Home buying thread

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a_skeleton_03

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wormie said:
Thats one way to look at it. Another way is that it represents 10% of your principal and interest payment.
Click to expand...
Right, and? It's still cheaper than any house in the school district that I want to be in. It is the optimal distance for my wife and I to not have to drive a longer distance to work. I think that I paid an extra $80/mo in gas from my previous location.

Yeah I am not losing sleep over the fact that it's 10% of a number. I lose sleep over whether or not I can afford the monthly payment comfortably. Remember I am paying this thing for the next 20+ years hopefully. This isn't an investment home that I am flipping.

I am also paying well above my minimum payment to get that PMI gone as fast as I can because yes of course I don't want to be paying it forever. In the meantime I am deducting it from my taxes and I am over the minimum to itemize so it matters.

The benefits VASTLY outweigh the negatives here.
 
Pops

Pops

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edko said:
If the mortgage interest deduction gets clipped there is going to be less mobility in certain areas of the country, where a 500k house is pretty normal.
Click to expand...
Not less mobility, lower prices.
 
Xarpolis

Xarpolis

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Average median household price out here is $800,000. 20% down on a starter house that's around $650,000 (Which is an EXTREMELY starter house. It's hard to find anything in that price range) is STILL going to be $130,000. Who the fuck is just sitting on that much money when they are looking to purchase a property? PMI exists to help facilitate anyone who would like to own a home that isn't already independently wealthy.

Yes, it is a "waste". PMI doesn't help you, it helps the bank. But still, if it didn't exist, so many people would not be able to own homes. So even if they are financially responsible, it's pretty difficult to save up an enormous nut like that in MANY situations.
 
Crone

Crone

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Wife fell in love with a place over budget hoping comps would come in lower and we'd be able to negotiate. They didn't. She's pissed. Wants to never look at a house again.

Lol house hunting...
 
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P

Picasso3

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Lie about the budget so when fall in love with whatever is 10% over its no problem.
 
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Xarpolis

Xarpolis

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Honestly, you shouldn't be even looking at the MLS for items that are out of your budget range. No good can come of that.
Also, you need to find out exactly what type of mortgages you qualify for. Because no house is alike, the same mortgages aren't available for every place. There's lots of criteria at risk with that. renovated kitchen? Any issues with the land? IE - Flood zone, dangerous terrain. Has the house received any non-permitted modifications that somehow change the square footage or the foundation/structural characteristics?
 
Lanx

Lanx

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Tell me if anything is off on bills for 2600sq ft Kansas rancher
Electric 100 summer, 80 now
Gas 50 summer, 50 now
Water 80

Water heater and heat is gas, everything else is electric, for just two ppl.

Every lightbulb is led, all 50+, Jesus Christ, only my garage door opener is incadesant(can I replace this too?)
Foam is on all the exposed hot water pipes, all sockets are sealed, and I really only have to redo the threshold on the main door, slight leak.

I've done all the appliance maintenance already...

I can't complain cuz our electric bills are lower than when we were in a 325 sqft apt in nj. I'm guessing the huge 40gallon tank is just gonna be that expensive (had 20g before), and yea I've adjusted the temp to 160, not all the way to boiling.
 
Xarpolis

Xarpolis

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Sounds like you've done everything possible to preserve energy, and your bill shows it. There are only a few other things I could imagine that would alter your bill.

1.) Check the doors that exit your house. Make sure they have good weatherstripping on them and there is no draft that enters or exits from the bottom/sides. If so, that's a quick fix with a cheap home-depot item.
2.) Drafts coming from your windows. Unfortunately, this is NOT a cheap fix. Pretty much the only thing that can happen at this point is to buy all new windows and have them installed. High quality windows will drop your bills pretty heavily (but with the little you're paying in electricity already, it probably won't pay for itself... ever)
3.) Insulation in the attic. You should have 7 inches of insulation. That's the proper amount to make sure you aren't loosing heat through the ceiling of those rooms.
4.) If you have central AC/Heating, and you don't use all of your rooms, you can save money by shutting off the vents in unused rooms and closing the door to them. Yes, it lowers the "welcome" feeling of the house, but there's no sense in heating/cooling a room that otherwise is untouched.
 
Frenzied Wombat

Frenzied Wombat

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Lanx said:
Tell me if anything is off on bills for 2600sq ft Kansas rancher
Electric 100 summer, 80 now
Gas 50 summer, 50 now
Water 80

Water heater and heat is gas, everything else is electric, for just two ppl.

Every lightbulb is led, all 50+, Jesus Christ, only my garage door opener is incadesant(can I replace this too?)
Foam is on all the exposed hot water pipes, all sockets are sealed, and I really only have to redo the threshold on the main door, slight leak.

I've done all the appliance maintenance already...

I can't complain cuz our electric bills are lower than when we were in a 325 sqft apt in nj. I'm guessing the huge 40gallon tank is just gonna be that expensive (had 20g before), and yea I've adjusted the temp to 160, not all the way to boiling.
Click to expand...

if you're really that curious...

The Sense Home Energy Monitor

Not sure what your expectations are but those seem like pretty good costs for a 2600 sq ft house. Keep in mind that some utilities have a minimum charge-- like for me it's impossible to get less than a $30 gas bill as that's the minimum. I have the same size home sq ft wise, built last year with spray foam insulation and a heat pump, and my monthly electricity/gas is about 130/50 respectively. If anything your water seems high.
 
TomServo

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Lanx said:
Tell me if anything is off on bills for 2600sq ft Kansas rancher
Electric 100 summer, 80 now
Gas 50 summer, 50 now
Water 80

Water heater and heat is gas, everything else is electric, for just two ppl.

Every lightbulb is led, all 50+, Jesus Christ, only my garage door opener is incadesant(can I replace this too?)
Foam is on all the exposed hot water pipes, all sockets are sealed, and I really only have to redo the threshold on the main door, slight leak.

I've done all the appliance maintenance already...

I can't complain cuz our electric bills are lower than when we were in a 325 sqft apt in nj. I'm guessing the huge 40gallon tank is just gonna be that expensive (had 20g before), and yea I've adjusted the temp to 160, not all the way to boiling.
Click to expand...

The cost on thos god damn LED bulbs. your 50 probably cost your $400.
 
TomServo

TomServo

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We have like the 10% currently, i think it will be worth the wait of a few months to save the other 10%. looking at around 60-80k for the 20%, cause I'm a cheap fucking and never buying a house for size or vanity's sake again.
 
Cad

Cad

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Xarpolis said:
Average median household price out here is $800,000. 20% down on a starter house that's around $650,000 (Which is an EXTREMELY starter house. It's hard to find anything in that price range) is STILL going to be $130,000. Who the fuck is just sitting on that much money when they are looking to purchase a property? PMI exists to help facilitate anyone who would like to own a home that isn't already independently wealthy.

Yes, it is a "waste". PMI doesn't help you, it helps the bank. But still, if it didn't exist, so many people would not be able to own homes. So even if they are financially responsible, it's pretty difficult to save up an enormous nut like that in MANY situations.
Click to expand...

if $130k is some impossible sum of money for you and it's unthinkable you would ever have that then you have no business buying a $650k house.
 
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Lanx

Lanx

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Frenzied Wombat said:
if you're really that curious...

The Sense Home Energy Monitor

Not sure what your expectations are but those seem like pretty good costs for a 2600 sq ft house. Keep in mind that some utilities have a minimum charge-- like for me it's impossible to get less than a $30 gas bill as that's the minimum. I have the same size home sq ft wise, built last year with spray foam insulation and a heat pump, and my monthly electricity/gas is about 130/50 respectively. If anything your water seems high.
Click to expand...
Yea, it's 50 for water, 12 for sewage and then various charges.

I was keeping my sprinklers 2min per zone per day, cuz I was repairing my lawn, now's it's off.

Also I have my RO system, however I have a pump that reuses the brine, to limit waste water, but I've read others have had sky high bills from the RO waste water.

I never had an estimate w/o the RO system, since it was one of my first installs, cuz the water was so horrible .
 
Frenzied Wombat

Frenzied Wombat

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Lanx said:
Yea, it's 50 for water, 12 for sewage and then various charges.

I was keeping my sprinklers 2min per zone per day, cuz I was repairing my lawn, now's it's off.

Also I have my RO system, however I have a pump that reuses the brine, to limit waste water, but I've read others have had sky high bills from the RO waste water.

I never had an estimate w/o the RO system, since it was one of my first installs, cuz the water was so horrible .
Click to expand...

RO systems definitely create a shit ton of waste water. Can't speak for a commercial or whole house system, but the RO system I used to use to make clean water for my fish tank probably had a 20:1 ratio of waste vs clean water. You have a whole house system and do you live next to a fracking facility or something lol?
 
Lanx

Lanx

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Frenzied Wombat said:
RO systems definitely create a shit ton of waste water. Can't speak for a commercial or whole house system, but the RO system I used to use to make clean water for my fish tank probably had a 20:1 ratio of waste vs clean water. You have a whole house system and do you live next to a fracking facility or something lol?
Click to expand...
No it's not whole house, just kitchen sink. I use it for soups, cooking, drinking, basically anything ingestible.

IDK, but I tested the water with a tds meter, 300-500 is very bad, this water tested at 536.

RO brings it down to 50, bottled water is 20.

Shit... I use the to water for my iron too.
 
Frenzied Wombat

Frenzied Wombat

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Lanx said:
No it's not whole house, just kitchen sink. I use it for soups, cooking, drinking, basically anything ingestible.

IDK, but I tested the water with a tds meter, 300-500 is very bad, this water tested at 536.

RO brings it down to 50, bottled water is 20.

Shit... I use the to water for my iron too.
Click to expand...

RO water has a good number of uses since it leaves no residue. I use it for my steam mop, rinsing my car (no need to dry really-- just rinse and use a leaf blower), and in combo with magic erasers to remove scuffs/stains from walls.
 
Lanx

Lanx

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Frenzied Wombat said:
RO water has a good number of uses since it leaves no residue. I use it for my steam mop, rinsing my car (no need to dry really-- just rinse and use a leaf blower), and in combo with magic erasers to remove scuffs/stains from walls.
Click to expand...
Yea im gonna use it to bucket wash car next, it's so spotty otherwise.
 
Xarpolis

Xarpolis

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Cad said:
if $130k is some impossible sum of money for you and it's unthinkable you would ever have that then you have no business buying a $650k house.
Click to expand...
It's not that the price is some ungodly high amount. It's that that is the LOWEST price for a single family house out here. A small "starter" house. People aren't really able to accomplish that doing $20/hour.
 
Lanx

Lanx

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Xarpolis said:
Sounds like you've done everything possible to preserve energy, and your bill shows it. There are only a few other things I could imagine that would alter your bill.

1.) Check the doors that exit your house. Make sure they have good weatherstripping on them and there is no draft that enters or exits from the bottom/sides. If so, that's a quick fix with a cheap home-depot item.
2.) Drafts coming from your windows. Unfortunately, this is NOT a cheap fix. Pretty much the only thing that can happen at this point is to buy all new windows and have them installed. High quality windows will drop your bills pretty heavily (but with the little you're paying in electricity already, it probably won't pay for itself... ever)
3.) Insulation in the attic. You should have 7 inches of insulation. That's the proper amount to make sure you aren't loosing heat through the ceiling of those rooms.
4.) If you have central AC/Heating, and you don't use all of your rooms, you can save money by shutting off the vents in unused rooms and closing the door to them. Yes, it lowers the "welcome" feeling of the house, but there's no sense in heating/cooling a room that otherwise is untouched.
Click to expand...
1. Yea I have a heat gun and my only bad spot is the front door threshold which I was in the process of changing.
2. Windows aren't drafty, they also provide a lot of sound damping vs. open if I hear ppl mowing. But they're old wood windows and I think I might see if I want to do the install myself. My sun room already has 7? Vinyl windows, I might as well install the new type to match for resale value, if a good double hung window is 160$, ?
3. The house inspector says we got a good chunk of r value insulation, just rake up the few clumps which I already did.
4. Yea that's what I do currently.
 
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