All Forum Posts by: David Arney

bumpdate

So I've looking around online and doing a bit of driving around and I'm starting to begin to narrow in on what I am looking for in a home.

My apartment lease ends at the end of May and I think I want to have a home of my own by this time.

I have not yet spoken to a lender about getting the money for a house, but I have enough to make a 10% downpayment on a home, I am looking to purchase something between $150-$200k for myself to live in for the next 3 years (up to 5) and then sell.

I have been looking mostly at townhomes between 2-3 bedrooms, 2-3 baths, with appliances (stove, dishwasher, fridge). I am also focusing mainly on the locations in the N. Raleigh area, between 440/540 and I-40 and Capital Blvd. This is a pretty large radius, and there are many spots that I believe can sustain a decent appreciation rate over the next 3 years, especially along edwards mill road in my neck of the woods. (there are new homes popping up everywhere).

I'm not going to look for anything that is run down or needs work on while I am living there (at least major work). I thought about it, but decided I don't have the time since right now I have to focus on graduate school.

My current residence is a ~1700sq ft. rental 3BD/2.5BA that is in a very nice location and priced at about $170k. I am paying $1320/mo rent, I have 2 roommates that each take a share.

After Utilities, I'm shelling out ~600-650/mo to live in this place.

I have a friend who would be able to move in with me. I trust him, he is clean and very responsible, no pets, etc. and he is currently paying >750/mo just living by himself. I figured I could get him a 50/mo discount to move in, which would save him about $600/year in living costs.

So that gives me about ~1300/mo to work with for a mortgage payment and utilities.

Do you guys think it's possible for me to afford such a place (i.e. mortgage + utilities + any extra costs like taxes, etc.)?

I could NOT shell out $1300/mo myself alone to live anywhere right now, I just don't make that much. Is it a mistake to purchase a place that I could possibly be forced into needing a roommate to cover my mortgage? It's nice to have a roommate to help pay for things, but I don't want to be irresponsible with my finances and be dependant on a roommate in case some kind of emergency ever came up.

A lot of the homes online that I have looked at list estimated monthly mortgage payments of ~950/mo. A lot of decent apartments around here cost that much, and you are just dumping money, no equity.

So I'm just looking for a little advice, what to look for in a home when I actually go looking myself, costs to be aware of that I will be responsible for (i.e. realtor, closing costs, etc.) and what kind of responsibility is required when you own a home that you are living in.

I want to make a financially sound investment. And I really believe that I can purchase a home by the summer, live in it for 3-5 years and sell it for a profit (At the very least get all my money back). And I will be clear with any realtor I speak with that this is most important to me, above comfort or convenience, etc.

thanks

Wow a lot of people lost money yesterday

Pats -450
Giants +350

O/U 54

I think you HAVE to go with the Pats in the Over in this case, although you're only getting about 1.22:1 on your money

Going with the Giants gets you about 4.5:1, which sounds pretty sweet, but the spread is too far and it's not going to happen.

Pats in the over

Cat

takes naps

eats food

naps some more

yea so i guess i was wrong about the feds. 1/2 point cut again

3% interest blows, I need to do something else with my money. Anybody got any ideas?

I guess I was wrong

I didn't think they'd cut rates more than 1/4

It's been so soon since the last rate cut, I could see things as being borderline irresponsible to cut rates again without letting the first cut have some time to pan out. You wouldn't want to overdo things.

At the same time, I could see a modest rate cut perhaps to 'assist' the previous cut. Maybe 25 basis points. I don't think that would cause any rapid scare in wall street.

My INGdirect account went from 4.10% to 3.65%. I'm going to jump into Etrade savings next month, they're offering 4.40% currently for their savings

sad,

but i had no clue that it was illegal. I'm not sure that's accurate

I wrote this on another website, i'll post it here,

btw, I still don't know who I want to vote for, although my most recent thoughts has been for Romney. Also I liked what Tim said about an all republican-led govt.
_____

One more thing. The democrats have bitched about Bush causing one of the biggest deficits in history by overspending, but none have even started to suggest maybe cutting spending? Why can't they just cut the programs that Bush started? I figure if they were asked that, they would indirectly wind up saying that some of bush's programs that he started are worthy of keeping, therefore we must raise taxes to sustain them. I can't imagine a democrat like hillary EVER praising bush for anything he's ever done.

Obama mentioned something about this last night in his victory speech in SC. He said he was tired of the partisanship that doesn't even like it when you say the other party had ideas. It's sad the division in this country, and if Hillary becomes elected into the Presidency, it will be 4 years of nothing happening, IMO, because there will be so many people hating her/loving her, that nothing could ever get passed through. IMO Obama has the best chance of bringing both parties together. I can't say I agree with his ideas, but I believe he is probably the most genuine of any candidate, Dem or GOP.

My only concern right now is making the Bush tax cuts permanent. Capital Gains, Corporate tax, Death Tax, they all need to go. Gift tax should be increased to $25,000 annually, 50k joint gifts by spouse. The lowest tax bracket should be eliminated, there should be a 5% cut across the board, and the 25% bracket needs to be reduced to another 5% after that, so our brackets look like this

0%
10%
15%
23%
28%
30%
(that's just a start)

Social Security needs to be eliminated. Most likely in a phase out program. It will be impossible to support fully over the next 20 years. I refuse to pay out the *** for that ****.

Standard Deductions need to increase, as do personal exemptions.

If that gets done, I'll be much happier.

And to keep the deficit down, cut out all the unnecessary programs. Get troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Cut foreign aid, increase welfare restrictions and a bunch of other domestic nonsense.

I have a lot of high stakes gambler friends. None of them were there, thankfully