Buying A House: C or D?

owning a house is awesome. even when its shitty and stuff breaks, its yer shit which makes fixing it feel like a worthwhile endeavor.

ezackly

owning a house is pretty rad. not paying rent PWNS. Mortgages are feh, but, not having to chase dodgy landlords and beg for plumbing fitting replacements is k-awesome. and I say all of this despite being in the middle of a) trying get foundation repaired on a 97 year old house, and b) discovering a swarm of termites in the same week. Oh, old house, I love you like my crazy grandmother. You are so old you are almost beyond most people's comprehension of how to fix you, but so strange and lovely and dear to our hearts that we love you anyway.

sigh.

getting ready to help buy a house. 1940. so so excited. inspection happens soon, am really looking forward to what he uncovers

or, y'know, dreading

so do you people who pay mortgages (in the US) have way less withheld in your taxes every month from your paycheck? I'm trying to figure out if I can afford to do this.

Our mortgage is only $100 more than what we paid in rent at the time we decided to buy, so no.

Finally moving into our house this weekend that we bought in December (yay remodelling). Wish me luck. I still can't believe I'm doing this.

classic, even tho my home's value is slipping back down toward our 2004 purchase price. C'est la vie.

Yeah, we were unfortunate enough to have bought at the end of 2007, so our house has dropped about 16% in value from what we paid. :(

But we also built a new garage and have put tons of work into it, new windows are up next when I get finally get a full-time gig.

ours doubled in value within a year after we bought it. then it began a long, sharp slide down.

to be clear, i have no regrets. in fact, i love our house and our neighborhood. i plan to hold it for a long time, and i'm don't rely on it as an investment, so whatever value it has today is okay.

I'm stressing out because it seems like such a good time to buy, but it seems like such an ordeal!

It's a total ordeal, but it is also totally worth it if you really love the place you purchase.

I am looking out my window right now at the sun shining on a small tree in my yard. Yesterday, while looking out the very same window at the same tree, my wife and I saw a Wilson's Warbler, a small yellow bird much like a goldfinch, flitting around the branches. The birds love our yard.

Yeah, owning a house can be totally worth it.

I had a stretch where I really hated our current house, but last year when I found out how well it can take an oak tree through the roof, I fell in love with it a little.

so do you people who pay mortgages (in the US) have way less withheld in your taxes every month from your paycheck? I'm trying to figure out if I can afford to do this.

The part of the payment that's interest (most of the whole) is deductable from your income for the purposes of figuring your tax. So determine that amount, then determine what your final tax rate (percentage after all deductions) was last year, take that percentage of the monthly interest, then figure how many deductions to add to cover that amount (there's probably a worksheet in the tax booklet that does this last bit).

thanks, that's what I assumed and was looking for. I suppose i could go see a mortgage broker and get this really clarified.

I'm looking at purchasing a bank-owned house. we're going to look at it tomorrow. as far as I can tell the worst thing about this now is that, since there is no seller aside from a bank, there is no-one to fix anything before you buy it, so you have to make sure your inspection is thorough. we know someone who's realtor told them doing this was 'a pain in the ass' but I have a feeling that's because the realtor wasn't going to make any money finding them an REO. anyway, wish me luck, I will probably want to kill myself if I do this. but since I fully expect to be in bankruptcy one year from now, I'd better buy a house while I can.

uk people, is now a good time to think about buying a house? (so so sick of giving money to a useless and intrusive letting agency)

also how easy is it for a couple to get a mortgage when one person lives on topsy turvy freelance wage? could a set of parents step in as guarantor or does it not work like that?

It's worth taking a few weekends to look at as many places as you can, just to get a feel of what's out there. You'll also find it easier to spot a 'bargain' if you see one as well (eg a mate of mine was lucky getting her house because the owner had died and the next of kin wanted a quick sale rather than have the process drag on). Not saying this will happen of course but it's good to be ready if you see somewhere worthwhile.

Parents can act as guarantor - I was in a similar situation, only on a fixed-term contract which the financial advisor said could be difficult. Looked into getting a parent to act as guarantor but at the time the guarantor had to have an income of £30k minimum which I think mine didn't quite reach. After a lot of fussing over my fixed-term contract (and me considering quitting just to go get a permanent job at Tescos or something) it all worked out ok and the mortgage co didn't seem to care - I imagine it would be different today though.

I'd recommend finding a non-shysty (free) financial advisor who can give you an idea of the ins and outs, but they won't always be able to recommend you the best actual mortgage. The bigger deposit you can get together, the better choice you'll have of mortgages too iirc.

It's a total ordeal, but it is also totally worth it if you really love the place you purchase.

so so so so otm. and 2 weeks after the ordeal of closing & moving all the hassle is a distant memory.

Everything that NtrVP said. Mrs A and I completed on purchase last month, having seen our old house (bought in 2005) go up a good deal in value and down a fair bit too; we love the area of Manchester we're in and looked at more than 20 houses within a mile radius of the old gaff before finding one we both agreed on - in the end it was sheer luck as it was just going onto the agent's books and they told us about it when we were looking at another house. The things I learnt this time round:

1) Plenty of people still think their house is worth what it was in 2007 so be prepared to make offers that you might think are "cheeky" and to walk away if the vendors won't see sense. If they are serious about selling they'll come back to you.

2)We scraped together a 15% deposit from the remaining equity in our last house, but would have been f'cked otherwise. I think the mortgage deals have improved a little since then though, but DEF. throw as much as you can into the pot if it will get you a better rate.

3)The house we bought is in an area which we'd dismissed initially, simply because we didn't know it too well (despite it being a stone's throw from the old place). Get out and pound the pavements and walk around your target areas, otherwise you'll never get a real feel for them.

4)Get all your finances and mortgage agreement-in-principle in place asap. This will ensure you know exactly what you *can* afford and also shows agents that you are in a good position for them to recommend them to their clients.

5)It goes against my natural instincts, but make a real nuisance of yrselves on the phone to local agents and get to know who their main selling people are - once you know them by name you can steal a march on other potential buyers.

On a final note, I rented for years and know exactly what you mean about being sick of it. Imo there is not much to beat the feeling of getting home from work and closing the door of your own house, even if it needs decorating and renovation from top to bottom. Good luck!

no serious regrets, but if i had to do it over I would've definitely gone with one that needed little more than a coat of paint. I've spent right at half of the original purchase price (in 2004) in improvements. fuck a fixer-upper imo. unless you're on some Bob Vila shit.

Yeah "luck" seems to come into it a lot more than you'd think from reading newspaper property supplements about house price trends etc. We didn't even think about looking at our flat originally because we assumed (from looking at the outside) it would be cramped with low ceilings etc, and had actually put an cheekily low offer on the flat below but didn't *LOVE* it. We just looked at ours because we were in the building and both knew straight away we had to have it.

i looked at the saddest property today, completely beautiful, but occupied by a tenant, an infirm 87 year old man whose wife just went into a nursing home; everyone has told him that he'll be able to stay when the house is purchased. the price of the house has dropped $200k since it went on the market because no-one really wants to evict this guy, although he told us "I'm not going to live forever!" of course if I bought it that would guarantee that he would.

As I see it, the problem there isn't him dying or not dying, so much as it is what happens if he becomes unable to function and unwilling to admit it. Who takes care of him, if he can't care for himself? It would really suck to take him to court to be declared incompetant.

akm that story broke my heart cleanly in half

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

That is pretty sad. I hope someone can break it to the guy gently. Or that he passes peacefully in his sleep soon and makes the question moot.

Different subject: I have a problem understanding the concept of home "ownership" that doesn't involve owning an entire building and the lot it sits on. Like, "owning" a flat or a condo or whatever. If the main sewer line pops or the roof leaks, and several "owners" have to get together to figure out which plumber or roofer to call, that doesn't feel like true home ownership to me. Or, what if you're technically an "owner" but have to deal with 3 a.m. death metal enthusiasts on the floor above or below? I'd have a hard time thinking of myself as a homeowner if I was still subject to a renter's miseries.

owning a house is pretty rad. not paying rent PWNS. Mortgages are feh, but, not having to chase dodgy landlords and beg for plumbing fitting replacements is k-awesome.

otm. Yet there isn't a week when I don't suppress second thoughts. Condo association meetings suck, even though mine is the least intrusive imaginable.

Condo associations, God bless 'em, function a bit like mixed-markets economies, seeking their ideal Nash equilibria through compromise and intuitive game theory, and all the while confounding one's impulse to live like a bear.

our house on MVI is officially on the market. we are crossing our fingers. we would love to buy something here with what we get from a sale. we are renting right now. we love it here and want to stay 4ever. we shall see. if it languishes on the market too long we might need to rent it out again to help pay the loan money we owe. i hope it doesn't come to that. but who knows. it kinda looks a little dumb and prefab on the outside, but its really quite nice on the inside. big and breezy. we just got back from a week of scrubbing it down and cleaning it out. the people who were renting it had huge dogs and were chain smokers and had big huge 18 year old sons and the walls were really gross. why did we paint them white again? but really it was lovely to be on the island. the weather was amazing. the birds! i had forgotten about the birds. its like one big bird sanctuary. even walking the beach by the lagoon next to our house with the kids was so nice. (without the day to dayness and my job woes and money woes we could just enjoy the island for what it is, a big beautiful rock in the ocean.)

http://oceanpark-realty.com/propertydetail.php?id=263

We were meant to exchange last Wednesday, but annoyingly we still haven't, and now my dad's trying to persuade me to make the removal of an asbestos-roofed shed from the garden of the property a condition of sale.

He's got a point - we don't want it, it's a non-permanent structure and it'll be costly to remove (never mind the asbestos, it's in a stupid position). But we don't want to upset the apple cart and delay the exchange (and thus the completion date), which would be really inconvenient to us.

Is the last-minute addition of such conditions of sale a common thing? The thing is, I know that if we ever try to sell the pace and the shed's still there, the buyer will inevitably say "we're not touching it till that asbestos is a long away away" so we'll have to pay to have it done then, even if we leave it for now. How much is asbestos removal anyway?

the people who were renting it had huge dogs and were chain smokers and had big huge 18 year old sons and the walls were really gross.

My mother used to rent houses out. Some of the things that her renters would do to her houses (and we're talking about 90% of her renters) would beggar belief.

Not sure if I've mentioned it here or not, but our brother-in-law bought us a house. It's a poor people's house--a decrepit trailer-plus-extensions and a shed way out in the woods in Central Florida, and half the family is going to live there with us--but it's a place to live.

Is the last-minute addition of such conditions of sale a common thing?

It's not uncommon. A ballpark for removal would probably be about £1000, although your local council may offer an almost free service to dispose of the shed roof as a single piece (assuming you are able to remove it and bag it up securely intact). If you don't want to delay the exchange the best option at this stage is for your solicitor to negotiate a discount based on the cost to you to get rid of it, so you need to get a proper quote from a local builder/asbestos removal firm and use this as a bargaining tool. This kind of thing is usually called an "allowance on completion" ie. when you complete the money is knocked off the price you pay.

I'd recommend against trying to get the vendor to do the work before you exchange as this WILL delay things and you'll still have to get the work independently inspected once done.

Christine: imo, any house is better than no house - congratulations, and whatever state it's in now is just a starting point for renovations!

All this is probably moot now, as we've just exchanged, an hour ago! OMG we pretty much own our own first home, crazy.

So now we've exchanged, we don't have a negotiating leg to stand on, do we?

Yeah, I think you're stuck with your shed. But it's yours! Your very own lump of asbestos!

Woo, asbestos! Maybe I can make something useful out of it like, uh, a barbecue. Or crush it up and lay it around the outside of the house to keep people away, like a toxic dust moat...

Whats up, homeowners?

I have to vent here. In addition to the Federal New Homebuyer's Tax Credit, California also has a tax credit in place which can provide up to $10,000 in tax credit for first time home buyers. Needless to say, with the property values out here, EVERYONE is claiming $10,000.

Problem is that you need to send in your application within ONE WEEK of settlement. 7 days.

And, if your realtor, escrow agent, or accountant don't give you the heads up on this, you miss out on $10,000.

Now, I've taken out a serious load of student loans, and have lost my share at the poker table, but just watching a $10,000 tax credit disappear because paid professionals in my employ were not diligent in providing me with information re: a FILING DEADLINE?!?!?!

If I were to be so lax and fuck something up like this for one of my clients, I would be unemployed.

I am SO pissed off right now. It might take a few extra minutes on the exercise hamster wheel to work this one out.

Wow, that really sucks. REALLY. Are you sure there's no comeback or anything?

Having total mortgage woes today, fuck em all.

I went ahead and filed the application anyway - took literally 5 min from print to fax. Unfortunately, the folks at the CA Tax Board informed me that late is late.

According to my accountant, who I trust to a great degree, the escrow company typically takes care of this sort of pro forma paperwork. Their response was "Not our problem" and "That's not something we take care of here." I want to go just yell at them for however long $10,000 would be worth.

So mad.

Just to give a countervailing opinion, we just moved into a rental house and are delighted. We're paying rent and not building equity, but on the other hand we're not paying property taxes. And what we get for our money is that when anything needs fixing in the house it is SOMEBODY ELSE'S PROBLEM. (It helps that our landlord actually gets things done effectively and promptly and is very into keeping up the house, landscaping, etc.)

And that feeling of "getting home from work and closing the door of your own house?" It turns out you have it even if you don't own the house!

fuuuuuuuuuuuck that sucks BLAM. i'll see if we have $10K lying around the house that we can bring down when we visit.

In addition to the Federal New Homebuyer's Tax Credit

I thought this was over with??

Nope. We did the deed in enough time to take advantage of THAT one. This CA one, however - I'm just freaking so pissed.

damn man, you got my sympathy

Christine, don't harsh on your new home! My mom was just saying that a few otherwise-WASPy members of my extended fam did the same when they were newly married: young couple pays off trailer home within 1-2 years, puts rest of money in savings for next and nicer domicile.

A roof is a roof is a roof, and as long as there's love and refuge and all that shit underneath it, it's doing its job. Congrats!

finally in a position next year to do this....due to the charity of our friends, who just bought a house but now have to move overseas for work for 10 months, they're renting their house to us for super cheap, allowing us to save a ton of money. hopefully the housing marketing will only get worse for sellers in the next year and we'll find a bargain by the time they come back.

that's a kickass situation right there