I want to buy a place

I'd love to buy a house but would be lucky to buy a condo. I was preapproved for not much, and am really not in position to buy. I'm looking at a 4 year plan. Pay off most debts including my personal loan. Than probably another year to save.

In the meantime I'm trying to decide what area I'd want to live in. I do like the area I currently live and could just stay in my apt long term. I feel like if I can't get a 2 bedroom I won't move. And can only afford this area cause it's a subsidized apt. Housing here is just so expensive. Where it used to be cheap is now expensive like double what it used to be.

I just don't know if I'll ever afford a place. It's sad it's really my big goal. But it's always out of reach for me. It seems.

I was in a similar boat a year ago. The housing market has boomed so much since the advent of this pandemic that it's likely that the prices for homes will only increase from here. The news reported these things, which made it nearly impossible for low earners or people living on fixed incomes to purchase homes (unless the homes require a lot of fixes or come with severe problems).

I wanted to use my VA home loan, and I was preapproved for a decent amount - until the housing market increased to the point where my decent amount turned into a poverty number. I can't afford a place unless it's in a bad neighborhood or unless the home is in need of major fixes. Also, I'm a minority, and there's been an uptick in discrimination and hate crimes and harassment for certain minorities purchasing homes.

The other issue with going from an apartment lifestyle to a condo or house lifestyle is that you're now responsible for all the repairs, homeowner's insurance, security, landscaping, shoveling of snow, making sure wasps and other creepy crawlers don't create nests where passerby and neighbors could potentially sue you for negligence on your home, etc. You are also likely to pay more for utilities, and have to pay for things like a washer, dryer, your own kitchen appliances, certain plumbing, certain water types (whether it be well water or City water), water filters, air filters, and more. You'd have to learn basic safety needs to maintain your home without accidentally causing an electrical fire, gas explosion, or any poisoning from running your vehicle in a locked garage. You'd have to have a savings account for incidentals, such as if you are in a flood zone or earthquake zone or tornado zone, and will likely need additional homeowner's insurance as well as extra funds for such emergencies. If a tree falls down on your roof and destroys your roof, your garage, your appliances in your garage, and your vehicle, will your homeowner's insurance cover that? Will your vehicular insurance also cover the damages to your vehicle, if you own the home? You'd have to look into all of these things when purchasing a home. You wouldn't have to look as much into things when you are renting, because the owner is responsible for everything.

As I see it now, I feel more free being a renter paying more than I would being bogged down in a home that is overly inflated in costs, possibly on its way to being a victim of natural disasters (due to climate change ignorance and ongoing problems with things like wildfires, flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, sinkholes, and more). Also, there's some strange moon thingy that will happen in the near future, so that will affect the Earth and its natural disasters as well. If you are a renter, you could pack up and move whenever your place becomes uninhabitable via natural disaster damages (you can still get renter's insurance), and you can also move whenever your lease is up. You can enjoy the freedom of decorating and redecorating each time you move. You can learn new cultures and new things. You can discover more of what you love and what you don't.

Who knows what the future will bring? It might be more lucrative to wait for another 10 to 20 years to purchase a home, since times are really crazy right now.

Hi Aviza,

Hold to your vision. Yes, pay down/pay off debts and begin building your down payment.

I live in WA state. We have a state office for supporting first time home buyers which offer classes on the process: WSHFC | Home Buyer Programs

Your state might have something like it. We took the 5-hour class twice because buying a home was the single biggest debt we would ever take on. Also twice because they were run by real estate/loan officers seeking business so each had a different strength and different ways they offered to help us search. The one we went with connected us to the daily multiple listing service and we search through the "raw" offers ourselves. Anything interesting we'd cruise by and look at the house, yard, 'hood, etc. The agent got us inside any we liked after this overview.

Really focus on what you want from ownership: is it the equity? The artistic license to remodel to your whims? Stability and security? Nesting inside a dynamic neighborhood? A place to garden?

I'm not sure what your loans are or their rates of interest. As you can, re-borrow at lower interests to cut your total costs of borrowing. I would guess you know to pay more each month to add to your principle balance and cut the size of the balance the interest is compounded on.

When you eat meals out, avoid ordering drinks and use that $ towards your house (pay debt or build down payment).

Alright, gotta go. I was searching for something else and saw this.

Revu2

I bought in a condo over 20 years ago, when prices were low compared to now. But mortgage interest rates were much higher than now. There was also a city program for new buyers, which was very helpful. In fact all the people associated with buying were very helpful. Nice people.

I paid down my mortgage ahead of time when I could, and now I have no mortgage to pay off. But condo fees have increased a lot...

Well my credit went up 45 points so I reapplied to a mortgage especially with my rent going up to 803 in subsidized I can find a place I can afford. Maybe even a house! I'm into decorating, renovating, want to build equity, because I'm thinking retirement. So needless to say I'm in a good job, I have some stability in work and with disability. So I find out tomorrow what I'm approved for!!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aviza Well my credit went up 45 points so I reapplied to a mortgage especially with my rent going up to 803 in subsidized I can find a place I can afford. Maybe even a house! I'm into decorating, renovating, want to build equity, because I'm thinking retirement. So needless to say I'm in a good job, I have some stability in work and with disability. So I find out tomorrow what I'm approved for!!!!

Hey @Aviza along with just getting the mortgage you’ll have to have tools
To cut the grass, small repairs etc. it’s more
Than just a Mortage.

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My husband and I bought a house a little over three years ago. I am really glad we did, but it definitely took a while to get into a position where it was a possibility. We bought it from the builder, so they have fixed a few problems we had that were covered by the warranty. Even so, we have had to spend money to landscape the yard (still working on that), set up the gas hookups, put a roof on the laundry area, etc. You will need to set aside money for a lot of things:

Insurance: In this country insurance coverage for damage from disasters like fires and earthquakes is included in the mortgage payment. On top of that, we pay for extra insurance for damage to our possessions. We live in earthquake country, so it is necessary to have.

Repairs when something breaks, and you can’t fix it yourself.

Appliances: Sometimes appliances like refrigerators and washing machines are included in the sales contract, sometimes they are not. If they are not, that will be another expense to consider.

Additional furniture if you are moving to a bigger place.

Property taxes.

As Sarah said, tools for minor repairs.

You say you like to do renovations. Even if you do them yourself, plan to spend a lot of money at the home improvement store.

If you buy a condo or a house in certain communities, there are monthly fees. Here we have security guards to pay and public spaces that need to be maintained, so we have to pay about US$50 to cover those expenses.

I remember when I rented in the US, some of the utilities were included in the rent. If you own, you have to pay for everything yourself. If you move to a larger place, the bills are likely to be higher, especially if you have a lawn to water.

Those are just some things to think about. I would hold off on buying until I was sure I had money to cover these expenses if I were you.

If you buy condo you don’t need to do yard work or worry about leaky roofs but you have to pay condo fee. Ours is 300 a month which is on a very low end but still you have to have extra 300.

Now many people own houses that they can’t afford to keep nice: can’t repair or remodel or even furnish and decorate. So their houses eventually look like dumps. All that for just a fact of owning it (essentially bank owns not them).

I always felt that if I can’t keep it nice, I’ll rent and keep it nice.

Can you keep the nice house with what you make?

If not then why bother? If you absolutely want to own, maybe buy but a small condo. One bedroom. Maybe.

What’s the need for the house?

Build equity mainly. I'm planning for retirement. I want something that will work for me long term. I'm leaning toward a condo. more updated had the amenities I like. Still waiting to hear from lender.

I get it as an idea but if you find $800 rent is too much, how will you pay mortgage? It sure will be more . The only way your mortgage is low is if you put a lot down. How much can you afford to put down?

By getting a 2 bedroom I'll rent out a room, that'll cover about half my mortgage and I'll do that til debts are repaid.

So you pretty much have to always have a renter at all times. It’s impossible to guarantee that. Sure having renters will help but there’s no guarantee. There will be gaps. And there are horror stories about renters.

Speak with financial advisor.

You don’t have to share on here but do you have savings for down payment? Even if you buy the cheapest place for 100k, do you have 20k? 10k? You’ll have to pay extra PMI every month if you don’t have that much for down payment. It’s another 100 bucks a month. Also do you have savings for repairs? Because things break even if you buy new or remodeled place

Be careful.

I applied for a first time homebuyer down payment assistance plan. It went to underwriting today. I'll know if I'm approved in 3 or 4 days.

I just worry that you get yourself into a bad situation. If you have to ask your brother and the assistance program to help you buy a house, then you cannot really afford to buy a house. Houses aren’t a necessity. I wish you the best but it’s just a dangerous path. Sometimes we have to borrow for things we cannot afford but must have like a car in the area of no public transportation. Houses just isn’t something one must have

Well if I can't do it I won't do it.

My suggestion is to have your brother collect rent so they don’t con you with hard luck stories.