live in a good area near some very expensive homes, with good schools and low taxes.
Within the last two years the taxes have increased to an extra $400 a year in property taxes alone. Just about every few houses is for sale, making it hard to get out of my own house due to competition. The high schools went on a "choice plan" meaning that whether you live in a good area or bad area, your kid will probably be bused anywhere in the county! So that really nice, brand new high school that you were hoping that your kid would go to in the nice part of town will now be turned into another juvenile detention center pretty much. The assoc fees went up "x" amount of dollars for them to mow a piece of grass about 25 feet long at the entrance. The other houses in the area recently sold on an average of anywhere from 4 months to a year. The utilities are crazy. The winter is usually $200 a month in gas alone. Electric is about $75 monthly during winter and $200 in the summer. And water is $55 a month. This doesnt include cable, phones or satelite.
So what I'm saying is.... had I stayed in an apartment for a few years, I could've left at any time. Now that I own a house and trying to leave to Florida, it seems like the worst decision I ever made. So if you plan on being somewhere, check the market, know how long you plan on staying there and if you get an ARM lown, it will go up and down like a yo-yo depending on the market rates at the time. Mine would have eventually gone up to "no more than 10%." Like I was going to wait for that to happen. yeahhhhh right.
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- 10 MS3
mountjonas said:
Good info guys! How much would you guys say is a decent amount of $$ to have the end of each month after paying everything? Basically, how much do lenders usually exepct you to have? What percentage? I have done the calculators and all, but I still want to see what the real world has to say.
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- 10 MS3
laracroft said:
Wow, did you make any equity?
The house is supposed to be worth $154 compared to the $136 I now owe. But after I pay realtor fees and such, I'm sure I'll end up with like $5k in my pocket. lol But at this point, I dont care. I just want to sell the damn thing and get out of the "deep south" and be with Ghost again. He's in Florida alone without me. 
mountjonas
Member
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- 2013 VRM MS3
RODSCALIP5 said:
i know someone who finance 110% of the house because they didn't have any money. he's a cop, she's a teacher so the lender knew they weren't deadbeats. so technically, you don't have to have anything. we had 10% down and took out two loans. another 10% for a 20% total down payment and then an 80% for the balance. our goal is to pay the 10% off as fast as we can since it's at a higher rate than the balance.
if you've got the money, i think 20% down will keep you from paying pmi. don't ask me what it is, all i know is that you avoid paying pmi like the plague.
at the end of the month, have what you feel comfortable with. if you want a super nice place and live paycheck to paycheck, do it. we didn't over-buy our house so we could save up for another house. that's another thing. your first house isn't your last house. don't worry about buying your dream house at first, because for most of us, that won't happen. buy something that you can afford and that you won't grow out of in a year.
mountjonas
Member
- :
- 2013 VRM MS3
chuyler1 said:
once they said that it'll knock off 7 or so years, we were on it like stink on s***. make sure you don't have a prepayment penalty. if you can't do the twice a month plan, you can make 13 payments a year (or more). it's just about the same thing.
ARM = Adjustable Rate Mortgage
5/1 ARM = ARM that keeps a fixed rate (usually lower than a 30 year fixed) for the first 5 years, and then adjusts the rate at most 1% every year afterward.
and HOA is the devil, I just really want to say that, damn i hate HOAs :mad:
5/1 ARM = ARM that keeps a fixed rate (usually lower than a 30 year fixed) for the first 5 years, and then adjusts the rate at most 1% every year afterward.
and HOA is the devil, I just really want to say that, damn i hate HOAs :mad:
mountjonas
Member
- :
- 2013 VRM MS3
ZoomZoomH said:
for the most part, they are. but i don't know how yours work, but our's takes care of insurance on the structure.
we pay all our home insurance through our escrow fees as part of our monthly mortgage. All the damn HOAs do is regulate what we can/cannot do in terms of home improvements, EVERY ******* LITTLE THING NEEDS HOA APPROVAL before any 'mods' can be done. WTF, this is borderline communist. I bought the house, I own the deed, who the hell is HOA that can tell me what I can or cannot do to MY PROPERTY :mad:
mountjonas
Member
- :
- 2013 VRM MS3
yes, then you have one of the nazi ones. the good thing is that at least your neighbors can't trash their houses and make the neighborhood look like s***.
