I would say that it won’t be extended, but its the gov’t and they are idiots., so you never know.
It passed the Senate last week. There should be a deal very shortly.
Some New Wrinkles
In its current form, the bill would extend the tax credit to the end of April 2010. There are several proposed differences from the current tax credit:
To qualify, a sales contract would have to be signed by April 30th and the transaction closed by June 30.
Income limits would be increased from $75k for single people & $150k for couples, to $125k and $225k respectively.
Buyers who have lived in their current home for the last 5 years would be eligible for up to a $6500 tax credit (or 10% of the purchase price).
The maximum allowed home purchase price would be capped at $800,000.
Military personnel, deployed overseas for a minimum of 90 days in 2008 or 2009, would have until April 30, 2011 to claim the tax credit.
To combat fraud, a HUD-1 Settlement Statement will have to be attached to the tax return to secure the credit.
it’s so stupid that the HUD-1 form was never required
yeah although they are going to audit every 2008 return that claims the tax credit so they will get caught, only like 3 years down the line when penalties and interest have accumulated and the money’s been long spent.
If you are capable of buying a fixer upper and doing all the work yourself…it’s the best way make money towards a down payment for a house you really want.
I bought a fixer-upper in the village of Lancaster in '05 for 79K put 6k into it and sold it for $125k 3 years later. This won’t always be the case but dont expect to by a house in nice condition and make money in a few years. It takes ~5 years in a newer house to start seeing decent profits. Make sure you research the fixer-upper so you don’t get in too much over your head, have a well reputable house inspector tear the place apart so you don’t get a suprise down the road.
“If” you can afford to purchase (debt vs. income, down payment $, etc.) it’s a great time to do so. There is always seller’s concessions if you don’t have the money towards a down payment (I.E. house sells for 100k, 5% down payment of 5k gets rolled into your mortgage, for a total loan of 105k through the bank).
Grandmother is a realtor for the Elma/Lancaster/Alden/West Seneca area…let me know if you have anymore questions.
Shit, didn’t know it got this far. Last I read on this was going to senate, didn’t know when…
more ways for the Gov’t to piss away our tax dollars, and for people to use that as a reason to buy.
I see your point now. My bad.
Yes. Buying a house will definitely NOT save you money. It make make your living situation more suitable but will never save you money.
That is like saying I want to buy a $30K car so I can stop putting hundreds in to my beater…
I must say I was not ready for it but I had to do what i had to do…
I dont have a degree and im 25 right now.
I brought my first place when i was 22. I had about 4k to close…and i somehow pulled it off with no PMI.
I had really good credit 780 i believe
with no debt.
My Mortgage with Taxes is about $800.
I guess i stumbled on a good deal. I got a house in the town of tonawanda near colvin and highland area that was 20% less then the comparable sales/appraised amount.
I walked aways one happy camper.
The house it self did not need any fixing up.
but the garage needed some work bad foundation. I didnt mind that but now i do lol.
But i must say i was never ready for a mortage payment. but I made it work.
You could always buy a duplex and rent the other side out. Then you get the best of both worlds. Take the rent you make and apply it to your mortgage/tax/ins. and live for free. That’s what I do.
Although I will only be living here for a few more years, then I will be moving into a regular house.
Also, if you can do it, get a 15 year mortgage. You’ll end up saving $50-100K in interest depending on the price.
We found our house on Craigslist. Some little old lady was just trying to get rid of it because it needed work and she didn’t want to do it. She started the bidding at $5,000…we paid the final price of $10,500 cash. 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage, corner lot. Granted, it still needs a lot of work. My husband is a contractor so it’s coming along nicely…but slowly. Everyone else’s house gets done before ours :blah:
Sucks that we have so much work to do, but no mortgage > remodeling. And we’ll have a nice modern space that is hard to come by around here.
Are there any investment groups in Buffalo that sell houses for little to nothing? We have a group called PennPioneer here in Pittsburgh, almost got a 3 bedroom home from them for $4,000 and all it needed was some new interior paint.
I would more-so recommend getting a 30k mortgage, paying double when you can (so you still save $50 - 100k in interest), and then if you run into some hard times, you don’t have to worry about making the huge payment.
alot of you seem to be missing an important point.
if you rent you are still paying for the property taxes, mortgage interest, and maintenance…plus a profit to the property owner.
if you buy you are not providing income to a property owner and you will also build equity.
You’re also paying for wars when you rent!!! And at least some of your rent money goes to fund terrorism. Fuuuuuuuuuck.
Cmon now, we cleared this up on the last page.
Focus on each house on a case by case bassis, buying it for the right price is key if you want to make some money. However buying what and where you want is just as important for enjoying home ownership. There are a lot of items that don’t get factored into the price of a house that actually do add real value. The realtor method of picking a few similar houses in the neighborhood and comparing value is such crap, try to use it to your advantage.
My house went up $30K in 3 years (with this shitty economy) so that’s $10K a year for owning my house. The $30K is based upon the selling price of homes on my street that are smaller and in worse shape than mine.
X…
im currently renting to live at home with my parents. im 21. fuuuuuck.
next year i hope to have enough saved up to buy about 12-15 acres from my grandpa. hopefully within a year of that i will be building my barn/loft apartment/shop. figure i save up 20k and build it at 50k and live there til im ready to build my house which will be on the same property. i think im going a good route with this?
i have no desire to rent an apartment. paying my parents rent is enough of a reason for me to not want an apartment. id rather pay to own.
and my parents want to move out of state 2 years or less so i dont have a choice really.
Depends on your situation and how secure you are and how much you have in the bank, but you will pay more in interest if you go with a 30 year mortgage and pay the difference between the two payments.
BTW, a 15 year mortgage is only a few hundred dollars more per month… if you’re that much of a baller and can afford to put down more money then you will pay off the mortgage in 10 years. It’s much smarter to do a 15 year any way you slice it, unless you can’t afford it.
LOL at neonglh
I knew I was ready when I was getting out of the military and knew I would be back in Buffalo for a minimum of three years while I go back to school. I really plan to live here minimally until my parents retire though.
when to buy a house:
- you can afford a house
- you’re not planning on moving for 5 years.
the end.
it’s a good tax write off, but if you view it as an investment you’ll always be better renting and investing the extra money that you would have put into the house payment + maintenance.
There is one thing to mention about this. Suppose you get a 15 year mortgage but forget to get an “umbrella” insurance policy which is seperate from your normal homeowners/auto insurance. You pay off the house. Some idiot gets hurt either through their neglegance or yours and has a team of layers come after you…but your insurance company (without an umbrella policy) will only cover $100,000 in damages. So the idiots insurance gets the case settled for $300,000. Remember all those personal injury commercial you see? Now you are the one being sued. Your insurance wipes their ass with $100,000 check because that is all your dumbass signed up for and hands it over. Now it is up to your to cover the rest. Supposed that nice new house is paid off but your car is not. Guess what gets liquidated first? Now you are out of a house, your wages are garnished, and you suck because you can’t pay for your car and the Bank repossesses it.
Now supposed you don’t have the house paid off but you have an “umbrella” policy that covers you up to $1.5 Mil. For pennies on the dollar you can get a policy. Literally $10-$50 bucks a month will cover you. Now when the idiots lawyers come to sue you the lawyers of your $1.5 Mil policy will fight to get it thrown out or end up covering a lot more of the damages. Plus, if you house is NOT paid off there is NO WAY they can take it because it has a lein on it.
You could combine the two but why waste all your money upfront? Here Mr. Bank take my $100K now and then tomorrow a tree rips through the roof and now you just bought a broken house. Unlikely, but possible. WHy invest so much up front. To me, that does not make sense. If it does not make sense you must acquit.
Moral of the story…get the longest mortgage policy at the lowest rate, make minimum payments, get as much protection as you can, and live a worry-free life. As far as saving $50K-$100K on interest…you have a guarantee of NOT losing you house if the bank owns it as long as you pay the minimum each month. This may only be worth it if you plan on being around for 5-10 years and maybe more.\
Just something to consider to all you “Pay it off now” junkies. A paid off house is a big target if you are not protected.
I knew I was ready when I could afford to buy. Too many shitty experiences renting and you’re really throwing your money away.
With the incentives to buy at the moment, why not?