ot - housing costs
ellen
time to move from our neighborhood. curious if you have opinions/
advice on approaching this in a prudent manner. i have read that one
rule of thumb is examining all housing costs (mortgage, insurance,
utilities, taxes) as a % of income & i have seen ranges of 28%-35%
thrown about as affordable ( i am not sure if the lower figure
represents gross; i know that the higher figure does).
being a bit of a financial dummy & having bought cheap properties,
this next step is a bit scary. also curious to hear about how
property taxes vary out there. we love a particular neighborhood that
has a mill rate of 43.6, so as far as i can tell to get the tax rate,
we multiply that by the state equalized value (which is half the
assessed value of the house). this puts us in the $6-7000 range in
prop taxes/yr (but the same house in detroit would be much higher as
the mill rate is 68). outlying areas have lower rates.
if still reading, thanks.
ellen
ellen
> x-no-archive: yes
> important thing is the neighborhood, schools, amenities, and that you
> love the home and the community is stable, not likely to take a tumble.
> Even if you don't have kids to send to school, good districts are more
> in demand and appreciate better, though you'll pay more, too.
>
> I'd also research police crime rate stats, they're usually online here.
> Be sure to pay the extra for mold, termite, engineering inspections and
> follow the inspectors around and make them show you stuff. Check the
> zoning of every property surrounding you, too.
>
> I'm not comfortable with paying more than 20-25% of gross for PITI.
> And read like a nut about mortgage deals, there are so many tricks they
> play to make one seem better than another, but cost more anyway.
>
> Don't fall in love with real estate til after you buy it; getting
> emotional about a house can lead to headaches later, and not so hot
> negotiating now.
>
> Good luck, moving to a home you love is a wonderful life change.
>
> Susan
great suggestions, susan. we've done a thorough neighborhood
analysis, including the crime stats, & think we are in the right place
with it all. & i've already researched the general inspectors/mold
specialists.
incredibly stupid about the mortgage stuff though & am trying to
educate myself. we have never had a mortgage for our properties so
this our 1st foray into the mess.
& i am rationally with you re: the % or gross that you gave. did fall
in love with a place, but am keeping emotions out of this. & i didn't
even look at the fixer-upper that dh wanted to see. i thought it was
a new low for even us - he had failed to tell me that there was a
'caution - biohazard' tape on the door to the basement.....
Eva
"ellen" <epdp...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:f94fcd6d-db0b-4fdf...@x41g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
incredibly stupid about the mortgage stuff though & am trying to
educate myself. we have never had a mortgage for our properties so
this our 1st foray into the mess.
----------------
Make sure you get a *fixed rate* mortgage. Don't go near anything with an
adjustable rate. If rates go down you can always refinance later. That's
what I did. Got the mortgage in 1995 at 8.375%, refinanced it in 2003 at
5.25%. Also make *sure* the mortgage does *not* have a "prepayment
penalty." IOW, if you get some extra money and want to pay down the
principal, or pay off the loan altogether, that you won't have to pay a $$
penalty for doing so.
That's all the advice I can think of at the moment. Getting a mortgage
involves signing your name on so many different papers you could end up with
carpal tunnel syndrome. You don't know what the hell you're signing, so
make sure you ask those important questions *before * you pick up the pen.
Eva
FurPaw
And I'd just add, avoid private mortgage insurance if you can.
It used to be that you wouldn't be required to pay for it if you
put down 20%; I don't know what the rules are now.
And shop around for a mortgage lender. Their fees can vary
markedly. When we got a mortgage through a mortgage broker, it
seemed like the mortgage was being sold to a different company
every six months or so. It got sold twice before we made our
first payment! That gets confusing at best, and downright scary
if there are any glitches in the transfer of paperwork. When
interest rates dropped, we refinanced through a local bank (not a
national chain) and they held the mortgage for 10 years, with no
glitches.
I hope you find a house that you'll fall in love with _after_
you've gotten through all the negotiations!
FurPaw
--
The plural of anecdote is not proof.
To reply, unleash the dog.
Chris Malcolm
> hi all. dh & i have been looking around at houses, knowing that it is
> time to move from our neighborhood. curious if you have opinions/
> advice on approaching this in a prudent manner.
Don't forget to consider how close the house is to local water
levels. Floods from both sea and rivers are likely to become much more
common and severe in future. Old ideas about what will be safe are no
longer reliable.
--
Chris Malcolm c...@infirmatics.ed.ac.uk DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]
ellen
20% down w/no prepayment penalties. & good points about checking out
the various mortgage lenders - these financial markets are scary. as
are the consequences of global warming on water levels & everything
else.
one step closer & can't decide whether to hold my nose &/or jump for
joy, but am avoiding closing my eyes.
(as an aside, i won't be able to see russia from my house, but i will
be able to see canada. so another inadvertant step closer to any
future political aspirations.)
Cathy F.
Sorry for being so late in chiming in: my PC was out of commission for a
week until Saturday afternoon, & am still on catch-up mode - just saw this
post.
My comments, for what they're worth...
I feel more comfortable in the 2X range, re: mortgage : income ratio (gross
income). The bank was willing to lend me more (up to 2.5X my salary, IIRC),
but when I crunched the numbers it meant that if I ran out of Kleenex
mid-month, I realized I would've literally needed to wait until the next
month to buy a new box; too nerve-racking for me! (As it was, all I managed
to buy for myself in the first 10 months of home ownership were 2 prs. of
underwear! What $ I did have was all budgeted for paint, wallpaper, new
wiring, etc. Nice house, but hadn''t been painted or papered in about 25 -
30 years & had all-too-original wiring & plumbing from 1920...)
Get a fixed rate mortgage if yopu plan to live there quite a while - or a
long time. (I can not believe the people who bought into ARMs when they
expected to stay in the house for more than 3 years or so, & were then
somehow blindsided by the resultant higher interest rates.)
Make sure you can make prepayments on the mortgage with no penalities.
If considering a slightly higher interest rate Vs. slightly higher closing
costs, figure out the total costs each way for the duration of the loan, &
see which is actually more expensive in the long run.
My taxes - county, city, & school - run about $2,100. (upstate NY - way
upstate)
If a house appeals to you, but is in need of TLC, determine whether it's
just cosmetic, or if there are structural probs. And make sure to get it
inspected by a structural engineer if serious about it. Then go over the
report item by item with the engineer. (Post inspection, mine took me
through the house, floor by floor, & explained each item on his list.)
HTH...
Cathy
Cathy F.
--
Cathy
"Eva" <EvaDStr...@NOverizon.net> wrote in message
news:-YGdnU1naoqTE1XV...@giganews.com...
LOL - all too true! Umpteen million signatures! Mind numbing, never mind
hand numbing. I had a bad cold the day of my closing, & I had to keep
saying, "Excuse me?" to one of the lawyers - my ears were clogged & I
couldn't hear him very well.
Also - to Ellen - double-check on the morning of the closing re: the exact
amount needed for the cashier's check so that you won't get to the closing
only to find out they need yet another $500 for something they forgot to
tell you about. That happened at the closing going on at the table next to
mine - they were left scrambling for the $. I owed just another $10 for
some stamp or other - that was deal-able.
Cathy
>
> Eva
>
Cathy F.
"Cathy F." <cl...@adelphiadotdeedot.net> wrote in message
news:L4SdnTE8xcph7k3V...@giganews.com...
>
> My taxes - county, city, & school - run about $2,100. (upstate NY - way
> upstate)
Oops - that was 3 years ago; they're now ~ $2,400.
Cathy
Cathy F.
--
Cathy
"Susan" <neve...@nomail.com> wrote in message
news:6jbbr5F...@mid.individual.net...
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> Cathy F. wrote:
>
>> Make sure you can make prepayments on the mortgage with no penalities.
>>
>
> Two folks have mentioned this, so I may as well comment. We used a
> mortgage broker, a client of Tom's. We accepted a 3 year no pre payment
> clause
Was this in the first 3 years of the mortgage? (If so, no way I could've
made any prepayments in that particular time frame, anyway!)
Cathy
in exchange for a *very* favorable fixed rate on what was then a
> jumbo loan. It was a bit of risk if a disaster happened to us, I suppose,
> but well worth it financially. Even with a jumbo, we ended up with a
> 5.25% long term rate and that pre payment penalty has expired.
>
> That rate comes with huge savings compared to other loans available
> without the penalty. You have to weigh your individual circumstances as
> to which loan makes the most sense for you and your finances. We could've
> absorbed a penalty in a worst case scenario, and taking that risk is
> paying off very well.
>
> Susan
Cathy F.
--
Cathy
"Susan" <neve...@nomail.com> wrote in message
news:6jbc99F...@mid.individual.net...
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> Susan wrote:
>> x-no-archive: yes
>>
>> Cathy F. wrote:
>>
>>> Make sure you can make prepayments on the mortgage with no penalities.
>>>
>>
>> Two folks have mentioned this, so I may as well comment. We used a
>> mortgage broker, a client of Tom's. We accepted a 3 year no pre payment
>> clause in exchange for a *very* favorable fixed rate on what was then a
>> jumbo loan. It was a bit of risk if a disaster happened to us, I
>> suppose, but well worth it financially. Even with a jumbo, we ended up
>> with a 5.25% long term rate and that pre payment penalty has expired.
>>
>> That rate comes with huge savings compared to other loans available
>> without the penalty. You have to weigh your individual circumstances as
>> to which loan makes the most sense for you and your finances. We
>> could've absorbed a penalty in a worst case scenario, and taking that
>> risk is paying off very well.
>>
>> Susan
>
> I just want to emphasize that knowing the zoning of every nearby property
> as well as your own is really critical. The wrong kind of use near your
> house can wreck your qol and your property value.
>
> Susan
True - re: checking out the zoning in the area. OTOH... there are often
times (which you can't always foresee) when exceptions are made, re: zoning
restrictions.
Cathy
FurPaw
> thanks, folks, for the good advice. definitely doing the fixed rate/
> 20% down w/no prepayment penalties. & good points about checking out
> the various mortgage lenders - these financial markets are scary. as
> are the consequences of global warming on water levels & everything
> else.
>
> one step closer & can't decide whether to hold my nose &/or jump for
> joy, but am avoiding closing my eyes.
Fingers and paws crossed that it all goes smoothly!
> (as an aside, i won't be able to see russia from my house, but i will
> be able to see canada. so another inadvertant step closer to any
> future political aspirations.)
>
You'd make a much better VP ... but I wouldn't wish that on anyone I like!
FurPaw
--
Why do people who embrace Social Darwinism object to teaching the theory of
evolution?
FurPaw
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> Cathy F. wrote:
>
>>
>
> clause in exchange for a *very* favorable fixed rate on what was then a
> jumbo loan. It was a bit of risk if a disaster happened to us, I
> suppose, but well worth it financially. Even with a jumbo, we ended up
> with a 5.25% long term rate and that pre payment penalty has expired.
That sounds like a pretty good deal! If we'd had that option, I'm sure we
would have taken it, since we weren't planning on moving soon (and we
stayed in that house for 15 years). I'd never heard of a limited-term
pre-payment clause before this.
FurPaw
> x-no-archive: yes
> Of course, with brokers you have to do extra diligence to make sure you
> know what you're paying, they're skeevier, but this has worked out very
> well for us. When we bought our first house, we would've killed for 8.5%.
Me too, when I bought my condo in 1980. Rates were through the roof. I
thought I was lucky to get 16%, and then my realtor found a bank offering
12%, told me to leave work and drive over there immediately to apply -
which I did, and got it. I refinanced sometime after the rates dropped
below double digits.
ellen
those earlier days of high interest rates - yikes!
with the financial markets collapsing around us, we thought 'what
better time to make the biggest financial commitment of our lives?'
so we spent late last eve signing the papers for an offer on a house.
then we came home & ate chocolate mousse torte at 11pm. i'm hoping
that the coincidental fact that it was my 45th bday may have some
bearing on negotiations.....
cathy, i want your taxes! susan, yes, you are right, canada is
prettier. & thanks again, furpaw, for your vote of confidence.
let you guys know soon..........
xo,ellen
WWSC #4
> i'm hoping that the coincidental fact that it was my 45th bday may
> have some bearing on negotiations.....
Happy birthday, Ellen! I hope everything works out with your potential
new home.
Karen R.
Cathy F.
>i appreciate the added advice & discussion. i had forgotten about
> those earlier days of high interest rates - yikes!
> with the financial markets collapsing around us, we thought 'what
> better time to make the biggest financial commitment of our lives?'
> so we spent late last eve signing the papers for an offer on a house.
> then we came home & ate chocolate mousse torte at 11pm. i'm hoping
> that the coincidental fact that it was my 45th bday may have some
> bearing on negotiations.....
>
> cathy, i want your taxes!
Hey, you can have them, as long I will then not get someone else's. ;-)
Cathy
Cathy F.
"ellen" <epdp...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:54f8bbcc-3fd8-46c0...@x41g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
> those earlier days of high interest rates - yikes!
> with the financial markets collapsing around us, we thought 'what
> better time to make the biggest financial commitment of our lives?'
> so we spent late last eve signing the papers for an offer on a house.
> then we came home & ate chocolate mousse torte at 11pm. i'm hoping
> that the coincidental fact that it was my 45th bday may have some
> bearing on negotiations.....
Here's hoping they - the negotiations - are short & sweet!
Cathy
Cathy F.
"ellen" <epdp...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:54f8bbcc-3fd8-46c0...@x41g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
> those earlier days of high interest rates - yikes!
> with the financial markets collapsing around us, we thought 'what
> better time to make the biggest financial commitment of our lives?'
> so we spent late last eve signing the papers for an offer on a house.
> then we came home & ate chocolate mousse torte at 11pm. i'm hoping
> that the coincidental fact that it was my 45th bday may have some
> bearing on negotiations.....
And hapopty b'day!
(Jeez, am I tired, or what?! Took 3 separate posts to reply - I kept
missing pieces...)
Cathy
nickelshrink
A very happy b'day to you!
Oooooh....chocolate mousse tort......
--
pax,
ruth
Save trees AND money! Buy used books!
http://stores.ebay.com/Noir-and-More-Books-and-Trains
FurPaw
Cathy F.
>
> "ellen" <epdp...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:54f8bbcc-3fd8-46c0...@x41g2000hsb.googlegroups.com...
>>i appreciate the added advice & discussion. i had forgotten about
>> those earlier days of high interest rates - yikes!
>> with the financial markets collapsing around us, we thought 'what
>> better time to make the biggest financial commitment of our lives?'
>> so we spent late last eve signing the papers for an offer on a house.
>> then we came home & ate chocolate mousse torte at 11pm. i'm hoping
>> that the coincidental fact that it was my 45th bday may have some
>> bearing on negotiations.....
>
> And hapopty b'day!
LOL - holy corolly - I truly was exhausted when I typed that! (Some sort of
cold, caught at school, of course!) A happy, hoppity b'day maybe? ;-)
Cathy
ellen
> Ellen, that's SOME birthday present you gave yourself! I felt decadent
> when I bought myself a pair of boots I didn't need.
yeah, i was counting a a haircut as a means of celebrating....
Good luck with the offer and all those inspections, if all goes well,
> Ellen.
>
> Susan
thanks - still negotiating, but we are at our limit on this last
offer. que sera sera. how are you feeling - done with that cold, i
hope?
ellen
thanks much, karen. crazy bday, for sure. whatever happens, trixie &
i saw an eagle that morning, not a common detroit occurrence. so that
was way cool.
hope all is well with you & your neighborhood these days.
ellen
>
> And hapopty b'day!
>
> (Jeez, am I tired, or what?! Took 3 separate posts to reply - I kept
> missing pieces...)
>
> Cathy
i know that you corrected this, but i rather like 'hapopty b'day.'
thanks for all the good wishes & new phrasing.
ellen
thanks, ruth. if only i could share that torte.....
ellen
thanks for all the good wishes, furpaw. love that social darwinism/
evolution commentary.
how goes the new semester?
WWSC #4
> thanks much, karen. crazy bday, for sure. whatever happens, trixie &
> i saw an eagle that morning, not a common detroit occurrence. so that
> was way cool.
That does sound cool. In recent years we've gotten lots of deer and the
occasional fox. Coyotes are supposed to be in the area now -- making me
very happy that our cats are indoors only -- but I haven't seen or heard one.
> hope all is well with you & your neighborhood these days.
Things are going well. YD has started her sophomore year at college with
*much* better grades. She is upset if she scores 80% -- last year we
would have been thrilled with 80%. :-) OD's transition funding came
through -- two years after high school graduation -- and is very happy in
a training program that should lead to competitive, skilled employment by
next summer.
I have spent the last two years filling up her days with activities. Now
that she is in a day program she not only refuses to give up any of those
activities, she has even added a few. So I don't see much of her these
days. :-)
I had my thyroid meds readjusted and am again starting the countdown to
crone status. Wish me luck. :-)
Karen R.
ellen
hey! that all sounds good. glad that your daughters are doing well.
what are you doing with all that extra free time?
did the thyroid med readjustment throw off the peri/meno march? i'm
afraid to ask how close to crone you got..... good luck with
everything!
xo,ellen
ellen
we jumped! inspection this week. feeling/thinking so many things at
once - excited, scared, happy, sad, dazed, etc. huge trade-offs in
many ways, some good/some bad. i will miss so much about this old
place & my dear neighbors/community friends.
i'm going from a place that was named in the 'hipster's handbook' to
one that was named in the 'preppy's handbook.' seriously.
WWSC #4
> hey! that all sounds good. glad that your daughters are doing well.
> what are you doing with all that extra free time?
Mostly fighting with our insurance company to keep HFA daughter on (with
her level of disability she is supposed to be able to stay on our plan),
and with Social Security for overestimating the amount she was making by
2-4 times and deducting more than she was paid from her SSI payments.
This despite my sending them copies of her paystubs multiple times and
requesting a review of her account along with another set of paystubs.
Boy, am I glad I scanned them to PDFs! The next step is to take a day to
camp out in the Social Security office and get someone to look at yet
another set of the stubs, and sign off they they have been reviewed and
are much lower than the amounts they have been attributing to her.
> did the thyroid med readjustment throw off the peri/meno march? i'm
> afraid to ask how close to crone you got..... good luck with
> everything!
Many of my peri symptoms, including frequent, heavy periods, turned out
to be caused by hypothyroid. At least, when I was dxed and put on thyroid
meds, I started skipping periods and the ones I had were very light.
Then, after seven months without a period, they started again with a
bang. And other symptoms returned. My dosage was increased last spring
and I went back to where I had been when I first started on the meds. And
now I have skipped my last two periods, so the countdown is starting again.
Karen R.
WWSC #4
> WWSC #4 wrote:
>
>> Mostly fighting with our insurance company to keep HFA daughter on (with
>> her level of disability she is supposed to be able to stay on our plan),
>> and with Social Security for overestimating the amount she was making by
>> 2-4 times and deducting more than she was paid from her SSI payments.
> I know that when having probs with Medicare or the SSA, a call from your
> local congressional rep's office REALLY greases the wheels. Never had
> to do it much for the folks I worked with, but BOY, they get sudden
> attacks of efficiency down there.
That will be the next step if forcing someone to enter the actual pay
doesn't work. I had to do that 23 years ago when I married and changed my
name. I took a day off work to change my driver's license and SS ID, and
filled out the paperwork. A month later I received my new SS card -- with
my name misspelled.
Okay, they had the paperwork with photocopies of the correct spelling, so
it should be a simple fix, right?
Wrong. The paperwork was filed in an office that the people who had to
make the change couldn't access. They wanted me to take another day off
and come back with two IDs in the correct name to fix it. I didn't want
to do that, so they agreed I could mail them in, and they would be
'promptly' mailed back.
Not believing the 'promptly', I sent in my library card and my grocery
store card, as well as a photocopy of all the forms of ID where my name
was spelled correctly. Six weeks later the cards came back -- with
staples through the bar codes, so I had to replace them -- with a note
stating that I had to show ID in the name the card was currently in, as
well as the new name, before it could be changed.
Not having any other misspelled ID, I called my rep -- after I finished
banging my head against the wall. After the aide finished laughing she
promised to get right on it. A few days later she called to inform me
that a card with the correct spelling was on its way. And a few years
later, when I was filling out the application for a card for my daughter,
I noticed that they now have a provision for correcting a misspelled
name. I like to refer to that as the Karen R amendment. :-)
> There's no excuse for the stuff they're doing; it's a simple formula.
It is. I suspect the problem started when DD's first paycheck covered
three months. That got set as the standard for estimated wages, and that
was the amount deducted each month. However, until May, they would
eventually look at the actual paystubs and credit her with the
difference. I don't know where they are putting all of the paystubs I
have been sending in, but it doesn't appear that anyone has actually
looked at them since April. I faxed in the last batch attention to the
office manager -- maybe that will get some action.
Karen R.
Cathy F.
"WWSC #4" <kre...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:gbqk7s$trd$1...@registered.motzarella.org...
<snippage of an annoying-as-hell experience>
And a few years
> later, when I was filling out the application for a card for my daughter,
> I noticed that they now have a provision for correcting a misspelled name.
> I like to refer to that as the Karen R amendment. :-)
See, you're going to leave a useful legacy!
Cathy