To buy or rent?

Enfuego · Jul 20, 2008

I started a thread awhile back asking the forum if I should buy or rent at the new location I was moving to. Most of you said to buy and that was in my mind last week when I set out on a 10 day journey to select a house and make an offer. Let me tell you how the market is these days from a guy who just wasted 10 days of my life.

- More than 90% of houses listed and we looked at are in the short sale status. People are seriously taking their keys and walking them into the bank and dropping them off with nothing else said. I'm not talking ghetto houses here fellas. I'm talking expensive homes that looked like absolute ass inside because the owners just moved out without a care in the world. The houses looked like shit with holes in the walls, shitty carpets and just plain ole' fucked up. I turned around and just walked out of some of these places.

- Other nice houses are in foreclosure and we'd have to go bid on them at an auction and I don't have time for that shit.

- People are not selling their homes straight up because they'll lose money on them and they can't afford to sell and lose their ass.

I came to the conclusion after shopping and almost willing to give away 300K I had no other option but to rent. Now, I got a really nice house at $2,150 a month but damn I wanted to buy. Well, my next option is to buy in Arizona and tell my mom to move in and pay me rent.

Kruser6 · Jul 20, 2008

Boss Hog said:
I started a thread awhile back asking the forum if I should buy or rent at the new location I was moving to. Most of you said to buy and that was in my mind last week when I set out on a 10 day journey to select a house and make an offer. Let me tell you how the market is these days from a guy who just wasted 10 days of my life.

- More than 90% of houses listed and we looked at are in the short sale status. People are seriously taking their keys and walking them into the bank and dropping them off with nothing else said. I'm not talking ghetto houses here fellas. I'm talking expensive homes that looked like absolute ass inside because the owners just moved out without a care in the world. The houses looked like shit with holes in the walls, shitty carpets and just plain ole' fucked up. I turned around and just walked out of some of these places.

- Other nice houses are in foreclosure and we'd have to go bid on them at an auction and I don't have time for that shit.

- People are not selling their homes straight up because they'll lose money on them and they can't afford to sell and lose their ass.

I came to the conclusion after shopping and almost willing to give away 300K I had no other option but to rent. Now, I got a really nice house at $2,150 a month but damn I wanted to buy. Well, my next option is to buy in Arizona and tell my mom to move in and pay me rent.

I think the bolded section says it best man. If you don't have time to go buy the house then you probably shouldn't even be thinking about buying one. Houses can take a lot of upkeep, and you need to really do some homework to ensure you make the best investment your money can buy.

Uno · Jul 20, 2008

boss you are going to take some damage in this thread. good luck man.

joeyfitzclick · Jul 20, 2008

$2150 down the drain.

TescoVee · Jul 20, 2008

wait until the first wave of adjustable mortgages start changing this winter.
look out below

MrCleo · Jul 20, 2008

serious? so you asked for a consensus from the forum, went against the consensus and asking us again after finding out it was a bad move?

i'm in the same area as you, Northern Virginia and will be buying something before October. either a townhouse or condo

Fishhead · Jul 20, 2008

Considering your purchase will be cheaper in 2 years......wait.

That is unless you really need a house and plan on staying in it for at least 7 years.

Enfuego · Jul 20, 2008

MrCleo said:
serious? so you asked for a consensus from the forum, went against the consensus and asking us again after finding out it was a bad move?

i'm in the same area as you, Northern Virginia and will be buying something before October. either a townhouse or condo

I did not go out with the intention to go against the forum. I went out full throttle for 10 straight days looking at 4-5 houses per day with full intentions of buying. I'm not asking for any opinions on anything as we secured a house today to rent because we couldn't find anything to buy.

I can't buy a townhouse or condo because I have a wife, 3 kids and a dog and those two don't work for us. What I'm saying is there's simply nothing out there right now. I don't have 3 months to worry about a short sale or foreclosures. I'm in the military and when we move we have to move and find a house. I conducted tons of research before our arrival but before you guys bash me get on remax or other sites and tell me how many houses for sale right now are short sales. It's unreal.

Enfuego · Jul 20, 2008

Uno said:
boss you are going to take some damage in this thread. good luck man.

Explain why please.

oldmanTED · Jul 20, 2008

Boss Hog:

Completely understand as the same thing is happening here in California. In some cities, over 50% of the houses for sale are in foreclosure and people are walking away from their homes in droves and many of these are quite expensive. I know I told you to buy, but if you can't find either a short sale or auction that fits your time frame, then you have no choice but to rent. While you're renting, however, you should continue to look on a regular basis, as you will have more time to be selective. Hope your lease isn't too long. Since in your last thread you said that you should be there 3 to 4 years and don't mind renting a purchased property out once you leave, still believe you should continue to shop while renting.

Enfuego · Jul 20, 2008

oldmanTED said:
Boss Hog:

Completely understand as the same thing is happening here in California. In some cities, over 50% of the houses for sale are in foreclosure and people are walking away from their homes in droves and many of these are quite expensive. I know I told you to buy, but if you can't find either a short sale or auction that fits your time frame, then you have no choice but to rent. While you're renting, however, you should continue to look on a regular basis, as you will have more time to be selective. Hope your lease isn't too long. Since in your last thread you said that you should be there 3 to 4 years and don't mind renting a purchased property out once you leave, still believe you should continue to shop while renting.

Oldman, my mom is selling her home in Phoenix and wants me to purchase a home and her and my stepfather will rent it from us. The same thing is happening in Phoenix but she can't afford her current $2500 a month mortgage and is also short selling her home for a ton less than what she bought it for. My aunt just bought a very nice place in Phoenix for 190K so I can get something in that range and lower her monthly rate for her.

Brooklynbomber · Jul 20, 2008

Boss Hog said:
Most of you said to buy and that was in my mind last week

theres your answer, Rx has proven to be a great fade in economic matters.

1cheater · Jul 20, 2008

Boss, maybe I missed it, but why were you in such a hurry to buy a house? 10 day's to buy a house is insane. Seeing 4-5 houses a day is insane. You probably burnt your self out, got pissed and said fuck it... If I was in your shoes I would have looked at one of those "cosmetically damaged houses" a little closer. You "could" have gotten a great house for a good price and put 10 grand into cosmetic fixes? I know this is easy for me to say cause I don't know what your market is and your price range is....

Enfuego · Jul 20, 2008

#1cheater# said:
Boss, maybe I missed it, but why were you in such a hurry to buy a house? 10 day's to buy a house is insane. Seeing 4-5 houses a day is insane. You probably burnt your self out, got pissed and said fuck it... If I was in your shoes I would have looked at one of those "cosmetically damaged houses" a little closer. You "could" have gotten a great house for a good price and put 10 grand into cosmetic fixes? I know this is easy for me to say cause I don't know what your market is and your price range is....

I was approved up to 300K. You wouldn't have paid 250K for the houses I looked at. Keep in mind these were banks who had taken back the houses from the owners and placing the prices on the homes so there was no room for negotiation. One of the 300K houses I looked at had about a 1978 oven sitting in the living room with black shit all over the rug. Would you pay that much money for a home where you'd have to replace all rugs, paint the entire house, patch up numerous holes in all the walls? Why wouldn't I just pay 300K to someone for a house that's already prepared for me to move in?

I had 10 days to search and then place an offer. We looked high and low throughout N. Virginia. I'm telling you honestly there are very, very few places for sale straight up by the owner through their real estate agent. Short sales and foreclosures take months to close on (not even guaranteed the house). I can't live in a hotel for months with my family.

gtc08 · Jul 20, 2008

big story ran on people just walking away from home, even people who see trouble coming quickly and arnt necessarily in the box yet. the article basically said game over if that continues to happen.

BadCo · Jul 20, 2008

Boss Hog said:
I can't live in a hotel for months with my family.

TLA

Enfuego · Jul 20, 2008

And oh by the way, when I bought my first home I chose a house on my 2nd day of searching, made an offer on the 5th day and closed on the 6th day. Of course that was during the prosperous times of people selling their homes through an agent.

BadCo · Jul 20, 2008

When i was 15 I spent the whole summer living in Waikiki as folks looked for a home and when school started in Sept stayed in a dive near where we were buying.

While living in a hotel in Waikiki ran a muck with other kids who were military brats who's parents were on TLA.

Just saying not knocking.

Enfuego · Jul 20, 2008

BadCo said:
When i was 15 I spent the whole summer living in Waikiki as folks looked for a home and when school started in Sept stayed in a dive near where we were buying.

While living in a hotel in Waikiki ran a muck with other kids who were military brats who's parents were on TLA.

Just saying not knocking.

Times have changed brother. You get a total of 30 days in TLA (after 30 days you have to pay out of your pocket) and I only get 8 days of authorized leave to search for a home. Short sales take between 30-60 days to close and it's not even guaranteed to get the home. I would have to take leave for the rest of the days to find a home and my wife isn't going to search for a home and make a 300K decision without my opinion. I've been in the military quite awhile and know the rules and what TLA is. In fact, I'm typing this message from TLA.

BadCo · Jul 20, 2008

I hear ya my dad went to work every day while we were in hotel and yes was 1971.

Mom was a real estate agent when we were younger so guess that helped.

Always got like a new bike or something when she closed a deal.

I think you made the right choice my self as rent is cheap right now.