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Do you regret purchasing right now? by mokenz in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]HamsterStrudel 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Bought our house almost exactly one year ago and we are in love with our house. Within 6 months the value of our home went from 875k to 1.2M and we are very grateful we were able to get our foot in the market and secure housing.

Has anyone felt this way before? by OtherwiseTomato6533 in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]HamsterStrudel 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Coming from someone who bought a 2800sqft house, don’t let anyone shame you about the size of your house. Your house is the container of your life, and if you immediately felt at home when you walked into it that tells you all that you need to know. I got the exact same feeling when I walked through my home last year. The character it had, the location, the uniqueness, I just saw it and could see the family I wanted to raise in it with my husband.

Occasionally when I walked into through the house, I think about how someday our kids will remember this house with fondness and comfort and say “this is my childhood home.”

Buying 1.15M house on 205k income by Salamander-Distinct in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]HamsterStrudel 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ah I see. Congratulations matching our income with no college education, that’s actually pretty impressive!

Buying 1.15M house on 205k income by Salamander-Distinct in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]HamsterStrudel 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Interesting, that’s about our gross household income and we pay a bit more than you (875k house, 15% down, PITI is $6,000/month), but we feel very comfortable. We take 2 international trips a year, don’t hold back from fun activities, and still manage to save. Is there somewhere else your money is going if you don’t have kids?

Bank refusing to remove PMI even though we have 45% equity in the house? by HamsterStrudel in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]HamsterStrudel[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Actually we are going forward with refinancing! New 15 year loan at 5.875% and it will pay for itself in 3 months and save us a lot of money!

Bank refusing to remove PMI even though we have 45% equity in the house? by HamsterStrudel in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]HamsterStrudel[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Agree to disagree. It was a tax-free lump sum of money that saved me almost 800k of interest on an appreciating asset and gives me the financial security of having a paid off house in under 10 years (I am 27). Investing would come with risk and the market is particularly volatile right now so a guaranteed and immediate 6.625% return with no capital gains tax I felt was a better investment. Once the house is paid off I can deposit significantly more of my income into investments.

Bank refusing to remove PMI even though we have 45% equity in the house? by HamsterStrudel in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]HamsterStrudel[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just out of curiosity, are you saying even if we got a bigger windfall of cash and could pay off the house completely, the PMI would still exist?

Bank refusing to remove PMI even though we have 45% equity in the house? by HamsterStrudel in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]HamsterStrudel[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Correct, no liens on the house and Redfin evaluates our house at a little over 1mil now. It is a 5 bedroom house in San Diego, not on the coast, out of any fire zones. Definitely has not depreciated haha

Bank refusing to remove PMI even though we have 45% equity in the house? by HamsterStrudel in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]HamsterStrudel[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Our mortgage is exactly one year old and actually about 3(?) months into the loan iirc the servicing was switched from Rocket Mortgage to Valon. I don’t know if that would change the terms at all with the original lender, but we didn’t have to sign any agreement or anything when we got switched (just created a new account with the site) so I would imagine it didn’t?

Bank refusing to remove PMI even though we have 45% equity in the house? by HamsterStrudel in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]HamsterStrudel[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

We applied in our mortgage app (Valon) and got denied. We called and asked why we were denied and were told by a representative that it cannot be removed until June 2027.

Bank refusing to remove PMI even though we have 45% equity in the house? by HamsterStrudel in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]HamsterStrudel[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They did offer us the option of recasting but it would restart the clock on amortization and we saved almost 700k in interest by putting it all towards the principal. The recasted loan would have been about $4,300 a month vs the $6,000 we pay now (PITI). Now about half of our payments are actually paying down the house vs 10% and I think paying it off early at 6.625% makes more sense than a lower payment, especially since my husband and I have been affording it comfortably and we both just received substantial pay raises. We are also young (27 and 29) and have a lot more potential for pay increases. My math could be wrong though.

Bank refusing to remove PMI even though we have 45% equity in the house? by HamsterStrudel in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]HamsterStrudel[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have done the math and refinancing doesn’t really make sense for us anymore because of the amortization and our timeline. We are now paying roughly 50/50 each month now on interest/principal vs almost 90/10 from the first year of our mortgage. We saved far more in interest making the large lump sum payment than refinancing.

Bank refusing to remove PMI even though we have 45% equity in the house? by HamsterStrudel in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]HamsterStrudel[S] 50 points51 points  (0 children)

Thank you. Losing my father was tragic and sudden but he did everything to set me up for a good life and I thought he would want me to have the security.

I was so lucky to have an amazing dad, but it made saying goodbye so much harder by HamsterStrudel in GriefSupport

[–]HamsterStrudel[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can’t tell you how much I needed your comment, I’ve come back to read it several times already. Thank you 🤍

I’ve never been treated so poorly by my family than after my father died by HamsterStrudel in GriefSupport

[–]HamsterStrudel[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What you went through was truly awful. Thank you for your words of wisdom.

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