Buying a House...Buy Now or Wait?

[Skyecaitlin88]

I also would not buy a house with someone I was not married to.

This

[ca2003]

Would $8000 really last 6 months? That's less than $1350 a month. Your monthly costs for house, utilities, food, and insurance are $2030.

I bought a house in December 2007 and have regretted it. We wish we had waited because I know more now than I did then and the buyer's market only got better since then. Be sure you know all the costs of home ownership - are there HOA fees, what about trash pickup, alarm systems, home repair and maintenance, increased travel costs, etc. There are always surprises that come up.

I also would not buy a house with someone I was not married to.

When I said it would last 6 months - that was assuming one of us was still working. $1,350/month would be enough to supplement the others income and cover all normal monthly expenses. I know that it wouldn't be enough to cover a major repair and one of us not working.

Thanks for the reminder about other fees - I didn't think of trash pickup so I will definitely add that to things to consider and budget for. Travel costs were on the back of my mind, but if we stay in the same area we are in now, they shouldn't really change. Our goal is to avoid HOA fees by not moving to an area with a HOA. Home repair and maintenance are in that extra money we have per month assuming we are both working but I know it could be more than that.

[Spanelli8706]

My DH and his ex girlfirend bought a house together after 4 yrs of dating... then they broke up about 2 yrs after that. Both of their names were on the title and loan. And let me just tell you it was a PAIN. It took 3 yrs to sell the house and they ended up selling it for about $20k less than what they paid for it. After the break up, she moved out and he stayed there, taking on all bills solely. BUT...if he had been irresponsible and not paid the mortgage on time, or skipped a pmt, etc... her credit would have suffered too! (He never did any of this, just an example of what could happen)

He and I got married and moved out of that house in 2008. So, for 2 yrs the house sat vacant. Since no one was living there and both names were on the lease, it was decided that both parties should pay half of the bills until it sold. That was a NIGHTMARE. There was constant bickering on who should pay for what and just endless drama. For example, the house needed new carpet and new paint to attract buyers...but the arguing over who made the carpet so dirty to begin with and that person should have to pay the majority of the new carpet costs took WEEKs to sort out.

Luckily the house finally sold and we all moved on from the experience...but I can definitely say I would never buy a house with someone I wasn't married to.

[1tricky1]

I would wait in your case. I dont feel you will have enough left in savings.
I would also wait until you are married to buy a house together.
Do you file taxes jointly? Who would get the tax write off?
Just some things to consider...

[ca2003]

I just wanted to update that we did end up buying a house. Our mortgage payment (including taxes and insurance) is just under $943 per month and had we continued renting our rent would have been $915 per month.

Even though we will be responsible for all repairs and our utilities will be higher in a house than an apartment, I feel like it was the right move to make. We now have an investment of $943/month rather than paying $915 and the only thing we are really getting back is not having the worry of repairs/maintenance.

[Cariboo]

I just came upon this thread. Congrats on your first house! Hope its going good.
My boyfriend and I bought our first house 9 years ago, first rental house 1 week later, 2 rentals the next year, 2 the next, 1 the next, sold one in the middle somewhere.. Turned our house into a rental and moved to our little farmette. We've been together 12 years, still not married and we have two kids now. The rentals have 10 year mortgages so the first one will be paid off next yr.
You really can't go wrong buying a home as long as you know what you can afford, and have a plan for emergencies. Get fixed mortgages at these crazy low rates and you know what your house payment will be for the next 15-30 years, and you will build equity and have something to leave your family.
We are both on all the mortgages and "joint tenants in common" on all the house deeds.
Just wanted to share my somewhat unconventional story, you don't have to be married to be commited to each other, even at the young age of 19 and 21 when we bought the first ones!! Its been an adventure for sure.. The real estate stories I can tell..

[Jen1]

The market is really good now. You may be even able to get a better rate - I am searching for a house now too, and I actually talked to my mortgage person yesterday and she said rates and down to 3.5%. Every little bit helps. Beleive me.
If we dont move, we are def. going to re-fi (rates slightly higher).

You should totally do it, however what part of PA are you in? $175k is a little low for a home around me, unless you are getting a short-sale/foreclosure or one that needs much work.

Something not mentioned here already - is the change in lifestyle from renting to owning. If there is a significant difference in what you pay in rent to what you will pay in mortgage/espenses things like weekly movies/eating out/shopping often will need to be planned to change. Some people don't realze that.

IMO it is totally worth it. If you can do it financially then it's worth looking into.

[ca2003]

I just came upon this thread. Congrats on your first house! Hope its going good.
My boyfriend and I bought our first house 9 years ago, first rental house 1 week later, 2 rentals the next year, 2 the next, 1 the next, sold one in the middle somewhere.. Turned our house into a rental and moved to our little farmette. We've been together 12 years, still not married and we have two kids now. The rentals have 10 year mortgages so the first one will be paid off next yr.
You really can't go wrong buying a home as long as you know what you can afford, and have a plan for emergencies. Get fixed mortgages at these crazy low rates and you know what your house payment will be for the next 15-30 years, and you will build equity and have something to leave your family.
We are both on all the mortgages and "joint tenants in common" on all the house deeds.
Just wanted to share my somewhat unconventional story, you don't have to be married to be commited to each other, even at the young age of 19 and 21 when we bought the first ones!! Its been an adventure for sure.. The real estate stories I can tell..

Wow, it sounds like you have made out from the rentals!

The market is really good now. You may be even able to get a better rate - I am searching for a house now too, and I actually talked to my mortgage person yesterday and she said rates and down to 3.5%. Every little bit helps. Beleive me.
If we dont move, we are def. going to re-fi (rates slightly higher).

You should totally do it, however what part of PA are you in? $175k is a little low for a home around me, unless you are getting a short-sale/foreclosure or one that needs much work.

Something not mentioned here already - is the change in lifestyle from renting to owning. If there is a significant difference in what you pay in rent to what you will pay in mortgage/espenses things like weekly movies/eating out/shopping often will need to be planned to change. Some people don't realze that.

IMO it is totally worth it. If you can do it financially then it's worth looking into.

We bought in South Eastern PA - Delaware County. I think the final price on the house ended up being $139,000 and mortgage rates have dropped some more in the past 6 months - I think we locked in at 3.99% (I know we qualified for the best rate our credit union offered). We aren't in the best neighborhood but in a good enough neighborhood and the house is in much better condition than the house I grew up in. One of our bigger issues was finding a part of Delco that didn't have taxes over $6,000/year.

We have felt the joys of home ownership in our 6 months of being here - we had some water in the basement and decided to completely nip it in the butt and had a french drain system put in around the entire perimeter, had a plumber out for a clogged utility sink, had someone out to clean the chimney and he pointed out our lining on our other flute (for the gas boiler) was in very poor shape so we had that repaired. I still don't regret purchasing the house even though I know there are other things on our to do list but they will always be there.

On the plus side I have discovered that my fiance is way handier than I gave him credit for - with the help of his step father he has fixed a toilet, put up a shelf/hanger rack in the basement, replaced all of the screens for our windows and tomorrow his step dad is supposed to come over and help him fix the one hose line that burst this winter when we didn't turn the water off to it