Friday, February 13, 2009

I need to stop looking.

We finally have a plan for our plan...to move that is. This morning we met with our mortgage guy who laid everything out on the table for us. In order to keep the same mortgage we have now, the max we can get a house for about $280 - 300K. (BTW, for the DC/Baltimore area, its nothing to spend a minimum of $500,000 for a townhouse...yes, it's pathetic.) You'd think we'd be able to afford more, but with Brian paying alimony and child support its tough. We definitely don't want to be house (mortgage) poor. Luckily for us, the market sucks so we can definitely get a nice single family in the neighborhood we want for a price we want.

The downfall, we really can't look for houses now. He suggests we sell the house or at least have it under contract before we look. That way there are no contingencies attached to us and we can bargain a little more than if we are waiting to sell this place. It makes sense. I just never considered we may have to live in a hotel or an apt for a few months til we found the house we want once the townhouse is sold. We also were told even if we lose money on this house (less than $10K) we will definitely be able to make that up in the purchase of the next house. He said he settled on a house last week that was asking $400K and it sold for high $100s. Some people really want to sell their places----especially if they've been in it long, then no matter what they should make some profit.

We also have to decide on a loan. I won't consider anything other than a fixed rate loan. I've always done 20% down, but based on the price of the house and what I'm going to walk away with from selling this house....we'll I'd probably need to work on getting another $20K or so. Its very possible to do if I work OT, but then he mentioned an 80/10/10 loan. Everything's fixed rate with 10% down. The mortgage would end up being $200 more a month though. So, we have a bit to think about and talk over with our realtor.

Its nice to finally have a number though.....a "comfortable" max of what we can spend per month and live like we have been. Some people are buying these McMansion's (I was one of those ppl about 4 years ago) for lots of money and really, does it make your life any happier or make the living environment any cozier? I could dump lots of money to have the fancy big house, but I've learned, the hard way unfortunately---and I think Brian would agree) a house is what you make of it. We'll find something in our price range and we'll make it ours. You can keep your McMansions. (If you've got some McNuggets though, feel free to stop by and share!)

1 comment:

Shelley said...

It is great to have zoned in on what you can do. You can sometimes get a house for $150,000 less...people just want to move. The contingency thing is so stressful. I have a friend that put a contract on a house with a contingency that she sells hers and the time frame passed without her selling. She was so disappointed. If you haven't picked one out yet, you can't be as disappointed as she was. You guys are in a better position because you are not pressured to get out. Just be sure to have the most important money left, which would be for a house inspection. It's worth every dime. There have been people who can't live in the "new" home they purchased because of terrible things wrong with it....radon, etc. My friend knows of someone just like that. I hope everything works out. Your timing may be good. You may sell yours and find one that someone wants out within 30 days. Good luck!