home owners- down payment

Raisin

Wed, Dec 26 2007, 4:57 pm

Shalhevet, LOL

My milchig dishwasher is broken, and no kosher resturants in town. Sad

I am considering instituting the family plate. One plate for everyone.

But, I'm sure it is possible to get a dishwasher if you are renting.

YALT

Wed, Dec 26 2007, 5:27 pm

a more important pro of owning.... If there's a problem (like MOLD) you take care of it right away. If you rent, the landlord doesn't care.
That's OUR problem right now.
We have mold in our apt, and the landlord isn't ready to do much about.
Oh, sorry. They are willing to do something. Anywhere that already turned the paint brown, they'll "fix" for us. But anything that is still hidden under the paint - too bad. They basically told us in a nice way, that they're not stopping us from moving.
Funny thing is, while I'm writing this, the phone rang.... the landlord. Anyways, I'm going to start a new thread, cuz I don't want to change the topic of this thread.

Lani22

Wed, Dec 26 2007, 5:52 pm

Crayon210 wrote:

YALT-find out the law where you live and threaten them with legal action.

I would just move and not pay the last months rent. If they say something - then I would threaten them with legal action.

Crayon210

Wed, Dec 26 2007, 5:55 pm

THAT is illegal. If you find out the law where you live regarding mold treatment (most places will require a landlord to get rid of it), then you very nicely send a certified letter to the landlord stating the exact law and that you will give him X number of days to fix the problem, otherwise, you will bring someone in to treat it yourself and you will deduct the amount from rent.

Does YALT even want to move? Confused

mommalah

Wed, Dec 26 2007, 7:58 pm

To the amother above-

You DID happen to be lucky that your grandparents gave you the money. Unfortunately putting all your money into an apartment is a waste of your money. All of that money is tied up in a property. It makes more financial sense to invest that $ smartly, and get constant returns on it. If you ever want that money (which is now your equity) you will have to take a loan out to get it. Renting, imo, makes a lot more sense while investing the $ to make money.
Amother - I realize that ur grandp's wouldn't have just given you that money outright to do as u wish. But in general, if a young couple has money with which to buy a house outright it is much better spent investing than sitting in a house where it is difficult to access. Not to mention that when it is accessed in the form of a home equity loan you will be paying interest to access $ that was once free and clear.

NotInNJMommy

Wed, Dec 26 2007, 8:36 pm

mommalah, crunch the numbers, and owning a house means no housing payment eventually, and something to sell. Also, except in very rare cases, over time the value of a house goes up, so if you know you are looking at settling down somewhere, it's a great idea.

There is a lot of financial security that comes with buying a house (within your means) as well as other securities (landlord won't sell it, raise your rent...give you grief about this or that...say you have too many people living in your apt---don't laugh, I know people who this has happenned to after child #X was born...)

I see your perspective mammalah, but IMHO, in most cases, when there's no debt sitting around, it's better to put it into a house, esp if you can do a 15 yr mortgage. Of course, if there's debt, I think that should be tackled first before taking on more responsibility of home ownership...

Marion

Wed, Dec 26 2007, 8:44 pm

I forgot to add:

We were married a year and a half when we bought, and we bought on paper. Sort of. By the time we found what we wanted the project we bought in was almost finished, so we only had a 5 month wait for the keys and another month before we moved in. Of course there are things that still aren't done (light fixtures, wall hangings/pictures, shelving, etc...), but that will come.

When we looked to buy we really weighed everything out. Transportation is a bit more, but our employers pick up that difference because they pay our bus passes. My mortgage payments are actually less than the rent I was paying. My arnona payments are the same as what they were, but I have at least twice as much space, a garden, a storage unit, AND the bill includes my water. My heating bill is lower because the units we bought are more efficient than the space heaters we had to use in the old apartment, I have air conditioning in the summer (although we use it sparingly), my electric bill is lower because the electric water heater doesn't turn on automatically, and my va'ad bayit is lower (1/2 as much) because there's less maintenance and more families splitting the cost.

chocolate moose

Wed, Dec 26 2007, 9:29 pm

Crayon210 wrote:

If you find out the law where you live regarding mold treatment (most places will require a landlord to get rid of it), then you very nicely send a certified letter to the landlord stating the exact law and that you will give him X number of days to fix the problem, otherwise, you will bring someone in to treat it yourself and you will deduct the amount from rent. Does YALT even want to move? Confused

Sure you can do that. But, from a landlord's point of view, you'll prob. get evicted for making trouble (if your lease has expired).

ArthurDent

Thu, Dec 27 2007, 9:28 am

I agree with NJMommy. Rent is a waste of money. And the truth of the matter is, property is a sound investment. It's not like you're just taking the money and putting it under your mattress not to touch. Granted, real estate investments tend to appreciate more slowly than some of the hotter stocks out there, but it is usually understood to be the safest investment for the bulk of your money.

If it is the case that all your money is going into your mortgage and you have no spending cash laying around and need to get an equity loan in order to have the extra cash for emergencies and what not, I'd have to say that such a person may have budgeted beyond their means. They are either not spending their money wisely, not saving enough, or is dealing with a mortgage much larger than they can reasonably handle.

Of course, I'm speaking in generalities, but for the vast majority of people, it is unwise to throw away money on rent when that (same amount) of money could be used towards a mortgage paying for something you get to keep. Not all of us are in a position to buy, but if you can, it makes financial sense to do so.