Closed--now regret it (tenants, clause, mortgage, mortgage company)
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It's not "fraud." The OP clearly intended to occupy the house when applying for the loan. OP could read the contract with the lender to see what is necessary if conditions change. But practically speaking as long as the payments are timely, the lender won't care.
I think OP should give herself a year of living in the house (at least) and see how it feels. Experience the positives and pay people to clean and care for the yard if she wants to do so (these seem to be the primary negatives for her). The worst thing would be to lose all that money on buyer closing costs, plus costs of moving twice, and more selling costs, only to feel unhappy in a later residence. Even after living there a year, OP would likely lose a substantial amount of money.
Renting the house may not be allowable if the neighborhood has zoning restrictions for owner-occupied units. So that would have to be explored before this is a viable option. Renters can also cause headaches and damage.
OP, re: tax consequences, you can't deduct any losses on your personal residence. If you rent it out, under some conditions, you can.
I don't know if this will help, but 2300 square feet does not seem excessive for a house size. Surely you will have friends over for dinner or parties; family may visit and need sleepover space, etc. I hope you will give it a chance!
I've been living in an apt for 10 years and am almost 61 and looking for a house.
I have a lot of reservations too OP, you are not alone. Unfortunately that list of pros and cons of house vs. apt
has many in both columns for both.
Love being able to call maintenance to get something fixed. Hate not being able to put a screen door on my back door. Or put in new carpet.
Love the low utility bills of shared walls and smaller space. Hate the noise of shared walls and clutter that comes with tighter space.
The only perfect solution would be to be rich, own a house and hire a property manager.
You didn't list the reasons why you decided to buy in the first place. There must be some. Concentrate on those while you are budgeting to sell with a loss if you really hate it.
Judging from the time you edited your post - in the wee hours - I know this is bothering you greatly. Take heart. I think part of it is that we think we're still young (I'm in my 60s, too) and the glitter of a new home is very attractive, still. Reality, unfortunately, kicks in after the fact and that's when we kick ourselves! I'm on the brink of buying a home on a hill, of all things.
Enjoy your new home for what attracted you to it. Don't worry about age, circumstance, what others say, or what you're faced with doing. My last house, I had neighbors who were wonderful (and around the same age with their own homes) and, if they couldn't maintain the yard, they'd get someone else to do it and we really supported each other. Meanwhile, not secluding yourself in a gated community of 55+ may be what your heart desires.
When you're absolutely ready to give up your home and everything with it, go ahead and sell. Also, you might ask your realtor who helped you buy the house if they would take a lower commission (when you're ready) since they've already earned some money from the sale initially. The best of luck to both of you, MaryleeII!
Thanks for the kind words! I do feel better today. Like they say, things look better in the morning! I guess I'm reaching the age where I'm starting to second-guess my decisions. Here's our reasons to buy:
*We both still are working, but plan to retire in 2-3 years. We wanted to get a house while we could still qualify for a mortgage.
Home prices are going straight up, at least around here. We want to lock something in before we're priced out. Of course, housing prices are cyclical, we've been around long enough to know that! But we figure we have at least 10+ years where a house would meet our needs. We certainly aren't ready for a retirement community!
I figure a house with a yard would be good for dh. He needs a reason to get off his tush, out in the sun, etc. We intend to hire a lawn service for the heavy stuff, dh and I could tend the flowers, vegetable plats, etc. This house is fully landscaped with mature trees, flowers, etc. They even gave me a book they'd made about how to care for their garden! Its about three inches thick, with pictures, timelines, care plans, etc. Like having our own personal gardener!
This house was designed with disabilities in mind. I believe their elderly mother lived with them for awhile. There's two walk-in showers with grab bars, non slip floors, detachable waterfall-type sprays, the toilets are the large, raised type, grab bars, there's small ramps from the deck to the backyard, etc. I have arthritis and do have difficulty getting around. We figured we might have to renovate a "new" home for disabled access, but this is already done! This would allow us to age-in-place, perhaps buy us more time as we get older. I have seen many cases where older people end up in nursing homes when they could have stayed in their own home if they had barrier-free design. Such is terribly expensive, though. It would be nice to have it already in place!
The house also has a screened-in patio, which would be great for our cats!
I suppose I just looked ahead and saw myself getting older, and less able to care for such a house. Well, perhaps that time will come, but who knows when? In the meantime, I can enjoy my home! Living in this apt has aged me, I can now see that. Its depressing to be cooped up in this small place all day. This is not a 55+ community, but its about 80% that age bracket. That's good in that you don't have screaming kids and parties all night long, but at the same time, I would prefer a bit more life around.
Like you said, we still think we're "young". We're at a transition stage, and don't know which direction to go towards. We could get busy being "old", or we could hang onto our last years of "young"
Thanks for the kind words! I do feel better today. Like they say, things look better in the morning! I guess I'm reaching the age where I'm starting to second-guess my decisions. Here's our reasons to buy:
*We both still are working, but plan to retire in 2-3 years. We wanted to get a house while we could still qualify for a mortgage.
Home prices are going straight up, at least around here. We want to lock something in before we're priced out. Of course, housing prices are cyclical, we've been around long enough to know that! But we figure we have at least 10+ years where a house would meet our needs. We certainly aren't ready for a retirement community!
I figure a house with a yard would be good for dh. He needs a reason to get off his tush, out in the sun, etc. We intend to hire a lawn service for the heavy stuff, dh and I could tend the flowers, vegetable plats, etc. This house is fully landscaped with mature trees, flowers, etc. They even gave me a book they'd made about how to care for their garden! Its about three inches thick, with pictures, timelines, care plans, etc. Like having our own personal gardener!
This house was designed with disabilities in mind. I believe their elderly mother lived with them for awhile. There's two walk-in showers with grab bars, non slip floors, detachable waterfall-type sprays, the toilets are the large, raised type, grab bars, there's small ramps from the deck to the backyard, etc. I have arthritis and do have difficulty getting around. We figured we might have to renovate a "new" home for disabled access, but this is already done! This would allow us to age-in-place, perhaps buy us more time as we get older. I have seen many cases where older people end up in nursing homes when they could have stayed in their own home if they had barrier-free design. Such is terribly expensive, though. It would be nice to have it already in place!
The house also has a screened-in patio, which would be great for our cats!
I suppose I just looked ahead and saw myself getting older, and less able to care for such a house. Well, perhaps that time will come, but who knows when? In the meantime, I can enjoy my home! Living in this apt has aged me, I can now see that. Its depressing to be cooped up in this small place all day. This is not a 55+ community, but its about 80% that age bracket. That's good in that you don't have screaming kids and parties all night long, but at the same time, I would prefer a bit more life around.
Like you said, we still think we're "young". We're at a transition stage, and don't know which direction to go towards. We could get busy being "old", or we could hang onto our last years of "young"
Decision---we will keep the house!
I think its natural to go through a feeling of remorse after such a big purchase. The thrill of the "hunt" is over and life is supposed to go back to normal, except that you now get to go through a major change...moving, unpacking, settling into a new pattern. If it is truly buyer's remorse and a serious doubt about keeping the house, it will continue. If its a pretty normal reaction to a life change, it will pass. Give it time. If you truly don't want the house you can still deal with that. Nothing requires you to do anything in a hurry.
The lender will know because they get penalized when a loan is paid off from a resale during a specific period of time because they're selling the loan on the wholesale market for the investor to make money. If the loan is cured too quickly with the investor assuming it's an owner occupied loan as the documents say, they will definitely know!
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