Home Owners?

Padawanbater2

Well-Known Member
How much did you pay for your house? How old were you when you purchased it? Why did you choose it, location, price? Have you done anything to increase the value of it since you bought it?
 
$67,000
26 years young
Got the tax credit for buying 1st time (10% cost of house, so $6,700 tax credit added to my tax return)
Chose it because it was close to my parents, and real close to my job, and met all my criteria.
I put in a second bathroom in my basement.

1300 sq ft, 1 car garage, 3 bedroom, enclosed front porch, partially finished basement. I immediately got myself 2 roommates paying $300/mo rent each. :hump:
 
$123,000 right at the end of 07... so I'm probably $30,000 under water now...
I was 29 at the time.
I needed to be closer to work, I'm now 3 miles away instead of 45.
There are all kinds of things I'd like to do to fix it up but can't afford, maybe after I'm not paying over $600 a month in child support.
It's about the same house guy described.
 
77500 for my first home bought at age 25. It was a duplex that we converted into a 5 bedroom, 2 game room palace. Gave it up during my divorce just to get the he'll away from her. She ended up selling for a measly 120000.

New wife, another home. Paid 200000, bought at wrong time (good for sellers not buyers) cause wife loved it. Done nothing due to market falling out and it's now valued at 172000.
 
even in this market houses run 220,000+ for anything decent in my area. this is for 2-3beds 1 br. maybe 100x100lot if your lucky
 
225000 now its worth half.. sad. House and land was selling factor. Always improving it was almost new when purchased.. but its mine.
 
Did you guys have really good credit before you made the buy?

Are you comfortable with having to pay a mortgage for the better part of your working life? That's been a big concern on my mind lately. If I were to buy a house, not that I'm anywhere near that, but you'd face this enormous debt your whoooole life, and if you took out a loan, like you would have to, you'd be paying 1/3 just for the damn interest of the loan..

Can't you just go find some desolate place and build a cabin like the old days? Just build everything you need, do people still do that?
 
i feel like if you're going to buy a house that is over 200k, you should try to pay 50% down lol. otherwise, yeah, you're just paying tax for the first (who knows how many) years. You might as well be renting and damn if sometihng breaks and you have to put money into the place, then you're really in bad shsape. i hate thinking about this stuff, it gets me down. i could move to the country and buy something in cash but i make $$$ here.
 
lol here in northern cali bay area your looking at like 300.000 for sumthing allright. here in the valley 250.000 right now can get you a bad ass 5 bedroom house
 
I paid $150 cash for this house ( back view in avatar ) in 2009, the list price was 229 so I got a bargan...imo
40 years old when I bought it, it was my second time, the 1st house was back in 1990
I liked this place because it in the middle of nowhere, corn country, deer in my backyard everyday..18.5 acers with 5 acer lake out at the back of the propety..( thats a pond in the pic )...plus the house is handycap accessable and my 14 year old son is in a wheelchair,so that was a big plus to us
I haven't done much yet except working the yard and clearing small trees and shit...but we're putting in a fireplace next spring...I'm not to worried about trying to increase the value, I never plan to move...they can throw my ass in the ground out back somewhere when I die for all i care, I'm not leaving:blsmoke:

acre?..acer..oops
 
Did you guys have really good credit before you made the buy?

Are you comfortable with having to pay a mortgage for the better part of your working life? That's been a big concern on my mind lately. If I were to buy a house, not that I'm anywhere near that, but you'd face this enormous debt your whoooole life, and if you took out a loan, like you would have to, you'd be paying 1/3 just for the damn interest of the loan..

Can't you just go find some desolate place and build a cabin like the old days? Just build everything you need, do people still do that?

Yes I had 800+ credit and no debt at that point. Student loans were paid off and I owned a 1 year old car that was paid off.

Just because it's a 30 year mortgage doesn't mean you have to actually take 30 years to pay it off. I pay a couple hundred extra each month, and all the extra goes to principal only. Not only does the principal balance reduce, but then I also don't have to pay 5.5% interest on that so each future payment pays a higher proportion of my principal. I am still paying a lot in interest though.

You need a place to live though, so you can't consider a home strictly as an investment. It's not. It's a place to live and it's going to cost you money. But an apartment is going to cost you money also.
 
Yes I had 800+ credit and no debt at that point. Student loans were paid off and I owned a 1 year old car that was paid off.

Just because it's a 30 year mortgage doesn't mean you have to actually take 30 years to pay it off. I pay a couple hundred extra each month, and all the extra goes to principal only. Not only does the principal balance reduce, but then I also don't have to pay 5.5% interest on that so each future payment pays a higher proportion of my principal. I am still paying a lot in interest though.

You need a place to live though, so you can't consider a home strictly as an investment. It's not. It's a place to live and it's going to cost you money. But an apartment is going to cost you money also.

and you never really own an apartment, its like leasing a car. yea its nice for a while but its never really yours
 
Yes I had 800+ credit and no debt at that point. Student loans were paid off and I owned a 1 year old car that was paid off.

Just because it's a 30 year mortgage doesn't mean you have to actually take 30 years to pay it off. I pay a couple hundred extra each month, and all the extra goes to principal only. Not only does the principal balance reduce, but then I also don't have to pay 5.5% interest on that so each future payment pays a higher proportion of my principal. I am still paying a lot in interest though.

You need a place to live though, so you can't consider a home strictly as an investment. It's not. It's a place to live and it's going to cost you money. But an apartment is going to cost you money also.

Good job dude, sounds like you have been really financially responsible. How do you manage your money? Do you make a decent amount?

I need to get a higher paying job...
 
i stand to inherit a multi family house some day. i make certain repairs on it knowing that i'm essentially investing in my own future and making my mother comfortable in the present. i've replaced several windows, rebuilt the driveway retaining wall, built a perimeter fence, i do the landscaping, a little painting, a little plumbing. most of these things i paid for rather than actually doing them (i'm not real handy), but whatever. in the meantime i rent elsewhere. this setup works for me. as far as the house, it's a triple decker plus a basement apartment and it was purchased in 1950 for 10k. what it's worth now depends on the stooge that buys it. new england 3 deckers are a unique market.
 
Ahhh, wish I had a house (again).

Currently got a condo, in a city.

$140,000 ($45k underwater today)
December 2009

Mortgages suck and not what I'm in to - try to avoid such things - but I signed on the dotted line because it was the best decision that I could make for myself at the time.
 
90 grand. New house in a really good neighborhood in a fast growing part of the country with big new industries popping up.
 
How much did you pay for your house? 70k How old were you when you purchased it? 23 Why did you choose it, location, price? Price and location yes. Have you done anything to increase the value of it since you bought it?Haha not really, remodeled the bathroom that is it.
 
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