Questions about Buying or Renting Housing

[Molis]

-Clear all your debt
-Do the big calculation on what you can afford
-Dont forget things like property taxes, HOA, garbage, or other things an apartment may have included
-Be patient. Dont put an offer in on the first thing you see


Consider a Townhouse with a small backyard just to have a place to keep your BBQ and sit.

The first house we bought was a connected two story with three bedrooms.
When we moved we kept it and rented it out. While being a Landlord does have some pains we tell ourselves how great it will be in 20 years to have that equity to roll into a retirement house.

[chazus]

For sure! I'd love to take a look at it if you have a link or something. I know from personal experience with AC/heating that that shit is expensive and seems to always go out. Is there like an all encompassing insurance plan for things like that? Is it an extension of homeowners insurance?

When I got mine, I paid a flat fee as part of the down payment that gave me 1 year coverage on basically everything. Usually HOA handles stuff outside the house, and your insurance covers stuff inside. Homeowners insurance is largely for theft/damage. not for things simply breaking down.

[Droodid]

Me and my fiance will be getting married in May 2017. I am just curious if anyone has some wisdom regarding the best way to approach housing. Neither of us want kids at all anytime soon.

What should I look for? Obviously, owning your own property has benefits, but if it's just me and her I don't want to pay for space we don't use.

My personal opinion on renting/owning. I don't care to do the upkeep of a place. When something breaks, I can typically fix it, but when there is something out of my hands I can make a quick call and the landlord comes and fixes it, or the maintenance service team does. It's a bit more expensive, but I personally don't see it as that. I cannot afford to put 20% down on a house, so I would have PMI, I would also need to pay water, sewer, trash, electric, and more, which are for the most part, rolled into my rent now. And if I get a new job, or don't like where I live now, I can pick up and move. I'm 25, so for me, owning isn't even in my near vision yet. If I get married/have kids maybe, but my personal opinion, it's just not worth it to me yet.

[Forgettable]

Plumbing is some of the easiest things to fix though. I've almost replumbed my entire house.

...for reasons...

Do tell. I'm very curious.

[zenkai]

Me and my fiance will be getting married in May 2017. I am just curious if anyone has some wisdom regarding the best way to approach housing. Neither of us want kids at all anytime soon.

What should I look for? Obviously, owning your own property has benefits, but if it's just me and her I don't want to pay for space we don't use.

It's easier to buy a house with first time home buyers, but with that make sure you can afford it. It's not the house payments that will hit you, it's the insurance, taxes, and upkeep cost. Also if you see yourself moving around a lot in the near future I wouldn't bother buying just yet.

If you can afford it and you will be in the area for at least 2 years, it's better to buy, as long as your area isn't going downhill. I would also buy while the economy is on the upswing before the rates are raised too much.

[kaid]

Have you thought about a condo? You can start building equity as a homeowner, you probably won't have more space than you need, and your outdoor maintenance is usually taken care of by a HOA.

Make sure if you go condo be 100% sure how much the monthly association dues are. Some can be trivial like 50 dollars on one unit I looked at to triple the cost of the mortgage on another. Basically it comes down to how much per month are you willing to spend to have somebody else do your lawn/garden work.

[zenkai]

Plumbing is some of the easiest things to fix though. I've almost replumbed my entire house.

...for reasons...

Fuck Plumbing, those guys earn their cash. I had to fix a drainage problem in my xgfs house and if evil had a smell, that was it.

[kaid]

When I got mine, I paid a flat fee as part of the down payment that gave me 1 year coverage on basically everything. Usually HOA handles stuff outside the house, and your insurance covers stuff inside. Homeowners insurance is largely for theft/damage. not for things simply breaking down.

you can also get home warranties. Mine is about 500 a year but it covers plumbing/eletrical/appliances/furnace/ac which is a peace of mind for a lot of really potentially big ticket items.

You can get these on existing houses as well. When I got my house the first year I basically had them include 1 year home warranty with the sale. By the time this one is done I probably will have enough stored up savings wise to replace my furnace and ac which I want to do.

[Azadina]

Plumbing is some of the easiest things to fix though. I've almost replumbed my entire house.

...for reasons...

And unless one is certified plumber, that's the best way to void insurance claims about the house in the future. They won't pay a dime after they find out someone has made modifications without qualifying for it.

[Jotaux]

Best thing I did was go with a good mortgage broker. For my first property's mortgage renewal which was already with a bank he couldn't get me a decent rate so he just gave me some good rates, told me what to say to the bank and they quickly offered to beat the rates he gave me. It costs you nothing and a good broker will do what it takes to make sure your happy since they live off referrals.

[Gamdwelf]

Fuck Plumbing, those guys earn their cash. I had to fix a drainage problem in my xgfs house and if evil had a smell, that was it.

Luckily none of the stuff I had to do was drainage that got to stay intact for the most part.

The first floor of my house was sinking into the basement so I has to lift tgat shit back up. Most of the plumbing that was all in the basement had to be pulled out and replaced as part of this process.

[Provenance]

Thanks for all the good info, folks.

The task ahead definitely seems daunting but im looking forward to it. I would like to buy... but having rented an apartment this past year, it has been nice to just have shit fixed when I place a call. Lol.

[AeneasBK]

If you had £120 000 for a deposit would you outright buy a house, or would you still mortgage to increase your buying power?

Open question, although aimed more at UK residents for relevency...

[Gamdwelf]

If you had £120 000 for a deposit would you outright buy a house, or would you still mortgage to increase your buying power?

Open question, although aimed more at UK residents for relevency...

Depends on how I think the market would do with the time I will be living in the home, and how you feel about debt

[AeneasBK]

I have always been given the impression that when you buy a house you're not picking a home to live in you're simply making a big investment with a lot of money, so most of the obvious factors (location, style, size, etc.) play second fiddle to "how much money will it make you when you re-sell it" as the amounts of money that can be made dwarf, for example, the average salary. Was just curious as to how "true" that was for most people; as presumably with that logic, £120k deposit or not you get a mortgage to increase your "profits" when it comes to reselling.

[Rasulis]

If at all possible, always go conventional loan with 20% down. With good credit, you usually get the best rate.

Get a good agent. You are buying, so you don’t care about the commission. They do all the hard work and screening for you, and they can make a big difference in price also. When I bought my first house, my agent found out that the owner had bought another house in New Jersey, so he was paying two mortgages. With his advise I was able to get the house almost 30k below asking. When we bought our temporary condo in 2012, our agent found out that the house had been taken off the market once and the deal fell through. We ended up getting the condo 11k below market.

Get pre approved. Conventional loan with 20% down + pre approved will give you an advantage when you make your offer. Depending on the market you can offer 10k below asking and still be considered. Especially if the seller has had an offer fell through because the buyer failed to qualify. Your offer becomes that much more attractive. A pre approved conventional loan with 20% down normally close in 28 days. Other type of loans can easily go 2 months, even more.

Hire a certified home inspector. A good one. Depending on the age of the house, you may want to hire specialist inspectors (roofing, HVAC, plumbing). Don’t forget termite inspection. Although termite inspection is usually covered by the buyer. The money you spend on them is more than worth it. A lot of the time you can use their findings to get a reduction in the cost or credit toward the purchase.

Don’t overreach. Keep your mortgage around 30% of your income. Mortgage + insurance + property tax + HoA should be no more than 40% of your income.

In addition to homeowner’s insurance, unless you are buying a brand new house, I always recommend getting home warranty insurance. If your house is brand new, then you probably want to wait 10 years before getting a home warranty insurance. Especially if you buy direct from developers. Most developers include 5 year warranty on mechanical (electrical, heating and plumbing). Some even go for 10 years. Normally, if nothing happen to your new house in the first 5 years, you probably won’t need to worry about it for another 15 years.

Check FEMA flood map (free online) and see if you need flood insurance (https://msc.fema.gov/portal). If you are within a mile of the 100- or 500-year flood zone, it is probably a good idea to get one. Check your house elevation vs. the flood baseline elevation (if provided). If your house elevation is lower than the baseline elevation, definitely buy.

In CA, check the USGS seismic map (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/hazards/d...s/usdesign.php) to assess your seismic risks. This (http://dap3.dot.ca.gov/ARS_Online/) is also a good option.

Don’t slack off with housework/maintenance. The condition of a house tells people a lot about the occupants.

[Seirith]

Thanks for the quick replies everyone. Our combined income will be roughly $80,000. I have a good job I started in July and I expect that to go up. We live in the Nashville area.

You have a good income but do you have any debt? Student loans/car loan/credit card debt etc.

I love owning a single family house and NOT sharing walls. I've never lived in an apartment/condo, would never ever do it either.

How much space do you two currently live in?