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So, I just purchased my very first house.....first things first, tell TL about it.
A little about the house.
Date built: 1993
Square feet: 1320 w/2 car garage, bringing total space to ~1500sq. feet.
Lot size: 1/3 acre.
Exterior: Brick and Stucco
Interior: Tile floor throughout, popcorn ceilings, terrible paint colors.
Roof date: 2010
A little financial information I don't mid sharing.
Purchase Price: $65,000
Mortgage length: 15 years
Mortgage amount: $61,700
Appraisal value: $97,500 (because I am a baller)
Down payment: $3,300
Interest rate: 3.375%
Payments per month(taxes, PMI, HI, mortgage): ~$620
The house needs painting throughout, which I will be doing myself.
Walls:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/utsg8.jpg)
Here is a pic of my living room. I just added the chair rail(the trim piece in the middle of the wall), and caulked it, will be painting it as I get time. The living room doesn't need to be fully painted, just touched up, and the trim needs touched up as well. The kitchen is an abominable yellow color, and my bedroom is a horrific peach. The master bathroom is a terrifying mix of three different colors and 4 different color schemes. I will also need to re-tile the master bathtub surround. I had to do a decent amount of drywall patching and repair as well. Most of that is done, though, I just have to paint it. I'm painting my bedroom a medium gray on three walls, and a dark green on the last wall.
Electrical: All the bathroom electrical fixtures need replacing, as they are old, and missing lenses, plus have rust on them. A bedroom needs a ceiling fan, the living room lights are just cheap and look terrible, and the kitchen light is a warehouse fixture that just looks like crap. Will be replacing them all.
Plumbing: Nothing much, fortunately. I hate plumbing. Might replace a few faucets and sinks, but that is small stuff, and for the future.
Exterior: The walls need to be cleaned and the trim scraped and painted. Fortunately the front is brick, and in good condition, so the exterior is not a priority.
Furnishings: I need to buy a microwave, refrigerator, washer/dryer, and basically every other single piece of furniture normally found in a house. I have a few things from my old place, but most of it is really crappy, and I want a fresh start. I have a desk I can re-use, and that's about it. The only thing currently in it is a range and dishwasher. I need a new TV as well. Just ordered Comcast internet and basic cable.
I am fortunate in the respect that I know how to do basically everything involved in renovating a house, thanks to working general construction for every summer of my high school years, and a year after that. I can do drywall finishing, paint, tile, trim, electrical, plumbing, etc fairly professionally.
I really have no good decorating ideas, but my sister is going to be living with me for a year or so, and she is pretty good at that stuff, so I'll probably let her design, and I'll build.
Plans: I will have 2 roomates, who will be paying me rent. The rent will all go towards paying off my mortgage faster. My plan is to pay it off in 9 years. I will then probably buy a bigger and better house, renting out this house, and using the rent to help pay my mortgage on my new house, which i will again pay extra on, and pay off early. Hopefully I can repeat that cycle at least 5-10 times by the age of 65, as it will go faster and faster once I have a couple of houses being rented. I have some disposable income right now, so hopefully this is all a wise investment, and a tornado won't blow it all over, lol.
  
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65k? where do you live.. omg..
i just spent 315k on 1800sq ft townhome =[
really digging your mortgage payments lol..
grats!
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I like that aperture. It's nice. It sounds like you have a shit load of work to do but hey, that's part of having your own house.
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On November 02 2011 22:35 deepfield1 wrote:
65k? where do you live.. omg..
i just spent 315k on 1800sq ft townhome =[
really digging your mortgage payments lol..
grats!
Christ, I hope you live in New York City. I can't fathom spending that much on a place in today's market.
edit:
Super grats to the OP. I remember buying my first house. It was before the whole real estate bubble bursting. Like, three weeks before. fml. 
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Straight outta Johto18973 Posts
Wow, congrats on your first house. It's good to know you have it all planned out how you envision to pay off the mortgage and ensure everything works out smoothly. Also, that's a pretty cheap house. (I'm assuming it's in USD?)
I hope everything works out great for you! 
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Congrats on your first house.
If you really did get an appraisal for 97,500 and you are paying PMI like you said, you should be able to have the PMI removed because your loan to value ratio is above 20%, unless you had some other extenuating circumstances or conditions of the loan that should save you a few bucks each month. Since you got a 3.375% rate your credit must be good so might as well get rid of that PMI portion of the payment.
$65k is free for a house, I paid $300k for my first house in Milwaukee.
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seeing this makes my head hurt. My fiance and i are currently renting a 2 bed house and we pay 1500/month plus utilities. Sounds like you got a great deal or live in the middle of nowhere.
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On November 02 2011 22:35 deepfield1 wrote:
65k? where do you live.. omg..
i just spent 315k on 1800sq ft townhome =[
really digging your mortgage payments lol..
grats!
I live in Jacksonville, FL. The area of town is decent. Not trash, not high-end, just decent. I'm like 5 miles from the interstate and 3 miles from a giant brand new mall. And i just got an amazing deal through great timing, some of it me, most of it pure luck.
On November 02 2011 22:50 Eeryck wrote:
Congrats on your first house.
If you really did get an appraisal for 97,500 and you are paying PMI like you said, you should be able to have the PMI removed because your loan to value ratio is above 20%, unless you had some other extenuating circumstances or conditions of the loan that should save you a few bucks each month. Since you got a 3.375% rate your credit must be good so might as well get rid of that PMI portion of the payment.
$65k is free for a house, I paid $300k for my first house in Milwaukee.
I am paying PMI, through some condition I can't even remember at the moment, I think it had something to do with my credit, which is very good, but "weak", as in I don't have much history. I have to pay it for a year and then it drops. It's only $22 a month though, so I'm not really making a big deal over.
I feel sorry for all you people saying you paid like $300k for a house and such, unless your income scales accordingly.
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What? How? You spent 65k on a 1300 sq. ft. house? Things like this blow my mind.
I bought my first apartment (relatively) central in Oslo, Norway this winter at the nifty price of 227k and it has only 350 sq. ft. Its considered a cheap appartment (moderate standard / proximity to city center) here in Oslo. Sometimes the differences across the pond amaze me. (Even though i assume apartments are cheap cuz of the crash/slump in the american economy).
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Wow, so cheap!!!
GRATS!!!
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United States5162 Posts
LOL at everyone losing their mind at a 65k house. House prices in FL have plummeted due to high supply leftover from the recent housing boom. A lot of houses were built/bought as an investment thinking that prices would continue going up at a ridiculous pace(for ex. my parents house was built for 60k in 1985, appraised at 300k in 2006, now it's less then 100k) and now people just want them off their hands.
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Wow that is a nice house for that price. I wish I lived in some parts of the US for that reason, houses here are way to over priced for what the average person makes.
+ Show Spoiler + Your mortgage payments are cheaper than my rent for a 1 bedroom basement suite.
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So cheaaaap. A tiny house around here (Vancouver Canada) is minimum 350,000 for a sweatbox. T.T
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Osaka27149 Posts
On November 02 2011 23:32 Myles wrote:
LOL at everyone losing their mind at a 65k house. House prices in FL have plummeted due to high supply leftover from the recent housing boom. A lot of houses were built/bought as an investment thinking that prices would continue going up at a ridiculous pace(for ex. my parents house was built for 60k in 1985, appraised at 300k in 2006, now it's less then 100k) and now people just want them off their hands.
Don't know why you say LOL. For most areas housing prices haven't gone that way. You are the anomaly, not the norm.
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On November 02 2011 23:25 Aphasie wrote:
What? How? You spent 65k on a 1300 sq. ft. house? Things like this blow my mind.
I bought my first apartment (relatively) central in Oslo, Norway this winter at the nifty price of 227k and it has only 350 sq. ft. Its considered a cheap appartment (moderate standard / proximity to city center) here in Oslo. Sometimes the differences across the pond amaze me. (Even though i assume apartments are cheap cuz of the crash/slump in the american economy).
0_o
If you don't mind me asking, what is your income level?
The reason mine was so cheap is because there is a huge glut of houses in Jacksonville(FL in general, actually, but Jack is very "bad"), due to way too many houses being built during the boom. 4 years ago this same house had a value of $180k. It still is worth close to that, imo, but value is what people are going to pay, not what it is worth. And if there's people desperate to sell a 2000 sq ft house built in 2009 for $200k, then no one is going to buy a 1300 sq ft 1993 house for $180k. Hopefully in 10-15 years the prices are more or less back to normal.
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What part of Florida are you referring to Myles. They certainly haven't fallen that much here in Tallahassee.
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16986 Posts
On November 02 2011 22:43 MrBitter wrote:Show nested quote +On November 02 2011 22:35 deepfield1 wrote:
65k? where do you live.. omg..
i just spent 315k on 1800sq ft townhome =[
really digging your mortgage payments lol..
grats! Christ, I hope you live in New York City. I can't fathom spending that much on a place in today's market. edit: Super grats to the OP. I remember buying my first house. It was before the whole real estate bubble bursting. Like, three weeks before. fml.
rofl, if you can find an 1800 square foot townhome for anywhere in NYC in the six digits, let me know.
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I like your plan! Hope it works out.
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On November 02 2011 23:39 Sm3agol wrote:Show nested quote +On November 02 2011 23:25 Aphasie wrote:
What? How? You spent 65k on a 1300 sq. ft. house? Things like this blow my mind.
I bought my first apartment (relatively) central in Oslo, Norway this winter at the nifty price of 227k and it has only 350 sq. ft. Its considered a cheap appartment (moderate standard / proximity to city center) here in Oslo. Sometimes the differences across the pond amaze me. (Even though i assume apartments are cheap cuz of the crash/slump in the american economy). 0_o If you don't mind me asking, what is your income level? The reason mine was so cheap is because there is a huge glut of houses in Jacksonville(FL in general, actually, but Jack is very "bad"), due to way too many houses being built during the boom. 4 years ago this same house had a value of $180k. It still is worth close to that, imo, but value is what people are going to pay, not what it is worth. And if there's people desperate to sell a 2000 sq ft house built in 2009 for $180k, then no one is going to buy a 1300 sq ft 1993 house for $180k. Hopefully in 10-15 years the prices are more or less back to normal.
My income is fairly low. Im a student working part time 2-3 days a week, which nets me about 20k a year and i get 14k a year as a student loan. The only reason i could buy it was that my parents gave me an advance on my inheritance, 135k and my mother co-signed on my loan on the rest (which i pay). On the remaning 90k i pay about 400USD a month on a 3,7%/30 year loan.
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United States5162 Posts
On November 02 2011 23:37 Manifesto7 wrote:Show nested quote +On November 02 2011 23:32 Myles wrote:
LOL at everyone losing their mind at a 65k house. House prices in FL have plummeted due to high supply leftover from the recent housing boom. A lot of houses were built/bought as an investment thinking that prices would continue going up at a ridiculous pace(for ex. my parents house was built for 60k in 1985, appraised at 300k in 2006, now it's less then 100k) and now people just want them off their hands. Don't know why you say LOL. For most areas housing prices haven't gone that way. You are the anomaly, not the norm.
I just thought it was funny. It may be the exception nationwide, but around here it's completely normal.
On November 02 2011 23:39 Probe1 wrote:
What part of Florida are you referring to Myles. They certainly haven't fallen that much here in Tallahassee.
Ft. Myers area.
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On November 02 2011 23:50 Aphasie wrote:Show nested quote +On November 02 2011 23:39 Sm3agol wrote:On November 02 2011 23:25 Aphasie wrote:
What? How? You spent 65k on a 1300 sq. ft. house? Things like this blow my mind.
I bought my first apartment (relatively) central in Oslo, Norway this winter at the nifty price of 227k and it has only 350 sq. ft. Its considered a cheap appartment (moderate standard / proximity to city center) here in Oslo. Sometimes the differences across the pond amaze me. (Even though i assume apartments are cheap cuz of the crash/slump in the american economy). 0_o If you don't mind me asking, what is your income level? The reason mine was so cheap is because there is a huge glut of houses in Jacksonville(FL in general, actually, but Jack is very "bad"), due to way too many houses being built during the boom. 4 years ago this same house had a value of $180k. It still is worth close to that, imo, but value is what people are going to pay, not what it is worth. And if there's people desperate to sell a 2000 sq ft house built in 2009 for $180k, then no one is going to buy a 1300 sq ft 1993 house for $180k. Hopefully in 10-15 years the prices are more or less back to normal. My income is fairly low. Im a student working part time 2-3 days a week, which nets me about 20k a year and i get 14k a year as a student loan. The only reason i could buy it was that my parents gave me an advance on my inheritance, 135k and my mother co-signed on my loan on the rest (which i pay). On the remaning 90k i pay about 400USD a month on a 3,7%/30 year loan.
Ouch! I was expecting a little more than that. So are housing prices are super high, and income hasn't caught up with it, or has it always been that way? I don't really follow housing prices elsewhere, obviously, although I've heard that in places like NYC/LA/Milwaukee etc they are pretty ridiculous. I really haven't heard anything about European prices until now.
I make quite a bit more than that, I fall well below the recommended "housing shouldn't cost you more than 25% of what you make" advice that I've heard.
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On November 02 2011 22:43 MrBitter wrote:Super grats to the OP. I remember buying my first house. It was before the whole real estate bubble bursting. Like, three weeks before. fml.
Wtf is it normal for people to buy multiple houses or houses in that young age? i mean in the usa.
Cause here in germany you cannot afford a house before you hit your 40 i would say. lucky bastards
EDIT: I forgot the most important: CONGRATULATIONS!! *highfive*
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my god thats cheap, shows what the banks in America will lend comapred to the uk, bought my first house a year ago and needed at LEAST 25% had to put down £30,000 deposit for a value of £120,000. Even then about 3-4 companies wouldnt lend and both me and my partner worked full time....
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On November 02 2011 23:35 nvs. wrote:
So cheaaaap. A tiny house around here (Vancouver Canada) is minimum 350,000 for a sweatbox. T.T
yup same here in Southern California....property bubble bursts....prices drop...from 500k to 350k. still expensive here lol
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On November 03 2011 00:05 LayZRR wrote:Show nested quote +On November 02 2011 22:43 MrBitter wrote:Super grats to the OP. I remember buying my first house. It was before the whole real estate bubble bursting. Like, three weeks before. fml. Wtf is it normal for people to buy multiple houses or houses in that young age? i mean in the usa. Cause here in germany you cannot afford a house before you hit your 40 i would say. lucky bastards
Not really. Basically none of my friends my age have houses. And I'm not that young, I'm 26. I have a decent job, plus I've been saving a crap-load of money since my freshman year of high school. I've bought all of my cars with straight cash, with the exception of my last, which I got a small loan for just to get some credit, and paid it off as soon as I could without losing all the credit you get for that(one year). I'm also a cheap bastard, and don't spend money on anything but video games and music lessons.
On November 03 2011 00:07 Tommylew wrote:
my god thats cheap, shows what the banks in America will lend comapred to the uk, bought my first house a year ago and needed at LEAST 25% had to put down £30,000 deposit for a value of £120,000. Even then about 3-4 companies wouldnt lend and both me and my partner worked full time....
It's basically the same here, I'm just fortunate in that I have good credit. I have several friends having a lot of trouble getting financed for any loans because they missed a few car payments/ couldn't pay a medical bill/etc. If you have any "flags" on your credit history, you're screwed.
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In the Southeast, property prices have been super low for a very long time.
Last August a bought a small place (about 1200 sq ft) with two bedrooms and a single bathroom for $21,000.
Just using it as a rental right now, but at $600/month the place will pay for itself very quickly.
Obvoiusly property value changes a lot based purely on where you are in the country, but I know of several properties around Georgia that are amazing steals.
My first home I bought for $140k prior to the bust. Now it's probably worth between $60-80k.
Definitely a buyers market.
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I realize you guys are probably pretty careful about this, but it would probably be for the best if you guys reduced the amount of information you're handing out. At the least make it more vague.
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On November 02 2011 23:59 Sm3agol wrote:Show nested quote +On November 02 2011 23:50 Aphasie wrote:On November 02 2011 23:39 Sm3agol wrote:On November 02 2011 23:25 Aphasie wrote:
What? How? You spent 65k on a 1300 sq. ft. house? Things like this blow my mind.
I bought my first apartment (relatively) central in Oslo, Norway this winter at the nifty price of 227k and it has only 350 sq. ft. Its considered a cheap appartment (moderate standard / proximity to city center) here in Oslo. Sometimes the differences across the pond amaze me. (Even though i assume apartments are cheap cuz of the crash/slump in the american economy). 0_o If you don't mind me asking, what is your income level? The reason mine was so cheap is because there is a huge glut of houses in Jacksonville(FL in general, actually, but Jack is very "bad"), due to way too many houses being built during the boom. 4 years ago this same house had a value of $180k. It still is worth close to that, imo, but value is what people are going to pay, not what it is worth. And if there's people desperate to sell a 2000 sq ft house built in 2009 for $180k, then no one is going to buy a 1300 sq ft 1993 house for $180k. Hopefully in 10-15 years the prices are more or less back to normal. My income is fairly low. Im a student working part time 2-3 days a week, which nets me about 20k a year and i get 14k a year as a student loan. The only reason i could buy it was that my parents gave me an advance on my inheritance, 135k and my mother co-signed on my loan on the rest (which i pay). On the remaning 90k i pay about 400USD a month on a 3,7%/30 year loan. Ouch! I was expecting a little more than that. So are housing prices are super high, and income hasn't caught up with it, or has it always been that way? I don't really follow housing prices elsewhere, obviously, although I've heard that in places like NYC/LA/Milwaukee etc they are pretty ridiculous. I really haven't heard anything about European prices until now. I make quite a bit more than that, I fall well below the recommended "housing shouldn't cost you more than 25% of what you make" advice that I've heard.
It certainly doesnt work like that in Oslo. I guess on avg. a house cost 3-5 times the annual income of the household. The reason is that nobody wants to build (i.e. gets approval) high buildings. The city is mainly divided on an east/west axis where there workingclass lives in the east and thats the only place they build more houses, further raising housing on the west side and/or city center. Basically the only way to get into the market is getting money from parents (not that usual) or buying a small place like mine with an avg. income (i think the avg. income in oslo is around 70-80k/year) and then starting to build a bank from there. One of the main reasons that it works out this way is that prices are incredibly stable and that the rise in population far exceeds the building of new houses.
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just the value of the homes is what is suprising me the lowest in bad places where ive been looking in the UK the lowest for a complete rundown is £70,000 - 80,000 in uk money.. lol
Looking at Cardiff now most are going between 80-110k for a basic 2 bedroom no frills house and theya re in nasty areas...
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On November 03 2011 00:30 foom wrote:
I realize you guys are probably pretty careful about this, but it would probably be for the best if you guys reduced the amount of information you're handing out. At the least make it more vague.
What kind of information that I gave out could be used against me?
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Man I wish the Swedish market would bust. Well, I don't really but I kind of do. If I didnt have to consider anyone else, I'd hope it busts.
If I want a house in decent vicinity of the city I live in (115000 people) I'm looking at 450k USD.
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Wow. With prices like that I will be moving to Jacksonville soon. A similar house here would cost a minimum of 300k. Congrats!
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Katowice25012 Posts
Congrats! Sounds fun
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Man, I need to move out of the big city... I'm paying more than double your mortgage for a ~1150 square foot (107 square meter) apartment in Düsseldorf.
Congrats on your first house, that's a great achievement!
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Remember to build your own bar. Looking nice, congrats!
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65k? Jesus. So cheap. Nice find.
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On November 03 2011 00:30 foom wrote:
I realize you guys are probably pretty careful about this, but it would probably be for the best if you guys reduced the amount of information you're handing out. At the least make it more vague.
Lol wtf?
congratulations! Great to see your financial responsibility paying off like this
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On November 03 2011 00:25 MrBitter wrote:
In the Southeast, property prices have been super low for a very long time.
Last August a bought a small place (about 1200 sq ft) with two bedrooms and a single bathroom for $21,000.
Just using it as a rental right now, but at $600/month the place will pay for itself very quickly.
Obvoiusly property value changes a lot based purely on where you are in the country, but I know of several properties around Georgia that are amazing steals.
My first home I bought for $140k prior to the bust. Now it's probably worth between $60-80k.
Definitely a buyers market.
Wow that's the price of a car here in France (21k), even 140k for a house is incredibly low for me, that's not even the price of an appartment here.
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Where I come from, a proverb exists:
There are three things for a man to achieve in his life:
- build a house
- become a father
- plant a tree
Since building a house with one's bare hands is kinda outdated, I think buying one will fulfill that condition completely. And that's by far the hardest step imo. You're on the best way to become a real man =)
Also, congratz on that deal.
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On November 02 2011 23:33 Kralic wrote:Wow that is a nice house for that price. I wish I lived in some parts of the US for that reason, houses here are way to over priced for what the average person makes. + Show Spoiler + Your mortgage payments are cheaper than my rent for a 1 bedroom basement suite.
Yeah it's quite a joke now, houses are completely unaffordable in Vancouver. A house which we were going to buy about 8~ years ago for $650k is now worth over 2.5million [by UBC] lol
Townhouse that we had 8 years ago went up from $150k to $450k as well in Coquitlam TT
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On November 03 2011 03:39 Legend` wrote:Show nested quote +On November 02 2011 23:33 Kralic wrote:Wow that is a nice house for that price. I wish I lived in some parts of the US for that reason, houses here are way to over priced for what the average person makes. + Show Spoiler + Your mortgage payments are cheaper than my rent for a 1 bedroom basement suite. Yeah it's quite a joke now, houses are completely unaffordable in Vancouver. A house which we were going to buy about 8~ years ago for $650k is now worth over 2.5million [by UBC] lol Townhouse that we had 8 years ago went up from $150k to $450k as well in Coquitlam TT
I'm guessing everyone rents?
Right now in Jacksonville, rent for a house my size would run about $900-1100...far more than my mortgage payments. The things is, not many people have the disposable income or credit to do things like buying houses.
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On November 03 2011 03:39 Legend` wrote:Show nested quote +On November 02 2011 23:33 Kralic wrote:Wow that is a nice house for that price. I wish I lived in some parts of the US for that reason, houses here are way to over priced for what the average person makes. + Show Spoiler + Your mortgage payments are cheaper than my rent for a 1 bedroom basement suite. Yeah it's quite a joke now, houses are completely unaffordable in Vancouver. A house which we were going to buy about 8~ years ago for $650k is now worth over 2.5million [by UBC] lol Townhouse that we had 8 years ago went up from $150k to $450k as well in Coquitlam TT
Yeah, for real. I'm looking for a place in Vancouver right now, and it didn't take long to decide against buying.
Gratz on the first house! I think all us renters are a little (lot) jealous.
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65k????!!!! are you serious?!
Is it in a ghetto or something?
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My rent is 3 times your monthly mortgage, and the space is 1/3 of that... Hooray NYC!
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United States24679 Posts
Man, whenever I see a blog like this (someone bought a house) I get jealous :p
I'd like to have a house although I must admit taking care of it is still a bit daunting for me.
The thing that bothers me is I don't really know how to determine when you will be able to get your own house. It depends on where you live, your financial situation, etc. I don't know if I'll be ready in 18 months... or maybe not for 10 years...
Congrats and good luck.
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Looks very nice. And amazingly cheap too. Your investment journey looks to be starting on the right foot.
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Man, why is California so fucking expensive zzzzzzzzzzz I'm spending 700 a month to rent a room.
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Maybe I should move to Jacksonville...
Unless your in the hood you really found yourself a hell of a deal.
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Norway28665 Posts
On November 02 2011 23:25 Aphasie wrote:
What? How? You spent 65k on a 1300 sq. ft. house? Things like this blow my mind.
I bought my first apartment (relatively) central in Oslo, Norway this winter at the nifty price of 227k and it has only 350 sq. ft. Its considered a cheap appartment (moderate standard / proximity to city center) here in Oslo. Sometimes the differences across the pond amaze me. (Even though i assume apartments are cheap cuz of the crash/slump in the american economy).
haha yeah, I bought an apartment 1 1/2 years ago in trondheim.. paid something like $370k for 650 sq ft. I mean, location matters a lot and you can find equally sized apartments for considerably less if you live in the outskirts of the city but 65k for 1300sqft, even with adjustments for norwegian vs american wages, sounds like an absolutely great deal.
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This is why I love Jacksonville. Whereabouts do you live??? like outside in Orange Park or inside Jacksonville proper?
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Kind of the edge of Jacksonville and Orange park.
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EPT
