I went house-hunting for the first time! Not with the intent to actually find a house, but more to see what is out there. A friend drove me around an area that has some newer housing developments between 2-10 years old). It was close to the Trinity River and railroad, so not exactly sure that is a plus and in the area I want, but it was fun anyway - aside from the slight feeling of carsickness after an hour.
There were several houses for sale, but not many had the little fliers out front so I could see details. I think if I can find one with about the square footage I want, it should be in my range. But hard to tell as none really matched my needs.
Also, I had a short talk with a friend's father, who is a financial advisor. We didn't go into detail into my whole financial decision, but I just asked him one question that I wasn't sure of. I was half hoping and half not hoping he would laugh at me and say that I shouldn't buy a house, silly girl. Thankfully or not thankfully, that didnt' happen. My main question was whether I should take some money out of my previous job's retirement account to supplement my down payment so it would be 20%. Of course, there was not an easy answer. He said I should take the old account, put it in my new job's 401k, and then take a loan out to myself. While that sounds cool - borrowing from yourself and paying the interest back to yourself - the loan has to be paid back in five years. So now, I need to figure out how much I should take out and if I can affort to pay both a mortage and a loan payment to myself. Depending what kind of house I can find, I might not need to borrow too much, so it could be doable.
I am also in another dilemma, as he said two things that contradict my situation. He said he highly recommends putting 20% down. But he almost never encourages people to borrow money from their retirement plan. Unless I win the lottery in the next few months - which I don't play - I will not have enough for 20% and closing costs and money for any minor things which I will need. Some might say that then I shouldn't buy a house, but I dont' like those people. They aren't living in an apartment right now.
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2 comments:
We play so if we win we'd help out a WOWO sister! :)
Glad you had some fun househunting. It can be daunting, I'm sure. But it's good that you're seeing what's out there and asking questions. :)
A 20% down payment may or may not be important, depending on lots of factors. You need to talk to O.H. for some specific scenarios and how down payments may or may not make a real difference. It is exciting that you starting the process.
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