Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with finance and realestate

Buying a first residence in a major city: can it be done?

cranberrymonger — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 09:41:50 -0800

Buying a first residence in a major city: can it be done? I live in Toronto, but I think this question could apply to other major cities. I talked to a banker and found that with my current income ($40 000) the maximum mortgage I could get is around $150-175 000. I couldn't find anywhere even close to downtown or near the subway stations that was less than $300 000.

Toronto MeFites: What are the cheaper but still TTC-accessible neighbourhoods?

Any downtown condo/apartment owners: How did you afford this?

Is it possible for a first-time buyer to make a mortgage work on a single income?

Shopping The Mortgage

escher — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 22:23:36 -0800

How and when do I "shop" a mortgage? (first-time buyer questions inside) So, I've got a lender I'd like to work with (found via referral). But I want to make sure that I'm getting a fair deal, so I'd like to "shop around" and see that the rate/closing costs/points/etc that I'm getting are competitive. But I'm not sure when or how i should shop the mortgage. Do I call and compare before i've found the home, after my offer has been accepted / entering contract, or what? Basically, I'm looking for a timeline of the loan process when buying a home with regards to shopping lendors. And how does "locking in" a loan figure into this?

Can I withdraw money for a first-time home purchase with my accounts?

InvestorMD — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 20:43:24 -0800

You can use your Roth IRA for your first time home purchase (up to 10k). However, you must have the account open for 5 years. How is account defined? I have a Fidelity Roth IRA account open for 6 years now. I have a T.Rowe Price Roth IRA open for 2 years. My wife had a John Hancock Roth 401(K) (open 2 years ago) which we rolled over to a T.Rowe Price Roth IRA when she switched jobs back in August.

The rules stipulate that the account must be open for 5 years? Does this included the general umbrella of the Roth IRA or each single account under the umbrella? We plan on buying a home after I am done with medical school. We were thinking to put some more cash into our Roth's for the time being and wanted the flexibility of withdrawing our CONTRIBUTIONS for a down-payment if needed.

On a side note, can this money be put back or will that count as new contributions? I expect my income level will make me ineligible for contributing to a ROTH after I'm done with the 3+ years of medical school and 4-5 years of residency. Hence, why we are trying to contribute as much to get ahead start.

Negotiating at end of teaser rate

acoutu — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 14:52:38 -0800

Do most people try negotiating near the end of a teaser rate? When we bought our home last year, we went with a one-year teaser rate, to be followed by a variable or fixed rate based on prime minus X. The time on the teaser rate will expire in a few months. Someone I met recently suggesting negotiating before locking in -- she works for a branch of our bank and said we should try to get a better rate, now that we've had a mortgage with the bank for a while. I was wondering how to go about doing this and whether it is normal. (I'm no longer in touch with this person, who I met during a course.)

I am aware of the benefits/drawbacks of teaser rates, so no need to get into that. However, I did wonder whether others had tried negotiating for a better rate as their teaser rate came to an end. I tried talking to my mortgage broker, but he said those discussions would be between us and the bank, as he's out of the loop now.

I know how to project the costs of switching to another bank vs staying with the rate at my lender. I suppose I could use that as fodder. But other suggestions are welcome. I guess it never hurts to ask, though.

How can I estimate what the mortgage payment on a commercial building loan will be?

ignignokt — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 15:52:05 -0800

How can I estimate what the mortgage payment on a commercial building loan will be? I know that commercial loans are different from home mortgage loans. I'm just having a hard time figuring out what typical terms are for them. I was going to just fill out a lendingtree.com request, but they require your phone number. (I might end up doing that anyway.) I need this to figure out how affordable certain buildings are. Is there any good, fast way of estimating this?

How do you acquire a business line of credit using equity in a commercial property as collateral?

yorja — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 22:02:57 -0800

I have recently acquired a commercial property. I want to obtain a line of credit against the down payment I put on the property. Obviously, I have not done this in the past. But, I envision the transaction being similar to a home equity line of credit. Is there anyone out there that can point me to the right direction. FYI, the commercial property was acquired via a new LLC of which I own 100%.

One roommate owns, one doesn't; how to handle?

commander_cool — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 16:25:54 -0800

I own a condo with a mortgage and tax deductions and equity. SO moving in. How do we split expenses fairly? Many other questions about financial logistics. I've owned a condo for several years and have built up extensive equity between putting in more money and the ridiculous local real estate market.

SO is likely moving in soon, and my life will be much the better for it. Happy Valentine's Day!

It doesn't make sense for both of us to move and get a new place: I have more money than SO does so we just end up with a new problem, we both like the place, SO needs to move anyway because of expiring lease, and the location is great. Also, I just refinanced at a much lower mortgage rate than I could get now, so any move would put us in a downgrade even if I could psychologically accept the loss of sunk costs.

Assume that SO doesn't have the free cash flow to simply pay me for a half-share ownership of the condo, in which case we could just change the title and split expenses down the middle. How do we handle this financially instead?

1) Do we just split the mortgage? If so, what does that do to our tax situation, given that I'm deducting the interest and taxes on my federal taxes? (Odds are that I'll be in a higher bracket, so it would make more sense for me to have the deductions.)

2) How do we handle the fact that a substantial portion of my mortgage check is building up equity? Does SO end up with an ownership interest? (And if so, how much money does SO end up getting when the condo is sold? Or heaven forfend, when SO realizes GOB-style "I've made a huge mistake" and moves out?) Or should we simply treat the equity portion of the bill as my responsibility?

3) If we split expenses some other way (putting her in charge of paying for food, utilities, and the non-deductible condo fee), is this imputed rent income that I need to treat as taxable income? Too, it's hard to add all those smaller expenses up in a way that seems like a fair division, given the size of the mortgage expense.

4) Or do I just say that I'm so thrilled to have my SO move in that I want to handle all of the financial expenses myself? I could afford this to be sure (I'm already paying expenses by myself), but I think SO would actually feel threatened by this.

5) I don't need a prenup for this, do I? SO is an economics major and future heartless lawyer, so it might not be too disastrous if I had to suggest one.

Many thanks, Mefites.

Should I lease my condo, or sell it outright?

dansays — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 13:59:39 -0800

I'm moving to New York City, and I need help deciding what to do with my condo. Should I lease it? Sell it? First, the specifics: I own a 1,826 square foot unit on the 13th floor of a lakefront highrise on the east side of Milwaukee. Two bedroom, two bath, terrace, stainless steel appliances. Shortly after moving in, I commissioned a local artist to paint the space, and a custom desk was built for my home office by a local design firm. The finished product was profiled in "M Magazine."

I love my home, but I love my girlfriend more, so it's time to move on. One of the few remaining details (and certainly the biggest) to be worked out is: what should I do with my condo, lease or sell?

LeasingI've discussed the issue at length with my financial advisor (a.k.a. "Dad") and his recommendation is to hold on to the property, for the following reasons:

I would still own property, and therefore benefit from the appreciation of the unit. It's lakefront property in a great neighborhood.
I could move sooner if I didn't have to deal with all of the closing details.
I could lease the unit furnished, giving me one less thing to worry about.
I have a safety net, in case things didn't work out. I have every confidence that I will be happy with my new life in New York, but who knows. It's a factor to consider.

The cons:

The market for leasing a property like mine would be very small, if it exists at all. In order to cover my mortgage, property taxes, and condo association fees, I would need to collect somewhere around $3,000/month in rent. I imagine I'd be leasing to a corporate executive living in Milwaukee on a temporary basis.
I have absolutely no idea where to begin. If I chose to sell my property, I could hire a real estate agent, or buy a book and list the property myself. I have no idea how to proceed with leasing the property. When I look through craigslist or the real estate section of the Sunday paper, I see no properties leasing in this price range.

SellingThe benefits to selling the property outright:

I wouldn't pay taxes on the capital gains if I sold the property as a residence. If I decide to sell after leasing it for a few years, it's an investment property, so my tax liability is considerably higher.
I have fewer long-term headaches. I won't have to worry about finding another tenant when the current one chooses not to renew their lease.
My course of action is clear. As I said, the process of selling a home is farily straightforward.

Help!So, I guess I have two questions:

Have I missed any pros or cons? Am I considering all the right issues?
If I opt to lease my unit, how do I get things started?

Canadian real estate stats?

stavrosthewonderchicken — Tue, 11 Oct 2005 23:12:52 -0800

How/where can one find average home-sale prices (and other related data) for regions or towns or neighbourhoods in cities, in Canada? Is it even possible? Is there a free way to do so? And more importantly, could I do it from outside the country ('cause that's where I live)?

What are the negatives of a long term Mortgage?

rschroed — Mon, 25 Apr 2005 12:39:23 -0800

I just read an interesting article regarding long term mortgages. Basically fixed rate, 30 yrs = Good. 15 year = bad. What are some counterpoints to this argument. Drawbacks to long term mortgages? Advantages to paying it off early? From the article:
The New Rules of Money are clear: A big, 30-year mortgage is the best thing you can have. You should get as big a loan as possible, and never pay it off. Forget about 15-year loans, never make extra payments, and forget about those bi-weekly mortgage payment plans.