Buying A House, Maybe

[checkymcfold 0]

so yeah, the ladyfriend and i are considering buying a modest house in henderson, nv instead of renting in canada for a couple years while we pay off our debts. if we did this, we'd turn it into a rental property afterwards and get something bigger and not in the desert.our reasoning, at least initially, is that it seems that a mortgage (in the vegas area) would be significantly cheaper, even including property taxes, than renting a decent-sized place in calgary, which is our other option. i also like the idea of having something to work on while i'm still playing poker for a living, and the area ain't so bad for poker, either.anyway, since i'm young and haven't ever really thought about the house-buying thing before, i don't really know what i'm getting into--like, since we're going to be paying off student loan/credit card debt, at least initially, while we're there, we'd probably want to minimize payments as much as possible, and then either re-finance after 2 years (when we'll almost for certain be debt free) or just throw on extra payments and pay it off a lot sooner than the mortgage terms.in any case, neither of us really know a lot about house-buying, and we have only gotten advice from my family since she's canadian and they do shit weird up there. i was just wondering if anyone had an idea as to what property taxes/utils generally run on a reasonably sized, 2k square ft or so place in henderson, and what sorts of closing costs, etc. we'd be looking at for something in the 100k-range. if anyone has any other advice, that'd be just lovely.

[Flushgarden 0]

You're just going there for the whores.Don't worry about property taxes...they can be ignored for a couple years at least before they become a problem.Seriously though, isn't it fairly hard for first time buyers to get a mortgage right now without a lot down? A few years ago you really didn't need a down payment, but that didn't quite work out so well. lol If you can though, you're going to be able to find some steals in that area right now.

[GetSprung 0]

The guy who found my house for me is really good at getting you exactly what you are looking for. The property taxes i Henderson aren't that bad unless of course you want to live in a crazy expensive gated community where they'll charge you an arm and a leg. My gf's parents own in Henderson and from what I've heard their taxes are reasonable. Then again on my side of town I pay next to nothing for taxes in the NW right outside Summerlin. There are a ton of deals to be found in this town right now so I'd get looking ASAP if you're serious.

[Smacciemac 3]

How do you prove poker income to the mortgage company in order to get a mortgage?

[rivergirl 2]

Since i'm actually from canada and can't really help with the specifics, I will try to give you a few bits of sound advice when buying a home (especially for the first time)-since mortgage rates are super low right now, lock in as long as you can...stay away from variable rates, even if the rates go a little lower they aren't going to make up for the increase if they suddenly skyrocket. Make sure you get a good mortgage rep, and let them know you'd like to make sure you can pay on the principle with little/no penalties. Usually (at least here) you can make a once yearly payment of 10% principle with no penalties on the anniversary date.-do bi-weekly or weekly payments (whichever is more convenient for you). You get more payments a year than with a monthly pay. Althought it may not seem like a lot, making one "extra" monthly payment a year can save you a couple years on a mortgage and a significant amount of interest.-have your property taxes tied into your mortgage payments. Any bank/mortgage holder will do this, they actually like it better, knowing that you're not going to lose your house to unpaid taxes. They simply collect for you and send the payments to the city/county for you. They usually collect a little too much, just to be on the safe side and apply it to your mortgage at the end of the term.-finally my biggest most important piece of advice...please do not ignore this one*****When you buy a house, any house, regardless of price (unless its a brand new house with a warranty) make sure your contract to purchase includes a clause condition on home inspection. Spend the extra $300 and get a licensed home inspector into the home. They will go through the house, making sure of everything. even if you want a fixer-upper, they will tell you what is needed to be done. If the home has an older furnace/central air unit, you may also have to hire a licensed heating/cooling inspector but i will tell you from experience (i used to sell real estate) that this is the MOST valuable thing EVER. Alot of older homes have electrical/plumbing/insulation issues that make some homes difficult to insure with companies. As a new owner you will have to insure the property yourself and having "high risk" issues will cost you alot of money to insure. Not only that, but sometimes the cost of fixing certain things can make the "deal" you got on the property not worth it. i would say 95% of the time, the home inspection is not a deal breaker, but if you're looking to fix something up, its definately a good heads up as to where to start.Whatever you do, good luck.

[hblask 1]

You're picking a great time to buy!Interest rates are so low right now that it is probably in your best interest to get a fixed rate loan, especially if you keep it as a rental afterward. In a couple years it's very likely that interest rates will be back up again, and you'll just end up refinancing at a much higher rate. Just pick a place that you can afford now on a conventional 30 yr mortgage.If you were planning on selling it in, say, 5 years, it might be worth it to do some kind of variable rate 5 yr balloon payment or something like that, but in this environment I would vote for fixed rate. Also, if you can get an assumable mortgage, that will make the value of your place go way up the next time there is a run up in interest rates.Put 20% down. I think it's still easy to do mortgage tricks to get it to 10% or less, but don't take the bait. It never was a good idea, and those of us who fell for it are sorry now.When you get your mortgage, they will tell you how much property taxes are, and they will probably be escrowed with the mortgage, so just make sure your lender gives you the PITI payment. That's Principal, Interest, Taxes, and more Interest. Oh wait, the last I is Insurance, which you will have to get and provide proof to your mortgage company. Here in MN, you just tell your insurance agent what house you are buying, and it all happens magically. When I lived in NJ I had to do all the legwork myself.Plan on significant expenses both to move in and for maintenance. Moving in, because when a woman sees an empty spot, they are genetically driven to spend money to fill it. Seriously, even if she never seemed like that before, it'll happen. I don't have an estimate on maintenance because it varies from house to house, but say $1000/yr just to be safe, with an occasional bigger one like a dead furnace or new roof. That's probably high for a quality house, but better safe than sorry.And this will change your life. It seems like such an innocuous first step ("It'll be like renting, only bigger, we'll still party all the time"), but next thing you know you'll be comparing fertilizers and gardening tools, and you'll have Home Depot memorized.Then you'll have to become a Republican. Sorry, that's just the way it is.

[hblask 1]

Rivergirl's advice was right on, and reminded me of one other thing I meant to add: shop around for a mortgage. A lot of people just use the company their realtor recommends, but the industry is so incestuous that that is usually a bad idea. Look in the paper or online, and call a half dozen or so and make them compete for your business -- they are starving now, so they WILL compete. It's a pain, but it's one of the biggest savings you'll have in your life. I think there's a way to do this online, but I've never done that because I have a really good mortgage broker who does all that for me.

[Governator 54]

Ya some great advice here so far. I'd also like to put emphasis on smac's question. I had a difficult time getting a mortgage because I work for myself. I had to supply my last 3 years of income which still wasn't enough because I made excellent money on the 2nd & 3rd year but the 1st years income was pretty low. They want stability and as a poker player/grinder I'm not sure how flexibile they'd be without at least 25% down. Also whatever you think u have to pay initially as your down payment consider an additional $5K. There will be lawyer fees, home inspectors and unexpected costs that add up.

[aucu 3]

Why not buy in Calgary, prices have to be down with oil in the tank.

[outsider13 0]

Why not buy in Calgary, prices have to be down with oil in the tank.

Calgary is still wayyyyy overpriced. The market there is definitely on the decline but the price for real estate there is ridiculously higher than Vegas atm. I would do Vegas for sure, especially because of the poker.

[checkymcfold 0]

awesome, guys, tyty so fara few things:as to poker, my income has been super super up and down the last few years, and my tax statements would obv reflect that, but what i would probably do for my part of the income (we'd be co-signing, and she'd have a starting salary of 41k or so) is to try to play up my credit rating (mid-700s last i checked it) as best i can and make it clear that she and i have both been living off of my income alone for the past year while she's in school. moreover, i'd probably get on a list for substitute teaching, although i'd rarely if ever take a shift, just in order to make it appear as though i had something more regular coming in. would that kind of story make things better, or no?as to a down payment, we're really trying to minimize that as much as possible, too, since credit card stuff is significantly higher interest than a mortgage should be. we're kind of following that snowball yourself out of debt program, and we have a bunch of little things to pay off before we start really thinking about trying to make big chunk payments in the 25k range. neither of us really have much in terms of savings, unless you count my bankroll, since we've been using our extra money to help out family members in economic trouble, some of whom have lost their jobs recently. obviously, i can't really cash out my bankroll unless i was planning to quit poker, and i'm not, at least not during this debt-paying-off period, since i wouldn't be able to waltz into anything that would pay as much as i (most of the time, lol) make from cards. the thing is that the larger the down payment, the more slowly we're going to have to pay off all our other debts, and a lot of this whole process is that we don't want to start considering the big grownup things like kids and marriage until we don't owe shit to no one beyond a mortgage payment every month.henry--why is paying 10% or less down such a terrible idea? our plan was to do a fixed-rate thing, but basically make everything as cheap as possible mortgage-wise for 2 years, and then start making tons of extra payments and get the thing paid off in 7-8 years.as to lawyer stuff, i could probably get a fair bit of that stuff done for free, as i have a few lawyer friends from my chicago days who said to come to them if i need law men to look shit over whenever. most of them do litigation and/or criminal stuff, but i'm reasonably sure they could stumble through house-buying procedures. for home inspectors, how much do they typically cost?the interest rate thing and the market down there were actually why we even started considering this. we were starting to price apartments in calgary, and we were going to be paying somewhere in the range of 1500-1700/mo canadian for a place big enough for both of us to have an office in a fairly nice area (necessary--the only fights we've had ever have stemmed from our respective swearing-at-the-computer-fests while the other one is trying to work; we currently share an office--mistake). i just stumbled across an article on cnn.com about nationwide foreclosure rates and they said that nevada specifically was absolutely tanking right now. we did some preliminary pricing down there with 10-15 yr mortgages, and it seemed like the prices would be pretty comparable, but in nv we'd come out of the deal owning a house. and i know that a/c in the summer in vegas is somewhat comparable, if a little cheaper, than heat in calgary in the winter (both are around 300/mo, right?).as to the moving-in expenses, yeah, i've moved around a ton in my life and i think i have a pretty decent idea of how much it costs to move (although i've never moved all my shit cross-country before--the longest one i've done is ontario->chicago). neither of us are really concerned at all with filling the place up right away, either, especially since i have a bit of a home improvement bug that's a carryover from when i was growing up and my parents were constantly remodeling their house(s) themselves. i played the part of mom and dad's little (but progressively bigger) helper a lot, and it helped me get pretty handy with most everything except electrical wiring. honestly, part of the reason i want to buy as soon as it's feasible is that renting for so long hasn't allowed me to get any real projects going, and it's left me a little bit stir crazy.henry, i am not worried about my gf getting at all "omg buy me pretty shiny things" on me--we have very similar values and very similar thoughts about this whole process. also, i will not become a republican until i get robbed by at least two more black people and a gay tries to rape me. i simply don't have enough fear of difference just yet. ;)thanks a ton for the advice, guys. keep it coming!

[hblask 1]

henry--why is paying 10% or less down such a terrible idea? our plan was to do a fixed-rate thing, but basically make everything as cheap as possible mortgage-wise for 2 years, and then start making tons of extra payments and get the thing paid off in 7-8 years.

I think it's probably not the worst time to do 10% instead of 20%, but I probably wouldn't do it again. Part of the reason is nobody knows where the bottom is. We might be at it, or it could drop another 30%, and being in an upside-down mortgage is a pretty bad feeling.There are other reasons for 20%, such as a lower payment, plus there are various fees that come with 10% down that can be waived for 20% (at least here in MN). Talk to your mortgage guy about the tradeoffs, I guess.Having said all that, there is a huge reason to put down as little as possible, but it's basically gambling. If you put 20% down, and the house goes up 5%, it's a 25% return on the money you have in the house. If you put 10% down, it's a 50% return on that money. You can't get all that money, because of the fees to get in and get out, but you get the idea. But as I said, there's always a risk, and the risk is big -- having to get out at a time when it costs you money out of pocket at a time when you can't afford it. One thing is sure about life, it will throw you a curveball. Illness, divorce, financial crisis, lawsuit, family crisis -- *something* will come up over the course of a decade or more, and the more wiggle room you leave yourself, the better off you'll be.So, do you want to gamble? I've been on both the winning and losing end of that gamble, and I can't tell you if it's worth it. I probably wouldn't do it again. You are gambling that life will not throw you any huge surprises before the gamble pays off.At any rate, if you are buying a home that is affordable enough that you can pay it off in 7-10 years, and you really stick to that, it's much harder to make a bad choice in regards to fixed vs variable or 10% vs 20% down. Most of the people who are in trouble are there because they pushed the very edges of affordability. If you get a mortgage that is, say, 2/3 of what you theoretically could afford, you'll be fine through a lot of life's surprises.

[Balloon guy 158]

I have a friend in the real estate business who recommends not buying short sales. Often times these homes will not sell, and then get listed for 20-30% less.The newer the home, the better the insulation, because AC can get you. I believe Vegas has cheap electricity, but I've had $600 a month bills here and we keep the temp at 78. So a newer 1300 sqft home might be a lot smarter than a 30 year old 2500 sq ft home.Condos have association dues, but you also have good insurance on plumbing, roofs, big swimming pools maintained for you, better neighborhoods etc.Personally I think you need to have a more: "I'll borrow your money but only if you bend over backwards for me" attitude. Last time I did a refinance, about 8 months ago, I played two banks against each other and ended up saving 80% off the fees, and almost 3/4 off the interest rate.If you can put 10% down, you can play this attitude, Vegas area is begging for buyers.Best of luck

[checkymcfold 0]

bg, what's a "short sale"?and henry, the timeframe i'm looking at right now is either in early june or mid-august for a move. it would depend on whether my gf can finish her masters via correspondence or not.

[Janfor99 0]

Then you'll have to become a Republican. Sorry, that's just the way it is.

LOLOLOL......this is strangely true

*something* will come up over the course of a decade or more, and the more wiggle room you leave yourself, the better off you'll be.

The more wiggle room the better checky. Leave plenty of room for wigglin', especially with the other debt you talked about.The monthly mortgage # is just part of the cost of owning a home. GL:D

[Janfor99 0]

bg, what's a "short sale"?and henry, the timeframe i'm looking at right now is either in early june or mid-august for a move. it would depend on whether my gf can finish her masters via correspondence or not.

A short sale is when the owner of home owes more than the house is worth and is selling it for less than they owe. The bank has to agree to a price bec. they're losing mobney. The homeowner is probably about to foreclose and the house would probably be listed for even less at a later date.

[checkymcfold 0]

A short sale is when the owner of home owes more than the house is worth and is selling it for less than they owe. The bank has to agree to a price bec. they're losing mobney. The homeowner is probably about to foreclose and the house would probably be listed for even less at a later date.

tyi'm guessing that this sort of thing would be extremely common in the vegas area, since property values are tanking so bad over there these days. the problem, obviously, is kind of guessing where the bottoming-out is going to happen and buying then. i'd expect that it's not too far off from now, which is kind of why i thought this whole house purchasing thing is sort of a perfect storm for us in the timeframe we're looking to gtfo buffalo (i am reasonably sure that it is impossible to merely "leave" buffalo, and that one must, indeed, gtfo, lol. god, i hate this city.)this kind of brings up another possibility, though: does anyone know how to get an in into foreclosure auctions? and if you go that route, is it possible to do inspections on the places you're interested in first? i tried getting that info from teh internets, but googling anything with "foreclosure" just leads to 8 brazillion spamming sites trying to make you sign up for shit in order to look at "their" listings, which i know don't actually belong to them.

[Balloon guy 158]

bg, what's a "short sale"?and henry, the timeframe i'm looking at right now is either in early june or mid-august for a move. it would depend on whether my gf can finish her masters via correspondence or not.

Short sale already explainedYea, if I was a banker, and you told me you just went through a winter in Buffalo, and are planning now to move to Vegas in the begining of summer, I don't think I would loan you one penny.It doesn't appear that you think ahead much.just saying

[checkymcfold 0]

Short sale already explainedYea, if I was a banker, and you told me you just went through a winter in Buffalo, and are planning now to move to Vegas in the begining of summer, I don't think I would loan you one penny.It doesn't appear that you think ahead much.just saying

i'm reading this as "don't go to a bank, checky. i'll just loan you the money with no regimented payment plan and no interest, and throw in a box of free cigars." correct?

[Balloon guy 158]

tyi'm guessing that this sort of thing would be extremely common in the vegas area, since property values are tanking so bad over there these days. the problem, obviously, is kind of guessing where the bottoming-out is going to happen and buying then. i'd expect that it's not too far off from now, which is kind of why i thought this whole house purchasing thing is sort of a perfect storm for us in the timeframe we're looking to gtfo buffalo (i am reasonably sure that it is impossible to merely "leave" buffalo, and that one must, indeed, gtfo, lol. god, i hate this city.)this kind of brings up another possibility, though: does anyone know how to get an in into foreclosure auctions? and if you go that route, is it possible to do inspections on the places you're interested in first? i tried getting that info from teh internets, but googling anything with "foreclosure" just leads to 8 brazillion spamming sites trying to make you sign up for shit in order to look at "their" listings, which i know don't actually belong to them.

As much as I think real estate people are parasites with no value in life...they are willing to do all the grunt work for you. Find one based near the location you want to be in, and let them do all the work.And most foreclosure auctions are sight unseen. The market is too low to take this risk at all, for the extra bucks saved, you get very little value.A couple things to think about for desert living.Think shade. Living at the foot of a mountain or hill that will shade you in the late afternoon is huge. Think asphalt. Asphalt and concrete gather and generate heat, making an inferno almost unbearable. Think driving. If you get in the car in the summer, it will take you 15 minutes to get it to cool down. So making you're commutes either longer, or shorter is the key. 10 minutes drives over and over again can leave you with heat stroke. and Think wind. Hot desert air creates thermals that make wind, you can look at the general directions the trees grow and the places the sand is piled to get an idea of wind, wind can cool you off, and knock over fences

[Balloon guy 158]

i'm reading this as "don't go to a bank, checky. i'll just loan you the money with no regimented payment plan and no interest, and throw in a box of free cigars." correct?

Pretty much. go ahead and back the trailer and take off, we'll talk on the way. Oh wait, I give you the cigars? No deal

[gooch 0]

does no one use solar pannels in vegas to offset electricty costs for ac? would see like such a no brainer to mei could throw in some advice, but quite honestly, on a $100k purchase its hard to go wrong, look at a lot of houses narrow it down to about 5 and then throw lowball offers out there, you will find the motivated seller somewhere

[checkymcfold 0]

As much as I think real estate people are parasites with no value in life...they are willing to do all the grunt work for you. Find one based near the location you want to be in, and let them do all the work.And most foreclosure auctions are sight unseen. The market is too low to take this risk at all, for the extra bucks saved, you get very little value.

ok, ty. no more googling "foreclosure xxxx xxxx xxxx"

A couple things to think about for desert living.Think shade. Living at the foot of a mountain or hill that will shade you in the late afternoon is huge. Think asphalt. Asphalt and concrete gather and generate heat, making an inferno almost unbearable. Think driving. If you get in the car in the summer, it will take you 15 minutes to get it to cool down. So making you're commutes either longer, or shorter is the key. 10 minutes drives over and over again can leave you with heat stroke. and Think wind. Hot desert air creates thermals that make wind, you can look at the general directions the trees grow and the places the sand is piled to get an idea of wind, wind can cool you off, and knock over fences

this stuff i'm not super concerned about, as virtually all of the newer houses in the area (i was thinking the same thing you mentioned about insulation, etc, and i REALLY would need central air, obv) have garages. also, most of the fencing for backyards in the vegas area is stone/block fencing, which shouldn't fall down in the wind too often. it's also worth mentioning that i've spent plenty of time in vegas summers, and don't find the heat at all unbearable--it's humidity that gets me. my canadian gf, though, might boil from the inside out if she lives somewhere that can't sustain an igloo in the backyard for 6 months out of the year, lol.

[Balloon guy 158]

does no one use solar pannels in vegas to offset electricty costs for ac? would see like such a no brainer to mei could throw in some advice, but quite honestly, on a $100k purchase its hard to go wrong, look at a lot of houses narrow it down to about 5 and then throw lowball offers out there, you will find the motivated seller somewhere

I don't know anyone that uses solar so I can't help you there. they promise the world in the advertising, but my HOSs don't allow solar panels on the roofs, so I never really looked into them.The few that I have seen are really for warming the pool water in the winter.BTW checky, if you find a house with a pool, add about $125 a month for electricity to run the pool pump and chemicals etc.

[checkymcfold 0]

re: solar--that's something to add down the road, i think (and something i would almost certainly do at some point, just not now--my dad actually manages a company that does this sort of thing, albeit over on the east coast). it's at least a 10k investment to get something really useful hooked up, and as i said, it's a big concern of ours to keep payments on stuff down as much as possible for about two years, at which point we're planning on splurging quite a bit.the pool thing isn't a huge deal, but it's obviously a plus if we can find one. i figured it was about 100-200 a month in expenses, which is probably enough of a bump to make the buying thing not worth it so much right now if we weren't able to budge on a pool.