Good, experienced advice right there. This isn't 2005 anymore. I bought my house in 2002, and had no business really getting into this house. Was in it for 4 years and luckily sold it in 2006 and made about 20k on it, but after taxes, realtor fees, and everything else in the world, I cleared about an 8k profit. Then, looking back some time later at all the money I spent on repairs, day to day maintenance, a new furnace, a new fence, even calculating the (small) tax breaks, I lost my ass. I'm a renter for life right now. I have the income and the credit to buy another place, but I think I'll probably just waint until I can pay cash for my next home. I really really like renting right now based on my home ownership experience and I realize I came out much much better than most people who bought a house around the time I did.
You've obviously learned your lesson on this, but you really don't have to even read the fine print on payday loans - they are all inherently "predatory" in that way.
You're buying at a unique time in history. The market is still so depressed that the resulting overlay will net you 40 - 50 % IMO by the end of next Summer.
Thats terrible thinking. Expecting that kind of growth is crazy. Buying a house for that reason would be a mistake.
It's analagous to buying an extremely oversold and undervalued stock at the moment......subject to a correction...Get in before then.
Could you go into greater detail regarding your taxes? What years did you itemize? And if you itemized, what kind of deductions did you take? How did your total monthly bills (mortgage payment, property tax, insurance) compare to your monthly apartment bills? What kind of interest rate did you get? How much was your down payment?
If you can afford it. If not, don't. The OP wants to buy a house with no money down and a mortgage payment that is over half of his take-home pay. And he has a kid on the way. He'd be better off betting on a UFO landing in.....oh, sorry. We're not supposed to mention that in this thread.
I was self employed at the time so I itemized each year like I always have. Had a 30 yr loan with a 6.25 rate. Down payment was 5%. Monthly mortgage was about 900 + insurance and taxes escrowed in brought it to around 1300? Don't remember all the details but I figure I saved about $950 or so each year on the tax breaks? I don't have an apartment now. I rent a condo from an individual. It is a great situation for me because I have a good relationship with the owner and there aren't as many rules as you would have if in an apt complex.
Buying a home is like anything else, buy it if you can afford it, do not try to strain your budget to get a house.
On average, how much would you say your itemized deductions exceeded your standard deductions? From what you stated, it looks like you would've been better served by itemizing every other year as opposed to every year.
If you can't save $8K, I suggest you shut down all non-essential spending. Forget the house. Build your reserve. Please also take into account that babies are expensive. Formulas, diapers, car seats, strollers, clothes... it all adds up. Good luck.
Outside the details of owning a home versus renting (see all the above posts), the best thing for me is learning how to watch things grow in the yard and garden. Also, before owning a home I disliked rain because it kept me off my bike. Now I do a rain dance every chance I get.
