Housing slump hits

Hmm. I was mainly asking because I was wondering if that money, plus utilities, would equal to a small condo payment. With allowing for some time in between to save up a downpayment, of course. But it probably doesn't even come close, does it? :(
 
This one-bedroom one-bath condo is the absolute cheapest place in my entire zip code, for $179,000. With the money I have for a down payment right now, my monthly payments would be $992 a month... not counting utilities, association fees, etc. The place is in Heritage Ranch, which is along the lake about 20 minutes out of town (plus another 15 to Atascadero, where I work) which means using more gas at $3.59 a gallon. Also, property values are on the way down, so buying a tiny place like that, even if I could do it, wouldn't make sense financially.
 
Well, the only place I can find that listing is realtor.com (was searching to see if the association fees were listed online)... so I'm wondering if it's still available. It's not listed on the listing agent's Web site, and any other site, entering the MLS number brings back no results, and searching other ways doesn't find it either.
 
I drove over there... the for sale signs are still up and everything. I don't think I'd be anywhere near happy there, though. First, there's a very steep driveway to get into the parking lot, and each condo gets one space, plus three or four visitor spots. I suspect the place started life as apartments and was converted to condos. The unit in question is upstairs... the listing says "laundry room" but there are coin-op machines downstairs, leading me to suspect there are no washer and dryer hook-ups. The kitchen is an OK size until you realize the table has to go in there too. There si a dishwasher, which is a plus. The living room is nothing to write home about. Couldn't see the bedrooms from the front and would need a ladder to see in the back windows. I'm guessing I wouldn't be able to put in a DirecTV dish, meaning I'd have to break my contract. Even if they let me put one in, I don't think there's a place with agsouthern view. I still don't know the association fees. So the parking lot is about level with the upper level, but you haqve to go down a ramp to the bottom level and then up the stairs to the second floor. I'm thinking that if I'm making a big investment like that, I want it to be somewhere I can be happy in... or at least settle for. That place sounds OK for a late-1970s apartment, but pretty lame for something to buy.
 
You sound like you know what you need. And what you need to get it. Consider though, if this is a step up from an apartment that even though it may not be exactly what you want, you will still be a property owner. (If it's a condo and not a coop that is)

That outweighs some of the annoyance of living there because feasibly, you could wait out the slump and make a profit when you sell and move into a house. Although you're not going to want to, you have to be open to compromise. I didn't get the 1/3 acre I was looking for and a 3rd bedroom, but we still have a pretty damn good house in a much better neighborhood.

Do you have a better MLS website for your area, with more pictures? The MLS website here (mlsli.com) has a lot of pics so that we could strike a lot of the places we found off the list based on what we saw. We didn't hire a realtor even, I did everything myself.

Can I make a suggestion? Draft a spreadsheet of your monthly/yearly expenses and even include things like movies, eating out, gas cost, car washes, etc. and see where you end up. Use your bank account debits/credits to help because I guarantee there will be things forgotten like magazine subscriptions. Include things you pay off, your monthly payment, when it will be paid off and interest rates on your loan(s) and credit cards.

I know it seems a really basic thing, but when we did it, it was a huge eye opener. We opened a new credit card with a 0% rate and transferred the balance of my car payment over to it. I was paying 12% on my car loan at the time. :eek: We knew we could pay off that balance before the rate went up in a year. And because the car was older and no longer had a lein on it, I was able to take the comp and collision off of it and save some dough there too.

I guess what it comes down to is planning way ahead of time. If the market keeps going down, this time next year would probably be a great time to buy. If you get your credit score and your savings account where it needs to be, you may be able to do it. Do you have a state-sponsored way to get your credit report for free? NY has one, you can do it once per year. It's always good to know exactly what's on it. Rusty found something on his that was actually bogus but it came off his report one month later, it was so old.

Inky, if you want help it, I can help. It's been my main preoccupation for the last two years so if I can tell you anything, just ask. :)
 
Inkara1 said:
Possibly, but there's not a single house in the county for sale that I can afford the payments on, let alone property taxes. The closest to affordable to me are in a senior-only community. I looked at 40-year loans online and they don't drop payments by very much, certainly not enough to buy.
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Inky, my mortgage co, is out of Kansas, (Saxon) and I have the original
loan at 150k for 40, and the payments are fixed at around 700/mo.
(with like a 20k balloon)
I dunno if you could get the fixed rate I have now though. I refied just before
the rates started back up.

I think many people don't really realize how long 20, 30, 40 years is when they sign.
I'm trying to pay mine down asap to cut the interest even more.
I'm trying to get mine paid off in 20.
The ol man always live beyond his means, and juggled. He didn't do that very
well and had to be bailed out by my grandparents several times.
So I'm getting it back on track.
 
That $20K balloon payment is a little scary, although if it's 30 or 40 years in the future maybe I could have some time to save that up. Of course, there are other costs of ownership... homeowner's insurance... I wouldn't have the cash for a 20 percent down payment so I'd probably be saddled with mortgage insurance... if it's a condo, I'd also have to pay association fees, plus water, sewer and garbage aren't paid for like they are here (or are supposed to be, anyway).
 
Inkara1 said:
That $20K balloon payment is a little scary, although if it's 30 or 40 years in the future maybe I could have some time to save that up. Of course, there are other costs of ownership... homeowner's insurance... I wouldn't have the cash for a 20 percent down payment so I'd probably be saddled with mortgage insurance... if it's a condo, I'd also have to pay association fees, plus water, sewer and garbage aren't paid for like they are here (or are supposed to be, anyway).
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You usually have to get the homeowners insurance before the mortgage, and that monthly payment gets added in, so you won't really see it. Don't know about mortgage insurance, or if its added into the mortgage payment. SWAT payments can't be that much, can they? (SWAT=Shit, Water, And Trash)
 
Yup, HO insurance has to be paid in full for a 1 year policy before closing. And if your bank makes you escrow payments, you will also have to pay a monthly payment for the homeowner's insurance and your taxes. So in essence you're paying a year ahead of time.

Then there are closing costs. I don't know how it works in your neck of the woods but I had to pay all of mine. And in the end, they came out to about 16k. In addition to the downpayment. But someone I know said that his son bought a house in another state and the seller paid the closing costs. Which is weird to me but that sounds like a pretty good deal! Also, in NY there are title agencies, lawyers, inspectors, appraisers, etc. that are all involved and all want their piece of the pie.

You don't necessarily have to put 20% down to avoid PMI. I didn't. There may still be mortgage products that allow that but I know there are less than there used to be, with all the foreclosures happening. They just don't want to take that risk. My bank forced me to escrow my insurance and taxes although I didn't want to because I was putting down less than 20%.

This is why I say to try to find a non-profit who can help you plan and to lay out how much you spend so you get that magic number. What you can pay per month. There are a lot of things that I didn't know required lots of $$$ before buying this house.
 
Inkara1 said:
Just found this two-bedroom, one-bath condo in Atascadero for $144,900... even with a slightly smaller down payment to allow some moving and painting money, payments are $809 a month. Methinks I'll have to inquire more about that one to find out association fees.
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Would this be a bad time to mention that we pay $816/mo for 2100 sqaure feet, five bedrooms, three baths, and 3 1/2 acres of breathtaking mountain view property?
 
Inkara1 said:
What does that $3,200 get you? Bedrooms/baths? View? House, apartment or condo? etc.
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Better be a French maid with benefits....well a maid in the outfit anyway,hairy armpits from a French Chick would kinda kill the illusion for me.
 
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