Anybody been keeping up with the real estate market?
- Thread starter stosh
- Start date
stosh said:
Yep CA.... not where those duffus chopper builders live....
I wish I could afford a shack in the woods.Ciaran said:I am freaking scared sh*tless about buying a house. According to "The Plan" we are supposed to buy one next year. Living in SoCal makes it even scarier. When we buy we should have somewhere in the area of 40 - 50K for a down payment. Is that even close to enough? We really don't want to be those poeple who have 2 mortgages right off the bat with a 3000.00 a month house payment. And of course we (The GF and I) are snobs and don't want to live in a crappy area so any houses we are looking at are starting at 400,000. Sheesh, this sucks. me---> :nuts: <---The Bank
I think I am just going to build a shack in the woods and start writing letters.
N8 said:Yep CA.... not where those duffus chopper builders live....
HAHAHAHA! No kidding...those guys are so f'n annoying...Whats the Brittish blond custom chopper building dudes name...russell something or other...now HE needs his own show! :heart: :love:
stosh said:
Wasn't Walden Pond up for sale not long ago..???
N8 said:
Walden Pond?!?! Sounds like the backdrop for a cheesey romance novel.
Mikey's worse than the dad.stosh said:
stosh said:
You've never read Henry David Thoreau...???
Getting in is the hard part -sorta like a lot of things 
: - but then its easier - sorta like a lot of things. 
We bought some property a couple of years ago and built a house on it. We moved in in 2003 and the house value has already gone up about 30-40%. We don't have a whole lot of extra cash, but we'll have huge amounts of equity when we move.
Given the fact that renting a place like the one we built would cost AT LEAST as much as our mortgage, I'm happy. Paying myself is always better than paying somebody else.
: - but then its easier - sorta like a lot of things. We bought some property a couple of years ago and built a house on it. We moved in in 2003 and the house value has already gone up about 30-40%. We don't have a whole lot of extra cash, but we'll have huge amounts of equity when we move.
Given the fact that renting a place like the one we built would cost AT LEAST as much as our mortgage, I'm happy. Paying myself is always better than paying somebody else.
Stosh,
Why don't you just build a house and save some $'s?
Why don't you just build a house and save some $'s?
It's hopeless...he's just gonna come in here and whine instead of heed our advice...
We've bought 3 houses in the last 10 years. We get a "better" (lower-interest, better terms) mortgage each time. Around here it's common to piggyback the mortgages (for example 80-10-10 = 80% 1st, 10% 2nd, 10% down) to avoid PMI (mortgage insurance kicks in > 80% loan-to-value) and escrow accts. They also come in 80-15-5. I think our 1st home we only put 3% down. I'm not sure what you can get away w/now.dh girlie said:
If I were Stosh I'd buy now. Shop lenders and find one that knows all the 1st time buyer and FHA goodies available. A lot of buyers just go to whatever lender their real estate agent brings them. . . there is almost always a better lender just down the street.
The general sentiment on this board seems to be that real estate, tho it may dip, will always go up over time. I'd like to believe that, but if we ever see 18% APR mortgages again, I know home sales will slow. Combine high interest w/a FUBAR economic dip (say, 1983 in our region), and sales in my area will come to a screeching halt, driving prices into the dirt. No jobs + high interest = no buyers. Knowing it will go back up is *nice* but doesn't help if for some reason we HAD to sell quick(job transfer, loss of job, etc).
New construction loans require something like 20% down!!!!! It's much easier to buy a house that is already built.
Stosh, the people that bought my 1st house.........paid 5k over what I was asking with the stipultion I cut them a check for 5k, and they used that as their down payment, I had to float 5k for 10 minutes........so they got to buy without having saved up big bucks
BUY NOW!!!
I used the equity from that house towards my current place, my mortgage is under $500, and I rent my basement to a coworker for $400 all I have to say is
AND, your mortgage will NEVER EVER go up, if it's $900 now, it will be $900 10 years from now, can you say the same thing about your rent??
BUY NOW!!!
I used the equity from that house towards my current place, my mortgage is under $500, and I rent my basement to a coworker for $400 all I have to say is
AND, your mortgage will NEVER EVER go up, if it's $900 now, it will be $900 10 years from now, can you say the same thing about your rent??
I'm curious, how do you save money by building a house? New houses sell for a premium just because they are new, not to mention all the additional money you have to drop on a driveway, landscaping, etc..N8 said:
Yeah I have someone to rent room out too.douglas said:Stosh, the people that bought my 1st house.........paid 5k over what I was asking with the stipultion I cut them a check for 5k, and they used that as their down payment, I had to float 5k for 10 minutes........so they got to buy without having saved up big bucks
BUY NOW!!!
I used the equity from that house towards my current place, my mortgage is under $500, and I rent my basement to a coworker for $400 all I have to say is
AND, your mortgage will NEVER EVER go up, if it's $900 now, it will be $900 10 years from now, can you say the same thing about your rent??
I would actually like to get a mother/daughter or something.
Wow.... really makes me appreciate living in small town rural USA where just a year ago i bought a 1800 sq ft house for $55000.
I did that too when I bought my house. I was about 3k short of the 20% mark so I just 3k more for the house. It's pretty common in first time home buying. Plus the 5k more you pay for your house will be like $2.00 more a month.douglas said:
A general contractor/builder takes a good chunk of the pie. But it takes quite a bit of time and scheduling to do so. Most builders have problems getting people to show up and work, imagine what it would be like when they are working for someone they'll never deal with again.I Are Baboon said:
I Are Baboon said:
I normally will build a house for a client at a cheaper price than what I would build a 'spec' house for. This is because on a custom home, I know that there is no risk of sitting on it for a few months waiting to sell it.... all the time making interest payments on the construction loan. Typically my client will arrange their own financing etc... which keeps me from having to assume the risk of the loan etc...
In construction, risk = $'s
If you reduce my risk by increasing yours then I charge less... this is why a cost-plus contract is cheaper than a fixed-price contract.
I have been thinking about having a modular thrown down where my pool is (inbetween my house & my neighbors) and selling it..........I figure I'd make $40 to $60K, and not have to clean a pool all summer
I don't know what all is available in your geographic area, income level, and price range, but you might start w/these guys:stosh said:
http://www.nyhomes.org/sony/sonyma.html
They have a couple of programs you might be eligible for.
Also:
www.hud.gov
has some good basic info for 1st time buyers.
Good luck.
Maybe I am just confused on the wording here. When N8 suggested stosh build a house, I assume he meant have one built for him. If N8 meant that stosh should build the house himself, no doubt stosh would save money, but I am not aware stosh has the know-how to build his own house.Westy said:
I thought N8 was refering to what he does, which I think is basically General Contracting. But if you were to swing the hammer yourself you would definately save money. I've known a couple of people who did it but they had family help. Stosh should have aI Are Baboon said:
amish type house raising. Provide trails and beer and we'll build his house when we are not drunk or riding.
Stosh has been aound construction for a while. I recommend you read this book and think about it:I Are Baboon said:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/088266266X/102-2863214-0622552
Sure using a builder is lot less stressful but in the end you can either save money OR build a bigger house than you would normally be able to buy.
You won't save 25% but you should be able to save 10-12%... or a little more depending on your ability to stick to your budget and not spend $600 here and $500 there... etc...
Being your own general saves bucks for several reasons... you don't have the overhead that a general has with office/cell phone/liability and workmans comp insurance/ etc.....
This may seem like an infomercial pitch "Get a house now for only 1 dollar!!" ... but keep an eye on this site http://www.hud.gov/homes/index.cfm they are forclosures on goverment loans like FHAs... alot of the houses are rough but you come across some good fixer uppers sometimes. Thats how I got my house.. nice neighborhood, paid far less than other similar homes in the area and ended up getting it for 15000 less than our first bid... only the government would let you bid up to 70000 then end up giving it to you for your first bid.
Still, a "used" house that is comparable in size and features would most likely cost a lot less that if you built it new. At least, that's what I've gathered from my admittedly limited knowledge of real estate. Eh, what the hell do I know?N8 said:
I thought stosh drew plans and didn't actually build.Westy said: