Buying a house, need some advice

D

dbzeag

Wants to kiss you where it stinks
Jun 9, 2006
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Chim and I went for a walk last night and we saw this.

http://www.realtor.com/Prop/1057288263?lnksrc=00045

The interior is awesome. New kitchen and most windows. It will need a new roof soon, a new garage, and to finish the windows. That's from what I can see so far.

I haven't taken a tour yet, but I will be taking my general contractor father with me to scope the place out.

The problem is I don't have much I can put down. Assume $10K

What are my options?

Party at the pad when/if we get it.
 
Some more information:

The house is within Cleveland border, so that means since I am a first time home buyer, I qualify for a 10 year tax abatement.

Also, this is about 4 blocks away from where I live currently, so the area is decent.

And next to this house waves a rainbow flag ;)
 
Depends on your credit rating and income. We put nothing down on our house, we just had to pay closing costs.

And FWIW, the estimated monthly payment is a lie. It doesn't appear to include tax, homeowners insurance, or PMI, which you'd have to pay if you put down less than 20%. It also doesn't include the massive amount of general crap you have to buy when moving into your first home that you didn't need in an apartment.
 
theacoustician said:
Depends on your credit rating and income. We put nothing down on our house, we just had to pay closing costs.
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We did the same. We did an 80%, 20% loan to avoid the PMI. The only reason I would advise against this is that it takes so much longer to get any equity in the house. If you ever want to resell after a few years, you have much less room to work with that if you'd put some money down.

theacoustician said:
And FWIW, the estimated monthly payment is a lie. It doesn't appear to include tax, homeowners insurance, or PMI, which you'd have to pay if you put down less than 20%. It also doesn't include the massive amount of general crap you have to buy when moving into your first home that you didn't need in an apartment.
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The monthly payment is just for the mortage. Of course they wouldn't include the other stuff because it's harder to assume rates on that.

My suggestion, don't escrow your taxes (which allows you to pay monthly). Just find out how much your taxes will be, and put that much in savings or a money market that way you can earn interest on it. The biggest scam is escrows. Not only do they make you pay a year in advance, they get to earn interest on your money that doesn't get paid out until the end of the year anyway.

This last year, we were able to pay our taxes twice (January and then in December). We got a nice tax rebate from that.
 
wonko80 said:
We did the same. We did an 80%, 20% loan to avoid the PMI. The only reason I would advise against this is that it takes so much longer to get any equity in the house. If you ever want to resell after a few years, you have much less room to work with that if you'd put some money down.



The monthly payment is just for the mortage. Of course they wouldn't include the other stuff because it's harder to assume rates on that.

My suggestion, don't escrow your taxes (which allows you to pay monthly). Just find out how much your taxes will be, and put that much in savings or a money market that way you can earn interest on it. The biggest scam is escrows. Not only do they make you pay a year in advance, they get to earn interest on your money that doesn't get paid out until the end of the year anyway.

This last year, we were able to pay our taxes twice (January and then in December). We got a nice tax rebate from that.
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I was planning on overpaying the loan each month if I could. I fear the gas bill, though, of over $400. That seems to be the norm for that area during winter. :(
 
wonko80 said:
My suggestion, don't escrow your taxes (which allows you to pay monthly). Just find out how much your taxes will be, and put that much in savings or a money market that way you can earn interest on it. The biggest scam is escrows. Not only do they make you pay a year in advance, they get to earn interest on your money that doesn't get paid out until the end of the year anyway.
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Also, when we first set up our escrow, the mortgage company screwed it up so bad it was unreal. They were paying other peoples taxes with my money. They also paid a couple of my tax bills twice :tard: It took us 3 months to straighten the shit out.
We take care of it ourselves now.
 
All I know about this stuff is that you should not get an ARM (Adustable Rate Mortage). Try to get a fixed mortage. I am starting to think about this kind of stuff myself so keep us posted.
 
Dharma1521 said:
All I know about this stuff is that you should not get an ARM (Adustable Rate Mortage). Try to get a fixed mortage. I am starting to think about this kind of stuff myself so keep us posted.
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Depends on how long you're gonna stay in the house. I think the average is 7 years. That being the case, a 5/1 ARM is a much better deal than the higher interest you'll pay on a 30 year fixed.
 
first off, that house is AWESOME, and i'm not believing the price!! built in 1900? WOW. what a find!!

secondly, i know a great mortgage guy who is trustworthy and will be honest with you. if you want a name, let me know.

all great advice up there. and with the heat, buy space heaters, run them when you're in the room, and leave your thermostat at 65 or so, lower if you can (but it's a two story, and that's hard to do.) it's bearable and you don't put out that money each month. space heaters will do wonders, and so do blankets!

good luck with it all, and keep us posted. it's a crazy process to go through, but it's worth it! (our house just appraised for $68,000 more than what we paid for it four years ago...great investment!)
 
wonko80 said:
My suggestion, don't escrow your taxes (which allows you to pay monthly). Just find out how much your taxes will be, and put that much in savings or a money market that way you can earn interest on it. The biggest scam is escrows. Not only do they make you pay a year in advance, they get to earn interest on your money that doesn't get paid out until the end of the year anyway.
Click to expand...
Depends on the demands of your insurance company. A lot of insurance companies refuse to cover you if you're a first time home buyer and you don't escrow. I guess it has to do with trusting that you'll actually pay your taxes or not. I think it also depends on the state you're in. If no-escrow is the way you want to go, you'll have to do your homework for your state first.
 
theacoustician said:
Depends on your credit rating and income. We put nothing down on our house, we just had to pay closing costs.

And FWIW, the estimated monthly payment is a lie. It doesn't appear to include tax, homeowners insurance, or PMI, which you'd have to pay if you put down less than 20%. It also doesn't include the massive amount of general crap you have to buy when moving into your first home that you didn't need in an apartment.
Click to expand...

if you work it, you can even get the seller to pay the closing costs too...my ex and I did that...nothing down with no closing costs was pretty sweet
 
fly said:
I've heard good things about them, mostly cause they can be assumable. What's bad about them?
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So many regulations that aren't required by conventional loans (i.e. any thing more than 2 steps requires a handrail and a bunch of other shit like that.)

Plus the insurance (PMI) you pay to have it is expenssive and you don't get that back so you're throwing money away.
 
theacoustician said:
Depends on the demands of your insurance company. A lot of insurance companies refuse to cover you if you're a first time home buyer and you don't escrow. I guess it has to do with trusting that you'll actually pay your taxes or not. I think it also depends on the state you're in. If no-escrow is the way you want to go, you'll have to do your homework for your state first.
Click to expand...

I don't think I have to worry about it. I don't have to pay taxes for 10 years because I am a new home buyer
 
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