03-18-2003, 08:00 PM
Renting is good if you have no other option. When you rent, it's pure expense, you get nothing for your money other than living space for 30 days. granted, maintenance is not your concern (aside from cleaning, etc.) but unless your landlord is a caring soul, whatever repairs that need to be done can wait until he/she gets around to it. Perfect example - my former landlord never shoveled the walk when it snowed, ever. Technically, it was her responsibility to provide a safe entrance/exit to the sidewalk for us, but she never did it. What could I do, sue? It wasn't worth it - I mean if I slipped and fell maybe, but still, who needs the hassle?
Anyway, paying to own is a way better option - you not only own the house, but it becomes equity, something that you can borrow against if you need to. It's also security - if your landlord sells her house, you gotta go (usually). Unless you sell your house, you don't have to go anywhere (assuming you keep up with the mortgage payments.)
Speaking of mortgages, rates are at their lowest in several years. People are refinancing and buying houses like crazy. I'm getting credit card offers with 0% rates for a year, all kinds of great deals (though credit cards are the devil). My point is, if there was a time to get a mortgage, this would be it.
Is it a hassle to find a house? Yeppers, it took us 6 months - but we found it. I would recommend doing it on your own, especially if you know someone who can help you along the way - real estate agents don't do shit and try to hit you up for 1% - 2%, or even more. If you buy a house for $250,000 and they didn't do anything but make a phone call to set up the appointment to see it and some bullshit paperwork that your attorney does for you at closing anyway, why should you give them $5,000?
Yes, there are bullshit fees along the way, but that's life. A good rule of thumb is to have at least 5% of the purchase price to pay your closing fees, and DP's usually are in the 10%-20% range. So, for a $250,000 house you'll need say $25,000 down (low end) and need around $12,500 for closing costs. You can also roll up to 3% or 4% of the closing costs into your mortgage which will cost you a little more, but it gives you less cash needed to get the house now and your monthly mortgage payment won't be all that much more - especially with a low rate.
Just keep an eye out for shady brokers (if you use one) who promise you the world, try to find one that a friend of family member knows, etc. so they won't fuck you in the ass too hard. Getting our house and even getting into our house was a real tough experience on us, but now I can honestly say I'm glad we did it - it's nice to walk around the house and say it's "mine", and not have to worry about making too much noise or having to deal with an annoying landlord every month.
Anyway, paying to own is a way better option - you not only own the house, but it becomes equity, something that you can borrow against if you need to. It's also security - if your landlord sells her house, you gotta go (usually). Unless you sell your house, you don't have to go anywhere (assuming you keep up with the mortgage payments.)
Speaking of mortgages, rates are at their lowest in several years. People are refinancing and buying houses like crazy. I'm getting credit card offers with 0% rates for a year, all kinds of great deals (though credit cards are the devil). My point is, if there was a time to get a mortgage, this would be it.
Is it a hassle to find a house? Yeppers, it took us 6 months - but we found it. I would recommend doing it on your own, especially if you know someone who can help you along the way - real estate agents don't do shit and try to hit you up for 1% - 2%, or even more. If you buy a house for $250,000 and they didn't do anything but make a phone call to set up the appointment to see it and some bullshit paperwork that your attorney does for you at closing anyway, why should you give them $5,000?
Yes, there are bullshit fees along the way, but that's life. A good rule of thumb is to have at least 5% of the purchase price to pay your closing fees, and DP's usually are in the 10%-20% range. So, for a $250,000 house you'll need say $25,000 down (low end) and need around $12,500 for closing costs. You can also roll up to 3% or 4% of the closing costs into your mortgage which will cost you a little more, but it gives you less cash needed to get the house now and your monthly mortgage payment won't be all that much more - especially with a low rate.
Just keep an eye out for shady brokers (if you use one) who promise you the world, try to find one that a friend of family member knows, etc. so they won't fuck you in the ass too hard. Getting our house and even getting into our house was a real tough experience on us, but now I can honestly say I'm glad we did it - it's nice to walk around the house and say it's "mine", and not have to worry about making too much noise or having to deal with an annoying landlord every month.