Owning vs. Renting

[bkrich83]

Re: Owning vs. Renting

No. Foreclosures are public records. Certian websites charge you to look at foreclosures but if you want to you can go to public records and get a copy of the latest foreclosures in your area. Some people would just rather pay to see them online without going through the hassle. I don't see a problem with either route. Also some realtors find people who are just in the begining of the foreclosure process and offer to help them out (mostly for their own benefit though).

One night I woke up in the middle of the night and couldnt sleep. Ending up watching this informercial on foreclosures and even ordered the book. A pretty good read if anyone is interested PM me and I'll send you the title (not trying to pimp it, i have no connection with the author or book).

If you can get into a house/condo/townhouse for around the same price you are paying for rent then you are indeed throwing your money away. As cliche as it sounds, everything is relative to location. If you live in a place where real estate prices are high then chances are your income is probably a little big higher to compensate for the cost of living in that area. Very similar to what mjb said.

That is good to know. I had thought about foreclosures, but never really investigated what it took. I know we've had a record number of foreclosures around here, but I have been too lazy to do the legwork.

[p_rushing]

Re: Owning vs. Renting

For forclosures, you just need to look around. People tend to stop caring about their house when they know the bank is going to take it. So just make sure you get a good inspection.

I bought my house in Feb. and through some good work by my realitor was able to basically only have to pay <$1,000 out of pocket. I didn't have enough money saved, since I've only been working for <2 years, to put down much money, so I did the 80/20 option. I made a budget and said this is what I can pay for a mortage and still have money to save and spend. I only ended up paying about $500 more a month, that includes the extra principle I pay each month though.

[Trevytrev11]

Re: Owning vs. Renting

PMI is such a ripoff. The way to get around it is to take 2 mortgages out. The normal 30 year mortgage and then a short 10 year mortgage with higher interest rate (of course, pay off this one in 5 or less years). One of my good friends was told to do this because he couldn't afford to put down 20% on the house he bought.

Yeah, also, with the exception of a FHA loan, you can pay a one time premium up front (which you can write off on your taxes) and not have to pay monthly. It's a higher premium (I think 2%), but when you roll it into your mortgage, your talking $10-$15 extra a month instead of $80-$100+.

[The 24th Letter]

Re: Owning vs. Renting

Id definitely suggest pwnage.....
I dont know about up there, but I pay way less for my house than most pay for thier apartment

[Pared]

Re: Owning vs. Renting

Thanks for the link. I'm actually going to invest in an apartment next year once my lease is up.

FF... thank you for opening up my eyes.... $14,000/year in rent.... as much as I love the place... that's just money being tossed away. Never thought about it that way.

Imagine... if you were only this smart with your video game systems.

[Altimus]

Re: Owning vs. Renting

Imagine... if you were only this smart with your video game systems.

Life time saving of $28,140.10.