Post by Cathie on Dec 31, 2005 14:17:45 GMT -5
Hey everyone. The last week has been especially difficult for me emotionally and in dealing with stress. We are currently in the process of finding and buying our first house. I hadn't realized everything that goes into the whole process and just how much money is really needed, above and beyond the cost of the house. This information isn't usually told to people in enough time to save up for it, so, I thought of all of you. Most likely you all will be looking for houses in the upcoming years. But did you know just how much money you're going to need BESIDES the loan? Well, when you buy a house you're going to need a downpayment and closing costs, plus inspection fee and appraisal fee. What's this all amount to? Well, it can all vary. When you buy a house, you have to consider the yearly taxes. If your taxes are $3,000 per year, you will want to tell your realtor to help you set it up to it's taken out monthly and put into an escrow account, this just means that it's put into a side account saved for the bianual payment. So instead of 2 lump sum payments of $1,500 paid to the state for your house taxes, you'll pay out (automatically) $250 per month. So you're going to have to tack that onto your monthly house payment. (Keep that in mind when deciding on the price of the house you can afford). So what goes into the closing costs of a house? One year of taxes, attorney fees, finder's fee...okay the list is huge, so here it is www.realestate.com/learning-center/finance/closing-costs-checklist-lt.asp
For me, here in NY (not city), that's going to amount to about $6,000! You should have this money saved up. Don't make the same mistake as we did. What happens now? We have to offer the seller $6,000 less for the house than the highest appraisal is, or $6,000 more than the lowest, just so we can get what is called Seller's Concession (the closing cost is rolled into the loan). The loan would say $100,000. But the seller would get $94,000. That's where we're having the problem.
Bottom line, make sure you save up a LOT of money before you get a house. I'm talking $5,000-$10,000. It IS possible if you're young, have nothing but music or fast food to spend it on, or just clothes or something. When you get into my situation, have kids, rent, bills...etc...it's more difficult. So do it now while you can.
Anyone ever has any questions about this stuff, email me:
c_m_rainwater@hotmail.com or give me a call...email me for my phone number (not posting it on here)
-Cathie
For me, here in NY (not city), that's going to amount to about $6,000! You should have this money saved up. Don't make the same mistake as we did. What happens now? We have to offer the seller $6,000 less for the house than the highest appraisal is, or $6,000 more than the lowest, just so we can get what is called Seller's Concession (the closing cost is rolled into the loan). The loan would say $100,000. But the seller would get $94,000. That's where we're having the problem.
Bottom line, make sure you save up a LOT of money before you get a house. I'm talking $5,000-$10,000. It IS possible if you're young, have nothing but music or fast food to spend it on, or just clothes or something. When you get into my situation, have kids, rent, bills...etc...it's more difficult. So do it now while you can.
Anyone ever has any questions about this stuff, email me:
c_m_rainwater@hotmail.com or give me a call...email me for my phone number (not posting it on here)
-Cathie
