TheOriginalJames

I've been reading a little bit lately about mortgages, and owning my own home.

Kinda gearing up for being done renting and not seeing any possible return from it.

Doing my taxes thursday I owed federal 5 dollars. woooo... I'm done with wanting to owe. I want some cash back, short of having kids... or trying to set up and IRA, I want to own a house.

I'm looking for any and all advice possible.

Like... what misc house bills can I look forward to paying?

gas
electric
water
garbage
property taxes
mortgage

Anything else?

I make a little over 23k a year, and my monthly bills total about 700 every month right now. (slightly over half my monthly net income, NOT including my current rent as it would obviously go up).

Looking up mortgage rates right now, I'm finding between 5.5 and 6.25%. For someone who's not looking into buying, fixing up and selling for more money, what kind of financing plans can I look forward to? I know the 30 year fixed rate loan is probably the best I can do. Are there any tips and tricks I can look into to getting the lowest payments possible?

Also, after finding a property and talking with a loan officer about a mortgage, would it depend solely on my credit history and the value of the home as to how much I can actually get? If I can get a 16k home with a 25k loan, I can pay off a lot of my misc bills on top of the mortgage payment, which would make it easier to make the mortgage every month.

I know a small portion of property taxes are taken within the mortgage loan and set up in an Escrow fund so I'm not hit with a 700 dollar bill one month.

I think I'm kind of rambling here, but if it's not too much trouble I'd like to see what kind of advice all you home owners can give me after having been there and done that.

lemon

the more you can put up for a down payment, the less your monthly payment is.

and you forgot cable/interweb/phone bills
and maybe sewer, if applicable, which is based on the amount of water you use, and it may be a part of the water bill itself.

not sure about garbage bills. my mom doesnt pay one like that. it comes out of the property taxes i think.

and i know im not a home owner, but me and my mom discuss about home ownership alot, since when she dies, i get the house, if the state will allow me to assume the mortgage.

TheOriginalJames

I won't have a home phone - I have no need for it, my cell phone was included in my current monthly bills.

Internet will be 35 dollars a month if I find a house where Verizon FIOS is available. I refuse to get comcast for 50 a month anymore. Too overpriced, so that'll be cheap. That was also included within my current monthly bills.

But as I stated, if I can get a large sum over the value of the property, I can pay off things like credit cards and part of my auto loan. So my current bills might actually go down a couple hundred. (I put almost 300 into my credit card in January just to try to get as much paid off.)

I also forgot to mention something else you brought up, I'm not going to jump into this ASAP, but will start saving up a few bucks between paychecks. I'm looking to put about 300-500 down on a loan. I know it's not much, but it'll help some.

Haus

where can you find a house for $16,000.00?

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TheOriginalJames

Some of the smaller, older homes here in Fort Wayne go for sub 20k. But I was just using those as an example of how much a loan I'd need vs how much extra I can get to pay off other bills.

I don't need a lot of room, 3 small bedrooms, two full baths, kitchen, dining room, living room. etc.

Homer

up here in NJ your better off buying a peice of land/lot and building a house, thats how you get a 400k house for 200k insted of giving a real estate agent or anyone els all your cash.

TheOriginalJames

Yeah... I have no interest in taking that kind of a loan out.

TheOriginalJames

Another thing is if I can get a nice three bedroom house, I could rent out two of the rooms.

My buddy Matt and I have been talking about finding an apartment somewhere for a while. Once he gets his bonus check we were going to look into apartments. I'd personally rather buy a house and rent it to him.

I have another friend who rents a house from someone, he pays an insane amount of money to rent out one room.

I figure if my mortgage is 200-300 I could rent out for that much to each of them and use the second persons rent for the misc bills on that. That way I'm basically breaking even on this and I own my own house.

lemon

:banana


hmm, :jig

Vfast

200si...home ownership is a lil over rated...
good points
1. you can do to the house as you wish unless you live in one of those sub-division you have to ask if you can even paint your house
2. intest is tax deductible
3. you can borrow on the house to buy cars etc and the int is like #2


bad point
1. you have to take care of all the breaks in the house
2. payment still go up every year due to taxes and insurance
3. someone gets hurt on your place your getting sued
4.bad n'bors you can't just up and move like renting
5. lose your job and you could lose you investment of the house
it would help your taxes if you were married,kids really don't help I know this all to well

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Vfast

not easy to live with tentant and who pays for their wear and tear

__________________
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WTB 63-65 nova

TheOriginalJames

1. I'm looking for a cheap fixer upper. 20-40k tops, depending on the financing and mortgage rates/taxes.
2. werd. I'm looking for some deductions.
3. I got a damn good car, I shouldn't have to do that.

1. Most of the houses I'm looking into are 10 or so years old. My parents is 40+ now and anything major thats happened wasn't the house itself.
2. Payments will only increase as taxes do, and since that's tax deductible I'll have a fatty check every year in February.
3. I know this... but my friends aren't sue happy.
4. bastard neighbors. Yeah I know.
5. No way in hell will I lose my job. I work for my dad, as long as I show up and work I'm good to go.

I really don't want a wife, or kids. unless i can claim my girlfriend... not gonna happen.

My friend and I have been friends since forever. We're gonna get an apartment together, I might as well make the leap instead and at least get a return on my investment. He's a low key type of guy. He won't be breakin shit.

Homer

if you can find somthing in that price range go for it , it's money in the bank you can't go wrong buying realestate or land , why pay a landlord , in the end the house is yours to keep or sell i payed 89k for my house 15 years ago and have been told i could get 350k to 375k now so do the math , hell if you can buy 3 or 4 cheap houses and rent them out they'll pay for them selves again in the end they belong to you to sell for more money or keep for a monthly rent income. :rock

geminigypsylady

One very important thing I have not seen mentioned yet..Homeowners insurance. You gotta have it, and depending on where the house is, it can be damned expensive. Sometimes this is set up and included in the mortgage, sometimes not...

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TheOriginalJames

ah yeah Gemini. Never brought it up, but I'm aware of the need for Home owners ins.

I might be able to upgrade my renters insurance to homeowners through State farm, but I was also aware that it could be part of the Escrow account through the mortgage.

Ms: ANY advice, links, or tips I can get will be appreciated. If you need specifics I can pm you what I make, what I'm looking for, basic rates for mortgages in my area that I've found so far, etc.