Homes

#839,382 thing I love about this site: I can ask really personal questions and people (usually) don't mind answering them & .

Soooooo, how much is your home, did you put money down, and what is your mortgage payment? I'm trying to get a feel for how much house we can get without going in over our heads [read: DH having to moonlight frequently ].

Oh, and do you live in a newer, suburban home or an older, historic home? I'm seeing pros and cons to both. So what do you like/dislike about it?

[SuzySunshine]

Our house was 12 years old when we bought it - the subdivision is also about that age. We paid $163K, put 5% down and have a 80% 7-yr ARM mortgage and a 15% 5.9% mortgage. Our monthly payments total $1,101.

Once we're on to one income we will easily be able to pay for this plus continue to live the life we have now b/c our cars will be paid off. Hope that helps.

[Vanquisher]

Our house was 9 years old when we bought it for 165K in a very low cost of living area of the country. We got a 7 year arm 100% financing, 0 down, 5.35% interest. Our payment is 940/month.

[DCJenn]

OK- thank GOD my husband doesn't have access to this:

DC house: $389000- 80/20 (as in no money down) First mortage is a 5/1 arm with a cap at 6.5%- currently the interest rate is 4.98 percent, second mortgage is 12.0 percent. Both are interest only but I pay principal on both because Wells Fargo needs no more of my money than they're already getting. First payment: 1450/second payment 700.

TX: $415000-80/15 (5% down). First mortgage is at 5.85%, second is at 8%. (This is why having excellent credit is so important). First mortgage is $1960, second is $435.

DC house was built in 1960 but is in great shape. We redid the kitchen and repainted the entire inside. The landscaping and exterior of the house is maintained by the HOA (monthly payment 324 + 108 fee for being my property manager. We're getting 2k per month in rent but I'm going to increase it when the lease is up to 2500/)

TX house- built in 1910. It's been totally redone but that was about 20 or so years ago. The water heater/washer/dryer and HVAC are all on their last legs. The kitchen is new. The floors could be redone but I kind of like the way they look now. The "master" bath is funky. (as in ugly) but it works for the moment. Nikolai's bath- I've stripped off most of the floral wallpaper- haven't yet removed the brass chandelier (not kidding) or the French roccoco mirror...

If we weren't getting in the rent, we'd be screwed but so far everything is working out well.

Jenn

We're in a new subdivision, and our house is just about 4 1/2 years old. We struggled with that decision, too. We'd always loved older homes - the character, etc. but we wanted to have a period where could get on our feet and not really have to worry about home maintenance issues (major ones, anyway) in our budget.

Actual housing prices aren't really going to be relevant b/c it's so different based on region. Mine was $249K, but if you transplanted this house to where Nellie lives ... I don't even want to hazard a guess. Our mortgage is just shy of $2K and I don't know the percentage rates. We did put $15K down, but that was required by the bank b/c we also still owned our old house in Cleveland at the time. If we'd been out from under that one, it wouldn't have been necessary.

Beware of depending on moonlighting to make your budget. Any number of things could happen and it could no longer be an option ... and then you'll be in trouble. (It happened to us).

Here's a link to a mortgage calculator:
http://www.smartmoney.com/home/buying/i ... y=mortgage

We have a 4.5% 3 year ARM that is about to come up -- that means the rate will go up. We will be refinancing or getting a new mortgage in the fall so that is ok with me.

Property taxes are a huge variation across the country. We used to be paying around $1,000 a year and now it is around $3,700. That affects our monthly payment quite a bit because of the escrow portion.

I love older homes. This house is a mid-century modern (it cracks me up that this is the new name for a ranch) and I wish it were older. Our last house was built in the early 1920s. I found the quirks charming most of the time with the exception of replacing the sewer line.

As Jenn said, there are huge geographical variations. We're lucky to be in one of the least expensive bigger cities on the west coast. Our house in Denver doubled in value and then this house has gone up about 30%. If that weren't the case, I'm not quite sure what we would be doing next year!

[SuzySunshine]

I should add that our payments include our taxes and our insurance.

[rainbabies]

wow, jenn. i didnt realize you had not sold the DC house. glad you finally found a decent renter.

[DCJenn]

It was a long hot summer...

As for taxes- the DC house included taxes and we're insuring it only for fire since 1) it's a co-op and the co-op fees cover the master plan and 2) it's rented- they're obligated to provide proof of renter's insurance as part of the lease

San Antonio- property taxes are insane but that's because there is no income tax in Texas- we didn't fold the property tax into the payment because you have the option of paying it at once in December. I think it's estimated to be about 800-1000 bucks per month that we'll owe in December. Yay.

Jenn

[migirl]

Our 900-something sf ranch was built in the 1960s. We bought it for $180k, put down 20% ($36k) and mortgaged the rest at 6% for 30 years. We were unsure about fellowship plans at the time, and DH's residency is 6 years so we didn't want to be stuck with an ARM if rates happened to go up while we were still in the house. Our monthly mortage payment is $860 (doesn't include taxes or insurance). Our property taxes are (I think) on the expensive side, around $4k per year.

our mortgage payment does include taxes and homeowners insurance. No PMI. People here complain about the property taxes, but they're actually SO much better than Cleveland Heights. Our lot is about 4 times bigger than in Cleveland (at least), and the house is about 2x bigger, and our taxes are only about $400 more / year. The schools here are great (CH - NOT!) .... you get so much more here.

[Phoebe]

Our mortgage is a 7/1 year arm at 4.75% (?). We pay around $1700/month (taxes and insurance included) and put 10% down. The house is 7 years old and 4 years ago, we paid $284K for 2900sq ft. We finished the basement adding 1100 sq ft.

We have a 4000 sq. ft. home that was new when we purchased it 6 yrs ago. Was fixed for 3 yrs and now Adjustable with 3% over prime. Bought for $308,000 from the builder who sold to us with 15K down. Payments with tax and insurance is $2753 per month. We are going to refinance soon however. We also havean acre of land.

Our house was built in 1994, it is 2300 and some sq. ft. We bought it in 2004 for $249K (after losing on five other contracts, we bought this essentially sight unseen), about five minutes later there was a large gust of wind. Turns out, it was the local real estate bubble blowing a hole. At least we bought at the top of the demand! ( We win...right?!). We have 1/3 acre, no backyard because of the pool, but it sure feels good...and it is much easier to mow.
Our mortgage is w/Bank of America, it is the second time we used them. $0 down, no PMI, 5/1 arm at 5.75%, our home payment is about $1780 with all the goodies included, property tax & Ins.
Although we are repeaters with BoA, I am interested in shopping next time around as BoA where we are is not living up to what they did in Kansas...I have noted Kelly's new banking/mortgage friend, maybe she will get a nice "finder's fee"...