So I'm a homeowner
 

I've just joined the wide-world of home "ownership." I figured I was going to be here for at least 3 more years...1.5 years of school+1 year of flight instruction+6 months multi-engine/possibly my II after that...so yeah a few years. Plus then adding a baby to the mix will probably slow everything down even more. So we got a 2 bedroom,1 bath, 866 sq/ft on a decent side of town for 79k. With a 30 year and 5% it's looking a lot cheaper than my 650 a month rent so far. The plan is whenver I move, my Mom will be buying out the place and using it as a rental.

'grats

God damn I wish I could find property that cheap around here...

Congratulations.

Now, two pieces of advice:

1 - If you are not making bi-monthly payments, either add an extra $50 per check or make one extra full payment per year. The benefits in equity will be seen when you go to sell the house. (Even if it is to your Mom, who should pay full fair market value for the house. Family is family, yet business is business...)

2 - Stay on top of the preventative/routine maintenance. It will cost you less than repairing catastrophic failures and keep the value of your investment up.

- L

good advice, though bi-monthly monthly payments aren't all that special. if you can just send an extra amount each month and make sure it's getting applied to principal. find an online calculator and check out what adding each month save you in interest and length of loan. currently i add in enough each month to make my 30-year mortgage a 17 year mortgage and i'll add in more in a couple years when i free up some cash

Congrats, dont crash into a helicopter.

Turbo-4,
Airforce?
My nephew just got his wings at Columbus, MI. He got KC135's out of Kansas.
What are you flying?
Jim

Weren't you the guy on gov't assistance? How did you manage to buy a house?

$79k in So.Cal will get you a cardboard box.

pics of house or ban.

fixed

where did you get a house for 79k? thats diiiiirt cheap

Word of advice. Don't pay off your house with a %5.XX mortgage rate early. You're better off dropping that extra payment into Citibank stock until inflation hits and CD rates are well above your mortgage rate.

Frank

Yeah, it's him. Here in CT I can buy a toiletfor $79k but Texas where he's from you can get brand new gorgeous houses for $150 (I was there in July) BTW congrats you'll love this place better then an all offwhite rental paint. Looks like your doing better

3 - If you don't have one already, buy a sawed off pistol grip shot-gun and learn to shoot it.

Congrats.

Plus a big 1 on both of our fellow Texans' advice.

I send an extra $60/month in with each payment. Doesn't sound like much right? But if you do the math I will pay off my home 9yrs early (30yr ~5%) and save $39K in payments. That's a V6 C-class for the wifey in 15yrs now.

For home protection I got a cheap Taurus PT111 (9mm newer millenium). I take it to practice at the range every other month and it has always served me very well. Consider it a tool used for only one thing.

On the note of tools...get a few basic hand tools if you don't already have them...you will be using them. Take care of things and you'll both stay comfy in the home.

Welcome to home ownership...good call with a little one on the way. Good time to buy as well...buyer's market and good interest rates for those with the credit.

Welcome to the never-ending to-do list.

In 2000 when I was a grad student in Houston I bought a 964 sq ft fixer-upper condo near the medical center for $35K. I put about $5K and lots of elbow grease into fixing it up and sold it 3.5 years later (doubled my money) because I was forced to move to Seattle when my lab moved in the middle of my PhD training. Even with the money I made, I couldn't afford to buy anything in Seattle so I was back to renting. In some cities even poor kids can own homes, and in some places it's impossible. But sending in rent to pay somebody else's mortgage is one way the poor are kept poor, so good on ya for owning.

If you don't intend to stay in the house through the life of the mortgage, I don't understand the point of sending in extra money right now. Especially if your mom is going to buy it. How much extra are you really going to have anyway with that little poop factory on the way? Owning a home, or more specifically, deducting the mortgage interest you pay on the home, is the biggest tax break the average family gets. Although on a $79K 30 year 5% loan I don't know if the interest will come out to more than your standard deduction. EDIT: No, it won't, not even close.

Making money in real estate isn't about paying off your loans. It's about leveraging your buying power with as much OPM (Other People's Money; bank loans, rent if you're a landlord, etc) as you can get while reaping the benefits of the property's appreciation over time. A 5% loan is historically about as cheap as you can get. If this was the 1980s when rates were 14-18%, it would pay to send in extra to minimize the interest rape to whatever extent possible, but 5% is cheap money.

I'll try to answer everyone's questions the best I can.

I'm still in flight school so I just fly archers and moonies for now. Jet's will come one day...one day.

Just because you are on government assistance doesn't mean you can't buy a home especially with the help of a family member.

I already own a high point 9mm...have for quite a while.



Pic of house:
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/9725/dscn6691.jpg

Congratulations, good for you.
I too am looking to buy a place before Dec 1 to take advantage of the Tax Rebate. I think i'm going to go for a duplex though hoping to let someone else pay my mortage. I can handle neighbors if it means living mostly for free.
I do want a garage though and duplexes with garages are hard to come by within my price range.

with all your damn alaska money you should be able to buy a city block in tennesee.