how much is it worth to you to own your own house?

[zixxer]

I've talked to a realtor who has basically convinced me to buy a house (although not through him... business+friends type of thing)

I have very little to put as a down payment... say 5k before I get uncomfortable about not having $$ in emergencies. In my area 200k buys a 'pretty' nice house.. 5 years old or so and 3-4 bedroom, 150-180 will you get 10-15 years old in a so-so neighborhood.


now.. that puts me at like 1300 a month.. which I can handle... but will have to cut back on my other spending.. i eat out ALL the time, buy pc junk and motorcycle stuff all the time...

think it's worth it?

::::::::::::::EDIT:::::::::::::::::::

Okay this is after 10-15 responses.

my rent for a 1 bedroom is about 600-700. So whatever the house will cost is above that.

My job is relatively stable. If I lost it I could find another fairly easily. I make about ~40k a year (not inc. side work that adds maybe 5-10k but isn't dependable)

 

[Fenixgoon]

house >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> apt

 

[Taggart]

Get a roommate to help you pay the mortgage.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

cut back on unneeded items like computer items and motorcycle items

A house is a great investment

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: Taggart
Get a roommate to help you pay the mortgage.

Not a bad idea, I'd look into this and try to get something going. Get 2 roommates and you'll be even better off

 

[DaWhim]

right now, it is renting > owning. economist and nyt both did an article about it.

 

[laurenlex]

Buy a house, quit eating out. Good financial and health moves.

 

[Taggart]

Originally posted by: DaWhim
right now, it is renting > owning. economist and nyt both did an article about it.

Ooh I'll be your best friend for a link

 

[MikePanic]

on a 200k house, you will not get a mortgage w/ only 5k down unless you are making at least a 6 figure income. i say this because closing costs and mortgage fees alone are going to run you about that.

depending where you live, you also need to figure in the costs of living, some of which will get rolled into your mortgage, like taxes

around my way, 200k house in most of the school districts will cost you 2500-4000 / year in taxes, thats an extra $200 or more per month to your $1300. add to that at least $100 for cable tv / internet, im assuming you have a cell bill, so tack on another $50. presumably you will want electric, so at least $100/month, gas / oil will also come into play as will water / sewage / trash.

your $1300 is realistly closer to $2000/month living expenses depending on a few factors, like car / motorcycle insurance, etc.

depending on your age, where you live, job security, etc, it could be a tough call. perhaps you want to look into a 20-50 year old house that may need some minor work that you can get for $125-150, put 10% of the homes value into upgrades and maintaince and sell it in 2 years to avoid capital gains tax and profit out more money to put down on a bigger / nicer house

 

[MikePanic]

like the others said, a roomate may be a good idea, but make sure its someone you've lived w/ in close proximity to before. if not, you can kiss your friendship goodbuy in as little as 6 months

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
house >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> apt

Indeed. I love my new house I might add. :heart:

 

[ajpa123]

I'm close to buying. I think the housing boom is at a peak and prices won't rise much for a while and that they might even fall but I'm not playing the waiting game. In the long run, things will balance out.

With that much low equity, I hope you have a stable income with enough reserves to get you through a couple months of hardship.
Good Luck

 

[MikePanic]

the house buying craze is only coming to a peak now because intrest rates are on the rise

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
house >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> apt

I agree. I can't freaking wait to have my own house.

I can let the leaves clog the gutters, let the grass grow 20 feet high, and sit beside the window, waiting for kids to walk on my lawn so that I can shake my fist at them in the ultimate display of power.

 

[badmouse]

Option 3, rent plus ramen equals large savings account. Keep your options open.

Rent vx own has a lot of variables. It's stupid to buy a house randomly expecting it to rise in value. On the other hand, houses DO rise in value often. Do some research and figure out which is the better financial position.

Don't take a realtor's advice on whether or not to buy a house!

 

[skyking]

There are many more variables to take into account. Are you really stable in your job and community? Can you see yourself there many years down the road?
Conversely, can you also see yourself picking up and moving across the state or country to take another position?
Single? Married? Kids? Age?

Don't buy a house untill you can answer all those questions and more. Doing it purely for the investment purpose, and then moving off and having to sell that home from a thousand miles away would really suck. Doing it while making two payments would be worse.

 

[Taggart]

Originally posted by: badmouse
Option 3, rent plus ramen equals large savings account. Keep your options open.

Rent vx own has a lot of variables. It's stupid to buy a house randomly expecting it to rise in value. On the other hand, houses DO rise in value often. Do some research and figure out which is the better financial position.

Don't take a realtor's advice on whether or not to buy a house!

Good post. I'm in the rent/large savings account zone right now. Hopefully I can turn it into a nice down-payment in a couple of years.

Taking a realtor's advice to buy a house is like asking a used car salesman if you should buy a used car :laugh:

 

[anno]

without seeing the info that indicates the opposite, I'd say house is better than renting too..

but there's other factors to consider. houses are a lot more work than apartments.. when you own a house you're responsible for everything that goes wrong, and maintaining it all. inside, outside, the yard.. and to some people.. especially some young single people.. that's more an expense than the money is.

but on the plus side, you can hang pictures wherever you want without worrying about it and paint or paper any room however you want.. and your neighbors are further away.

if you just want equity rather than paying rent but don't want the outside maintenance responsibilities and don't need the extra room, maybe you'd like a condo more than you'd like a house.

just make sure you look at it from all sides before you decide.

anno

 

[MikePanic]

houses are one of the only things you can buy used that will almost always go up in value. likewise, home improvments are some of the best ways to increase your the value of your home. in almost nothing else in life can you dump a few grand into and see double that sometimes the next week.

take a look at hgtv (home and garden tv) - theres a show on there they help prep people (usually couples w/ small children) get their homes into the best sellign condition they can. often they take a home equity loan for around $10k to remodel the kitchen / bathroom / etc thru the house. that $10k investment usually ends up raising the value of the home $15-30k, sometimes even more

also take into consideration the school district your buying into and the amount of land around you. if you live in a densly populated area, chanced are home values will do nothing but go up, provided its not a crime ridden area.

take the virgina area just outside DC. there is NO industry there at all, just gov't stuff and residental homes w/ almost nowhere to build new anyting at. home values have more then tripled in the last 5 years there.

 

[ruffilb]

Is this a trick question?

A house is worth whatever you can sell it for at the moment.

An apartment is worth nothing, do the math.

 

[zixxer]

also.. I can do almost anything around the house. I know a ton about remodeling etc... so any maintainance can be done by me (even though I work w/ computers... bleh)