Cainmark ([info]cainmark) wrote,
@ 2009-06-17 21:48:00
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Entry tags:330economics, 640familyliving, ct-biography, ct-biography_marriage, h-businesscharitybikeastransport, h-business~_hb_business, k-law

Project home ownership has begun.
And I'm terrified.

I was fine until we talked to the mortgage broker. Devon was anxious until we talked to the mortgage broker.
We have a really, really good mortgage broker.
Now I'm anxious and Devon is perfectly at ease.
We love the house we're renting.
But we'd have to have a conventional loan, more money at a higher interest rate, as it doesn't qualify for FHA.
The great First Step program I found last month that would have really, really helped us-is completely out of money.
We gross too much for the excellent Next
Step program. So that limits some of our options, even though we do qualify for the $8,000 federal.

The old house we're in needs a LOT of work. But it's structurally sound with a good foundation and a good roof. I figure if it's lasted over a hundred years, theyete

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But lousy insulation.

The houses we've looked at aren't even close to compare for character or location (at least to me).

We live in a neighhborhood, with trees with branches over the street, and extremely walkable. When we went to the suburbs, whoo it was HOT from the asphalt and sidewalks and no coverings. The only trees were up against the houses.

We live near a railroad track and 565 and still the noise pollution was so much worse by Research boulevard at the suburbs we were looking at. 2 of those houses needed as much maintenance as ours, built within the last 20 years, but they were $60,0000 more expensive. So no go.

But we don't want to be trapped in an endless money pit if we buy where we are at, either.

But while the other house we look at, the 3 bedroom ranch houses have 3 bedrooms, they're really, really small bedrooms.

But that could save us a lot on insulation. Then we have a storage problem.

We found some really good deals in the Merrimack area. But every one of them is still a fixer uppere with a ton a maintenance needs. But lots and lots of storage space. Great if your an investor, but not so much for a first time home buyer.

We were happy with our realtor until we realized he wasn't going to be doing much negotiationg for us as buyers. So looking for someone else. Nice enough guy, but not a good fit for us.

I'm mainly just writing these down so I can find the information later when I need it.

We knew this part would be difficult. Now instead of Devon freaking out, I'm freaking out. There's so many variables going into this.

AAAAAAUUUUUGHHH!!!

UPDATE: after looking at several other options and havig one of them ripped away from us,we decided to go with the houe we're in. No FHA, but price is low enough forus to do conventional. Once we get it, we need to do 3 things. Get a new energ efficient refrigerator, buy a sofa that pulls out into comfortble bed for guest, and proper inuslation so our gas heating bills aren't so feaking high.
I'm scared and excited about this.




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[info]trampoline_girl
2009-06-18 11:02 pm UTC (link)
Just remember to take the first year ownership tax credit on your 2009 taxes.

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[info]cainmark
2009-06-19 12:43 am UTC (link)
Yep, our mortgage broker reminded us of that.

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[info]bokonondeemax
2009-06-19 03:42 pm UTC (link)
Also remember to set up the "homestead" tax exemption down at the assessor's office...I forgot about this last time and paid too much property tax the first year.

It's a nice house. I'd keep it if I were you :)

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[info]cainmark
2009-06-23 04:47 pm UTC (link)
I'd like to. It's a great location. Extremely walkable and bikeable.

We're not finding much close to it, even with all the work we'll have to put into it. We're still looking just in case.

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[info]stiney1
2009-06-19 08:25 pm UTC (link)
Ooh I feel your pain. It's very stressful!

I've also heard that you can ammend your 2008 taxes to get the $8000 back sooner.

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[info]cainmark
2009-06-23 04:48 pm UTC (link)
2008 or 2009? We know we can do the 2009 tax credit stuff.

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[info]stiney1
2009-06-24 12:40 am UTC (link)
They've been telling us that you can actually ammend your 2008 taxes (last years) so that you don't have to wait till February or March to get the $. You just fill out a 1040x and then you can get the money back sooner. That's what our real estate agent (and 2 others) keep telling us anyways.

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[info]amusingmuse
2009-06-19 09:01 pm UTC (link)
We dissed the FHA loan and the VA loan. Both would have given us a slightly better deal, but the headaches were not worth it. Plus the FHA required us to tear down the shed in the back, which is perfectly fine, and have the door to the garage completely redone before they would okay the loan. Uh, yeah, the mortgage broker thought we were crazy, but to replace the shed with an attic would have been about equal to what we would have saved, so what savings was that!

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[info]cainmark
2009-06-23 04:49 pm UTC (link)
I'm interested in those kind of differences between the loans, as in how much one would require as to how much the other would.
We'll figure it out.

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