Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with homeownership

Why do I feel so weird about owning this home?

gocubbies — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:03:25 -0800

Why do I feel so weird about owning this home? Here's the long story (as short as possible): My wife and I are both 24 and we recently bought our first house. We've been married for one year and lived together for one year before that. We've been very good savers (over 50% of each paycheck) and before purchasing the home we had very little debt (only about $8K for a car).

We did not receive any financial support from our parents (other than for undergrad tuition). What makes me feel very strange is that multiple people have commented on how large our house is and how good of a job I must have. I make a little more than $67k and my wife makes about $34k. We bought the house new and it is two stories with a finished basement and 5 bedrooms. We have no kids yet, but plan to live in this house for 30+ years and raise a family in it.

Here are a few remaining details. We paid $324k for the house with 10% down and we'll be receiving another $8k for being a first time homeowner.

Hearing people comment on the size of the house makes me feel awkward and undeserving. My take on this issue is that my wife and I saved well and didn't buy any "toys" when we finished school: no motorcycle, no flat screen TV, no boat, no nothing (with the exception of the car mentioned above). We never moved back home after school, but saved money by living in an inexpensive apartment for 2+ years. I finished college a semester early, too.

My job pays well, but not extremely well like some may think. I started working for the company when I was 20 and have had two promotions and two raises.

Am I right in justifying how we were able to afford this house or is there something I'm missing? Is it normal to feel like I don't deserve this?

Do I need a new roof?

amanda — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:51:44 -0800

In my second year of first-time home ownership and husband and I are thinking we need to do a little spring cleaning around the house. Other than a minor plumbing issue in the bathroom we have had (knock on wood) zero problems with the house. In an effort to keep up this track record, what trouble spots should we look for in the house? How do you know if the roof is in good shape? What are typical home maintenance needs? A little info.... Our house is a single-story 1950s cottage. The sewer line is only about 15 years old and was clean as a whistle when we scoped it two years ago. The roof looks pretty good from the ground but I don't really know what I'm looking at. We have a crawl space that is partially excavated to house the furnace and hot water heater. We have what we think is asbestos shingle siding. It has wood flooring throughout and still feels nicely solid. It's a pretty un-creaky house.

As we walk around, what should we look for? What are telltale signs that something must be done? I'm fairly handy so any advice on what can be done yourself verses calling the pros is welcome.

Why does my toilet backup with soap and water and what can we do?

DorothySmith — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 06:59:23 -0800

My toilet is constantly backing up with soap and water to the point where it overflows and floods my condo! What is the problem? What are my legal options? My partner and I bought a condo in June and soon noticed that the toilet backs up with soap and water. It first makes a loud gurgling noise and creates large bubbles. After the gurgling ends, the toilet bowl (and kitchen sink occasionally) will fill up with soap. In October the bowl overflowed all over the bathroom floor. We told the super who did nothing and told us there was nothing that could be done. Then in November I came home one evening to a bathroom, hallway and several feet into each bedroom of foam and water up to my knees. It destroyed our floors (laminate), doors, trim and bathroom vanity.

Since October we've had the toilet back up 7 times and only once I threatened with a lawyer did the building manager send a plumber to my place. They put a camera down the toilet and flushed the drain finding nothing. The building manager has said it's not a plumbing problem and that there's nothing to do. He's dead set it's a bubble bath problem... rather than a serious plumbing problem.

The condo building (10 floors and I'm on the first floor) is almost 40 years old, but was renovated in the last few years allowing every unit a front loading washing machine and dishwasher. I think it is likely a hydraulics problem (the pipes are too small for the increased water traffic) or a ventilation problem. Since the pipes aren't mine and are the building's I'm not allowed to hire a plumber.

I also found out that the man who lives across the hall (and almost everyone else on the first floor) has this same problem... their backups haven't ruined their floor though. The man across the hall reported it over a year ago, before we bought. The other condo owners who it happens to aren't willing to support me because it hasn't inconvenienced them yet (or destroyed their home). The man across the hall has recently moved into a nursing home, but his grandson said that they would search for a record of when the plumber came for them last year. Their kitchen sink backups haven't been fixed either and it's the same as mine (soap and water).

I want to know what my problem is... and any advice to solve it. Neither the building manager or condo board will help me even though we've been living on concrete flooring afraid to put in a new floor since it's happened as recently as Christmas Eve morning.

Is it possible to force them to buyback our unit since we can easily prove it was a problem before we moved in? (ie. full disclosure)

Is it possible to legally force them to fix the problem? My mother's heard of a similar problem in another apartment building and they had to rip out the floors and walls and replace the plumbing b/c it was a hydraulics problem.

Should I be suing for my condo fees back since we've been living with flooding since October?

With the market slump, and 18 other units for sale in the building... selling it isn't really an option unless we take a huge financial loss (not to mention we'd have to disclose there's a plumbing problem and explain why there's no flooring!).

I've called all the city and province (I'm in Ontario, Canada) and none of the health agencies will help me b/c I own rather than rent.

Is it more fiscally wise to rent or to buy a home?

arnicae — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 09:50:41 -0800

Buying a house (vs. renting): How much more does it cost to buy than rent? Is it worth it (tax, asset, etc) in the long run? A fair number of people think that renting a house in the long-term is better for some people than buying. I understand that might be the case if you plan to stay in your home for less than five years, buy in a hot market, or have lots of repairs.

I'm trying to compare the costs of home ownership and renting, and hoped you guys could chime in in terms of how much more owning a house will cost, year over year, and the benefits.

Right now as a renter I pay:
monthly rent
utilities
renter's insurance
parking tickets when my street-parked car is caught by the sweepers

As an owner I'd pay:
*monthly mortgage
*utilities
*homeowner's insurance (which costs more than renters?)
*landscaping upkeep (time and/or money)
*home repairs and upkeep (money)

Right now Mr. arnicae and I have a lump sum of enough to put a reasonable down payment on a home and salaries that could pay the mortgage and plan to live in the area we're looking at for a looong time.

Also, a family member has offered us a sum of money roughly equivalent to our down if we buy in the next two years (complicated story that would make this AskMe even longer, please ignore why/how)

Is it a better financial decision to buy or rent for the long-term? Any specifics (like how much more it has cost you monthly or annually to own a home because of X and how much you've saved in taxes, if anything) would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your thoughts!

IRA For First Home Purchase

Smarson — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:42:18 -0800

I want to buy my first house AND not owe any Federal taxes for 2007...Traditional IRA Perhaps? So here is the deal, the Mrs and I want to buy our first house hopefully this summer, but Uncle Sam is trying to take a bite out of all the money we've saved up for a down payment (to the tune of almost $1000). I have this brilliant idea to lower our taxable income by each of us contributing the max to a Traditional IRA (like $4000, right?) knowing that we can withdraw it penalty free for a first time home purchase. I know we'll have to pay taxes on the $8000 in 2008, but since I'm going back to school starting in September, our tax bracket will be lower AND we'll own a home (hopefully), so it shouldn't hit us as hard. Other important info: this is in WA state. Combined 2007 income is less than $103,000.

Questions:
1. This plan sounds too good to be true...is it?
2. Assuming I move forward and each of us set up a Traditional IRA, is it possible to do so and not invest it anything knowing we plan on withdrawing the funds probably within the next 3 to 6 months?
3. I've got a mutual fund with TDAmeritrade already, should I stick with them to do the IRA or does it matter (worried about fees)?

Am I ready to buy a house?

TomMelee — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:54:12 -0800

Am I ready to buy a house? Disgusting details inside. Me, in a nutshell. 27, male, unmarried, no kids, live in girlfriend. Making right at a whopping $30k a year. Debt-right at $14k in student loans, and about $9k on a car, that's it. I have about $2k in cash savings, accrued mostly in the last 6 months. I have never bought a home before and will most likely qualify for first time homebuyers incentives if the house meets the criteria. Monthly debt $250 car payment, $130 insurance, $50 cell phone, student loans in forbearance. No credit cards or other accounts.

Houses in my immediate town are pretty well out of the question. I'd be looking at $100k to open a door. I'll be looking outside the city limits, where, for example, $65k will get me a house and 13 acres.

Catches: Student loans are JUST out of default. I'm being told it will take up to 3 months for them to fall of my credit report. With them on there, the score is a whopping 520-550. Right now I live in a house owned by my mother, she will be selling it in the spring.

According to the interwebs and fannie mae, I should be able to afford up to a $92,000 house. I don't *want* to. I won't even consider anything over $65k. I have not yet been preapproved.

So, questions: Am I ready to buy a house?
Would I be better to buy a cheap one ($30k-ish) and fix it up with the possibility of reselling? I manage a hardware store---I can get anything I need quite cheap and usually do it myself.

Tell me what to do MeFi! Oh, and getting married is not going to happen any time soon, so don't even suggest that.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad: buying out a family home

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:19:23 -0800

Is investing in this house a good deal? My husband and I are both artists. Typically, our after-tax income is about $15-20K, combined. This is alright with us because we're doing what we want to be doing -- there isn't anything else we want to spend our money on. We have no debts and no children; we are both 34.

We live rent-free in a house co-owned by my husband's father (call him A) and uncle (call him B). A and B inherited this house from their father (C), but didn't need to use it as a residence because they have their own homes. Several years ago, my husband and I had moved in to take care of C in his old age, in exchange for rent-free living. C died last year. The house is currently worth approximately $1 million (4 bedrooms, 3 baths, finished basement, 2-car garage on a small property in an affluent suburb in the Northeast US).

A and B are currently proposing to us this deal: we begin making monthly payments at a reasonable interest rate (TBD) to B in order to purchase his half of the house ($500,000). After that's done (30 years?), we would co-own the house with A. We could then sell it and split the results with A. Or we could do nothing and wait for A to die, in which case we'd inherit half of his portion (my husband's brother would get the other half), thereby owning 3/4 of a house that was worth $1 mil in 2007.

Now, people at our income level don't normally invest in million-dollar houses, which is why I don't know if it's a wise investment for us. Is it? What would make it so? Is it only worth doing if we get an especially favorable interest rate from B? Is it worth sacrificing for (e.g. taking on part-time supplemental jobs that take time away from our arts jobs in order to make the payments) because it'll be such a good investment?

One thing that gives me pause is that when I used a loan-calculator to run the numbers, I discovered that if we pay B back $500,000 at 5% over the course of 30 years, we'll be paying him nearly $500,000 in interest alone! So we'd be paying him $1 mil for a house that he didn't even purchase in the first place? Would it be fair to propose a rate of 3% (like inflation) instead to approximate how much B would have made if he had held onto the house for an additional 30 years? Would it be fair to propose basing our payments on a reduced price?

If we were to move out of the house instead of investing in it, A and B would sell the house and invest the money in their own estates. (A portion of whatever remains would eventually come to my husband after A's death.)

Is this proposal a better deal for A and B or for us? Or neither? Ideally, we don't want to take advantage of A or B, just find a favorable situation for all of us. But if the deal favors A or B, we wouldn't be opposed to making counter-offers that tilt in our favor.

Housing market crystal ball?

croutonsupafreak — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 14:39:22 -0800

Is this the worst possible time to become first-time home owners in Portland, Ore., even though we found what looks like a pretty good deal on a condo? This sort of thing scares me, but we just found a place that we like and that seems very reasonably priced. My husband and I have been going to open houses for the past six months, with the aim of getting to know the market better and save more cash for a home purchase some time in 2008.

Most of the places that appeal to us have been around 750 square feet (smaller than ideal), and $240,000 and up (more than we'd like to pay). We'd also like access to public transportation with a good commute for my car-less husband, extra on-site storage, somewhere to park my car, and modern appliances (dishwasher, washer/dryer, garbage disposal).

This weekend we found a place that met and exceeded all our requirements. It's 25% less than other condos in the same neighborhood, includes lots of storage and a garaged parking space probably worth $20,000 on its own. It's two blocks from my husband's office, in a decent neighborhood, with great access to public transportation. It's close to 1,000 square feet. It's an end unit.

In other words, it's everything we want and more. But I have read that the housing market is crashing nationwide (although Portland home prices have continued to climb), and that there are all kinds of problems in the mortgage industry.

Is this a foolish time to become a first-time homeowner? It really is what we want, we can afford a 10% or 15% down payment, and I'm just really torn about whether entering the market at this time is totally idiotic.

vacant notices on neighborood homes

Salvatorparadise — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 11:36:00 -0800

I purchased my first house about 1 month ago. It's not in a desirable neighborhood but OK - today I saw just a few houses down from mine that the city sheriff put big orange notices on the doors of 9 homes saying vacant or uninhabitable...should i be concerned about this? OK, so I bought the house for 51K in Columbus, O., house is in great shape, nice fenced lawn, well kept etc. The houses on the street are mostly well kept, although on my end some are run down looking and trashy. Well, of those with the orange stickers, a few were clearly not lived in for awhile (but kept up by someone), at few real nasty, and a couple look fine and in fact one house even has a for sale sign in front of it. Now they all, (nine by my count) have this big orange sticker from the police department on the door saying each is vacant and/or uninhabitable and no one should live there w/o permission from the sheriff's office. They must have gone up today. I suppose this shouldn't be too much of a concern, cause all the houses have likely been that way since i moved to the nieghborhood, and the signs probably just mean the authorities took notice....although one house did have people living in it until recently...it was a very run down place. I'm wondering what I as a neighbor ought to think about all this hoopla....I knew I was moving into a neighborhood where my house probably wouldn't appreciate much, and that it was a little run down....
There is hardly any crime that I can see, the police records have very little on my street or streets nearby, it's quiet at night, people keep to themselves and I'm sure there is drug traficking/use but it's pretty covert. The neighborhood is quite far from anywhere to go on foot, and so wanderers and crowds are non-existent. It's mostly older people, and younger renters - all probably lower middle class (in general).

So, I'm wondering about these stickers, and why they'er up. The houses are all owned by different people/companies. Maybe I should just keep an eye out, to make sure no one is squatting?

Should I buy a condo conversion?

bbuda — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 09:18:01 -0800

I'm thinking of buying a condo that was converted from an apartment; am I going to regret it? I'm thinking of buying a small condo in downtown Seattle. It's in a great location for me, in the price range I want, relatively new (built in 1998), and I just like it. The only red flag is that it is in a building that was converted from apartments to condos about a year ago. I don't rent there currently; I would be buying from the first owner.

This unit is priced in line with the others in its building, but all the units in this building seem to be priced lower than similar square footage units in the surrounding area. The only obvious reason for this price difference is the fact that it was a conversion.

Are there questions I can ask to ensure that the quality is up to par? What are some signs of good / bad conversions? And is there a danger that units like these don't appreciate as quickly as 'true' condos do?

Please share your roofing advice.

Frank Grimes — Sun, 11 Jun 2006 18:15:56 -0800

Questions and advice about replacing a roof. I have a couple of estimates for replacing my house's roof. There are currently two layers of shingles, which will be ripped off down to the decking and replaced with new shingles. Here are my questions:

1) 15# felt paper vs. 30# paper. Is 30# paper worth the extra expense? What benefits does the 30# offer?

2) 20 yr. shingles vs. 25 yr. shingles. Again, worth the extra cost? Is the year difference a warranty thing or is the 25 yr. shingle a better product.

3) Ventilation: I have soffit vents and vents on each end of the attic wall. There is an attic fan that does not work and some of the contractors suggested replacing it with a ridgeline vent. Will this provide adequate ventilation?

Who the hell put that cable there?

bondcliff — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 07:16:17 -0800

Does a utility company have the right to run a cable over my property to my neighbor's house? Here's the scoop: A few days ago we noticed there was a new cable running from the utility pole in front of our house diagonally across our property to my neighbor's house. In total there is probably 100 feet of cable crossing our property in direct line of site between our windows and our lake view. Nobody asked permission to do this and we were never notified that it had occurred.

There's a number of reasons why we don't want it there, not only for esthetics, but for practical reasons, since our lot is sloped so the cable hangs low enough that if it was there last year our tree-cutter-downer-people wouldn't have been able to get their crane into the driveway.

We asked our neighbor and they told us the local cable TV company did it because the pole in front of their house "didn't have the proper hook-up." We don't want to be difficult neighbors but we'd like to have this cable moved so it doesn't cross our property. We don't blame the neighbors and we don't want them to be charged anything. We'd pay for it if we had to, but I think the cable company should do it on their own.

Before I call the cable company I'd like to know what my rights are in this situation. I know that you have no right to the airspace above your property, but where does the airspace begin? I live in Mass., if that matters.

Why do the lightbulbs in my office burn out all the time?

pornucopia — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 09:04:51 -0800

Why would the lightbulbs burn out much more frequently in one room of my house? In the last 6 months I've replaced the lightbulbs in my study at least twice each. Same with the bulbs in the laundry room. I haven't had to replace the bulbs anywhere else in my house in that time. Any ideas?

What Homeowner Documents Should I Keep?

willmize — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 06:12:28 -0800

I've owned my home for about 4 years now, and one of my New Year's resolutions is to get rid of a lot of clutter and extra paperwork sitting in my overstuffed filing cabinet. I've got at least 4" worth of forms, TIL statements, estimates, faxes between myself and the realtor, myself and the title company, myself and the lender, etc.
I get the feeling I can destroy a lot of this.
My question is: What documents do I need to keep with regards to purchasing the house? I'm thinking the following:
- home inspection
- plan/drawing of plot from engineers
- original appraisal and photos

Please add to this list!

Splitting home ownership with brother

jclovebrew — Sat, 07 May 2005 13:04:33 -0800

My brother and I are considering buying a two or three family house. Each of us would live in our own unit, and if we end up with a three-family, then we would rent out the third. What are we in for here? Is this a bad idea? Any advice from anyone out there who was done a similar thing?

Capital gains relief

knave — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 17:00:36 -0800

TaxFilter: Do I meet the "unforeseen circumstances" requirement of the Taxpayers Relief Act for capital gains on my house? The situation: My S.O. and I have broken up, and she's moving out. She was contributing toward the mortgage payment, which will now become a significant burden for just me. I'm the only owner, she was not co-owner, and I've lived there for 14 months. If I sell the house in the next month or two, do I get any tax break?

The Cost of Owning a Home

wildblueyonder — Sun, 04 Apr 2004 23:07:06 -0800

Can anyone give a good break down of the expenses associated with home ownership? [more inside] I'm beginning to look towards buying a home, and want to plan not only for my ability to pay for the price of the property itself, but for what is probably an inevitable miscellany of little assesments and crap. I have no idea what these expenses are, however. Property tax? Various insurances? Average cost of repairs over the years? Closing and escrow robbery? Other stuff?