$140 K seems alot for a first house , maybe downsize and find a reposession house or a distress sale , or owner financed house . Lots of old ladies with nice old houses are looking for a condo or apt after poppy dies . Place ad in local paper young couple seeks owner financed starter home .
1
2
-
July 20, 2009 11:02 a.m. Karl La Follette Reader
-
July 20, 2009 11:10 a.m. The Brown Stig SuperDork
I looked at a very nice distressed sale this weekend. The home was purchased 10 years ago for $190,000 and The ARM just bumped the payment to $2800/mo. The owner is selling for $71,000 because he lost his job at a local parts supplier.
Guy has already sold his 2004 Vette, 2006 Escalde, 2001 36ft Bayliner and his motorcycles.
-
July 20, 2009 11:17 a.m. SVreX SuperDork
Yeah, but you're in MI. It's very likely that the REAL value of houses has dropped a lot. It's likely he's upside down, no matter how much he's paid.
However, I agree with your basic point. Now is a good time for distressed properties.
-
July 20, 2009 12:04 p.m. scardeal New Reader
I'm in the process of looking for a house in MI, and w/ taxes, insurance, etc. a $100k house costs about
30 yr fixed rate 5.25%
$1000/mo w/ city taxes (amounting to ~$4500/yr) $900/mo w/ township taxes (amounting to ~$3300/yr)
It also requires ~$12k of downpayment, prepayments and closing costs.
This is FHA loan w/ 3.5% down. It allows 6% concession by the seller to pay for closing costs, effectively saying that you're buying the home for $94k and financing $6k of closing costs. That still requires ~ $6k out-of-pocket at closing, plus the costs of any inspections, which are done before closing.
Note that that doesn't even get into the increased costs of utilities and home maintenance...
-
July 20, 2009 12:41 p.m. Ian F HalfDork
Karl La Follette wrote:
$140 K seems alot for a first house
This depends on where you live. In my area (SE PA/Central NJ), $140K won't buy very much if you want a single family home with a garage and some level of "do what you want" freedom (although it would buy my house...).
-
July 20, 2009 1:42 p.m. Trans_Maro HalfDork
140k will barely buy an apartment up here in British Columbia.
You neek about 500K to buy an average size, old house.
Shawn
-
July 20, 2009 1:53 p.m. scardeal New Reader
In reply to Ian F:
Definitely agree there... My brother bought a nice middle-class ranch for over $300K a year ago in the DC/Baltimore/Annapolis triangle. The house I'm looking at is 1/3rd the cost and bigger, but it's in MI...
