mattisr1984 Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 is oddly gratifying yet sort of scary... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonesomexloveus Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 can't wait til i get to do this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One Hundred Fifty-Two Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 What kind of expenses (besides the cost of the house) do I have to factor in to know how much I'll have to save up? Closing fees, commission, insurance... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattisr1984 Posted April 25, 2011 Author Share Posted April 25, 2011 well the mortgage payment breaks down like this: principal + interest + morgage insurance + homeowners insurance + property taxes. it sounds like a lot but it consolidates into one payment. if you have enough saved to put 20% down on the house, you wont have to pay mortgage insurance which could save you between $75 - 100 a month. mortgage insurance, like interest, is tax deductible and goes away once youve paid off 20% of the principal. i could have done this, i just didnt want to put such a large chunk of money down (would have been something like 22k + closing costs). i dont think youll have to pay any commissions to anyone since youre the buyer, unless you agree to something otherwise. that should all come out of the sellers pocket. in the homebuying process, i had to pay for a home inspection ($165, but that was a smokin' deal), an appraisal ($400) plus the downpayment and closing costs. i could list out everything that the closing costs go to but its a number of different things - escrow funds, recording fees, title insurance, etc. etc. altogether it came to about $7500 (that includes the down payment) for a $108k house. i was told closing costs are roughly 3% of the purchase price of the house. your costs to close really depend on how much the house is and how much youre putting down. sidenote - if you haggle a bit, you may be able to get a lender to wave the origination fee from your closing costs which saved me about $1100 bucks. another sidenote - you can also ask the seller for closing cost assistance. some will do it, some wont. i opted not to because we decided to ask the seller to replace the roof which they did. it was hail damaged and so they made a homeowners claim on the property and just like that - we got a brand new roof (which would have cost almost 8k alone). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrc Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 i had to pay for a home inspection ($165, but that was a smokin' deal) Damn that is a good deal, i had to pay 475 for mine last month. What kind of expenses (besides the cost of the house) do I have to factor in to know how much I'll have to save up? Closing fees, commission, insurance... No matter what you think you will spend on remodel and fixing up a joint it will not be close and you will spend soooo much more. even with my contractor and parent's help estimating expenses we still went well over budget. I am at week 6 on my renovation project and finally the end in sight. We gutted the place and did new kitchen cabinets, granite, tile in the kitchen, carpet in the bedroom, and ripped everything out of the bathrooms. Now i just need my bathrooms/plumbing finished and then hopefully i can start moving in this weekend or early next week. the whole process has been so stressful but im happy that i will be rocking a 100% brand new house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattisr1984 Posted April 25, 2011 Author Share Posted April 25, 2011 i had to pay for a home inspection ($165, but that was a smokin' deal) Damn that is a good deal, i had to pay 475 for mine last month. yeah it was. and he was insanely thorough. gave me a 19 page, spiral bound report on the spot after our walk through. i felt pretty lucky in that regard. the house we bought was taken care of extremely well. literally not a crack in the wall, plumbing was updated, very well insulated, etc. but was in major need of cosmetic updating. it felt like 1983 inside (wallpaper in every room, etc.). we're leaving the kitchen cabinets but we are going to sand and refinish them and update the hardware. also doing the countertops but going the economical route and just getting an updated laminate top. just had our tile put into the kitchen and bathrooms and will be doing carpet once we are done painting. it DOES add up and its been a lot of work but for the area we wanted to buy a home in, i am actually going to save money. most houses in the area cost 150k+ now and the house we bought would have sold for $285k 5 yrs ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrc Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 that's great. Good luck during all the work. My place was built 26 years ago and it felt like it in the inside, the only upgrade they did was put wood in all the rooms except for the bedroom. The bathroom and kitchen cabinets were all beat up and had warped doors so replacing them all was the only option. And i found low level granite (common stones) were basically like $200-300 more than Formica countertops (after cuts/install). We went the shortsale route cause that was the only thing i could afford. I am so happy ours was a FHA qualified place so we only had to put 3.5% down which was pretty painless. I guess with new rules and restrictions they require a 20% down payment on non FHA qualified condos, which is crazy. This is what we started with and after 5-6 weeks I am really looking forward to being able to get out of my parents place and into my own in the next week or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonesomexloveus Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 my sister and brother in law just bought a house (well, they're closing on may 5th), and i think they only wound up putting less than 7% down on it and their monthly payment (with insurance, taxes and everything) is only $200 more than they had been paying in rent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattisr1984 Posted April 25, 2011 Author Share Posted April 25, 2011 awesome pics. im embarrassed to admit how much HGtv my gf and i have watched since we started looking for (and bought) a house. its fun to see a house be fixed up though - holmes on homes anyone? and yeah, 20% down is pretty much the standard unless youre going FHA. i also hear townhose / condos are real hard to get into now because of HOA's going broke, etc. we went FHA and had a few hiccups because the underwriter was sooo picky about things the appraiser noted on the appraisal (all the way down to wires that were w/ out a junction box in the attic - as if we couldn't have fix it after we took possession of the house). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suchashorttime Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 awesome pics. im embarrassed to admit how much HGtv my gf and i have watched since we started looking for (and bought) a house. its fun to see a house be fixed up though - holmes on homes anyone? this is nothing to be embarrassed about. it's a surprisingly good resource for ideas / tips / establishing some sort of base knowledge about homeownership. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadreckoning Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 there is some good info here. My bid was excepted on thursday, my home inspection (~500) is on wednesday, the appraisal is next week too (~400), and hopefully i will settle by the end of May. Your monthly payment (Principal and Interest) is based on a simple calculation you can pull off the internet. It's based on the loan amount, interest rate and the length of the loan. As an example, given the current rates of 4.875% - you would multiply every thousand dollars loaned by 5.292. On top of the P+I you need to add taxes, which in my area are about $400 a month. If you put down less than 20% you will have to pay mortgage insurance. You can pay off the pay the mortgage and homeowners insurance at closing, which will lower your monthly payment. There will be other things to pay like home inspection, appraisal, title insurance, flood certificate, escrows for taxes, etc. etc. The amount needed in escrow will vary somewhat depending where in the tax year you settle. Depending on what you do, i imagine closing costs would vary from $7,000-$13,000 for a moderately priced single family home in most areas. As mentioned earlier, it is quite common as ask for closing cost assistance. Generally, people ask for 3% of the purchase price, but you can ask up to 6% with most lenders. The transfer taxes are generally split 50/50 between the seller and buyer. I got 6% form the seller because we already know i would have to replace the AC compressor. Some things to keep in mind: The lenders fees (origination fees, underwriting fees, etc.) are negotiable. You can get multiple quotes and play them off each other. You might even be able to haggle a lower interest rate. A good home inspection is worth the money. surprises are ofter costly. if your home doesn't appraise for the assessed tax value you can dispute it to lower you tax bill. This is quite common, especially given the current market. The house i bought was 1/2 the 2009 assessment. Your agent may try to push lenders, title companies, inspectors, insurance agents, etc. on you, but you are free to shop around and pick the ones you want. You should get a nice tax return given that mortgage insurance is tax deductible. It's also common ask for a home warranty from the seller. This will be for the 1st year, you'll have to pay for successive years if you want. It's nice, especially if the appliances are old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 bought my house last year and it rules. I am supposedly getting the final 25% of my 1st time credit the 2nd week of may, so that'll be awesome. we are doing some landscaping in the backyard, could really use the rest of that money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrc Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 awesome pics. im embarrassed to admit how much HGtv my gf and i have watched since we started looking for (and bought) a house. its fun to see a house be fixed up though - holmes on homes anyone? Thanks. Yeah... I hear you on the hgtv shows, i like Holmes on Homes and also dig (i think its called) the Antonio project (the dude has sleeves, and glasses). Anyways, he does a lot of nice work too. and yeah, 20% down is pretty much the standard unless youre going FHA. i also hear townhose / condos are real hard to get into now because of HOA's going broke, etc. Whoops, yeah i meant 25% not 20%, and you are correct about the HOA's. Luckily mine is in great shape, and they just replaced all the roofs with Spanish tiles last year, and the landscaping is about 10000% times better than my last Townhouse and i pay the same amount. I have been trying to take pics of everything done since we started. Ill try to gather some before and after pics and post em when i am done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevorm Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 I just paid off my mortgage. I'm 24. FTW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadreckoning Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 and yeah, 20% down is pretty much the standard unless youre going FHA. i also hear townhose / condos are real hard to get into now because of HOA's going broke, etc. we went FHA and had a few hiccups because the underwriter was sooo picky about things the appraiser noted on the appraisal (all the way down to wires that were w/ out a junction box in the attic - as if we couldn't have fix it after we took possession of the house). The FHA loan lets you put only 3.5% down; however, you will pay a monthly premium for it. You can get a conventional loan without putting down 20% - i got one putting 10% down. As the quote above states, there are a lot more hoops to jump through and the underwriters can be sticklers on the inspection. If you can it's usually better to go with a conventional loan. I think it will be cheaper in the long run and sellers usually prefer them. Sellers have been known to turn down higher offers because they had concerns about the lenders (internet banks, etc.) and the type of loan (FHA, silly ARM's, etc.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonesomexloveus Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 my sister and bro-in-law put down less than 10% and got a conventional loan. they also could have gotten an FHA loan, but for whatever reason, after running the numbers, it was a lower monthly payment if they went with the conventional loan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electrocute Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Paid mine today. Really is a great feeling yet also an "oh shit" moment. We got a great deal on our house. Asked the sellers to cover $7500 closing costs which actually carried over into our down payment. We ended up only having to take $1200 of our money to closing. Our payments are a little over 1k a month which for us is great. 4 bedroom 2 bath house. It's also new, we are the first owners so makes it a little more satisfying to me as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrc Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 I just paid off my mortgage. I'm 24. FTW Rich parents, or did you win the lotto? Care to explain? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirbypuckett Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Man, I better start saving more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattisr1984 Posted April 27, 2011 Author Share Posted April 27, 2011 and yeah, 20% down is pretty much the standard unless youre going FHA. i also hear townhose / condos are real hard to get into now because of HOA's going broke, etc. we went FHA and had a few hiccups because the underwriter was sooo picky about things the appraiser noted on the appraisal (all the way down to wires that were w/ out a junction box in the attic - as if we couldn't have fix it after we took possession of the house). The FHA loan lets you put only 3.5% down; however, you will pay a monthly premium for it. You can get a conventional loan without putting down 20% - i got one putting 10% down. As the quote above states, there are a lot more hoops to jump through and the underwriters can be sticklers on the inspection. If you can it's usually better to go with a conventional loan. I think it will be cheaper in the long run and sellers usually prefer them. Sellers have been known to turn down higher offers because they had concerns about the lenders (internet banks, etc.) and the type of loan (FHA, silly ARM's, etc.) no, you're right - i was going through all this stuff back in january / february. so my memory is a little fuzzy on it but yeah i could have done 10% down going conventional but it didnt lower my payment all that much and i still would have had to pay a premium for it while putting down something like 11k. didnt make sense to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattisr1984 Posted April 27, 2011 Author Share Posted April 27, 2011 I just paid off my mortgage. I'm 24. FTW Rich parents, or did you win the lotto? Care to explain? duh, flipping records on ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
appletree Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Yeah great information in here. I could probably sit down and ask my dad about this stuff, but it is nice to read it. Any advice on good resources to start looking at (websites, magazines, etc)? Not married and no kids, but I want at least a 3 bedroom 2 bath (for resale purposes). Not sure where to start looking as Houston is a big place. I guess if I plan (well not plan but once I get the whole family thing going) on selling the house in 5/10/15 years the location, school system, neighborhood, etc is all important. I guess that is important even if not selling haha! I am sure there are tons of resources out there but it would be nice to know some select few that are must go-to's as I can also assume a lot of those resources suck. Currently renting an apt and I hate the feeling of throwing my money away. Would like to buy a house at the end of the year/beginning of next year (when my lease ends) Could probably have around 20K to put down. Thanks, Austin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electrocute Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 I'm 3 hours from Houston. The websites I used were: www.realtor.com www.frontdoor.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonesomexloveus Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 www.trulia.com www.zillow.com zillow actually has a pretty cool free app for android (i'm assuming iphone too). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
appletree Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 thanks electro and allison! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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