what can i afford??
sftomke
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
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kempek01
2 years agonickel_kg
2 years agoRelated Discussions
So if I can't afford the Wolf, BlueStar, etc, what's next?
Comments (20)I have spent more time than any human should in deciding on kitchen appliances. After much nailbiting I decided to spend the money on the 30" Wolf, and go to a store in town that sells all the good brands of stainless fridges but they are at scratch/dent prices. I still haven't decided on one but will this weekend, hopefully find one with a scratch or dent on the side instead of the front. This will save me some money. I will purchase a Kenmore top of the line dishwasher instead of a more expensive brand to save money. Actually, it is the one Consumer Guide picked as a best buy. I am not buying the warming drawer, so that saves money and no separate ice maker (loved my Scotsman at another house). I am going to buy the Kitchenaid beverage center. I decided also not to buy the expensive shower jet system. I just shifted some of the $$$ around and did not want to compromise on the range but did do the 30" instead of 48". I picked several things I REALLY wanted things like the Wolf and Soapstone counters and the other things I compromised on....See Morewhere in ny can i afford?
Comments (24)Qdognj, finesse, zecallrex, torn2pieces, callieandkarin, jyyanks, dssxxx, arabellamiller, brody, cfrizz, and smiles: thank you so much for all your responses. Wow, youve given me a whole lot more to think about. I thought it was overwhelming just trying to sell my house; this (BUYING a house near NYC) is the cherry of top of all this craziness/headaches!!! My husband currently telecommutes (goes into the nearby office ~3times a month), but if we move closer to NYC, he might have to go into the NYC downtown office more often. IÂm not exactly sure where his office is, so CALLIEANDKARINÂs comment is very true. CFRIZZ: Fanwood sounds really cute with all the family events, etc. ThatÂs what we currently have here; I thought we would have to give it up. Question: for those who have lived elsewhere (not that close to NYC), was it worth it to give up so much? For me, itÂs giving up my friends, my comfortable (size/amenities) home, my cul-de-sac/safe street for my young kids, my neighborhood, and my cute town, just to be near/accessible to NYC and to be near my inlaws. We could just move w/in a 1.5 hour drive (instead of 3-4hours it takes now) to be near family, but doesnÂt have that restriction of being accessible to NYC for ?daily? work. Here goes my rambling It scares me to go around NYC with 2 young children. We visited for ~4 days, staying in the financial district, while my husband was in training, and it was just my kids and I, trekking all over the city. It was POURING rain everyday except the day we left. The double stroller that normally ROCKS in malls, couldnÂt handle the uneven sidewalks. I had walked 1.5miles OUT OF MY WAY to get to a subway entrance with an elevator, to find out that the elevator only go down 1 level. I still had to beg a kind stranger to help me carry my 65-pounds of kids-lunchbox-bjorn-coats-rainslicker-filled Âstroller (the stroller only weighs 14pounds) down to the next level to actually catch the train (same for the return trip  the Red line was down or something). Because it was pouring rain, EVERYBODY decided to go to the NY ChildrenÂs Museum. It was packed!!! Since you canÂt eat in there (I couldnÂt even give my 2 year old some Cheerios; I had to nurse my 6month old hiding in a corner  since technically, sheÂs eating), I had to wait in line to retrieve the stroller, dress the kids/myself, and load everyone/everything back up to go out to some restaurant for lunch to escape from the rain, even though IÂve packed a lunch. Then I had to unload everyone/everything into the restaurant, leaving the stroller outside since it was too wide. I rudely had to change my 2yr oldÂs pee-diaper in the booth, since I couldnÂt fit into the bathroom with both kids, the backpack, and the bjorn, etc. Since my kids have about 6minutes of attention span, I didnÂt get to eat my lunch as I was trying to feed them asap and leave before they make a scene. So again, dress/load everyone/everything to trek back to the subway entrance that is only wide enough for 2 people, so when someone finally agreed to help me lug my stroller/kids/stuff downstairs, we blocked the entire stairwell so that pissed off MANY people. I can go on and on about my ordeals. How does one person go about NYC with 2 young children? DonÂt get me started about cabs: now, IÂd need to carry along car seats. Again  unloading everything to fold up the stroller, opening stroller and filling it all up: thereÂs no way any cab driver would want to wait 10minutes for me to get in/out of his cab. Stop. Done ranting. Stop. Back to house search. There is hope that my husband can go to the local office in White Plains ?area/town/city?. So now weÂre looking about 20minutes from ?downtown White Plains. What great schools do I look for? Again, thank you very much....See MoreProperty Taxes & Improvements--How Do I Know I Can Afford Them?
Comments (21)Wow, thanks for all the responses. I am going to have to reread this over very slowly so that I understand everything you all said. To answer some of your questions and comments, it's not too much house for me Gardenspice because I am buying it for cash. Taxes are high in New Jersey. They are $6700. on this house now. I want to make sure I can continue paying the taxes on it when I get older so I don't want to do anything to it that's going to cost me more money in taxes. I understand that taxes go up anyway. But I want to keep them from going up as much as possible. The taxes are one reason I am looking into building an apartment in one of the outbuildings on the property. I'm thinking ahead for old age. I want to keep this house until I die. If I had a tenant, it would help with the taxes. Unless the tax cost of the improvement cancels out any profits I would make on rent. Of course I will look into all the rules and laws I have to follow if I was going to do something like this down the road and I'd never do it without getting proper permits, etc. I wouldn't be able to sleep if I didn't follow the rules! I am also looking into other ways to make some money with this property. Making an apartment was one idea. I've also thought of having weddings and other events there. I'm a bit of an entrepreneur and will do a lot of research. Whatever we do, we will be doing all the work ourselves. As far as what's going on inside the house right now, there are open permits on it now that the code officer told us was transferrable to us so we can complete the work. Nothing is hooked up in this house. The work was in progress and then the owners had to stop. It will take us three weeks to hook it all up. There will be lots more work to do but in three weeks we'll have enough done that we will be able to get the certificate of occupancy to move in. Other than the tax man kind of rushing me off the phone, all the town guys we've spoken to about this property have been very helpful and supportive of us--they want us in there. The house has been empty for a while and I think they're afraid someone's going to buy it and turn it into some kind of halfway house type thing (it's a big old Victorian) and they would rather have a family in there who is going to give it tender loving care. It is in a town with other multiple dwelling buildings, bed & breakfasts, plus it's on five acres. I'm not even sure what I want to do with it and what I can do to it at this point. My goal is taking care of these taxes. Where I live now, on an 11 acre farm in Virginia, my taxes are only $846 a year so this is going to be sticker shock! And this whole thing might be moot if I don't get my farm sold. We lost our buyer two days before closing! Now we're praying the old Victorian is still going to be there when we get a new buyer!...See Morecan I afford a $300k mortgage?
Comments (38)When looking at what you can afford to buy for a house, there are two schools of thought, and the stupid 28% rule shouldn't apply to either one. Both of these methods have upsides and downsides but neither one is right or wrong. Let's call the first one stretch, in many ways this was the first method. You saved until you could afford the house to raise your family in. The idea being that your home is a massive investment and it is OK to take on a bigger payment to buy a house that you will keep for 50 years. You take advantage of inflation to grow into your payment, with a 1% annual raise you will be at $130,000 in 10 years, the payment will be easier and you have a house that still meets your needs. The other ideology goes the opposite way, you should buy a small home that you can easily afford, and when that house no longer meets your needs then you look at buying another house. You move up to nicer houses gradually. With this method you take much less risk. There is a downside to either method. The first method has a lot more risk, you are generally pretty vulnerable the first five years, less so the next five and so on. However, there are some advantages, the situations eventually reverse in later years the stretch will be low risk while the former safe bet remains relatively constant. Also transaction costs such as moving expenses and realtor fees eat up a lot of you gains. By the fifth or sixth house cumulative realtor fees alone can eat between 12% to 25% of the total cost of your house. In the end there is no right answer. I gave an answer for stretching because that is what you indicated you wanted. When I talk to people about financial decisions the first thing I try to do is explain risk and assess risk appetite. If you want to know, I personally, am very risk averse with homes. I have owned more than a dozen and all well under my budget, looking back I am not sure that was wise....See Moresftomke
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