rain, rain, go away...

[vixenesque93]

Allergy season has hit so hard that even the cats are sneezing.

Took M into Auburn after work to drop off his truck so he can get a new windshield. Because long drives in the rain during rush hour are just *so* awesome.

We ended up taking a detour to look at a house that M had found on a listing today. Huge place (5bd/3ba), less than 250k. Which meant my first thought was "ok, what's wrong with it?".

Definitely a fixer-upper. With a view into a neighbor's yard full of dead cars and a rusted RV. Well, that answered *that* question. Doesn't matter, we renewed our lease for another year anyways and it's still a buyer's market. So next year we'll be looking at a potential mortgage instead of a lease. Later than we'd wanted to since we wanted to do it this year, but some things are worth the wait.

Comments

[chessdev.livejournal.com]

Some advice (admittedly unsolicited):

Get a loan pre-approval now, even though you wont be looking for next year. Getting the approval will not only give you your credit scores from the big three, but will also give some information on your debt-to-income (both monthly and "overall") that you can do to increase your chances of being approved or getting optimal interest rates.

[glitch25.livejournal.com]

As it turns out, we both monitor our credit scores religiously and already know and monitor our current debt to income ratio. But I agree that it is useful to get pre-approval if just to know what the bank is willing to do and what we'd have to work with/how much down we need to save for the loan type we'd want, etc.

[babalonyieh.livejournal.com]

I'm holding tight for now concerning buying a house. I don't envy anyone with a mortgage right now, not one bit. Scott and I are doing fine now, but that could turn on a dime. Plus in the area we want to live the price is just way too steep. I do like the suggestion of getting pre approved sooner rather than later.

Hey - you cannot make it to mass on Sat, or you coming later on for J's b-day party??? I hope so!

[vixenesque93.livejournal.com]

Yeah...I won't be at mass. Will try to stop by afterwards to wish J a happy birthday though!

M and I have been looking at neighborhoods no more than 15-20 minutes from work, there's some neighborhoods off of SR900 between Issaquah and Renton that we like and can reasonably afford and that aren't too far from the city.

Where were you guys wanting to live?

[babalonyieh.livejournal.com]

Oh good you can make it to the party! I'll see you then.

We like the area we live in now, Phinney Ridge, but also like Ballard and Green wood. The houses are around $500,000 and that was two years ago. I'm not sure what they are now. I read an article where renting costs less then purchasing a house, depending on where you live and your age. Based on the amount it would cost us to purchase and interest over 30 years it is indeed cheaper to pay rent over a 40 year span then to rent. We did look at Poulsbo, Bremerton and Bainbridge, but honestly I don't want to deal with that commute, even though the houses are WAAAAY less. I would end up miserable commuting all the time (more money on commute too) or just attending less events. You know I'm thick into the OTO so that is not an option for at all.

[vixenesque93.livejournal.com]

Yep, for the most part renting is cheaper, especially in Seattle.

We looked at a house off the Issaquah-Hobart road that was going for about 230k (and it was BIG), but it needed some work.