I close on my first home on Monday. I’m excited and nervous, and all of my ducks are in a row. To say that someone would just leave their home for nothing seems ludicrous to me, but I’m a greenhorn in these matters, I suppose.
I got myself into something that I knew I could afford, something that would appreciate over time and something that is fixed and relatively static for the time I’ll be there (I anticipate 10 - 15 years). This article makes me think I’ve done something wrong while my heart tells me to keep on truckin!
My sister wound up in a situation where she owed a bit more than her house was worth during a steep downturn in housing prices, but she hung on and sold it for a huge profit years later.
That’s GOOD!
Now, YOU get to pay for those who couldn’t afford their homes. Congratulations!
I read a story last week about people buying a similar home at a current much lower price and then defaulting on their first home. Same or similar home, lower payment and walking away from the foreclosure.
Meh.
Everyone gets buyers regret. You’ll be fine.
Congratulations! Home ownership is a wonderful thing. It’s meaningful to “come home” to your own home every evening.
Enjoy!
You’ll do fine. Just remember, DON’T use your home as an ATM machine. Refinance ONLY to get the interest down, or to do improvements. And NEVER accept an adjustable rate loan. If you can, pay a bit extra every month on the principal. And keep an extra payment or two in the bank, just for a rainy day.
What fun for you! You will love owning your own home. After closing on our first house my husband and I drove right over to it, unlocked the door, walked into the living room and jumped up and down and cheered. What a feeling.
Good luck with your new home. I’ve never been a home or property owner. I raised two kids by myself and could have used a home back then since we moved quite a bit. But I could never afford it. Now that I’m 60, retired, and my kids have been gone for years, I have no interest in owning anything. Too much responsibility. My rent is very cheap and I’m comfortable.
I remember the nervousness of my first house (really a rural 500- sq ft cabin on a 35-degree slope and tiny lot), but the appreciation in two years helped me move up to a 1000 sq ft 18-year-old rambler on a flat half-acre closer in, and two years after that to a different state and a new(ly rebuilt) 3000 sq ft house on half-acre adjacent to greenbelt some 20 minutes to downtown Seattle.
10 years now in our fifth house, no plans to move.
A $50 fridge is so much better than a $500 one, you won't believe it. I have a 26 cu.ft. freezer that is 25 yrears old, cost me $50 when the new ones were going for $350. I replaced the rubber around the door last year. It still runs just fine.
If you have any neighbors who have to keep up with the Joneses, tell them you want first dibs on anything they want to sell.
Grab the local newspaper and start clipping the coupons. $10 off on $20 bag of lawn fertilizer of an unknown brand has the same chemical as if it came from the biggest and bestest of them all, Monsato.
Remember to put money in that home repair fund every month so when you need a new water heater you can pay cash and install it yourself.
Do you know how to shut the water off at the street, shut the gas off at the meter, turn the power off and on at the panel box? If not, learn before you need to do it.
Congratulations
Congratulations.
It might seem expensive, but you probably got a really good price on your house.
The value of your house is going to fluctuate over the time you live there. You can’t really control much of what drives the relative value of your house so don’t worry about it.
If you take care of it, and make your payments you’ll be fine.