What would u do..........( buying a house or not ) LONG

Tori9299 Posted: Mar 22, 2009 11:01 AM

What would u do..........( buying a house or not ) LONG

we were living in my bedroom. It was tuff living conditions but we had to make it work for 4 years and it worked out fine. We moved in Sept into a great 1 bedroom apt., my grandmother sadly passed away in October a few months before our January wedding, so my parents are in an empty 2 family house. My FH and I came into a nice amount of money so here is where the confusion comes in. My parents are in a paid 2 family house, my DH and I can move into the 2nd floor part of the house which has 3 bedrooms and we can re-model whatever we want. This would help us every month since the house is paid for we would just have to pay half of the bills ( maybe 600 ) a month. And then we would be able to save all our monthly income for our future kids. Mind you my dad can be a PIA sometimes. And even though everything will be separate the last thing I want is to have drama with my DH and dad.
Or we can take all the money and put it towards a co-op which is smaller than a house, and we would not be able to remodel and at least have to pay anywhere from 1600- 2200 a month. So we would have to keep our second jobs and wait to have a family.
Moving into the 2 family we could quit our 2nd jobs and travel all over the world without any money problems. PLEASE HELP.
It so confusing I wish I knew what the right answer was.

MikeandJess Posted: Mar 22, 2009 11:12 AM

Re: What would u do..........( buying a house or not ) LONG

Maybe you can move in with your parents as a trial? Try it for at least 6 months to a year and if your parents are proven to be too difficult to live with then take your money and buy a place of your own.

kristi313 Posted: Mar 22, 2009 11:16 AM

Re: What would u do..........( buying a house or not ) LONG

it this time of economy, i would bite the bullet and move into the upstairs, save money while your there and then maybe in the future you can get your own place. if i had this opportunity it would be all over it!

Espo22 Posted: Mar 22, 2009 11:21 AM

Re: What would u do..........( buying a house or not ) LONG

That is a difficult situation, and i can see why you're so confused. Living in a place where you dont have to pay rent/mortgage would be awesome and you would save so much money. It is difficult though and can cause problems if you live upstairs of your parents and you say your dad is a PIA. If you can live there without problems that would be ideal, but last thing you want is for there to be problems with your DH bc of your parents, that can cause a strain on the relationship. Can you talk to your parents? like tell them if you two move in, you want complete privacy and you don't want them to do anything that causes problems in your relationship.

Also if you both can quit your 2nd jobs, i am sure that will help you both, you'd be able to spend more time together and travelling sounds great.

With the co-op, why do you say you cant remodel? some co-ops you can just so you know. We gutted my apt completely and re-did it, we even changed things around like making one bathroom bigger, the whole layout of the kitchen and more. The one good thing about this is that if you buy a co-op it is an investment bc lets say years later when you want to buy a house, you can sell it and use the money you make off the apartment to use as a down payment on a house.

DCLM726 Posted: Mar 22, 2009 11:53 AM

Re: What would u do..........( buying a house or not ) LONG

I would totally move in on the second floor no matter how annoying the parents are. I would do it to save, save, save so that we could have a great down payment for a place of my own.

I would do it for a trial basis and see how it goes.

I see it this way..if you pay 1500 a month for rent somewhere and you dont have to pay that and just pay bills...thats like saving over 10, 000 a year.

ILOVEBRIAN2008 Posted: Mar 22, 2009 11:56 AM

Re: What would u do..........( buying a house or not ) LONG

Posted by kristi313

it this time of economy, i would bite the bullet and move into the upstairs, save money while your there and then maybe in the future you can get your own place. if i had this opportunity it would be all over it!

i agree...even if its just for 6 months because there starts to be conflicts- thats 6 months of extra saved money that you would have to put towards a house

kristi313 Posted: Mar 22, 2009 12:03 PM

Re: What would u do..........( buying a house or not ) LONG

if you do decide to move in with your parents i highly suggest you pretend you're paying rent, that way you are forced to save. i wouldn't quit your second jobs, i would keep them and live like you have a mortgage. agree upon a monthly amount for your fake rent and put it in the bank, that way you'll have a great chance of being able to quit your second jobs when you do have a house b/c you'll have so much saved IMO

Espo22 Posted: Mar 22, 2009 12:06 PM

Re: What would u do..........( buying a house or not ) LONG

I agree to give it a test run to see how it is. I don't know what you mean by your dad being a PIA, maybe it will be small things that won't be bad. But I can say with having a dad nearby it caused some conflicts, and other parent issues too. I think when you've never been in the situation the problems seem like they wont be a big deal and the money you save is more worth it. But having dealt with it, i can say the relationship is more important than the money, and problems caused by others are not worth the strain it puts on your relationship. Of course this depends on the problems and issues that would come up. If its small things then I wouldn't worry. But you'll only find out if you give a try.

MrsJ08 Posted: Mar 22, 2009 07:27 PM

Re: What would u do..........( buying a house or not ) LONG

You have a great opportunity to save a lot of money for something bigger and better. Buying a Co-op is a big step and investment and you need to be 100% sure thats what you want. The market isn't getting any better and houses will be cheap for another 2 years (from what i have been researching) so I wouldn't rush into buying just yet. If I were you I would def. move into the 2nd floor
save tons of money while traveling and down the road you will have a good amount for a down payment for a home.

Good Luck!

lizzie217 Posted: Mar 22, 2009 07:45 PM

Re: What would u do..........( buying a house or not ) LONG

I would say do a trial of living in the 2nd floor of your parents.

I do not know what you mean when you say your dad is a PIA, it could be silly things or something more serious that could put you in the middle of him and DH in which case I say it is not worth the saved money. However trying it out is probaly smart bc if it isn't working at least you will know you tried and not always think 'we could have saved so much $$' ya know??

Wifeynella Posted: Mar 22, 2009 08:16 PM

Re: What would u do..........( buying a house or not ) LONG

I would definitely move to the second floor as a trial for 6 months. After the 6 months if it wasn't too bad, i'd set up a system with your dad to try and minimize any possible complications or misunderstandings.

jgl Posted: Mar 22, 2009 08:37 PM

Re: What would u do..........( buying a house or not ) LONG

only you can truly decide, based on your history with your parents.

For FH and I we were 29 when we got married and honestly, it was time to be on our own. My parents offered for us to move into the downstairs apartment to save money for a while, but we opted out. My parents as much as I love them, can be PIA's. DH just didnt think it would be healthy for us as newlyweds to be living so close to our parents. we needed our privacy and to be on our own. And now with my sister and brother with my parents and the bickering, im so glad we made the decision to purchase our own house.

I kinda see the opposite as some previous posters. In this economy, you may likley get a home or co-op at a better price. prices are dropping considerably, from when DH and i were looking an bought. when we were looking, looking at houses under 400,000 were ccrap holes. But now i have friends looking at homes in the 250-350 range, and they are comparable or needing a bit more work than mine needed.

Maybe a good option would be to move in with your parents while you look for the right home. this way you arent' obligated to stay, if you are unhappy.

Tori9299 Posted: Mar 22, 2009 10:06 PM

Re: What would u do..........( buying a house or not ) LONG

Thank you so much everyone for posting. I think trying it out for a few months might work for now. DH is still 50-50 on it. I'm not going to make any moves until my parents are done fixing their 1st floor of the house, it needs a ton of renovation. And everything of my parents on the 2nd floor has to go since DH and I have all new furniture. We have a wonderful apt. so everything I hope works out for all of us in the end.