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Re: Housing Madness
Originally Posted by TruBrit
(Post 5334823)
think ours is 6.25% with some local counties adding on a further 2%.
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Re: Housing Madness
Originally Posted by TruBrit
(Post 5334823)
think ours is 6.25% with some local counties adding on a further 2%.
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Re: Housing Madness
Originally Posted by another bloody yank
(Post 5334834)
For the privilege of living in Houston?:blink:
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Re: Housing Madness
Originally Posted by Hiro11
(Post 5334840)
IIRC, Harris County (where I assume you live) has the highest real estate tax rate in the country. No state income tax must be nice, though.
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Re: Housing Madness
Originally Posted by Roland Hulme
(Post 5334564)
Getting new ideas and concepts into my head is kind of like teaching a suet pudding to do long division - i.e. pretty much impossible and very frustrating.
However, my stodgy old opinions do change from time to time and one of the things I'm realising you lot have been right about the whole time long is HOUSES. I sat down with the missus to look very seriously into the question of buying a house in New Jersey and no matter how it adds up, it just doesn't make any financial sense whatsoever. The house opposite - a nice little four bedroomed place in a pretty crappy state of repair - is going for $250,000. BARGIN, says I. But the property tax is about 6k a year. Roughly $500 a month. So on top of the $2,000 mortgage a month (twice our current rent) you'd have to pay $500 in taxes. That's pretty much put us in a pasta-for-dinner-everynight-of-the-week and domestic-beer-only-and-not-during-the-week-even-as-a-treat kind of situation and after living like that in England for four years (although we were renting at the time - thanks Gordon Brown) methinks: Screw that. Seriously. Let's just rent for 5 years and stick that $1,500 a month into a high interest account. At the end you'd have $75,000 saved up whereas if we'd bought the house we'd have paid $30,000 in taxes and sure-as-shite not paid off $75,000 of our mortgage. I mean, am I missing something here? Is home ownership really so insane in America? In England $250,000 might have barely bought you a terraced shoebox with indoor plumbing, but at least property tax was only £1,200 a year instead of nearly three times that. <<snip>> Also, your plans do not taken into account possible unforseen costs during five years such as the birth of the child or a major medical crisis (requiring surgery, time off work, etc.). I nearly forgot an obvious one. You or your wife may loose your job and that would really throw a spanner in the works. |
Re: Housing Madness
I still think it is worth getting on the property ladder. You have to go without luxuries but it's not so bad while you're still young. Mortgage interest payments are tax-deductible and property taxes can be offset. The equity in the house should continue to rise. It is unlikely, I believe, that prices will drop dramatically in any desirable area therefore your calculations should take account of this, ie money you put aside in savings will always be chasing the house prices.
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Re: Housing Madness
Originally Posted by another bloody yank
(Post 5334606)
Everything you've said is 100% true..... for New Jersey.;)
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Re: Housing Madness
Originally Posted by Sally
(Post 5334896)
...ie money you put aside in savings will always be chasing the house prices.
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Re: Housing Madness
Originally Posted by Lord Lionheart
(Post 5334774)
Come to California, $250,000 gets you eemmmm nothing.
$500,000 gets you a tiny house in the sticks with a long commute |
Re: Housing Madness
Originally Posted by Bob
(Post 5334982)
big fat down payment will help get a great rate though....that and when renting, just ring landlord to fix anything broken instead of having to faff around doing it yourself...
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Re: Housing Madness
Originally Posted by Celsius
(Post 5334985)
Come on. Don't be so negative. The OP might be able to get a dog kennel for that money. Maybe even a garage :D
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Re: Housing Madness
Originally Posted by Celsius
(Post 5334858)
Also, your plans do not taken into account possible unforseen costs during five years such as the birth of the child or a major medical crisis (requiring surgery, time off work, etc.).
I nearly forgot an obvious one. You or your wife may loose your job and that would really throw a spanner in the works. |
Re: Housing Madness
Originally Posted by Roland Hulme
(Post 5334564)
Getting new ideas and concepts into my head is kind of like teaching a suet pudding to do long division - i.e. pretty much impossible and very frustrating.
However, my stodgy old opinions do change from time to time and one of the things I'm realising you lot have been right about the whole time long is HOUSES. I sat down with the missus to look very seriously into the question of buying a house in New Jersey and no matter how it adds up, it just doesn't make any financial sense whatsoever. The house opposite - a nice little four bedroomed place in a pretty crappy state of repair - is going for $250,000. BARGIN, says I. But the property tax is about 6k a year. Roughly $500 a month. So on top of the $2,000 mortgage a month (twice our current rent) you'd have to pay $500 in taxes. That's pretty much put us in a pasta-for-dinner-everynight-of-the-week and domestic-beer-only-and-not-during-the-week-even-as-a-treat kind of situation and after living like that in England for four years (although we were renting at the time - thanks Gordon Brown) methinks: Screw that. Seriously. Let's just rent for 5 years and stick that $1,500 a month into a high interest account. At the end you'd have $75,000 saved up whereas if we'd bought the house we'd have paid $30,000 in taxes and sure-as-shite not paid off $75,000 of our mortgage. I mean, am I missing something here? Is home ownership really so insane in America? In England $250,000 might have barely bought you a terraced shoebox with indoor plumbing, but at least property tax was only £1,200 a year instead of nearly three times that. At least then, your hard earned wages would go towards paying off your mortgage instead of paying for garbage trucks to run down your mailbox every week. I would LOVE to have any thoughts or opinions - I defer to your experience and knowledge. Pre-2006, living in NC: 3BR 1.5 BA ranch in a "nice" (not posh, but sound) neighborhood, cost me $93k, mortgage, house insurance, and property taxes totalled $700 a month (taxes were less than $100 of that, I believe). This enabled me to save well over $1,000 per month (more thru frugality and working like a dog than an extravagant salary) and in 6 years I had enough in the bank to be within $20k of paying off the mortgage. Fast forward 12 months. Life in the UK: 3 BR 1 BA terrace in need of multiple repairs, cost $330k (that's USD; 165k GBP). Monthly mortgage is over $2,000 per month, council tax is $312 per month. So, from being almost mortgage-free in NC to being lumbered with a 25-year mortgage in the UK that currently leaves me with no spare cash at the end of each month. So, I think it's not as simple as a UK vs US comparison. In the US, where you live makes a huge difference. Where I lived in NC (and also in middle TN), houses were relatively inexpensive, property tax was low, finances were easy. Obviously, NJ and other places I read about on here are very, very different. At least you have the option of relocating to a different city or state if you really want to stay in the US and live comfortably. In the UK, it's not so much where you live (well, yes, London/south vs elsewhere is different, but not nearly as much as CA or NY vs TN or NC) but is more about when you bought your house. In 2001 (when I bought in NC), similar houses here in some areas of the UK were the same price (the terrace I live in was about 60k GBP back then). But since then they have almost tripled (I'm in Scotland), while prices in eastern NC didn't hardly move an inch (and of course, the dollar has imploded). The downside of the situation is that there is no option of moving to a cheaper town, as noweher is cheap any more. And of course you can't turn back the clock and buy a house at 2001 prices. Subsequently, while I am sitting tight for now, the plan for making a permanent move back to TN is constantly simmering away in the back of my mind ... |
Re: Housing Madness
Originally Posted by sunflwrgrl13
(Post 5334667)
The first thing that our mortgage broker (who's a friend of my mom) said was "do not choose a house that you will become a slave to." Good luck in your decision. unless you know your income will be increasing in the future.... |
Re: Housing Madness
Anyone foresee the market bottoming out soon?
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