yellowroom

That's not far from the numbers here, but for me there were other costs as well as mortgage to consider, primarily tax, insurance and selling fees. Plus I didn't want to take the risk on what property prices are going to do over the next couple of years. Also, simple things like knowing how to navigate the electrics, plumbing, electrics discussed above.

Linda summarised it quite well, but it wasn't just a financial decision for me. As a tenant, if something goes wrong, one call to my agent gets it fixed. I like not having the responsibility and worry, especially when the weather starts flexing muscles.

Bob

And that's the thing, it works in your location, but that's not the case in the north east.

Mortgage for a place here is easily double the cost of rent and you'll be able to afford to rent a place in a much nicer area than buying up here, simply because the rental market is much stronger, even though it is still really hard to find decent places to rent, just because of so much competition.

$2K to rent a small 2 bed house would see a $4K mortgage, especially when you're adding in property tax and owners insurance.

This is definitely something where folks in the north east might have better input than folks living in other parts of the country.

Bob

Aye, know some folks who bought a place they liked in Boston, good deal, but didn't bother with a survey.

Couple of weeks later the sewage pipe blows and floods the basement in shit.

If they were renting, the landlord would have been responsible for putting them up in a hotel and sorting out the repairs as well as replacing all the lost gear, as it was, they suddenly realised they couldn't just get the thing repaired because they needed to get permits to work on the sewage pipe, permits for the contractor to park out front, permits to dig up the road, which all took a week or so to organise, all while having to pay to stay in a hotel. Just a bunch of extra expense of ownership and stuff you didn't realise you needed to do from living in the burbs to another city as a owner.

yellowroom

I'm re-reading Bill Bryson's "notes from a big country" when he returned home to the USA after living in the UK for 20 years. I'm laughing now more than when I first read it! I too have had the " I call it a rawlplug, what do you call it?" conversation in Home Depot, with the accompanying mime.

I'm only now getting to grip with how things work after nearly a year, I'd have made terrible decisions if I'd bought a house here in the first few months.

Everyone's circumstances are different of course, but I had assumptions that I knew all about property because I've been a hmoeowner for 19 years in the UK. Wronger than a wrong thing on a wrong day.

tuxedocat

I don't understand the putting money into someone else's pocket when so much of the payments at first basically go towards interest.

There are usually "luxury" apartments in every area that are nice without scary neighbors. Plus I've found the service on them to be amazing. One call and 2 men are at your door that morning to make a repair. They make it hassle free and they often have perks like a free gym membership.

I would recommend a nicer apt community instead of buying to someone just moving here.

WEBlue

Yes, I would be interested in this too, even though we're not technically first-time buyers. Do you have a link, Tuxedocat? I've looked on Google but can't seem to find it, & I keep getting kicked onto the HUD website.... ?


Haha, this particular forum is for getting one's own fondly-held ideas agressively questioned & sometimes tromped on. But once one gets over that, you realise how useful it really is to have lots of strong opinions argued out in a thread like this. It does open your eyes to new possibilities that may (or may not) work in a new country.

I think both renting for a while & buying straight-away have been well argued here. It's probably just a matter of crunching the numbers of both alternatives & having a good serious think about what you want from this American experience.

Some people want to be done with the whole house-buying thing & they'll put up happily with whatever they find, so they can move on to other concerns. Others need a more deliberate style, & can't stand to do anything in haste or under pressure, plus are maybe more picky. So no hard-&-fast rule will work for everyone in every part of the country. It's more a matter of knowing your & your husband's financial situation, needs, & desires that should determine whether you buy or rent.

MostlyYank

My observation is that the bubble has burst. I suspect (Hope? Pray? ) this will be a once in a lifetime event, and that property values will slowly rise, perhaps even do better in the 'right' areas.

I understand buying isn't for everyone and agree one should wait till they're more knowledgeable. Even still after 'knowing' an area 20 years it turns out I should've bought one town over.

I believe it's a good time to buy. Of course if I was right all the time I'd be rich, and I'm not....

Pete

SultanOfSwing

I certainly hope they start to rise, since we bought when the prices were on their way down (and got a good price) but they continued to fall even afterwards. It would be nice if the house was actually now worth what the county assessor says it is when they work out our property taxes ...

We did actually rent for a few years before we bought the house but that was out of necessity - my wife had only just recovered her credit and as a new immigrant I had none. There's no shame in renting - sometimes we wish we were still renting as well, especially when we have to shell out a couple of grand for a new AC compressor as we did this year .

Sally Redux

Good point and I think the timber-framed houses cost a lot more to maintain which could come as a shock.

We bought early on to gain a feeling of stability, however if I did it again I'd rent for longer. (Actually I wouldn't do it again but that's another story).

tuxedocat

It's a required course for people getting a first time home buyers loan through FHA. I thought it would be very helpful to someone just moved here too before they invested or borrowed 150K+! Like the examples given in this thread about not having an inspector and the problems with repairs, it talks about things like that and other hidden costs, how to protect yourself from some some shady things too so you are legally protected. It was very eye opening.

http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hcs.cfm

I would go to your state, find the closest city and ask if they offer the First Time Home Buyer Course.

SEL_boy

This is a handy thing to look if you're trying to decide whether to rent or buy:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/b...alculator.html

The problem most people have is that they look at rental prices, and then at the mortgage payment for a similar place, and think they are apples and apples. Real estate agents really push this idea.

But there are many more expenses to buying than just the mortgage payment.
If you're going to be in an area for less than 5 years, it's almost always a better deal to rent, no matter how much you feel like you're throwing money away.
You're either putting money in a landlord's pocket, with him responible for fixing everything on the house, or you're putting it in the bank's (and Home Depot's, and real estate agent's, and settlement solicitor's, and so on's) pocket, and YOU"RE responsible for getting any work done.

SultanOfSwing

Not to mention interest. As tuxedocat pointed out - all that money in the first few years going to the interest and not the principle. If someone is going to be moving within 5 years, renting makes so much more sense.

You'd either be facing the possibility of having to sell it and not make enough to pay off the mortgage, or rent it out and therefore have someone else move in and pay the mortgage for you

Charma1ne

Very well said

Cx

WEBlue

Yes these are the nitty-gritty details we focus on too. The husband & I always head straight down the basement with our flashlight. Some seller's agents running Open Houses have expressed surprise that we do that first, but in this part of the country (coastal New England) flooding can be a big problem.

W know what a pain old windows are too, as we dealt with replacing old single-pane windows in the UK. And we always go over garages with a fine-toothed comb too. The husband wants a place to keep the car when the snow months hit, plus a decent workshop space.

The "staging" stuff just makes me shake my head, seems such a waste of time, but I guess some folks who require a certain kind of 'nice' superficial appearance for a house they buy could be swayed by it. When I see it though, I always think to myself, "Watch out, this one's priced above its value."

Charma1ne

It’s not the staging I am looking for but it would be nice to walk round a house without, for instance, porn lying out and half eaten sandwiches left next to it haha

My realtor is obsessed with the flooding/basement as well as the windows! She brings her own flashlight haha although I do, do my own checking I’m forever being given funny looks for tapping on walls and peering into nooks etc I blame my family! Probably why I want a huge project to sink my teeth into!

Cx