Should we buy a house?

[Saving in So Cal]

Congratulations on your new baby. Nothing in the world compares to the experience of becoming a parent.

I do not normally reply twice to post, especially in situation where the poster pretty much has her mind made up. However, you stated something in one of your response posts that caught my my attention. You stated:

"One thing my fiance just told me is that his boss bought the house doing something called 'owner carry' and that is another option we would have but we have to look into that further since we dont know too much about it other than we would pay him for a year and then refinance in our names."

As a general, but pretty reliable rule, if there is no recorded deed saying that you own the property (subject to a security interest by the person/company financing you), then you don't own the property. Stated differently, if you move into the property and the deed is not in your name, then your rights to the property probably won't be any greater than a renter's.

Any financing arrangements that require you to put money upfront and put the home in your name at a later point should be reviewed by a disinterested real estate attorney (no relatives, no friends, no brokers, no lenders). The attorney will be able to tell you the legal effect of the arrangement so you can make an informed decision. I suspect you will decide not to enter such a financing arrangement when you learn how risky and one-sided it can be.

[creditcardfree]

I think it's great that you are putting money aside to simulate your payments in the future. Unfortunately, one month of simulating this is not enough to simulate the reality that no single month is the same in personal finance.

[bandelove]

Well we decided to move forth and start closing the deal (we talked in over with our parents and mentors and they agreed it was a wise choice). Unfortunately or fortunately he was offered 40k more and theres we couldnt offer close to that since we would be cutting it close as it is.. Perhaps it really was too good to be true and its just not time for us to own right now. Our lease is up at the end of June and apartments here are over 1k so for now i think we're just going to look into renting a townhouse or house and pay anywhere from $1200-1500" . I'm just going to pray that the home pricess come down a little more here because i cant justify $paying over 257k for a townhouse less than 1500 sf.

On another note our baby boy is now 1 month old and is as perfect as can be.

[creditcardfree]

Congrats on the birth of your son! Sounds like you have a few weeks to find a better place to live and time to save cash like crazy for your new home. Maybe you'll find an even better house deal in the future.

[Ini_g]

I agree with the most. With a baby the expenses grow, so, take your time to enjoy your lovely situation. And continue with you life, like that: no debts, no to much expenses, and in a few years maybe the house will be possible, but start some savings. And learn some investment. There options for everyone, just need to search

[My English Castle]

give yourself a little time

We waited until our daughter was a year old to move out of our old duplex.
It gave us some time to adjust to being parents, the expenses, and to look around for a house. Remember too that in most areas, housing prices vary a little with the seasons. Maybe you'll find a really good buy in November or January. Plus you can save more for a down payment and price don't seem to be rising too quickly anywhere. Save some money and look around!

Congratulations on baby!

[Elgin526]

1st, congrats on the baby!

I really don't think you should do it. Our mortgage is $1400 a month including taxes and insurance (it equals 25% of our take home pay) and we still live paycheck to paycheck some months. Houses. Eat. Money. Cars. Eat. Money. Children. Eat. Money. I'm telling you, unless you get extremely lucky, you're going to end up in over your heads.

[corns]

Hi bandelove

Congrats on your new baby.

I read a book written by a real estate investment guru. He owns lots of investment properties. Can't recall his name right now. Anyway, i remember he said something like, "The deal of the decade comes along every other week."

Even though you missed out on the opportunity this time, there will be more opportunities coming your way in the future. Also, when you are financially stronger (in terms on annual earnings and having a larger downpayment) you will find that there are more options available to you which won't be the case if you didn't have the financial strength.

Cheers.

[project15]

Hi john, thanks for contributing, but this thread is 2 years old. Good thing the OP decided to rent for another year as we all know what happened to housing prices.