Owning a House

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My husband and I own our house and the cost is about the same as it was to rent. I love owning a home and would rather not have to go back to renting ever again. I don't mind the maintenance and enjoy the task of keeping the place nice. Caring for the lawn and the exterior of the house require very little effort, IMO. The biggest drawback is having to replace something vital if it goes out unexpectedly since there's no landlord or super to call. But I don't mind that one bit.

For me owning a house has been far simpler and easier than relationships. At least my house doesn't yell at me for not being able to read its mind.

Anyhow, I have owned as many as 5 houses at once. Now I'm down to two. I sold the others while the selling was good. I built my main house that I live in. I bought a lot in the woods and paid for that. Then I bought one brick at a time until I had the thing built. It took me about 4 years to complete. The only problem is that when I started, I lived in the woods, but now I live in the city and haven't moved.

So yeah, home ownership is more easily attainable than relationships. To own a home, you just need to come up with a plan and follow it logically.

No way. I don't think I could ever afford to buy a home unless I was married and me and my partner both had good incomes. The monthly mortgage payments for a say 2 bed unit would be almost double the amount of rent I'd pay each month if I was renting a similar unit. I thought about buying something like a relocatable home in a park with some borrowings, but the site fees would still make things too expensive. No bank would lend me enough anyway, as I don't have the borrowing power with the annual salary I have.

I am single and have never been married so while I agree that its harder for single people, its not impossible. I was 25 when I bought my first house.

The important thing with houses is that you need to buy only what you can afford. But its not just the cost of the house, its also the taxes and insurance. A lot of people where I live are getting foreclosed because they didn't follow that rule. So there are a lot of foreclosures out there going for real market value and not bubble market value.

There are a lot of good deals out there right now. I just turned down a 3 bedroom 2 bath house that was being sold for $15K. Its problem. It was made of wood and was located in a neighborhood that wasn't that great. Wooden houses in south Florida aren't worth much.

We have to pay rates to our local councils here in Aust (how much depends on land value) as well as body corporate fees if you own a unit, villa or townhouse. And then of course there's the utilities like water, electricity and telephone. We also have to pay stamp duty on any property purchases which is usually a small percentage of the purchase price. House and contents insurance is pretty cheap here, well, about the same as my car insurance.

15K??? I'm looking at a 2 bed house that has an asking price of 195K but it's out of town; more costs for me with petrol etc. It's been on the market for ages too which I don't know if that's good or bad (maybe people are finding something wrong with it?)

Oh, interesting. Our house had been on the market for a long time and it was fine. I have no idea why people weren't interested. The location was great and it passed inspection with flying colors. Even so, because it had been sitting out there for a while we were able to easily buy it for 20k less than the previous owner had paid for it and about 35k under the assessed value. Who knows, you might find a real deal in that house you're looking at. Good luck!

and lots and lots of money or the ability to easily make lots and lots of money. a plan without lots of money is no plan at all.

Maybe it's a good deal. I wish it were closer to town though. I think it's position might have something to do with the low price; lets see, the back fence is only 100m from the highway, and the front gate is only 100m away from a freight railway line. I'm hoping maybe the bushland might reduce some of the noise. It's a cute house though, newly renovated too so no major repairs needed as far as I know .

You didn't say where you were located, but if that were here, I would say that its a very bad deal. Based on what you've said, it would cost you $195K, be farther from work and have trains running past every hour or so at night. That sounds to me like you are planning on spending a ton of money to get something worse than you already have. Personally, I would not make an offer on that house.

Around here, there are a lot of nice houses for $195K. The $15K ones are harder to find, but they are out there. Remember that the real estate agent makes a commission on the final sales price so there is no motivation to show you a $15K house. You shouldn't expect them to. You need to do your own research and find them on your own.

One other thing that first time buyers need to stay clear of is homes that are part of a homeowner's association. In addition to numerous restrictions on what you can do on your own property, they charge a monthly fee that must be paid or they can take your house. The fee varies, but the HOA can change that any time they want. So you might find a great little place with a total bank payment of $500/month, but the HOA can come in and charge you another $500/month for fees.

As far as land use restrictions, here are some that I have heard of recently:
"No dogs over 20 lbs."
"No trucks or pickup trucks may be parked at the premises."
"When painting the house, the color must be approved by the HOA."
and the list goes on....

An honest real estate agent will disclose the fact that a house has a HOA, but you can't always trust them. So its important to research this before buying. An HOA devalues the home. A rule of thumb is to take the monthly fees, multiply by 100, and add that to the purchase price. The result is what you are really paying for the house.

But as far as your $195K house on the railroad, I would advise you to keep looking.

Not true. When I bought my first house, I worked for a pest control company. Pest control guys don't make "lots and lots" of money. Of course, its easier if you have lots and lots of money, but that isn't required. I found the house which was a HUD repo. I bid and won. I had to come up with about $2500 in cash and the rest was financed. With my first house, there were unexpected legal troubles that the bank had to settle before they could close the house. This took about 6 months. Because the house had a bad roof, I told them that I wanted to put a new one on to prevent any further damage. They agreed and then cut me a check for installing a new roof. The check offset what I had already paid them so I effectively got the house for 0 down.

But my house wasn't that good a deal compared to some. I've seen several guys go to a closing and the bank cuts them a check when they buy a house.

Dealing in real estate is very crafty business. Being aspie actually helps a little bit when it comes to thinking outside the box.

If I can compare what the average person knows about real estate to chess. Most people seem to think that the pawn is the only player that can move and then only one space at a time. They are oblivious to all the other players that can move diagonal, sideways, etc. If you want to succeed in real estate, you need to know how ALL your players work.

Anyhow, with all the repos out there right now, this is a really good time to buy. If you have good credit, there are a lot of places the banks would like sell and also give you terms on. But don't be afraid to go with a different bank for financing if you get a better deal.

+1

as a former gs-5 step 9 civil servant, the banking people told me i never made enough duckies to qualify for any kind of home financing, period. minimum for consideration was step 7 [professional level]. or dual incomes, which of course i lacked. anybody who made more than i did, IMO was making "lots and lots of money." so my only option was to save money and buy a house [a third of an acre out in the boonies with a tin can, actually] outright. i suspect pest control people make more money than i ever did.

Actually, buying for cash is the best option by far. Do the math. The base payment for a $200K loan is $1073.64 at 5% for 30 years. Multiply it by 30 years to see what you are really paying and you get $386,510.40 - almost twice the purchase price. And that is at a very low interest rate of 5% too.

My current house that I live in was a similar deal to yours. I bought the lot in the sticks because it was cheap and a long way from civilization. There wasn't even electricity out here back then. Then I built the house one brick at a time with no mortgage. I actually had tried to get a mortgage, but the bank tried playing games with me and I don't tolerate games. I built it on my own.

In your case, you say you live in a tin can, so I assume you mean mobile home or camper. Is that true? A lot of people did that around here. They lived in the camper while they built the house.

200k is a fortune to save up for most working-class folk. thankfully my meager savings was augmented by an inheritance. otherwise i'd be homeless. financially i'm hopelessly dense.



you sound like a multitalented person just like my oldest brother, who does the same kinds of DIY things.



tin can is also slang for an older [70s and earlier] mobile home, the kind made of metal and with vestigial wheels for towing the unit to a park site for final installation. 2 bedroom tiny thing. one of the bedrooms is the size of a large closet, barely large enough for a twin bed. but at least it is all mine along with a third of an acre covered mostly in trees and 2 wooden storage sheds. building a real house is beyond me, financially as well as in terms of the knowledge and skills and talents and energy required to do what you have done for yourself.

If you are an aspie, you can build a house - easy. Who built those sheds? Building a house means following a plan and basic construction technique. If you live somewhere besides Florida, you can probably get away with simple wood frame construction. Here in Florida, you have to build everything out of concrete block or else it will rot down in a few years or you'll go bankrupt paying for all the repairs. Up north you don't have to worry so much about the vermin or wood rot.

In my case, I started with a 12x24 shed built to house standards. It has a concrete slab and engineered trusses. I learned a lot building that. It took me 6 months. The most important thing I learned was that I needed to hire someone else to finish the concrete slab and lay the block. It turns out that those two tasks require a lot of skill that takes years to develop.

When I built the house, I had no problem hiring laid off workers to do the work for very reasonable prices. As a matter of practice, I always told the potential workers "I don't dicker price. Tell me what you want for the job. I'll either pay it or go with someone else." For whatever reason, everyone I said that to came back with rock bottom prices. I never felt bad because they were the ones that set the price - not me.

As far as construction technique, they have books and videos on that. It would be really helpful if you could find another "owner-builder" in your area and ask him if you could lend a hand every now and then just to learn how things are done. Lastly, I hired part time helpers who were laid of construction "laborers". In the construction field, a "laborer" is a guy who has no official skill. He is the guy who picks up the trash and moves building supplies and such. Officially, he is the lowest rank of all construction workers. In reality, he pretty much knows how everything is done. In addition to the time they help you, they are a valuable knowledge resource.

As far as the financing, you already live there and you are in no hurry. You just want to save up enough for the next logical incremental step so that you don't get stuck with half a slab or something.