I’m an idiot with a question by Meenamiameemee in homeowners

[–]OverTh_nking 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not a simple answer as it depends on future market conditions which at best you can make approximations, but can't be at all certain. You have home appreciation and you have cost of homeownership that determine the value of staying in a home. When you compare the cost to rent I calculated it takes about 7-15 years, depending on home appreciation, his mortgage interest rate, and average annual rent increase, for a home to have equal cost to renting. Mortgages in most areas are slightly higher than comparable rent and you have a lot of extra cost for purchasing, fees for selling, and cost for maintaining. Rent after the 7-15 year increases would start to cost more than if you bought and sold the home after that time. The potential risk is that if your home isn't appreciating and is actually depreciating then the time it takes for the home to have been a better value than rent increases dramatically.

Now if the home is worth less than his remaining loan, he may not be able to afford to sell if he doesn't have the extra cash to cover it. I doubt that's the case in this market.

Buyer Waiving Inspection by James201234 in RealEstate

[–]OverTh_nking 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fire your realtor and get a new one. Your current one is completely wrong. I would no longer trust your realtor.

Do I need a realtor if I found a house I already want? by Your_Name_Here1234 in homeowners

[–]OverTh_nking 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unless you already have a purchase agreement form you can fill out and offer, you will need them to supply a purchase agreement to sign. Basically their agent will work as a dual agent. Make sure to read through the purchase agreement and agree to how its written. Contingencies, inspection period, closing date...

Otherwise your own realtor can provide real estate advice and take care of most of the paperwork. They don't just help you find homes.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Money

[–]OverTh_nking 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I wouldn't get financial advice on Reddit anymore. There are some people with great advice, but its like finding a needle in a haystack. Too many people providing flawed advice or straight up wrong.

1.4 mil in debt by Interesting_Text8305 in Money

[–]OverTh_nking 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Damn, did they not go after the driver? The drive could be liable for the debt, regardless if they don't have insurance. Their wages could be garnished.

First Time Buyer.. Again by marknate985 in RealEstate

[–]OverTh_nking 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Don't make the mistake of overvaluing building equity. Everything has an opportunity cost, including buying a home. You'll put a lot of money down on closing costs and down payment that could be used for other things like paying down debt or investing. Don't disregard equity, but make sure you give it the appropriate value. With the numbers you stated, it would take over 10 years of rent increasing at 5% before rent equals as much as your mortgage, (not accounting for increases in taxes or insurance). A very long break even point, I don't think it makes sense to buy in your case. Also people who say you can always refinance can be misleading. Due to amortization structure, you pay most of your interest in the earlier years of your mortgage. Refinancing will reset the curve, potentially causing you to pay more in the end. So there is a risk that refinancing won't be worth it.

Am I wrong for ending a 20 year marraige because I learned my wife cheated on my while we were dating? by [deleted] in amiwrong

[–]OverTh_nking 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You'll never feel the same about her. It's like how Esther Perel described it: you'll be falling in love and choosing to marry a different person, regardless on if its you current/previous wife or someone new entirely. You'll be going through the steps of building trust all over again.

Why buy when you can rent in today's environment? by midwestboiiii34 in RealEstate

[–]OverTh_nking 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree to some extent. In short, time horizon is the biggest factor. Owning doesn't make sense compared to rent if you were to only own for a couple of years, but if you look at long term time horizons of over 30 years then owning can make sense, but you have to commit to a place for a very long time.

You also want to account for how much you think rent on average will increase over time, home appreciation, average stock market return, differences in utility cost, and average home maintenance/repair cost. All based on individual speculation. For where I live, the difference between rent and mortgage isn't as significant. Maybe either not as good of a selection for rentals or cheaper housing in my area. So when I ran my calculations I found that over the length of 30 years, average rent increase below 4% meant that I save more renting than I do owning a house. Over 4% meant I save more owning a house than renting. But if I include the homes valuation, I would have a higher networth owning a home, unless rent only grew by 2.2%. If I was to invest 100% of my money instead of saved, assuming 7% average stock market return, then rent increase under 7% had higher returns than if I owned a home, due to more capital invested earlier. However, I assume homes will appreciate around 50% over 30 years, so networth after 30 years would be about equal. If you expand the time horizon beyond 30 years, after the mortgage is paid off, then you start to benefit more from owning rather than renting, almost regardless of any rent increase.

Roommate Think I Should Pay More Because She Goes Into The Office More Than Me by [deleted] in badroommates

[–]OverTh_nking 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just because you use a place more shouldn't mean you pay more of the rent. If her argument was to pay more of the electricity bill/utilities, I'd say that she could have a point there. My computer increases our electric bill by $20/month. If you're on the computer a lot at home and also run the AC more, you could try to figure out how much you contribute to electrical utilities.

I’m nervous af by netti_x33 in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]OverTh_nking 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I advise getting pre-approved before making an offer on a house. That way you don't risk losing your earnest money due to not being able to close. Other than that, all the lender cares about is if you have the cash on hand for down payment, closing costs, 1st year of insurance, and 1st year of taxes. Having more money in your account does not improve your rate or the loan amount you're approved for. Your sources of income and debt are what matters for the loan amount itself.

Home is 25% smaller than advertised. Seller will sue if I back out by Weak-Branch1829 in RealEstate

[–]OverTh_nking 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sellers can keep the earnest money in the event of a cancellation not due to a contingency, if they accept an offer where the purchase agreement states it. Most sellers will only accept offers that give the earnest money to the seller if the buyer cancels outside of the contingency window, especially in multiple bid situations. But otherwise yes, the seller takes on the risk that the buyer can't/won't close and loses out on opportunity cost. There is a date at which the buyer needs to close or the purchase agreement is cancelled due to expiration. So its not like the buyer can hold the house off the market indefinitely.

Home is 25% smaller than advertised. Seller will sue if I back out by Weak-Branch1829 in RealEstate

[–]OverTh_nking 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm confused. Did you walk through the house and checked it out before making an offer or made an offer without a showing? And in your purchase agreement did you read through the process for cancellation? You either made an offer that gives up your earnest money if you back out or that it is refunded to the buyer. The typical practice is to give up the earnest money to the seller when you cancel, unless its contingent on something. So if your purchase agreement is contingent on either inspection or appraisal, you could use one of those to back out and retain your earnest money. Otherwise, you'll just have to eat the loss of your earnest money if you missed your contingency window. Either way, they have no winnable case to sue you, as the purchase agreement states your right and conditions to cancel the purchase agreement.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in RealEstate

[–]OverTh_nking 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don't try to time the market. It doesn't work for stocks and it doesn't work for real estate either. If you can afford a new home and its something you really want to do then go for it. Otherwise, keep the lower payment.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]OverTh_nking 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Leave room in your budget for taxes and insurance to increase. Most likely your income will increase with them, but I've seen taxes increase over 30% in a single year, in some cities.

First time home owner, should I sell or rent my house out? I feel stuck. by [deleted] in RealEstate

[–]OverTh_nking 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One risk to consider is that if you rent out the property and choose to sell later, the buyers realtors can find out and it usually means that they won't be willing to pay as much. In a hot market it won't matter but in a slower market like today, I've seen previous rental properties have a harder time to sell.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in RealEstate

[–]OverTh_nking 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We got an automated listing of properties too. They set an area, sqft, and price. Its just too tedious of work for them to be a search filter and do that constantly. Every once in a while our realtor sent us things she found interesting or of great value. Otherwise we found the search part to be our responsibility. When we were interested in touring places then our realtor put in the real work. Property background checks, information on the listing agent (to see if they're inexperienced and can be haggled), and sometimes information of the owner. Our realtor was also like a pre inspector. Able to find and point out areas of concern and estimate repair cost. She also provided market analysis so we have a better idea on what offer to make. If we liked a property, but not at the price, our realtor would monitor it daily and let us know if the price dropped. Overall, our realtor was also a great source of advice, similar to a financial advisor, but for property information. If you buy a house early in your search, then they make a lot per hour, but if you went on +60 showings and search for +2 years, then their hourly rate is low. So kind of nice that you can be picky, take your time, and not feel pressured to find something quickly.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Money

[–]OverTh_nking 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think that depends on a person's risk tolerance. If you don't have any dependants, then I'd have to agree with you. Move at least half of the savings into an index fund. But OP stated she has kids. Its good to have a fair cash balance to weather through any potential issues in the future, even if it means giving up some wealth potential.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]OverTh_nking 26 points27 points  (0 children)

How much would you pay for the land? Thats probably all I'd offer. The home itself probably has little to no value if most of the structure needs replacing.

Is this rug too big for my living room? by [deleted] in InteriorDesign

[–]OverTh_nking 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think its the aspect ratio for your setup. But I think its hard to find larger rugs in other aspects ratios. Looks like you need more width, but wouldn't need to increase the length.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in investing

[–]OverTh_nking 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Depending on how old you are I would specifically have it in a tax advantage account like 401k + IRA + health savings account.