Buying a house

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NAchef said:
What do you do at Rasmussen?
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I am a computer and IT assistant here. My supervisor is head of the IT part of the business. but i will not be here any more than another year. I do not know where i will go after Rasmussen. Maybe IBM or the State for a while.
 
jennyema said:
Don't you mean a little worse?

I'd suggest moving, if you can.

Also, being single (or newly married) there is no way you need "at least a 5 br, 2 bath" home. Space is nice, but it's expensive to buy and maintain.

A better strategy is to buy something smaller, build up the equity in your investment, and then use the equity to buy something larger when/if you need it.
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thats a dang good point. maybe i should be thinking of a 2 bedroom condo or house somewhere then sale when we need to. Im always jumping in the deep end before i see how safe the water is. LOL
 
GotGarlic said:
Well, not always. With the economy we're in now, lots of people can't get loans so people who want or need to sell their homes can't find sellers, so they have to lower the price in order to sell. I know over the last year, I've seen many houses on the market for many months just in my neighborhood alone, whereas two years ago they would have sold fast, for $300k or more. An important principle of economics is that when supply goes up, the price goes down. It works for houses, too.

I would expect home values to decline significantly in Utah in the next couple of years. A lot of those expensive homes were bought by California real estate investors, aka speculators, who will eventually sell at a loss so they won't have to pay property taxes and insurance anymore. The housing bubble has burst.
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GG, no matter what real estate goes UP in value. You can't look at it as a short term investment. If a house is worth 100k in 2008, then lets say 80k in 2010, in 2015 it will probobly go up to 140k.

It always goes up. For an investment, the trick is to have a good idea when the market goes up. That's the real estate "gamble".

Also, a realtor does not force a buyer into spending more money. The buyers are the ones who stretch themselves to the max. Either way, the lending institution knows how much extra money you need to pay bills and such, so if you make 4k a month, you're not going to get a 3k mortgage. A realtor has absolutely nothing to do with the money end of things.
 
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GotGarlic said:
Well, that's true if you like 95 degrees of heat with 95% humidity. Personally, I can't stand it.
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our summers here are usually 95 to 102 on average. last year our record was 112 BUT our humidity is like 45% at the most unless its a rainy day. i LOVE to bike ride in the heat especialy in our mountains
 
man i appreciate all your feed back. so far i have learned

get a financial advisor
start out small then increase when needed
housing is expensive but worth it
having a house of your own allows jeenkins to do what ever the __________ he wants
VA is hot and really humid
California realators bought houses in Draper and other parts of Utah
 
:)Its expensive not counting insurance, utilities, property taxes, maintenance etc. What might be a good bet is to invest in a little bit of land let it appreciate a few years then you can sell it and take the profits for a nice down payment.Its really expensive here in New Mexico as well.
 
VA is a nice place. You can literally go from the mountains to the beach in about 3 hours! You can start at a bank or credit union for financial advise. Also ask around to friends, coworkers, bosses. Who advises them? You need to find someone you trust. You are young so if you start your investing now you will be able to retire comfortably. We found ours through our church. We started the invest game a bit late but she came up with a plan that has helped us increase our retirement accounts as well as helping to pay for our kids college. When we bought this house, she helped us figure out the amount we could spend on a house figuring the equity we had in our previous house and still meet our retirement and college tuition goals. I don't think we would have bought this house if she hadn't gone over the finacials with us to show is that we really could afford this home and still do everything we wanted. It was about $50,000 more than the top of the limit we thought we spend. We still ended up with about $30,000 in profit from the sale of our old home that was then put into investment accounts and is paying for son #2 college tuition now! We would have not had that if we had done things without her input. Watch out for advisors that want you to pay for each visit though. Ours gets paid a yearly fee for managing our accounts and is paid from the profits of our accounts. We don't have to write a check each time we see her. We get one statement at the end of the year saying $X was paid and it is a set yearly fee. I think it ends up less than $200 a year for our 5 accounts she handles. Check into companies like Charles Scwab, UBS. Both of those companies have good reputations. Ours used to work for UBS but then took a job with a local company to allow her more time with her young children. We moved with her since she had done such a good job helping us out.
 
Actually, vacant land is the worst investment. Say you bought an acre of buildable land and decided to sit on it. The township can change their zoning laws to only allow 3+ acre lots buildable. (happened in a town near me) Now, all those people with those lots cant to a thing with them if they want to sell, other than offer it to a neighboring homeowner. There are tons of other scenarios.

Find a duplex handyman's special. Live in the best side and fix up the other side to rent out. Or find a single family that needs some TLC. Those are the bargains, but you have to get your hands dirty and read some books on home repairs and rebuilding. I laid my own hardwood floor in my kitchen which cost $1000, if I had a company install it the cost would probobly triple and I would have no return on the improvement.

Oh, and a tip on mortgages: See if your lender offers different payment schedules. I electronicly pay my 30 year mortgage every week instead of every month. The house will be paid off in 23 years and I will have saved $121,000.
 
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Jabbur. ok i will look into some financial advisory places. Ill start by asking my mom to see who she trusts.

jeekins

your payment plan to me would seem a little tough because more money is taken out at once thus leaving less for food and other things.
 
Jeekinz said:
GG, no matter what real estate goes UP in value. You can't look at it as a short term investment. If a house is worth 100k in 2008, then lets say 80k in 2010, in 2015 it will probobly go up to 140k.

It always goes up. For an investment, the trick is to have a good idea when the market goes up. That's the real estate "gamble".
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Sorry, Jeekinz. While I agree that in the long term, real estate value increases, that isn't always relevant. When people need to move, they need to move, and someone who needs to move right now is going to have a hard time finding a buyer in many places. I have friends who own a home in Ft. Collins, Colo., while they live here. They can't rent it for enough to cover the mortgage and can't sell it for enough to pay off the mortgage, much less make a profit. My dad lives in CA and TWICE had to sell a house for less than he paid for it because the market went down.

I have other friends who bought a house a few miles from me at the top of the market two years ago; it's now worth less than they paid for it, based on neighborhood comps. It happens. I have another friend who works for the military (she's not a member herself); she tells me the number of guys in the military who are "geographic bachelors" has increased significantly in the last year or so. That means they've been transferred to their new duty station, but they can't sell their house here, so their families have to stay behind. That or let the bank take it, and the military frowns on that.

Jeekinz said:
Also, a realtor does not force a buyer into spending more money. The buyers are the ones who stretch themselves to the max. Either way, the lending institution knows how much extra money you need to pay bills and such, so if you make 4k a month, you're not going to get a 3k mortgage. A realtor has absolutely nothing to do with the money end of things.
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I'm not sure where this is coming from. I didn't say anything at all about realtors.
 
LT72884 said:
Ok guys. Im not buying one yet because i dont even own my own car yet and im not married BUT hopefully in the next 1.5 years i will be in the market for a house. I have decided that where i live (draper utah), there is no possible way to afford it and i seriously dont know how people can afford living in my town.

Right now 85% are over 1.2 million dollars. the average is 2 million. If i go farther west the homes are an average of 1 million and some are 6-7 hundred thousand. Park City is totally not an option. I can go South but then there is nothing there and i mean nothing. I just find it so discouraging when i see a normal house go for like 700,000$

Is any one else's area like this. it just seems way over priced. ill post some pics of what i mean.

these are pics of my cousins neighbors house. the sad thing is, all the houses are like this. they think they live on a gold mine here in utah.

http://www.devahomes.com/pics/IMG_1089.jpg
http://www.devahomes.com/pics/IMG_1107.jpg
http://www.devahomes.com/pics/IMG_1104.jpg

ok those above pics are the kitchen and what not. those are the like way uber homes that are way out of my league. the area is called sun crest because its on top of a mountain. they have snow in the summer sometimes because they are so high. form my house to there takes me about 20 minutes, same zip code to. its an ant hill.

the bellow pics are the normal everyday house out here but they still want 700,000 to over 1 mill for. and they are west of me.

http://www.monarch-interiors.com/images/IMGP3384-A.jpg
http://oldsite.helpusell.com/images/properties/117797119.jpg

here is the thing that bugs me. my house right now is only 3 bedrooms and 1 bath. the house was built in 1940 and is only 1100 sq feet and they want over 310,000$ for it. thats ridiculous. I live in the old school part of Draper. the once so called "farm" land. we used to raise chickens and all that good stuff out here. now its all homes. i dont mind that its all houses but the price they are charging is ridiculous Im just wondering how people my age or anyone for that matter can afford living. I think its way to overrated, out here that is. I probably would think defernetly if i was older and had a carer. but since im a noob at all this, its crazy what people my age trying to start a life are going to go through to get it. Not just here in Utah but all over. Oh and on top of housing, rising gas prices and food prices.

I just hope that by the time i need to buy a house (which i hope is in a couple of years or so) that the market is a lil better.
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You don't need to own your car or be married to buy a home. The market has drastically changed. NOW is the time to buy because prices have gone WAY down. It's a buyers market now. In 1 1/2 years everything can change. Since you don't need to sell your home to buy another, call your lender/bank when you are ready to go, & ask for a prequalifying letter for a loan. They will tell you what/how much of a loan you qualify for, your credit rating & market value of your home if you owned one now. Realtors will give you a market value. You can also negotiate their fee.

Since you are a prospective buyer, imo, NOW is the time to buy. As mentioned, prices have dropped drastically, & banks are foreclosing on unpaid or overextended loans.

If you are set on living in a certain area, you will pay the market value $ price. If that is above what you qualify for, or can afford - try looking at condos/townhouses. You will also be paying property taxes - some or in whole may be deductible. Prices here are outrageous - but you are paying for location (& square footage).

My home more than tripled over the last few, now it took a nose dive. When you are ready to look/buy/move - take a look at realtor.com. The listings aren't always up to date, but you can do a search based on what you want/where/how much you can afford.

Again, now would be the time to buy, if you're not selling. But, the market can change. The Fanny May (sp?) foundation use to be helpful for first-time buyers. They may have a site you can check out. If you can swing the down payment & monthly & property taxes, a home is a great investment. Far better than renting. Best of luck.
 
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Jeekinz said:
Actually, vacant land is the worst investment. Say you bought an acre of buildable land and decided to sit on it. The township can change their zoning laws to only allow 3+ acre lots buildable. (happened in a town near me) Now, all those people with those lots cant to a thing with them if they want to sell, other than offer it to a neighboring homeowner. There are tons of other scenarios.

Find a duplex handyman's special. Live in the best side and fix up the other side to rent out. Or find a single family that needs some TLC. Those are the bargains, but you have to get your hands dirty and read some books on home repairs and rebuilding. I laid my own hardwood floor in my kitchen which cost $1000, if I had a company install it the cost would probobly triple and I would have no return on the improvement.

Oh, and a tip on mortgages: See if your lender offers different payment schedules. I electronicly pay my 30 year mortgage every week instead of every month. The house will be paid off in 23 years and I will have saved $121,000.
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:)Dont see that happening here we have two 10 acre lots right next to each other in Eagle Nest,NM. Its really nice land.Its like a subdivision but we are surounded by people who also have no less than 10 acres each.Its paid for so I have no worries.
 
GG, I'm not saying everyone makes a profit when they sell a home. What I was saying was, in the long term a homes value will go up.....no matter what. 15 years from now your house and everyone elses will be worth more. Now, if you were smart and didn't keep borrowing againt your equity, you'll still be paying the same amount of money.

Every time there's a spike in home values it will drop for a while. Your friend made a big mistake buying in a sellers market, but if they stay there tables will turn and they will be in good shape.

The realtor comment was to another poster.
 
Amy. well im only 23 and still live at home so i can go to school and finish up with out having to pay for a lot of stuff. it could even be more than 2 years before im in a house. it could be like 4. I have designed my own house on paper and it will probably stay on paper for a while. maybe in like 3 years a repo house will come about
 
jpmcgrew said:
:ROFLMAO: You are too funny!
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LOL i know. the funny thing is every house in that area of south mountain is just like that. they are all competing against each other. the whole mountain is. its literaly like a 5 mile stretch on the mountian with these homes on it.
 
Jeekinz said:
GG, I'm not saying everyone makes a profit when they sell a home. What I was saying was, in the long term a homes value will go up.....no matter what. 15 years from now your house and everyone elses will be worth more. Now, if you were smart and didn't keep borrowing againt your equity, you'll still be paying the same amount of money.
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I hear ya :) I don't know what your area is like, but in this part of VA, there is a high concentration of military installations, so we have a highly transient population. People can't always choose when to buy or sell.

Jeekinz said:
Every time there's a spike in home values it will drop for a while. Your friend made a big mistake buying in a sellers market, but if they stay there tables will turn and they will be in good shape.
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They bought when they moved here to take better jobs; there was no way of knowing that six months later, housing prices would implode.
 
Wow, this is a good thread!

One thing to remember, is LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION! Also, the Law of Supply and Demand.

I live out in the sticks, within a stone's-throw of Tulsa, OK. I literally mean "the sticks", too. I wake to two of my neighbor's roosters bragging to each other about the size of their flocks each morning. Another neighbor has horses. A fourth has cattle. We hear coyotes at night sometimes. We're currently renting a Rent-to-own house, about 2700 sq. ft, 4 bedrooms (technically, there's another "study" that we use as a bedroom as well), 2 1/2 bath, 1 1/2 car garage. Not sure how much land, exactly, but I'm guesstimating over an acre (takes me 3 hours to mow it with a push-mower). The owner wants $120,00 for the whole schmear.

Go into Tulsa, and the prices get higher for smaller homes. More demand for homes, less supply, unless you're willing to live in the newer suburbs and pay $$$$ for BIG new homes.

For what you all are talking about pricewise for housing, if I were to pay that kind of money here, I'd better be living in a freaking mansion on the south side of Downtown.

jpmcgrew, Eagle's Nest, halfway between Cimmaron and Taos? That was a really nice-looking area back in '92, the last time I was out there.
 
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