Re: Is the housing boom over?
 

Thats why we're on DSMStyle ;)

Re: Is the housing boom over?
 

Depending on credit, rates, and other fun loving house buying ways a house in the $180,000 range can cost you anywhere form $850-$1800 a month. Rates, Credit, Insurance, Down Payment, etc etc, it all plays a part.

If your single, and make 15ish an hour your gonna take home abour $850ish every 2 weeks with normal deductions. With no debt and great credit your gonna have no problem getting a house and giving up half your income to the payment. It's controling that other half that gives people issues in their personal debt management.

It doesn't take much to be able to afford something, it does take work and time to keep being able to afford it and giving those you go to for the $$$ a reason to give keep giving you the dough.

Re: Is the housing boom over?
 

Not exactly, there's ways around that. And not all lenders require that anymore. We ended up with less than 20% down on our new place, and we won't have any mortgage insurance.

The rates are going up fast and houses are dirt cheap right now. This is the best time to buy that I've seen since 1998.

A good credit score is more important than having a lot of money. There's some really decent programs out there that bank on the fact that you'll make more money from year to year. If you work at McDonald's, this doesn't apply to you. :D

Steve

Re: Is the housing boom over?
 

Actually there is a way around that. I have a 1st and 2nd mortgage on my house. It ends up being a tad cheaper than if I had mortgage insurance, but my 2nd is only a 20 year loan and if I pay it off early, all the better. Most people refi within 3 years anyway, so it isn't a big deal.

Re: Is the housing boom over?
 

the problem with me is

I want the cake and to eat it too :-D

Re: Is the housing boom over?
 

80/20 loans will allow you to not pay the mortgage insurance. I am looking at townhomes all over. I am not naming the ones I am going to be making offers on soon because apparently I'm not the only one on here looking at these, and I don't wanna screw myself by having someone else beat me to them. But they are fairly local. Should only be a 20 minute drive MAX to work for me.

Re: Is the housing boom over?
 

The only downside of a townhome is that you also have to pay $150-$250 for association fees, which covers lawn care and snow removal. It's actually much cheaper to do it by yourself even after spending $1000 on a decent snowblower and lawn mower. It does allow you more time with the ladies though...

Re: Is the housing boom over?
 

I did the same thing with my house

Not to mention they are harder to sell considering there are thousands more being built every year. A person can buy a brand new townhouse for the same or less as your used one.

Re: Is the housing boom over?
 

The ones i am looking at have 100-150 association fees. Yes it kinda sucks, but the ones I'm looking at, the fee not only covers lawn/snow, it also covers all exterior maintenance and so you don't need any insurance for the exterior which saves you a few bucks, includes hazard insurance, also it covers the garbage removal. And townhomes usually have little bit lower property taxes due to the very small amount of property they are on. So in the end, it's really not costing you a ton more. Plus with my job I travel up to 75% of the time, and so having the lawn care and snow removal will be nice since I may be gone for 6 weeks at a time.

Re: Is the housing boom over?
 

There are some townhomes up for sale in Hopkins. I think they were around 180K and the fee was around 150. I have kind of been looking for a house. I was almost thinking of getting a townhome but I would rather own the land I am living on.

Re: Is the housing boom over?
 

Yea I would rather have a house too, and I have been looking at houses in the same price range and unless you go way out of town you will get a shack for under 200k... Compared to a newer or brand new town home from 140-200k that are usually in nice areas. It all depends on what you want to sacrifice- small lot and house with 1 garage in crappy neighborhood for 170k or a really nice townhome in a nice location with more than 1 garage attached.

One thing that I have been looking at also, which I would be sold on if they had separate garag-ing would be a loft downtown. I think that would be sweet to live right downtown in a redone old building with huge ceilings and get up everyday to see the busy life outside.

Re: Is the housing boom over?
 

the loft would be spendy though

Re: Is the housing boom over?
 

Jana and I spent a few weeks looking at lofts downtown. There are A LOT of options but in reality is just a big spendy apartment with more room, sweet views, and resale value. We looked at 5 or 6 different buildings on the outskirts of downtown (past the Vu), and everything we liked would have been 500K plus. And that's just to have something with a little more room (200-300 sq feet more) than we already have. Anythign in the low range (300Kish) wasn't as appealing. Anything we fell in love with was 750k + Go figure. We won't be living downtown anytime soon.

Re: Is the housing boom over?
 

Yea I found a few from 170k and up but it is basically an apartment you own, and I dont think I would end up liking that too much. I just think it would be awesome to live downtown.

Well I still have more than a year to figure things out so no problem yet...

Re: Is the housing boom over?
 

Going to a second showing on the ones I'm looking at today. I am pretty close to owning one! Gotta find me a damn roommate to help with these payments!!

Re: Is the housing boom over?
 

Smart man. Get a three bedroom, rent out to two of your buddies, and your portion of the mortgage cost is almost free. To be young and single again. :rolleyes:

Re: Is the housing boom over?
 

I wouldn't go quite that far, but it does help a lot. Basically for every $10k extra you put into a home, you are paying an extra $100/mo. It sounds like a lot in the beginning, but once you figure it out it isn't so bad. I was looking at houses around $180k and couldn't find anything I liked. I got mine for $210k not quite 2 years ago. It ended up being $1,800/mo instead of $1,500/mo, will all the house bills. Really not that huge of a difference and it was well worth it. A bigger investment will just gain that much more!

Re: Is the housing boom over?
 

I'm glad we got into ours when we did. Granted it's a little out of the way. But it's nice and quiet here. We don't hear the "Thump, thump, thump" from the little teenie-boppers' cars all nite long like we did in our rental in Burnsville.

We got our townhome for $120K. We did a 100% mortgage. We went through FHA and they hooked us up with down payment assistance. We paid $600 at closing. The builders paid all the closing costs (allowable by law) and are picking up the first year of assoc. dues ($128 a month).

On the bad side, we only get a one stall garage. But on the good side, our mortgage is for $120K while the property was appraised at $133K. So we have equity going into it. Also, being that it is a brand new build, our taxes are for the "unimproved lot value" for the first year or so. Next years taxes are somewhere in the neighborhood of $600-700. It's a 2-bedroom, 1200 sq-ft, 2-bath townhouse. We have a middle unit so it's easy to heat. The association takes care of the water, sewer and garbage. We got a fireplace in the livingroom, ceiling fan up in the bedroom and walk-in closets in both bedrooms. Also a huge amount of storage space. We have 5 good size closets in this place.

Re: Is the housing boom over?
 

Went to my showings today. I think I've made my decision. We will look at one more, but I think I've made my choice. Kinda exciting!!

Re: Is the housing boom over?
 

Party at Brandons!!! ;)