distantmantra
Member
Is this where we talk about strategic foreclosures???
lulz
Is this where we talk about strategic foreclosures???
Is this where we talk about strategic foreclosures???
I noticed that right around the time that thread vanished into the ether and he bailed on the thread was right around the time it was pointed out he was planning some serious fraud.
Correction: Strategic fraud...I noticed that right around the time that thread vanished into the ether and he bailed on the thread was right around the time it was pointed out he was planning some serious fraud.
Personally, I'm in a weird spot. I have a preapproval for $60,000 - which doesn't sound like a lot, but I live in Michigan near Detroit, where it can be enough. I don't make a ton and neither does my fiancé but the rent for an apartment or rentable home without ridiculous living conditions is ~$850+ for a 2br. (You can get them cheaper, but you end up with awful neighbors or a terrible location or both.) Our payments, even just on an FHA with 3.5% down will be much, much, much less than that AFTER taxes, insurance, PMI, etc (in the $400 - $600/month neighborhood.)
Add to this that we really were thinking about just moving away after the wedding - but that was before my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer; and her sister has kids; while we still want to go start over down the line, it's not going to happen for us for at least another 4 or 5 years... and after 18 months in the house, give or take, we'll have made back everything we cobbled together for down payment and closing.
Read about this today - http://moneyland.time.com/2011/08/10/best-wedding-gift-ever-a-house-via-the-fha-bridal-registry/ - its basically a special savings account you can set up so that you can use small gifts toward the house; for example, wedding gifts.
Bail out now...I know I should have. Buying a home is a huge waste of money and emotion. You'll set yourself up to get bled dry by the house with upkeep, property taxes (especially in MD), and you're now target for lawsuits. Good luck staring out the window making sure some kid doesn't trip and fall on your lawn and their parents sue you out of house and home.
You're especially crazy doing while active duty military. Good luck selling it when you get assigned to a new duty station.
Hey fellow Detroit dweller... Haveing owned two different houses in the metro detroit area, the one BIG peice of advise is find out about the local taxes. Will they be included with your home loan? or seprate... it makes a HUGE difference.
After reading some of the prices of homes in this thread, i'm glad the houseing market crashed here... our house now cost 101,000 , but before the crash would have been valued somehwere between 250,00 to 275,000...
I noticed that right around the time that thread vanished into the ether and he bailed on the thread was right around the time it was pointed out he was planning some serious fraud.
Was the "Strategic Foreclosure" thread deleted? I wanted to find it and finish reading through it but can't find it.
Is this where we talk about strategic foreclosures???
Hello. I'm in the middle of purchasing a home, and there is somthing thats been bugging me. I'm the type that wants to pay off all my debts early. When talking with co-workers I mentioned that I'd like to pay my mortgage off in 20 years instead of 30 and they look at me like I'm crazy and tell me that I'd be missing out on the mortgage deduction tax credit. Am I missing somthing here? Unless the tax credit is equal to the amount of interest I pay in the year am I not paying more overall by not paying it off ahead of time? If it is equal to the interest than WTF is up with the federal government basically paying banks all of every Americans mortgage interest?
Look at your loan amortization. That will tell you how much you're paying in interest over the life of the loan. It's A LOT. Pay it off as soon as you can.
Oh I understand that. It's just the number of people who seem to think I'm crazy because of all of teh tax breaks I'll be missing out on? I amost feel like it's peoples aversion to taxes trumping rationality of paying less overall is winning it out here.
Tax benefits for 20 years is plenty!
Haha I'm not that concerned about the tax benefits in particular, just trying to figure things out. If the mortgage deduction tax credit is equal to the interest I pay each year, in effect canceling it out, wouldn't it then be better to keep the mortgage payment at a minimum and instead pay off other debts like a car loan?
Oh I understand that. It's just the number of people who seem to think I'm crazy because of all of teh tax breaks I'll be missing out on? I amost feel like it's peoples aversion to taxes trumping rationality of paying less overall is winning it out here.
This is true.Of course debts with higher interest rates or no tax deductions should be paid off first. And with how low mortgage rates are these days, that's practically everything.
Only problem is that the seller wants to close July 2 so I need to make sure my lender can accommodate the quick turnaround (for instance, USAA can't).
Just put in an offer on a house the other day, and then got the counter offer. It's not the best, but not that far from what we wanted, so I think I'm gonna go with it. Only problem is that the seller wants to close July 2 so I need to make sure my lender can accommodate the quick turnaround (for instance, USAA can't).
one bit of advice, don't make the mistake putting your dog's best interest on the same level as yours when selecting a new home.
Saw this on an episode on HGTV.
In the process of moving out of my parents' place and purchasing a condo in the city. Seems like a fantastic time to buy, and I've been able to save a decent amount for a good down payment.
Looking to buy something around 160 - 180K in the uptown area of Dallas, TX.
Right now I've been pre-approved for a loan and am in the process of checking out several properties.
Your realtor should be holding your hand through most of those steps, they are all pretty automatic. In our case the seller dictated the title company.Welp, got him down to $10k below the list price, which is still pretty good. Now to do the rest of this crap.
- Got to go get the actual loan approved (already was preapproved)
- Got to schedule a home inspection
- Find a title company
- I'm sure there's a bunch more, I've got it written down somewhere, but off te top of my head that's it...
What do most people look for in a down payment; 10-20%?
Haha I'm not that concerned about the tax benefits in particular, just trying to figure things out. If the mortgage deduction tax credit is equal to the interest I pay each year, in effect canceling it out, wouldn't it then be better to keep the mortgage payment at a minimum and instead pay off other debts like a car loan?
Hey, since I got the seller to cover some closing costs, the lender dropped my interest rate to 3.625%, and that's without any points, too.
Got the home inspection scheduled for next week, here's hoping everything goes smoothly.
I don't think home inspections ever go smoothly. That isn't really a problem though, it will just come down to who has to make or pay for any repairs
Anyone have experience doing a refinance lately? I originally got a 30-year fixed in 2010 at 4.875%. Looking to take a advantage of the lower interest rates but trying to weigh paying a point to get the lowest rate possible or settling for a higher rate but no closing costs. Any advice?
The deduction does not cancel out the interest. It would only cancel out at most 35% of the interest.
Example:
Taxable Income, no deduction: 80k
Tax owed: $12,060
Now lets pretend you deduct $5k in mortgage interest
Taxable Income: 75k
Tax owed: $10,810
a difference of $1,250, far less than the $5,000 in interest you paid. There are obviously benefits to reducing your taxable income, but its not free interest on your mortgage like you implied here. Not on its own at least.
Who though being given a house would be such a pain in the ass.
Ok, thanks for the advice guys!
one bit of advice, don't make the mistake putting your dog's best interest on the same level as yours when selecting a new home.
Saw this on an episode on HGTV.
Hey, since I got the seller to cover some closing costs, the lender dropped my interest rate to 3.625%, and that's without any points, too.
Got the home inspection scheduled for next week, here's hoping everything goes smoothly.
One episode? There's at least one show a day where people factor in their dog. Remember this one in particular where the backyard had a great pool and the dude was happy but the girl reminded him that there wasn't enough room for the dogs so he couldn't live there.
I'm curious if anyone has advice for choosing a real estate agent.
I'm looking for a house myself, and got overwhelming recommendations for a particular lender from many of my coworkers and friends. However, everyone has either had no recommendation for a realtor, or has suggested someone different. So now I have this list of agents, each recommended by no more than one person.
Is there a better strategy here than simply picking one and then switching if I don't really like the one I picked?
Got the home inspection scheduled for next week, here's hoping everything goes smoothly.
Hello. I'm in the middle of purchasing a home, and there is somthing thats been bugging me. I'm the type that wants to pay off all my debts early. When talking with co-workers I mentioned that I'd like to pay my mortgage off in 20 years instead of 30 and they look at me like I'm crazy and tell me that I'd be missing out on the mortgage deduction tax credit. Am I missing somthing here? Unless the tax credit is equal to the amount of interest I pay in the year am I not paying more overall by not paying it off ahead of time? If it is equal to the interest than WTF is up with the federal government basically paying banks all of every Americans mortgage interest?
Sounds like you had:Bail out now...I know I should have. Buying a home is a huge waste of money and emotion. You'll set yourself up to get bled dry by the house with upkeep, property taxes (especially in MD), and you're now target for lawsuits. Good luck staring out the window making sure some kid doesn't trip and fall on your lawn and their parents sue you out of house and home.
You're especially crazy doing while active duty military. Good luck selling it when you get assigned to a new duty station.