El_Gringo_Grande

Also, from a long term financial perspective, taking that money and putting it in an IRA or some other tax deferred savings plan MAY make more sense. Please consult a real financial adviser before making any decisions.

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Black_V!per

All of your advice is great.

I'll be going with an FHA loan, and personal information (Amount saved) is just that.


I figure i've played out what I need to as a "kid" i've always been more mature for my age, and never really understood why my peer's choose to waist their lives drinking/partying/ect.

I've lived in NY, CA, AZ, GA, FL, IL, and visited a lot in Idaho and Colorado. I've seen a lot of different cultures and have no want to visit outside the US (Dislike flying, loath Anit-US haters, ect)

I lived on my own in GA, left when i was 17 and came to live here in kingman at the age of 19, so just over a year on my own, and had no issues...

I'd rent, but i love my job, and dont see anything happening any time soon, once i get my degree i'll get a raise and "Promoted" to what I do now. So i figure i'll be here for a while. Im working to be the company CTO (Chief Technology Operator) which is a position that's projected to need to be filled for us in the next 5-7 years.


Plus i wasnt going to live alone, i was going to seek out a room mate(Being single i hope its a cute girl " ), i've got several friends that are stable enough for me to allow in (I wont depend on them, but half the mortgage paid would be nice). I like to entertain with movies and home LAN parties, so i'll probably host them at my house instead of renting out the college's computer lab... lol (They've got nice projectors)

Though, now that the point has been made, maybe an IRA does sound more financially responsible. Rent for a year, invest, build up more money and get an even better house.

My mother's trying to pressure me into moving in with her... Not out.

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TheFeniX

Why? Viper's been here for almost 4 years. He knows the median age at TG is pretty high and there are gamers from all walks of life and different countries all together. Instead of just talking to people in same area that he is in or from some random home-buying website, he wants some extra input from people he seems to trust.

And so far, he's received some pretty damn good advice from both sides of the fence.

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Elwenil

Which is my point, the advice, while good, is based on a lot of different people's opinions and experiences that may be far different from what he has experienced, so your or my reasons for doing something may be completely different. In the end, you have a bunch of different opinions that may or may not be based on anything other than random thoughts. It makes good conversation, but it's definitely not something I would base a home purchase on. It would be like me asking if I should propose to my girlfriend. I'd get a bunch of varied answers that would be interesting to read, but none would be a good reason to make a decision one way or the other.

Besides, in most cases, these threads start because the author already has a pretty good idea what they want to do, and just want someone to agree with them so they can feel better about moving forward. I don;t mean that in any derogatory way, but it is generally true. In any case, if I had no real clue what to do in any situation, I wouldn't ask an open forum for advice. I also have been involved with TG for over 4 years and while I might ask a friend that I have gotten to know about real estate if that person happened to be a realtor or in a similar job, I wouldn't just ask the entire forum. Again, that's just my thoughts and opinions on the matter, which don't, and should not mean any more than anyone else's in a discussion like this. It's all subjective and needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

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TheFeniX

You'd be surprised what you might not think about until someone on a random forum brings it up. People with similar mindsets (family and friends) might all be giving the same answers to questions a person has. The varied answers from numerous posters on an online forum may not contain any information the original poster uses directly, but they may bring up questions or scenarios a person hasn't thought of before.

One of the things I never thought about before buying a home was maintaining the yard. And I'm not talking about just mowing it and watering every other day. It took my brother-in-law who was never really involved in my home-buying process to make the comment "What do you plan to do with your yard?" before I had even considered that I may need to redo complete swaths of my yard. That time and money may need to be spent in order to make me proud of my yard, rather than it just being a patch of grass. Whether or not that's what I want is irrelevant, only that the option is/was available to me. While I was focusing on what I would do with my entertainment center, I had glossed over other important aspects of being a home-owner.

Information gathering isn't about "this guys post best fits my scenario, so I'll use it." It's about picking up bits and pieces from each post the reader finds relevant and using that information to form his own opinion. This is why I hit lightly on numerous points in my original post, rather than hammering "This is all about TheFeniX and his personal experience (which a good amount of my post was)."

Information in any capacity that is factual (either through experience or direct knowledge) is useful, period.

For example, while you're thinking about asking your girlfriend to marry you, have you ever considered that your GF herself might not be ready for marriage and would say yes just because you asked and that's what she's "supposed" to do? Sometimes it takes a random and/or shallow comment on an Internet forum to make you think long and hard about certain aspects of your life. All the while, the post wasn't all that useful as whole.

Shifting this rant back on topic: maybe Viper is just using the forum as a way to pat himself on the back for making a good decision. I wish I had thought of it when I was looking for my first home. Buying a house was a huge decision and I felt alone even amongst a supportive and knowledgeable family and with friends giving me input. Maybe just the fact that people actually have something to say is all the "advice" he needs.

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Switch

I'm 24 and Im in a similar pos... thinking on whether or not I want to actually buy.

If you are in the area you want to be in for the next several years and want to maintain a CAREER with your current job than a home isn't a bad idea.

The biggest point is that once you have a home you are tied down. You will have serious responsibility and many of the opportunities available to people our age rely on the fact that we can move. Once you have a house this is seriously diminished, especially in todays buyers market, as you won't be able to sell it off at the drop of a hat.

If you're doing this as a simple investment, now is a great time to buy, but the financial future is very uncertain and a good return may be several years away... longer than you intend to stay, perhaps.

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Black_V!per

I've lived in several places in my life, and as much as a crap hole Kingman may be, but I've lived in worse. This is the only place I've actually been able to call home, which is a serious thing for me.

I don't want to ruin your guises debate as to why i chose to post here, but as stated, i wanted opinions from people i know and trust. I've been here with TG for a long while now, and though i don't post often im a daily reader and know each of you guys by how you respond to other peoples ideas. Plus i know you "tards" come from all over the US and some from outside, and could really point me in the right direction. heh, i called you guys tards


I feel everyone here has given me great advice, but I didn't just ask it for myself, i know im not alone right now in looking for advice to making such a large decision. (Plus this could be reflected by another party down the road).

I'll continue to check here for more opinions (Tonight is movie night at my current place of stay YIPPIE!)

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marstein

I bought a house here being not even a citizen. The amis are not so bad once they're your neighbors ;-)
but at age 20, with no education, I'd spend my money elsewhere. You obviously need to smell the world and look beyond the edge of your little world.

You definitively have seen a lot of the world and "different cultures" and are of a age when wisdom truly hits. You are not afraid of the foreign. You can settle down now and enjoy taking care of your house. I would recommend starting to put away for the first paint job and the remodel that you will need, then for the wedding, kids, college for the kids and retirement.

Don't be stupid and grow up; i.e. go to school, travel and get some experience. Everybody likes to complain about the meanest and richest guy in town and flying is the quickest way to get anywhere in the world. It will be a couple hundred years before the US has more than one culture and then it will be too late for you.

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Skylark

We own our house. We were thinking about upgrading given the low rates and the fact that homes aren't selling well right now. But we like our 10 year mortgage at under 5%. (we refinanced a few years ago).

I love owning my house. Wouldn't change to renting again, BUUUUT:

Just to give you more feedback about what you're getting into:

This house is about 20 years old.
In the last couple of years on this house I have
had to paint and fix the trim (including fix some dry rot). at least i have siding.
new carpet and put down that fake wood laminate flooring stuff in kitchen/dinginroom and landing
painted a couple of places.
fixed/replaced the 2 garage door openers
stained/sealed the deck
fixed the kitchen sink and both bathroom sinks (hardwater deposits had gunked up the insides)
added more insulation to the attic
installed a pull down attic stairwell access
put some flooring up in that attic for storage of less used items (holiday stuff and whatnot)
currently replacing a faucet in the tub which involved cutting into the wall, removing tile, plumbing and then replacing the tiles

If you can't do stuff like this yourself, you end up paying others (which costs a lot more). I paid a plumber to do the actual welding of the tub faucet (didn't want to take a chance of doing it wrong and having a leak drip down into the garage ceiling again)

We've been hit by lighting which resulted in having to have the chimney, overhand and siding fixed (let's hear it for insurance!)
Hail damage to roof
<profanity> MOLES! I KILL YOU! CADDYSHACK ALL OVER YOUR BUTTS!

Other annoying stuff
-mowing the dang double sized lot's lawn all the dang time.
-taking care of your yard (don't be JMJ's neighbor!)
-get the snow off my long driveway multiple times each winter
-The garden my wife makes ME tend (yeah... like I eat have the crap in there) OK, many people don't have a garden

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ScratchMonkey

For the garden, I highly recommend drip watering. I did that for the decorative stuff, and weed-clothed and graveled the rest, so I have a lot less yard work to do than someone who insists on a lawn.

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aeroripper

I agree with that and it'd be good to get out of your folks place, even into an apartment, just to get a feel for living on your own. The last thing I would want is to purchase this big and wonderful house being single, and coming home every night to an empty house and feeling stuck. My cousin is 29 and he just did this. He works a job in the insurance industry and is making decent living, and saw the house as the 'next step' since he isn't dating anybody. Now money is a lot tighter since he's having to invest to much into his new house.

I figure if you get fed up enough with your life you can always have that freedom to just pick everything up and move somewhere else, or hell, move in with a girlfriend or something down the road.

You're just getting started out in life at 20, I wouldn't rush into buying a house at this point in your life if it were me. But hey, I really don't think people should get married before 24 years old, but what do I know?

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Black_V!per

This is AZ, no lawns, and not much to keeping a cactus alive.

As for preventative house maintenance, i've built a house before with my father, im pretty handy. I've put in a few offers, nothing to serious, A good 15-20k from asking price. I figure i may get a good deal... The houses i've been looking at are being sold for almost half of what the current owners paid for, 130k for a home that was purchased 3 years ago for 250k. Thats a huge loss, and im sure in 3+ years it'll be back to that price...

I dont know, my parents are selling their place, i may stay in it for a while, test the waters and see if a place of my own is really worth the trouble. I've never had doubt that I could do it, but the more I think about it the more I want to be able to leave for a few days and spend time with friends out of town... I couldnt afford that with a house payment... I'll see, only time will tell.

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Gambit7

Well said, if a little strong... but well said nonetheless.

Viper, I've been away from this thread a while which is why I never kept going with my previous response. But, what Marstein has said is just the sour truth here.

And realize, it takes courage though to truly look outside oneself and stretch for something even better. Alas, the easier choice for you is to just buy a house. The harder one is to maximize yourself through education, culture, travel... just living to the fullest before just worrying about your positive equity.

Anyone can sign a mortgage... doesnt take a rocket scientist... doesnt make you special, even special enough to start a thread about it. What else can you show me?

p.s.
Perhaps the most distinct advice I can give you is to simply pack a bag and leave. Simple, yet effective. Try it.

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CingularDuality

Financially, with the housing market as it is, and the dollar as it is, this is a horrible time to skip buying a house to travel the world.

This, obviously, ignores all of the benefits of becoming world wise before making such a purchase...

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Gambit7

Good point... but, Time waits for no man. Money is not an adequate excuse for simply "missing the boat."

And two can play at that game btw... one could easily move overseas and earn an overseas wage, bringing the stronger money back home when ready. I've actually had ideas about moving to Norway right now because the economic difference between them and the US is so vast.

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