[audio-pals] Re: Older Houses
- From: Thomas McMahan <thomas.mcmahan@xxxxxxx>
- To: audio-pals@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2015 13:08:04 -0500
Why didn’t you tell us you lived in Chicago? Sounds very much the same as it
is up there.
Hey Josh, I just thought of another option. There are lots of houses available
in Detroit. Heck you can probably buy yourself a school building there. That
would be a big house for you. Utilities might be a little high though.
> On Mar 12, 2015, at 11:57 AM, BethAnn LaPresta (Redacted sender
> "bela28_02@xxxxxxxxx" for DMARC) <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> My house is in a neighborhood that is definitely considered "the hood". I
> refinanced in January at $130K and my payment is about $800/mo. My property
> taxes are spendy though, over $2K per year, so that adds almost $200/mo right
> there. They tossed 26 of my cottage style single detached homes on little
> 3900 sq ft. lots, so our cul-de-sac is very busy with all of us stacked up
> right against each other. But, living out west, things cost much more, it is
> shocking actually.
>
> I could've purchased a 100 yr. old home where Heather lives in Ohio with
> about the same size lot for $60K, just to give perspective. The guy who got
> himself into trouble with my house paid $263K for it in 2006 when real estate
> prices were obscene out here. Because he was short selling the home, I was
> able to get it for just $110K in 2011. A house on my street has just gone up
> for sale and they're asking $200K for 3 bedrooms (and they are tiny), 2 baths
> with one car detached garage. So, if I need to sell, I should still be able
> to make a little.
>
> Thought I should explain my monthly payment since I was saying I didn't think
> the $600/mo. seemed like enough.
>
> From: Thomas McMahan <shadowmonstrosity@xxxxxxx>
> To: audio-pals@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2015 9:23 AM
> Subject: [audio-pals] Re: Older Houses
>
> Oh mine btw was $162, because we’re cheap! *lol*. Then it went down to $150
> then down to $128, but again we’re cheap and live in a piece of s— house, but
> as Pat used to say, “it’s our piece of S— *lol*.
>
>
>> On Mar 12, 2015, at 10:12 AM, BethAnn LaPresta (Redacted sender
>> "bela28_02@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:bela28_02@xxxxxxxxx>" for DMARC)
>> <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
>>
>> I am not sure that $600/month figure is accurate. I just refinanced at
>> 3.25% and my payment is $800/mo. (this does include property taxes and
>> insurance though).
>>
>> From: Josh <lawdog911@xxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:lawdog911@xxxxxxxxxxx>>
>> To: audio-pals@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:audio-pals@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2015 4:44 AM
>> Subject: [audio-pals] Re: Older Houses
>>
>> Amanda did some figuring using a mortgage calculator online and the 120,000
>> house was going to run us roughly 600 something a month for I want to again
>> say it was 1700 sq. ft. We currently live in a 1100 sq. ft. apartment and
>> pay 714.00 a month. So, given the differences there and the fact that we
>> have nothing to show for it at the end of the year is a little much in my
>> book. So, if the 120,000 was going to be 600 something it would go to reason
>> that the 112,000 would be less money than that. Now, as far as utilities go,
>> Knoxville Utilitiy Board (KUB) will give us high and low figures for the
>> last 12 months. The last 12 months is a good thing providing there has been
>> someone living in the house, but if the house has sat empty then the numbers
>> that KUB quotes are not in the least bit accurate. I really like the idea of
>> rolling insurance and taxes into the monthly payment so that way at the end
>> of the year or whenever land taxes are due we are not hit with a big lump
>> sum of money to pay. Sure it would be nice to think that I could just put
>> that money back each month and not touch it, but the minute something needs
>> to be paid for guess where the land tax money goes that was being put bac
>> into an account. If it is figured into the monthly payment then for the most
>> part the majority of it will be paid throughout the year. The thing that
>> really sucks is that stinking PMI payment each month.
>>
>>
>>
>> From: audio-pals-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> <mailto:audio-pals-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> [mailto:audio-pals-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> <mailto:audio-pals-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>] On Behalf Of Thomas McMahan
>> Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2015 4:58 AM
>> To: audio-pals@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:audio-pals@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Subject: [audio-pals] Re: Older Houses
>>
>> I accidentally hit the send before cleaning up that mail darn it.
>>
>> Here’s another little exercise to work on. Lets say you guys decide to go
>> for this house. You should have a ballpark of the monthly payment. Sit
>> down and plot out a budget around it on one paper, as well as a list of
>> possible repairs to do on another list and their costs. Yes a house payment
>> can be cheaper than rent, but their are other realities such as the taxes,
>> and insurance. Are you going to escrow your insuranc and tax payments into
>> your house payment? Most people do that and it usually works out well until
>> they assess your house taxes up and then you have to make up the short fall.
>> Of course if they assess them downward you get a chunk of money back in the
>> mail like my sister-in-law has done the past two years. I didn’t escro my
>> other payments. I deal with insurance as I would any other utility, and we
>> would do our taxes on our own. Because of that I now pay my insurance once
>> a year and it’s cheaper, and once the house was paid for there was less
>> entanglement with the bank. I even removed the automatic withdraw for house
>> payment because they double dipped us a couple of different months, and
>> didn’t have a very good explanation as to why. So it put us into over draw
>> land, which isn’t a place you want to be. They did the same to my
>> sis-in-law too and she went in and practically threw a fit because she
>> wasn’t working at the time and didn’t have income yet. They refunded her
>> money on that one, but as she asked them, “now how am I supposed to pay the
>> rest of my bills? You think you guys are my only bill to pay?” Banks and
>> their computers can be sloppy sometimes.
>>
>> Now when you do your budget here’s another game to play which may be
>> beneficial. Can you run your whole budget on one income? Everybody that
>> lives as a couple should do this whether renting or paying for a house.
>> Most of us find we can’t, but it is a nice goal. The guy we had going along
>> with us to check out houses etc and sort of pointed and guided us along
>> through the process gave us that little bit of wisdom. As he said, what
>> happens if Pat loses her job and can’t get one very fast? Can you live on
>> just your income alone, because if you can get to that point, then you can
>> start paying extra against your house on it’s principle and have more paid
>> off faster which is good for the credit rating, but if you decide to move in
>> 20 years you are carrying less of a load thus will get more money back to
>> leverage against your next place should you decide to do that. Or you can
>> both pay some extra on house and car, then put the rest in the bank against
>> major repairs which are going to come even if you buy a house that was built
>> today, in 30 years you will have to had to replace things, they just don’t
>> build stuff that good anymore and sometimes that includes homes btw.
>>
>> Lots of decisions, but at least it looks like you guys aren’t just jumping
>> right and grabbing what shines in front of you which is good.
>>
>> Btw, I don’t think our budget is currently within the lowest income level of
>> the house here at this time which would be Patti’s income, although it’s not
>> way above that amount. It is a good goal to work for actually, so we will
>> be able to start seriously working on this place. Get a lot of little stuff
>> done over time, then do a loan down the road and fix the major stuff such as
>> re doing the roof etc. I don’t think I am going to lift the house and work
>> on foundation, but it would be nice to do actually.
>>
>> But it’s a good exercise to do. I would run it on your income Josh because
>> it is likely to always be there and Amanda’s income is the variable one, it
>> can be lower if she’s out of work, but can also be a lot higher should land
>> a great paying job. Drop in everything, credit cards the whole deal, then
>> figure out once you get to where you’re going which angles to cover and get
>> paid off in the budget.
>>
>> I am guessing you guys have done some of this already though in preparing
>> for checking out the housing market and talking to lenders because they are
>> going to do roughly the same thing when checking your credit etc.
>> Especially if it’s a conservative bank.
>>
>> Now I think I’ve completed all I was going to say. Took two e-mails, but if
>> I had been able to clean up the other one first it would have fitted into
>> one probably *lol*.
>>
>> Instead you get two.
>>
>> On Mar 12, 2015, at 3:34 AM, Thomas McMahan <shadowmonstrosity@xxxxxxx
>> <mailto:shadowmonstrosity@xxxxxxx>> wrote:
>>
>> Wouldn’t worry about a house on market for 5 months. Most around here are
>> on a year or so. To many deals fall through each time that happens that
>> just adds more time that the house is sitting there. Age, is only a problem
>> if the house hasn’t been kept up and modernized over the years. There are
>> people who prefer older houses simply because they are more solid. The
>> house I live in was placed here in 1922. Yes it came from somewhere else.
>> The house next door is older and was also brought in here from another place
>> too. Fairly common in a town that springs up by a railroad. I wouldn’t
>> worry so much about that as apposed to how it’s fundamentally built, there
>> are a lot of newer places that are likely to give you just as much trouble
>> if not more.
>>
>> Any house is going to have ongoing mantainence of some kind. Sided house
>> are nice but siding fades over the years for example and eventually would
>> need replacing. Wooden houses have their things that have to be done, and
>> so would brick, but brick is the best option as far as I’m concerned accept
>> maybe when a big earthquake comes, then I would favor a wooden house, but
>> what are the chances of that huh?
>>
>> I don’t know the market down there anymore so don’t know if that is a low
>> ball figure on that house or not, but I can tell you it is larger than mine
>> is and mine is two stories, but so is it’s price too.
>>
>> Go through it with a fine tooth comb with the idea of what has to be fixed
>> now, and then in the next 5 years and what would be ongoing over the years,
>> I don’t think for the long term ongoing it will be much different than a 10
>> year old house verses the 60 year old house, but agin it is a matter of what
>> would immediately have to be worked on. When was the house last occupied
>> too? A house that hasn’t been occupied for a good while can have problems
>> such as drainage because they haven’t been flushed etc. It sounds like you
>> already have someone with you who knows how to examine a foundation well and
>> give you an idea of what would have to be done and when which is good. Same
>> with tuck pointing brick etc.
>>
>> It may be sitting on market because folks think it’s to high also, but you
>> are going to drop in a price and they will take it or leave it, or you both
>> the buyer and seller will eventually come up with something in the middle,
>> or the seller is going to have an empty house on their hands.
>>
>> What heating and cooling does it have, and when was it installed too that is
>> a factor, a 30 year old furnace is getting kind of old in this part of the
>> world, but most of our furnaces are gas and they do have to work pretty hard
>> for a good part of the year. Does it have any chimnies, and where do they
>> run through the house. Ones that run through centers of houses on the
>> surface are nice, but when they have to be worked on they are a lot more
>> work. Of course where you live a lot of homes are electric heat and
>> electric water heat, which is another thing to add to your check list, how
>> old is the water heater and when will you be replacing that. A brand new
>> house obviously you would get to wait a while before doing that, but chances
>> are you would have to do it eventually, or have your price knocked down when
>> you are selling it, or when your descendants are selling it. But that goes
>> with any house again.
>>
>> What neighborhood is it in? How accessible is it to you. Pretend Amanda
>> had to leave town for a Month and start your math, what is easy to get to
>> via walking etc. Maybe that isn’t a problem for you at this moment, but
>> life can always hand you changes, and well, next thing you know, you are
>> walking to the grocery store if you know what I mean.
>>
>> Find out what their highest bills were for each utility in the last year it
>> was occupied if you can, you need that in planning a general budget. I
>> don’t know your property tax situation anymore, but here they just give an
>> estimate from the seller, but the problem is, that if the sell lived in the
>> house for a long time you might get a little surprise when the annual taxes
>> come. Our’s wasn’t a surprise because the previous owner hadn’t lived or
>> owned the house for to long.
>>
>> So it becomes also a matter of do you get a house that you won’t have to do
>> any work or as little work as possible on, verses one that may have to have
>> some work done, or one that is a fixer upper. We bought a fixer upper, but
>> when we bought it was a seller’s market, it definitely isn’t that nowadays,
>> so we went for a house we knew we could likely get. Well the trade off is
>> that it’s needed work done on it and still does actually, but likely we
>> would at least get some money back when we sell it. Maybe not a lot but
>> probably some when all is said and done, and of course the sell of this
>> place could be the lverage to getting a better place. It’s probably what
>> you parents did, if not them then your grand parents did, that is more the
>> normal thing in history. Well up until recently where you have people who
>> expect to buy a brand new house that is larger than what their parents owned
>> as their first house. Well if it can be swung, go for it, but to me it’s a
>> little unrealistic, well to my income level it is *lol*.
>>
>> What appliances are already there, and how quickly do you think you will be
>> having to replace say: stove, washer, or more of a bear dishwasher? What
>> about cabinetry etc, is Amanda happy with that, having that done can also be
>> expensive unless you have someone who works with you to give you a break.
>> How much stuff will you guys do on your own for modifications verses having
>> to hire outsiders. So yes the advantage of a new place is that you won’t
>> have to do that, but I guarantee you will pay up front for that, but that is
>> why newer houses don’t stay on market long.
>>
>> So then it falls back to degree of work and mantainence that has to be done.
>>
>> On Mar 11, 2015, at 9:41 PM, Josh <lawdog911@xxxxxxxxxxx
>> <mailto:lawdog911@xxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
>>
>> Hello,
>> We are finding tons of older houses that we absolutely love. When I say
>> older I am talking 1950’s. I am struggling with this a bit though because I
>> am looking ahead, past when I am living there. Or rather to the point that I
>> am ready to not live there anymore. So, when I get to the point of not
>> wanting to live there anymore it could be 10, 20, 30 or more years down the
>> road, but I am sure there will come a time that I am ready to move on. If
>> this is not the case and I stay there until I die then it is not a concern,
>> However, a 1950 house that I live in for 20 years will then be 85 years old.
>> I know the specific house that we are looking at has been on the market for
>> right about 5 months. So, what do you all think, do you think I would have
>> trouble selling an 85 year old home? It is on the market for 5 months at the
>> age of 65 years old. It is right about 112,000.00 right now without
>> negotiating a lower price. Do you think I would be able to get my money
>> back? If it is not a major concern, the age of the house, then I will not
>> let it sway my decision, but taking into consideration that it is an all
>> brick rancher with over 1700 sq. ft. and it is almost 100,000.00 and still
>> on the market concerns me regardless how beautiful the house seems right
>> now.
>
>
>
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