Q and A 1
Julie asked:
Have you grown out of Barbie Dreamhouse now? what is the rooming situation?
Ahh, so the Barbie Dreamhouse. The BDH is still working, but it is not ideal at all. The BDH technically has four bedrooms, however, because three bedrooms have no windows, we can not use them for foster care. Geo and I have one, Bug has one, and we use the other for storage. Callie has the master suite. We also have a HUGE rec room, which we use as a bedroom. The four youngest foster children are in that room. It is plenty big for all of them, matter of fact, we could easily fit a few more in there. But it is not ideal for many reasons. One, it is right outside my bedroom. Two, the kids keep each other up and wake each other up in the morning. And three, Meredith is going to turn six soon and then she can’t share a room with Bubba. So then what? Put her in with Callie? Callie told me that if that happens she will either kill Meredith or herself.
This house is huge, but it has a lot of wasted space for our family. Our living room could easily be three bedrooms. Callie’s room is massive. Etc. Etc.
So I have recently started an all out search for the new BDH. (I really need a reality show, don’t I? This could totally be an episode.) The problem is that the rental houses around here tend to be pretty low-end. Finding a house with a lot of bedrooms is nearly impossible. And then there is the issue of finding a place who will rent to me with my 9 million kids.
I was talking to my new friend (the gal from the playdate) and she is buying a house and she was saying how she thought I should buy a house. And I was like, “Hmm..that is an interesting thought.” So I went online and I fell in love with a new house. Well, actually, it is a really old house. And it is even bigger than this house. It is 4000+ sq feet, with six bedrooms, and it is over 100 years old and I’m in love with it already. And I figured out what a mortgage would be and basically it would be about 10 bucks more than I’m paying in rent right now.
And I want this house, BAD. I’ve always wanted to live in an old house and it would be the perfect foster care house with all those bedrooms.
But I’m worried about getting approved for a mortgage, because as you know I’ve been in the process of credit repair and my scores are pretty decent now, but they aren’t great. I’m hoping my credit union will take into consideration that my rent payment will be the same as the mortgage payment, etc. We’ll see.
So keep your fingers crossed for me, would ya?
April 12th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
Sending you positive house-buying thoughts!
April 13th, 2008 at 8:26 am
Beg, borrow & if necessary steal to make a 20% down payment so you can save on mortgage insurance. Fundraise if you have to. Good luck!
April 13th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Ohhhhhhhhhhh Fabulous. I’m so very excited for you all. All appendages crossed.
Yeah to Ina for bringing up the PMI….20% is a huge help and a money saver. I used to be a morgage officer in a large bank. There are actually a lot of little things you can do to increase your chances.
Baggage, email me with any questions you may have, I will be happy to try and be of assistance.
April 13th, 2008 at 10:43 am
Considering the current mortgage/housing crisis in the US, I’d make sure you have a great down payment and that the market has bottomed out in your area. I’m not sure where you are, but the value of houses had dropped a lot, and some places have further to go.
A few budget surprises that have messed us up along the way? We could afford the mortgage, but property taxes on top were awful, as well as utilities and maintenance, and our annual fixer-upper expense like roof repairs. All previously covered by a landlord, they killed our budget when we were owners.
I assume Geo is buying with you since he is living there almost? Maybe that would help?
April 13th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Some of the programs in your state look pretty sweet (grants of 6% of the sale price towards closing costs or down-payments! low-interest loans for low-income folks who haven’t owned in the last 3 years! Up to $20,000 grants for repairs!) and might help you out:
good luck!
April 13th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Well, looks like you have some great advice already! I had to put a huge downpayment (since there are rental properties) but that is good since my payments are less. And yeah, it isn’t the mortgage payment that is the killer: it is the time, energy and $ it takes to take care of a building. Esp an old building. Suddenly the pipes all burst, and it isn’t the landlord’s problem… it is yours. But it sounds like it would likely be a wise move if you can swing it. Maybe the next one will be the BAGDH (Baggage And Geo Dream House)!! ;D btw what is up with the wedding plans?
April 13th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Wow, that would be so awesome if you could buy! I’d be so jealous. Everyone tells me “buying is so much cheaper than renting in the end,” but when I do my calculations, mortgage plus taxes plus monthly building fees (I would be buying a condo or co-op), would total about $700 more than I’m paying now, so there’s no way I could swing it, like…ever–or until I win the lottery, whichever comes first.
April 13th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
ditto to mojito above . . . everybody else has already said it, but basically I was thinking my mortgage would be “just a little more than my rent” until I realized that PMI, taxes, insurance, extra utilities (water bill) etc all put it up about $250 more.
still might be worth it, though. I wish I had a zillion dollars and could hook you up with a dream house! hmm. wonder if we can contact Extreme Home Makeover?! (probably not soon enough . . .
April 13th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Technically, legally, unless the owner still lives at the house, they cannot NOT rent to you because of your kiddos– Fair Housing Laws prevent that
SO- don’t take that into consideration when looking for a place to live– technically, they can’t even ask you how many kids (they can ask how many people). The only issue is, some places will set guidelines such as only 2 people per bedroom– so a 3 bedroom house could only have 6 people and a 4 bedroom house could only have 8.
April 13th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
I moved directly from my parent’s house to a condo I bought. It was a steal at $450 a mo [+PMI]+ $124 for condo fees. It was a top floor, 2 bdroom, 1 bath w/ cathedral ceilings and walk in closest. It was my nest, my bungalow. Electric only cost me about $72/mo and b/c it was a condo, maintenance wasn’t too much to worry about and I only needed “renter’s” insurance. That was in 2004. I refinanced in 2005 so I could put new windows in. My mortgage went to $750 + condo fees went up to $138. In 2006, I saw that the condos were selling for double what I paid, and I could buy a 3-bedroom townhouse down the street for only $30,000 more than my condo would sell for. So later that year, I did just that. Now my mortgage is up to $1052/mo [went up from $950 when they raised property taxes], my electric is a riduculous $160/mo [only one person living here, and I’m never home! I make sure lights are only on in the room I’m in. It’s crazy]. Homeowners dues are $50/mo…but, I had a water heater go up in the first year [and hell with the darn “home warranty” people], numerous appliances in the basement leaked on my new carpet, and the roof needs replaced [if I don’t, I have to pay $100 each time a shingle comes off or the homeowners association will come and eat me]. The windows are horrible and I’m thinking that is where all my electric bills are going…out the window, but I can’t afford to replace them. I do have a house and a nice deck and a yard, but with the cost of everything going up and housing prices going down, I’m just making it on my own…
April 14th, 2008 at 1:56 am
Just be aware that the mortgage calculators are rarely accurate and don’t include a lot of the taxes/fees/interest/points/whatever. The monthly payment always seems to be significantly more than the calculators would lead you to believe, and sometimes that can be really disappointing.
But good luck and I hope you are able to find a place that works for both your budget and your lifestyle!
April 14th, 2008 at 1:58 am
Also, see if you can qualify for an 80/20 loan (it’s actually 2 loans). That way you don’t have to come up with the 20% downpayment, AND you don’t have to pay mortgage insurance.
BUT, only do that if you’re going to be in the house for a while (like, at least 5 years).