Thread: First time

I believe, as a Realtor and one whom has seen rentals skyrocket the past year, ask yourself the following questions and the answers will help you decide.

1) Do I really want to be on the hook for 30 years? And do I have the required 20% down for a house in __________.
2) Will I lose my job again in two years? (it's likely since America is part of a Global Economy).
3) When I lose my job again in two years, I'll have to go where the work is. Will I be able to do this with a 30 year mortgage on a house I can no longer afford?
4) When I lose my job in another two years due to outsourcing or the company going bankrupt, will I reeeaaaaallly want to face foreclosure and ruin my credit for five to seven years after the proceedings?
5) When I lose my job in another two years, or when America goes through yet another recession in ten to fifteen years, if I'm renting and I give my current landlord the heads-up, I won't be out really anything, not even my security deposit because I told the landlord I must leave and took care of his place while I stayed there.

There's less risk in renting a house. Plus with all the uncertainty of jobs and increase outsourcing and such, can you reeeeeaaaaaly stay put in a house? You might not even like it out there, but, too late, you signed on that dotted line and now: YOU'RE STUCK.

Don't do it!

-CM

I do see your point, and under that context renting does seem attractive, but I don't want a place to live, I want a home. It may be idealistic in this uncertain economy to expect a place that I can call my own and establish as a "family home", but the idea of having very little control over what I can and cannot do to the place I live in, and to be told "I need you to move out" at any time just on the whim of the landlord just really does not sit well with me.

I understand what you're saying. But speaking like a Realtor (and one who has nothing to gain by lying): uh, a landlord has to honor a lease. Most landlord's have their places managed by a Realty as well. Something goes wrong, call them, fixed, done. The landlord can't just wake you up at 3am and throw you out. They must take their house off the market once a tenant moves in as well.

I'm not being a wiseguy, but, with your understanding of all the uncertainty that is surely going to be this way, forever, you want to buy just so you can paint the walls purple instead of leaving them basic white per the landlord's instructions? And what will you do when you will certainly lose your job in what is it these days? Two years? Five at the most? Get another job? Yeah, okay, that's in the other part of the state. Good luck commuting Wes. Again, I'm not being a wiseguy but to go through all the hassles and the paperwork from yet another crooked bank. Why bust your own balls? So you can cook fish in your kitchen? And there's no landlord to say "no"? That's not enough for most people to warrant all the headaches of being on the hook for 30 years.

Why not take it year by year instead of signing your life away, KNOWING you can say with certainty, you'll lose your job in two years?

-CM

I didn't mean to imply that a landlord would just eject me randomly, just the scenario of them telling me they weren't going to renew my lease when it came up next because they wanted a place for their friend to live hovering over my head, etc. Yeah I know I'll be out of a job this time two years from now, but currently I own my own house and it's completely paid for so I won't be pressed for time scurrying about to find a place to live, I can hold out for a good deal. Here locally I see 3 bedroom 2 bath houses pop up all the time for the price of a car, 40,000-60,000$ With the end bonus I'll receive from my current job I should have more than enough to put the 20% down maybe even 50-75% if I can find a decent house for that low. It's not so much a coat of paint as the fact that you don't want to fill a house with all of your stuff, furniture, accessories, put work into it only to have to worry about packing it all up and moving it all each time you have to move. While I'd love to be able to get a job that sent me all over the country and even all over the world traveling, I still want that home to come back to. Now I of course don't mind renting in a new area for a year or more to get a feel for the area, make sure it's where I want to put down roots, and make sure my job will be stable enough to sustain it, but I eventually want a home all my own.

I understand exactly what you're saying and yes, that SOMETIMES happens whereby the landlord wants their house back.

You're right with respect to getting your roots established first, then if all works out with a job and there's stability there, THEN you sign on the dotted line.

With the job market slowly disappearing, dwindling down to almost nothing (lawyers, accountants, doctors and such don't count), unless someone can stay put (15+ years), or they have specialized skills, or they're going to retire, (or they're a builder with cash in the bank), as a Realtor and a home owner, see no point in buying. Add to the preceding facts the small possibility of a landlord wanting his place back, if a tenant is taking care of the place and paying for the landlord's mortgage, it doesn't make any financial sense for a landlord to throw out their tenant, much less offer them the option to buy the place after a year. But you feel differently.

Good luck to you, plant your roots first.

-CM

Before you start looking for a house to buy shouldn't you be looking for a job first? Once you have a job lined up then look for a loan and then a house.

As long as your next job is in the same line of work then you should have no problem getting a loan.

I know what you mean when you say you don't want to rent. I can't imagine going back to being a renter.

Originally Posted by Greg

Before you start looking for a house to buy shouldn't you be looking for a job first? Once you have a job lined up then look for a loan and then a house.

As long as your next job is in the same line of work then you should have no problem getting a loan.

I know what you mean when you say you don't want to rent. I can't imagine going back to being a renter.

Yep! All of this is speculation at this point and I do intend to have a job well before I make a move anywhere. I just believe in planning way ahead and accounting for as many contingencies as I can muster. Boy Scout through and through, "Be Prepared"

I have a decent job but lousy credit, any tips on getting approved for the loans?

You may need more in the bank and you'll probably be required to put more down.
Now, the going rate from Wells Fargo as of last week for a 30 year fixed is 20%.
Banks may require more from you.