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I've never bought a house, owned house, nor do I have the slightest idea where I would even begin to start with any of it.
I don't know if I call a real estate agent or if I would have to talk to a financial person of some sort.
I don't have a lot of people in my life - in fact I don't really have any. I don't have a lot of people in my world at all that I even would know to ask.
I don't want to get into my personal finances too much here but that is the ballpark range of money I am working with.
So instead of giving it all for rent somewhere for a couple years, I figured if I buy a house, at least it will be a tangible something, instead of giving it away to rent. But I need to know what kind of obstacles I will run into or what kind of money just to keep it a livable place while I'm actually living in it, stuff like that.
Hi Kavalier,
Look, don't apologize for asking questions. Some people will be stern in a response and others won't (I'm the latter).
I linked this in your other thread, it may be helpful to you:
Remember, what you have saved does not need to all go to the purchase, and you will need to keep money in reserves when mortgaging a property, the LO will require reserves up to X amount of month's x's your mortgage payment.
That's why I suggested a condo, it will "get your feet wet," so to speak, and you won't feel you are throwing money away at rent.
Talk to a local banker, have them run your credit and verify your income, etc... and go from there. Once that is done, you will know, how much you can afford mortgage wise.
While we would all like to pay cash for a property, not all of us can, and I am one of those people. The error I see in your posts is you wanting to take all that cash and purchase something dirt cheap, then fix it up and live in it during the process. I think that is too much to take on and not advantageous to you at this time. Ten year's from now, sure, go for it, now, start slow and stay in a budget that is comfortable to you.
Remember, what you have saved does not need to all go to the purchase, and you will need to keep money in reserves when mortgaging a property, the LO will require reserves up to X amount of month's x's your mortgage payment.
That's why I suggested a condo, it will "get your feet wet," so to speak, and you won't feel you are throwing money away at rent.
Talk to a local banker, have them run your credit and verify your income, etc... and go from there. Once that is done, you will know, how much you can afford mortgage wise.
While we would all like to pay cash for a property, not all of us can, and I am one of those people. The error I see in your posts is you wanting to take all that cash and purchase something dirt cheap, then fix it up and live in it during the process. I think that is too much to take on and not advantageous to you at this time. Ten year's from now, sure, go for it, now, start slow and stay in a budget that is comfortable to you.
Also, as a first time home buyer there are programs to assist you with things like lower down payments, lower interest rates, and closing costs. If you belong to a credit union, or you have a bank that you do business with, call and make an appointment with the mortgage person there. Explain that you're a first time buyer and want to know about first time buyer programs. MOST people buy their home with a mortgage, especially their first home. You can accelerate your payments to pay it off early if you can. More than likely you will sell it long before that. If you buy a low priced home in the right market, then the market may improve over time and you'll be able to sell it for a profit and use that money to buy your next home, maybe for cash, or maybe with a mortgage, depending on your profit. And so on and so forth.
Remember, what you have saved does not need to all go to the purchase, and you will need to keep money in reserves when mortgaging a property, the LO will require reserves up to X amount of month's x's your mortgage payment.
That's why I suggested a condo, it will "get your feet wet," so to speak, and you won't feel you are throwing money away at rent.
Talk to a local banker, have them run your credit and verify your income, etc... and go from there. Once that is done, you will know, how much you can afford mortgage wise.
While we would all like to pay cash for a property, not all of us can, and I am one of those people. The error I see in your posts is you wanting to take all that cash and purchase something dirt cheap, then fix it up and live in it during the process. I think that is too much to take on and not advantageous to you at this time. Ten year's from now, sure, go for it, now, start slow and stay in a budget that is comfortable to you.
Does that make sense?
I tried to send you a PM regarding more personal info about me that I am not comfortable sharing in the open here. I guess you don't get PMs.
What he has saved should all REMAIN in reserve.
That's about all he has enough for: a responsible property owners cash reserve.
From his first post (the other one), he has somewhere around $17K- $20K cash. If he purchased a condo for around $60K, put down 10%, he would have more than enough in reserves and to cover closing costs. Sure, he will have to pay PMI, so do a lot of people. We aren't all wealthy, and we all require a place to live. He prefers not to rent, so there are options.
Was young and wanted to own in the worst way... kept lowering my sights until I bought the least expensive home on the Oakland MLS... it was schedule for a abatement hearing but still had the utilities on.
I really thought it was too far gone but the listing Broker kept fishing for an offer and when I gave her a range she wrote it up... the next day she called to congratulate me... made for interesting topic of discussion!!!
It was by far the best single financial decision in my life... and the start of a career...
I have posted pictures of it before... it took the better part of a year to turn it around... paid for material as I could afford... someone broke in and stole my Sheetrock... learned a lot about life as a young adult... made many lasting friendships taking the neighborhood eyesore and turning it around.
On my second rental family since I moved...
For the person of limited means and the right attitude and aptitude it can be a win/win all around.
It's probably worth 35 times what I paid for it... or 9 times what I have in it... not counting my labor/learning along the way.
Was young and wanted to own in the worst way... kept lowering my sights until I bought the least expensive home on the Oakland MLS... it was schedule for a abatement hearing but still had the utilities on.
I really thought it was too far gone but the listing Broker kept fishing for an offer and when I gave her a range she wrote it up... the next day she called to congratulate me... made for interesting topic of discussion!!!
It was by far the best single financial decision in my life... and the start of a career...
I have posted pictures of it before... it took the better part of a year to turn it around... paid for material as I could afford... someone broke in and stole my Sheetrock... learned a lot about life as a young adult... made many lasting friendships taking the neighborhood eyesore and turning it around.
On my second rental family since I moved...
For the person of limited means and the right attitude and aptitude it can be a win/win all around.
It's probably worth 35 times what I paid for it... or 9 times what I have in it... not counting my labor/learning along the way.
This is what I'm talking about.
I'm not comfortable talking too much about my personal finances but I think I can do it.
There are also other variables (I grew up with a guy who has been in construction for 20 years who said he would potentially work with me on properties down the road) and stuff that I can look into.
As far as what I can do, by myself? I'm an able-bodied late 30s male, who has done drywall, painting, put in a new window in my parents' house once with my cousin. I work on golf clubs alot - I'd say I'm okay with my hands and stuff like that. Do I think I could re-roof a house by myself or with a friend? Something like that might be over my head, but even that I wouldn't necessarily rule out.
I don't have ANY formal construction/trade training, however.
That's the key right there. But I don't think many people who have never owned a home have the basic tools you'd need to make this work, and tools can be/are expensive.
I Nth the condo thing. That's what my mentor at the time told me but I bought a house. I should have bought a condo.
Remodeling is MESSY. I hate those stupid shows on TV, they make it look easy and romantic. I remodeled our bathroom one day a week for about 6-8 weeks. It SUCKED having to get all the tools in there to start and clean it all up when done. Rinse and repeat. And that's a small bathroom. If you work you will have to do it after work where most people really don't want to deal with that stuff after work, they want to relax. You will make mistakes and have to start over. You will get tired of going to the hardware store (I score my projects by Lowes/Tru-Value trips).
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