Talked to a mortgage lender Thursday afternoon...

[Joe Biden 2020]

To get an idea of all my housing options for late 2009 and early 2010, I decided to get in touch with a Century 21 realtor here in Eastern Oklahoma County who put me in touch with a lender in Midwest City.  I went to see her Thursday afternoon at 4:00 and found out some news.  I was pre-qualified for a $90,000 FHA loan, which there are plenty of homes for less than $90K in this part of the state.  However, the payments would be nearly $700 a month plus all other utilities and such as that.  So, I'm still exploring my options.  Of course, I'm not in any shape to do anything until November or December 2009, at least.  My apartment lease expires January 31, 2010, and I still have the option of moving to Kansas in the Spring of 2010.  The lender said my credit scores were really high for a man just two years out of college (~750 for all three bureaus).  Another possible option is to rent a house here in the OKC Metro next February and then either do it on a rent-to-buy agreement or just a rent.  And, of course, the other option is just to renew my current lease for another 13 months through February 28, 2011.  Its nice to know that I will have several options on the table and that I have at least 6 months to decide what I want to do.

[© tweed]

why do you tell us these things, down to the minute details?

(seriously, I'm just asking.  not trying to be a dick)

[Joe Biden 2020]

why do you tell us these things, down to the minute details?

(seriously, I'm just asking.  not trying to be a dick)

I don't know.  I'm just a detail-oriented person, even in conversation.

[Meeker]

why do you tell us these things, down to the minute details?

(seriously, I'm just asking.  not trying to be a dick)

I think he has undiagnosed OCD.

[Joe Biden 2020]

why do you tell us these things, down to the minute details?

(seriously, I'm just asking.  not trying to be a dick)

I think he has undiagnosed OCD.

Actually, it is not undiagnosed.  I do have OCD.  It comes along with my Tourette's, and ADHD.

[Sam Spade]

He thinks we actually care.

[Lincoln Republican]

It is good to have options available to you.  One never knows what their circumstances will be six months or a year from now.

For what it's worth, I believe it is always wise to live within ones' means, but a mortgage is one of the very few things that one could, if necessary, go into debt for, and very few people have the means to pay for a residence outright.

[they don't love you like i love you]

Homeownership is for suburb lovers. Epic fail.

[The Man From G.O.P.]

Wow friends, way to knock the fellow down for nothin.


Buy the house if you like OKC, now might be a good time.


Unless the market just gets worse

[dead0man]

Wow friends, way to knock the fellow down for nothin.

This^


re:the OP.  Does that $700 a month count insurance and your escrow as well?  My sister wasn't paying attention when she bought her....at least her second, if not third home (not 3 total, 1 at a time) and her mortgage guy didn't put the escrow/insurance part into her loan paperwork.  Tax time comes and they were up sh**t creek.  You don't have to have it as part of your loan payment, but you need to know if it's not so you can prepare throughout the year.

[Bono]

Don't fall for the homeownership trap. Renting is a much more sensible solution.

[Ban my account ffs!]

I totally disagree that "renting is a sensible solution".  Owning a home is not only a way to more financial security but also gives you a strong sense of accomplishment and pride.

Sure, you are paying a lot of interest to the bank when you take out a mortgage, but if you buy a home that you can afford and save a little to improve it over time, it can be profitable.  Also, if you get promoted or see an increase in pay, you can apply the new money towards your mortgage and pay it off early.

Renting is throwing your money into a hole.  Especially when you consider that rent for the month is often not much less than a mortgage payment.

But I am biased, because I live in the state with the highest homeownership rate in the nation.

The key is not to go beyond what you can afford.  Don't take the biggest loan the bank will offer you.  Research and find a home that has potential that is a little less than what you could afford.  Save the extra money.

But that's all pretty much common sense.

[Mint]

Don't fall for the homeownership trap. Renting is a much more sensible solution.

[opebo]

It is very fashionable nowadays to say that renting is better than buying, and you can see why people talk this way, given the current climate.

However, it is not better.  The fact is that for a working class person owning a home is no gaurantee of 'getting ahead', but it is at least a possibility creating some small savings - some little nest egg.  To do this with renting you would have to really strenuously save every spare penny.  In a sense it comes to the same thing, only with the house one is 'riding the market' - in other words one is effected by the government (aka the economy).  With saved cash, its just cash under the mattress.  Of course some would have you put that cash into 'investments' such as stocks, but this is far worse folly than the house, as it is quite likely to lose its value as well as providing no utility (at least the house you can live in).

Basically there are no good options, but owning a house is probably slightly less bad than renting, at least if one's goal is to have a small nest egg by the time on is old, sick, and dying.  This nest egg will not really be enough to actually make any difference in one's working class demise, but it will very likely be larger than the nest egg of the working class renter.

The actual best advice for the working class person is to live entirely 'in the moment' and then have a spree when things get really bad.

That said, I love hearing the tales of Okiehomie and decry those who jeer at his struggles. 

[Torie]

The tax laws favor home ownership, because the "rent" that you pay to yourself in your own home is not taxed. If anyone is confused by this, and wishes me to explain further, I shall.

There is another problem with renting, Obebo. Your landlord might make you move out! And in the meantime, you can't mess with your pad too much - you know, like moving some walls around or whatever.

[The Man From G.O.P.]

Basically, I'd go month to month on a rental (you can probably find this in the current climate) and see where the market goes. If we level off I'd snatch up a home, if we continue to spiral downward I'd just keep renting.

I used to live in Edmond, what area in OKC are you looking at?

If possible, I'd really go out of my way to find a heavily discounted cookie-cutter suburban development, perhaps a development that's not even been completed. This allows you to buy a nice, new home at firesale prices, knowing it will one day be surrounded by nice homes. I'm pretty sure the OKC market has 90k homes that fit that bill.

Just make sure you research the developer, call the area's state rep and inquire if they've had any complaints, and contact the BBB and any HOA types.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Basically, I'd go month to month on a rental (you can probably find this in the current climate) and see where the market goes. If we level off I'd snatch up a home, if we continue to spiral downward I'd just keep renting.

I used to live in Edmond, what area in OKC are you looking at?

If possible, I'd really go out of my way to find a heavily discounted cookie-cutter suburban development, perhaps a development that's not even been completed. This allows you to buy a nice, new home at firesale prices, knowing it will one day be surrounded by nice homes. I'm pretty sure the OKC market has 90k homes that fit that bill.

Just make sure you research the developer, call the area's state rep and inquire if they've had any complaints, and contact the BBB and any HOA types.

I'm looking at the eastern side (Midwest City/Choctaw area).

[Luis Gonzalez]

Don't fall for the homeownership trap. Renting is a much more sensible solution.

Renting IS buying...you're buying a house for someone else, and getting none of the tax benefits.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I'll probably try to make my decision of what I'm going to do by September 1 (5 months from now) and then, if I decide to buy a home, I'll probably start looking October 1 and hopefully close on a home by December 1 and be completely moved in by January 1.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Geeze.. you are detail oriented.  Do you want to be my personal organizer?

[Joe Biden 2020]

Geeze.. you are detail oriented.  Do you want to be my personal organizer?

Haha, LOL!  I've always been like that.  Those are arbitrary dates, but I will try to go along with that timeline.  Especially, since I can't do anything earlier (my lease doesn't run out until January 31 and the $8,000 tax credit expires December 1, so I'm really tied down to that timeline.  I probably should try to close by mid-November, but I put December 1 just to give me a little cushion.

[Smash255]

plenty of homes under $90,000.  Out of over 7800 homes for sale in Nassau County, four are on the market for less than $90,000 one is a houeboat, and the other three are old houses which are completely falling apart

[© tweed]

plenty of homes under $90,000.  Out of over 7800 homes for sale in Nassau County, four are on the market for less than $90,000 one is a houeboat, and the other three are old houses which are completely falling apart

that + highest property taxes in the nation once you close on it


Long Island

[Smash255]

plenty of homes under $90,000.  Out of over 7800 homes for sale in Nassau County, four are on the market for less than $90,000 one is a houeboat, and the other three are old houses which are completely falling apart

that + highest property taxes in the nation once you close on it


Long Island

Westchester beats us out there

[Bono]

Despite the last few years, the historical real rate of return on houses is close to 0%. If you want to buy a house, then by all means do so, but aknowledge you're spending money in a luxury good, not "investing".