Bugger!

But still got enough leftover for the third one ;).

Thanks for all this advice. It seems a pretty difficult process. Been through it unsuccessfully twice. Funny thing is over the past 10 years each time the rules seem to change. I dont have 85k down! If I had 85k down believe me Id buy a 50k fixer upper and forget the bank. Its hard to imagine a economy like the 1800/1900s when people just paid cash to build houses. Yes 8% would be amazing I wasn't getting 8% in 2007.. more like 4% and now 2%;)

Invest outside the U.S. You have to speculate to accumalate.

We are in the same boat. Sold my last house (after the RIF) and have been renting since. Two more years, the last one graduates high school and we can buy somewhere else locally, getting a lot more house for less than where we are now.

You should buy a house if you feel like you want to really call something home and you can comfortably afford it.

I would suggest you have at least 20% in cash to put down, otherwise getting a mortgage is a PITA. In addition, you should have 3-6 months of cash in a saving account. The final step in successfully getting a mortgage is so make sure the projected mortgage payment is not more than 30% of you net income. For this, many people use a 30 year mortgage, but if you really want to be safe you can use a 15 year mortgage as the base amount. This will ensure you are not buying too much house for your income and gives you some wiggle room if your salary drops. (You can always get a 30 year to drop the payment down even more).

You should also add at least 10% to the projected payment for home repairs. The house will lose value fast if you can't maintain it. The older the house the bigger the % should be, opposite for a brand new one.

If you got all this, then you can easily afford a house and should definitely buy one right now. If you have no savings, you probably shouldn't go out and buy a house no matter how low the interest rates are.

Our house was appraised at $265k in 2006 and now it's worth about $140k. Too bad we owe $180k on it.... I wish we had never bought a house...

i'm in the market right now. At 46 i was wondering if I should even bother buying, but I'm at a good point in my life where i'm making good money and have close to $100k in savings. I just put in an offer for a house that got accepted by the seller and we're having the inspection tomorrow. I thought I would be stressed out but I'm actually very excited about owning my first home. And my 930 is looking forward to it's new 3 car garage....

I say if you have the cash, go for it.

What will it be worth in another 6 years? I would bet it will be a lot more than $265,000.

Lemme guess...the real estate sales person told you that the price of homes always goes up..:rolleyes:

Art, everybody's gotta live somewhere...if you like the place for what it is, hang in there...

You are of course correct. My comment was far too categorical. There are a myriad of other factors that are relevant.

Interestingly, Germany, which is one of the more prosperous places around, has one of the lowest home ownership rates in the developed world. Last time I checked it was under 40 percent. Many of our German friends rent, and have no plans to buy. They dont like the "hassle" of ownership. They prefer to spend their money on art and travel and fashion. Works for them.

This is true but I wasnt getting into the specifics of the loan. I was only stating I would take the 30 year over the 15 year mortgage. I would also state this takes self discipline to pulloff something many people do not have.

Also in this economy a person could easily find a home in disress and take it over from the mortgaor (owner). Again with out getting into the specifics and the legalities. Cut a deal with a person who know longer can afford their property and make a purchase deal with them. Pay the mortgage directly to the bank (send extra to the bank to pay it down fatser) at the end buy the properrtty from the mortgagor for a dollar.

And then of course theirs the whole short sale end...

Our $140k home...
 

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Unfortunately, our home won't be worth $265k until the jobs come back to MI, and I don't see that happening in my life time. We're stuck here, so we have to make the best of it...