I should wander over to metafilter because I LOVE reading people's responses to questions on there. They have like every topic! I found one recently via notMartha that is clever relationship hacks. Loved reading these.
Anyway, we are constantly in a state of mulling over buying a house - ever since last year when my family was 100% discouraging over the topic and we decided to just move into this lower rent apartment to buy us some time and save us some money. I just want to hear all your ideas and thoughts and opinions on the topic. I'm terrified of the debt and the commitment. We need more room and a yard and a happy home for a dog. :)
Best coffee: The Roasterie's Nitro. YUM. So dark and delicious.
Make lists.
ReplyDeletePros; lower tax withholdings, more money back at year end, make money when you sell (or at least get BACK the money you paid toward your mortgage!), equity, credit boost, never having to move again if you don't want to, etc.
Cons; You have to fix stuff that goes wrong (this works out in your favor in the end, since you get your monthly payment back eventually) um, you can't just get up and move, but with leases, you can't do that anyway! Hmmm, I can't think of many cons.
You know what I mean, though, make lists. Lists are awesome.
Tips: Find out what property taxes are in the areas you are looking to buy, it could make a huge difference in where you decide to look/buy.
Roll your home insurance in to your home insurance for a nice discount.
When you find a house you like, ask your agent to ask the seller's agent if any recent contract fell through on the property. If it did, ask to see the inspection report before you bother to bid/before you pay for your own report.
Always buy in a good school district. Even if you won't use the school, your property will hold/accumulate value.
lists! yes. lists are great.
ReplyDeletei even got some great new little notebooks for birthday. :)
i love all this info! thank you!
i think you said it already:
ReplyDelete"We need more room and a yard and a happy home for a dog. :) "
Don't let fear rule.
--that's my advice :)
I've been composing lists since this afternoon. ha. :)
ReplyDeleteUm, I just have to say that we bought our house when we thought we weren't ready. We lucked out with a good APR and a fixed rate and a sales lady that LOVED us and knocked off 8 grand from the price of the brand new house. You never know what you can get, until you are looking. I am just saying....
ReplyDeleteAlso, all of the things mentioned are brilliant. I am just not good a the business end of things. I have the house finding mojo and Adam knows what will work, financially.
Do you know your credit score? That was a big wake-up call for us earlier this year--our credit score was too low for our bank to give us a loan to buy a house. So we're working on building up our credit, while renting a house. Meanwhile, renting is great, because the roof/furnace problems have NOT been our responsibility to pay for! Woo hoo!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I agree, lists are a lifesaver for me and my A.D.D..
ReplyDeleteseeing the furnace/roof comment above reminds me, make sure you get the seller to buy you a year of homeowners warranty. That way if the roof/furnace/AC/even appliances! are on their way out, you can call the home warranty people, pay them $60 to come determine what is needed for repair, and they pick up the bill. Our real estate agent was awesome and insisted on this. It's really only about $500 a year to upkeep the policy and it's totally worth it, IMO. Termites, busted pipes, etc? No problem.
ReplyDeletegood good. ok.
ReplyDeletei feel like i forget the silliest things, you know? like..don't even realize I forget. making some lists yesterday was just brilliant at sort of..grounding me.
like a christmas list - DUH. but i hadn't done it. just this spacey mental list of people and things i wanted to get for them.
i'm sad that the areas we like seem so pricey - the same simple house in a different area is half the price or less.