Should my husband and I buy a house or hold off?
Here's the scoops; my husband and I live in Las Vegas where house prices have plummeted. We bought a small condo brand new 4 years ago and the neighborhood has really gotten bad quick.
We would love to move but we'd have to rent our place out (since it is so far below what we paid for it).
We've never been landlords but we've read up on it quite a bit and believe we have the time and temperament to be successful at it. We don't have much of a down payment which is where I hesitate–if it weren't for the situation in our neighborhood I would say no way, but now our neighborhood is really just a hood.
We looked into renting but that the monthly amount for that is way more than buying a house directly would be.
Pros:
Get us OUT of this neighborhood
Room for our growing family (we had a bebe recently)
We'll have a garage(!), an office and a room for le bebe
We can get a house previously valued at 400k for around $175k or lower.
Nice investment for when the housing market comes back - in 10 or 12 years.
Cons:
The need to cover 2 mortgages/increased monthly expenditures
Have to worry about renters
I would need to get a part time job (which i don't mind too terribly since my husband works from home and can watch the baby while I'm working)
We would be looking to hold on to both houses for 10 - 12 years (but we'd be moving out of state in 5 years or so, so we'd have to rent).
What do you think?
I'd stay away from it. Your "con" list has some pretty vital items. And in the worry about renters, it's not only getting them but hoping they pay the rent and don't tear it up. And when you move, it gets even tougher.
Good luck.
March 31st, 2009 at 2:59 am
"We would be looking to hold on to both houses for 10 - 12 years (but we'd be moving out of state in 5 years or so, so we'd have to rent)." -
If you're moving out of state in 5 years, then don't buy anymore real estate. Wait the 5 years.
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March 31st, 2009 at 3:48 am
I'd stay away from it. Your "con" list has some pretty vital items. And in the worry about renters, it's not only getting them but hoping they pay the rent and don't tear it up. And when you move, it gets even tougher.
Good luck.
References :
March 31st, 2009 at 3:54 am
life can be a chance and anything could happen.. husband gets sick or in an accident and can't work.. 2 house payments would be 2 stressful i would think.. and renting out in a bad neighborhood doesn't sound good either.. look around at real estate on ebay.. maybe you could sell your condo there at a price your comfortable with and move on.. get yourself a nice place, go 2 work, save 2 buy another place you can rent out in a decent neighborhood.. i think it was on the news L.V is running out of water, is that true ?
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March 31st, 2009 at 4:04 am
Difficult to get loans nowadays with that kind of debt–condo and personal debt.
WAIT 6-18 months. During that time pay down/pay off your credit card debts, stop using credit, and BUILD your credit rating by paying all bills in full and on time. Also SAVE for your down payment. No more 0 % down loans, you need 3.5-5% and 10% down is better. With 20% down you avoid PMI.
Rushing to buy when they weren't ready to be home owners is a major reason for our current financial crisis. Position yourself so that you are financially and personally ready. Overextending yourself can be a recipe for disaster. Glad that you are researching renting–becoming LL. Getting a tenant who can't/won't pay their rent can quickly mess up your finances–it's not always smooth sailing. Bank won't give you full value for rent (65-75%), and may give you no value until you have signed lease.
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longtime LL