Monday, September 26, 2005
Homebuying: the myth vs the reality
I've been thinking a lot over the weekend about my dream of homeownership. (Dream... nightmare... could be the same thing. :P) Although I'll wait to hear what the lender has to say, I think the reality is that I'm not going to be able to afford to do this right now. Currently I live almost paycheck to paycheck. (Like we get paid on Thursday night and there is $58.00 in my checking account at this moment.) When I look at places that I'm interested in, I notice several things... 1 - My mortgage will be more than I currently pay in rent. 2 - I will also have home owners dues. 3 - And I will now have property tax. One co-op that I like the look of was running 158k (and that's relatively cheap). Using a mortgage calculator I found online the payment would run me $909/mo. On top of that they have HOA dues of about 128 (I assume month) and then property tax running about 100/month. We are now almost $400.00 over what I normally pay in rent. Even with the tax break I would get for the write off of interest, I don't think it's enough. And yes I could move outside of the city, except I don't own a car and as much as I like the bus, if I had to rely on it to get me to work every day I may kill someone. So it seems as though this dream will have to be on hold for a little while at least.
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13 comments:
You and MP should buy something together.
If not, you could do an equity share with an investor. I know some investors :)
Shameless plug, PM.
Hmm...would Joanne and MP kill each other if they bought a house together? Perhaps.
This warrants further consideration.
Usually the dues are yearly for HOA and the property tax would be added into your monthly mortgage statement, but it can be a daunting step and you shouldn't feel like you have to do it before you are ready.
MP: I know OTHER investors. I wasn't plugging my own interests. You guys should really consider it, because then you could get a two bedroom, which would also have a higher resale value than a one bedroom.
Also, what Mishka said is true for property taxes, but you still pay the same amount each month. It goes into an escrow account set up by your lender and the lender pays your taxes when they are due. I highly recommend this option. You can usually do the same for your homeowner's insurance.
MP: You should know that Joanne isn't nearly so messy when she has a roommate. Her room still gets messy, but she cleans up in the other areas much more frequently.
I can be not as messy when I live with a not as messy person. Kate was kind of messy like me so together we made bigger messy. By myself, I'm exceedingly lazy and exceedingly messy.
Would MP & I Kill each other... who knows... but his job stability is fairly questionable at this time and he always has these grand schemes to move away from Seattle. Hence, I don't know if I'd consider him a potential condo buying buddy. Plus, I know what he currently pays in rent...
ooh, that's right. I pay a piddling amount of rent....
This warrants a great deal more thought. (Although I wouldn't leave you high-and-dry, Joanne.)
And there's nothing "questionable" about my job stability. I'm guaranteed to increase my income in the next two months!
Punk.
Since they look at your job history as part of your loan process... there is something questionable about your job stability. I'm not trying to be a punk, just pointing out the obvious.
Ah, in that case I look like a bloody hobo. C'est la vie.
whatOkay, so is an option to not put MP on the mortgage and just have him pay Jo rent?
(No, I haven't bypassed a couple steps. Shut up.)
Ahh, the other problem KTP... I don't qualify for enough on my own. I have a very small income. (Seriously I make about 1/2 what Michelle earns and I suspect MP might earn about 3/4ths if that of what I make).
This all may be moot anyway as my loan people don't do loans for co-ops and he hasn't gotten back to me on approval for a non-co-op property.
I am pretty confident that if you two decided you wanted to go in on a condo that I could help you find a loan option to fund it.
I'd be shocked if I made 3/4 of what you make. How sad is that?
I'm with PM on being able to find a workable loan option, though.
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