Rent vs buy?

[sttl013]

#2: WORK THE BUILDER

If the development your buying in is less than half finished, now is the perfect time to get the builder to throw in a bunch of little extras. We didn't really fight over the price of the house, but got added: extra kitchen cabinets, a refrigerator (not usually included in new construction), went WAAAAY over on lighting allowance, added extra shelving in closets and pantry, had the door and cabinet hardware upgraded to a nicer quality and style, and added a power garage door opener.

Make sure you get this kind of stuff on the original contract (probably an addendum, your realtor should know about this stuff). The reason I mentioned about the area being less than half finished, is that if the development is almost done, or yours is one of the last houses to be built, the builder has probably already lost as much money on the subdivision as he can. If it's fairly new, there's a lot more room to work with on these things.

 

[rx7gslse]

yeah, right now the only building in the subdivision is the model.. It's only been open 3 weeks....

BUT. they've already raised all the prices 3k on the 1st of the month because they're having to put in a bunch of retaining walls on some lots that they had not originally budgeted for, so I don't thier position is that great right now...

As far as shooping around for a morgage, what things shoudl I look for besides just the interest rate? The buildier has a 5,000 bonus towards closing costs or upgrades, so initial out of pocket to move into the house is going to be less than I had planned... SCORE!

 

[Natey]

I'm 22 and I'll be buying a house shortly. can't pass up the intrest rates... I can believe the difference in house prices... A 3 bed 2 bath - $130,000 thats amazing thats going to cost me at least $200,000 here in MN

A two Bedroom two bath house in Santa Cruz costs at least $350,000. And that's a fixer-upper. My dream of owning a house in my hometown has been squashed by the internet. They call Santa Cruz "Silicon Beach".

 

[AndrewSilverMP5]

I know someone was asking how to get a tax break from paying a mortgage ... but i'm to lazy to find the post to quote

Answer: Schedule A of your Federal 1040 ~ There is a line in the second section that asks you how much 'Mortgage Interest or Points paid' This is a straight up deduction that lowers the amount of money you owed the Federal government for that tax year. Good stuff.

 

[DooMer_MP3]

Do you still get the breaks with purchasing a condo? I'm debating between going with the norm and buying a house in the future, or buying a pricey condo in a downtown area to enjoy all of the benefits of downtown living, yet still be able to call it my home.

Living in a cookie-cutter subdivision just doesn't do it for me. I see all of this urban sprawl with twigs for trees, and having a yard the size of a bathroom and wonder what the hell people are thinking. It would take a special kind of house for me to purchase. Large lot, wooded, set back from the road by 100ft.

When my girlfriend graduates next year with a PhD in pharmacy, combined with my money as a software developer, a house as I described will certainly be attainable .

Chris