NBR: First house, did you struggle?

tyswife306 · July 2009

DH and I just put an offer on our first home. We are getting the home inspection next week. Part of me can't help but be nervous because we are barely scraping by but we make out alright with my unemployment which I know is not forever but our mortgage is only $140 more than our rent which is why we are going for it.

Just wondering, were you nervous when you bought your first home and did you struggle the first year like everyone claims is going to happen?

TIA

Stilts · July 2009

I can't answer your question personally since we're still renting but CONGRATS! That's a big step and very exciting. Friends who own homes say it's an adjustment but the fact that your mortgage is so close to your rent payment makes me think it will be a much easier change for you. The biggest difference is that now you are responsible for anything that needs to be fixed (unless you're doing a condo/townhouse?). DH and I are hoping to buy within the next few months. Best of luck to you!!

Mrs.JLC · July 2009

DH and I both make decent salaries. When we bought our house we based it on his salary alone. We qualified for much more but I am in the financial industry and *knew* better. Well, even though I'm super strict with our budget and we based it on DH's salary alone and we had a decent savings things were still tight. There were still unexpected expenses and things we just plain forgot about (like a lawn mower). We just tightened our belts and didn't go out much and we made sure to clip coupons, plan our grocery shopping around sales, etc, etc.

My only concern would be what will you do if/when your unemployment runs out and you don't have a new job? It's easier to find a smaller/cheaper apartment than to try to sell your home. Either way, good luck.

lmdbww · July 2009

I'm a number cruncher so we were fine with our bills and being able to afford everything.

What we didn't anticipate (and i'm not saying this to scare you), is all of the repairs our house ended up needing... Our inspection was perfect and we just thought we'd have to clean and paint. BOY WERE WE WRONG! Within the first week we moved in, our a/c unit broke, our fridge broke, our dishwasher broke... The house was disgustingly filthy dirty. So dirty, in fact, that one of the toilets even broke trying to clean it. None of our bath fixtures had shutoff valves so we had to turn the water off in the house for 3 days until a plumber could come out. It was literally one disaster after another. The next year our stove went, our hot water heater broke, and our furnace had a crack in the heat exchanger and needed to be replaced. We had a home warranty included w/the sale and it didn't cover repairs on anything! It was the worst. We got into a totally scary amount of credit card debt to fix everything.

We're 6 years later and are debt free and on a cash only basis, but it sucks to have struggled all that time. We never got to enjoy our house or being newlyweds because we were too busy worrying about what was going to break next and how we were going to pay for it.

Anyway, I know our story isn't typical, but there are many unforeseens that people run into once they buy a home... Just keep that in mind.

abergale · July 2009

We were very nervous and honestly we didn't struggle and still don't because instead of spending what we qualified for we bought a house based on the monthly payment. We found one that we could afford the monthly payments and went with it. We have always been very careful with our spending so we stayed true to that. We weren't able to save very much in the first year because we were getting things for our house but now that we just celebrated 2 years in our first home and we have a beautiful house I still love to death and some money in the bank.

stephm0188 · July 2009

We struggle with the extras... our school district passed a levy recently that has cause our taxes to significantly jump. Our water and sewage bill has doubled to nearly $200 a month. We need new carpet. There are cosmetic things we want to do as well. Rearranging our budget to make room for the needs and the wants can be hard sometimes.

trapani2be · July 2009

We didn't struggle to badly, it was the most exciting year, mind you it was just us, no ds yet. You will love the feeling of owning your home. Now you are putting equity into your own home, not paying off someone else's mortgage. We bought our 1st home in Feb, started our own business in May and got married in Oct crazy year but so much fun. I'll never forget when we got our first mortgage statement from the bank and for the 1st year we paid almost more interest than principle it was sad, lol.

You will learn tons of little ways to stretch your money, just fight the urge to buy tons of new stuff for the house that you don't need. Congrats on your new home!

libby73 · July 2009

. We made a conscious decision to buy a house that we could afford on one salary and I am very thankful we did that due to I have been out of work for 7 months. We didn't struggle the first year with our house but I think it was due to we bought a home that was only 1 or 2 years old. Best of luck to you and your family!

LoriFalce · July 2009

We got a fantastic deal on our house. $30,000, less than some people pay for a down payment. We paid cash, and then spent money on renovations. However, what we spent a month renovating was less than what we had been spending on rent for our apartment in Pittsburgh.

Agrippa · July 2009

We were very nervous, but when we bought our first house, we made sure that we'd be able to afford it on just DH's salary. At the time, I was planning on going back to school--possibly full time--and didn't know what kind of job I would have while doing that. We also wanted to be certain that if we had kids early that I'd be able to be a SAHM.

It's a good sign that your mortgage is very close to your rent payment! That should make things easier.

Temp174496125006552 · July 2009

I did struggle a little bit. I was a single mom when I bought my first house. So, I went from living with my parents for next to nothing to having a mortgage payment and utilities...on top of everything else. It was tight, but I made it work and was very proud of myself for the accomplishment.

tobeMrsSzabo · July 2009

our first year was sans baby so we didn't struggle the first year. we are struggling much more the second year. our mortgage was literally more than double our rent though

Brewtowngrl · July 2009

I bought my first house when i was single and 23. I got a duplex and had a roommate so my portion including taxes was only $25 a month. I didn't worry. Since then I sold that and bought another rental that we make a tiny bit on and then we bought a short sale that was at the start of a major addition. We bought it 3 days before DS was born a preemie. I guess that shows how stressed i was. We finished the renovations and addition and have doubled our value (including the cost of finishing the house) so I feel better. If something were to happen we could sell either property quick if we needed to, but just not make much. We are in good shape in our area in that the housing market didn't crash and burn like a lot of places.

ronnie day · July 2009

We struggled A LOT. After we bought our house, Matt's work was cut by almost 3/4 of what he was bringing home and then we had the baby, and I went out on maternity leave. We almost lost it. We also bought at the exact wrong time to buy, because about three months after we bought our house, we lost almost 50k on it.

We bought a brand new house so we didn't need any fixing up. Our AC went out the second month we were here, but our warranty paid for it.

We still are having a bit of trouble here and there, and are looking into possibly bankruptcy because our second mortgage is terrible and has a 5 year balloon payment on it.

My only word of advice, make sure you get a fixed loan. And make sure you can more than afford your mortgage because our loan officer said that on our income it would be a breeze for us, and we have done nothing but struggle for the past three years.

jamie5315 · July 2009

We closed on our house on my 21st birthday. DH's grandma gave us a large downpayment so our mortgage ended up being only $50 more than our rent was. We built a new home so we didn't really struggle with any repairs the first year. In the past two years though we have had some problems with repairs and have had to fight with the builder to correct their shoddy workmanship. Financially it's been fine but owning a home can be very stressful at times! GL with everything!

kirbabe · July 2009

The first year was pinched a little, but nothing like the 2nd year. Elijah was born almost exactly one year after we bought the house. I lost my job in June and my DH lost his job in November. We had to short sale the house and, of course, made no money back. It was very frustrating to feel like we put so much money into this home, all the while telling ourselves, it will be worth it, we're not throwing money away on rent. And then to just lose everything was really hard.

ShanJosh777 · July 2009

Our mortgage payment ended up being less than $100 more than our rent. But in the beginning there are so many extra expenses. We had to buy all of our kitchen appliances, a washer and dryer, lawn mower... all the stuff we took for granted in our rental. Plus our furnace needed to be repaired a few months after we moved in. So it was a lot of upfront expenses... but month to month, it's about the same.

jays_bride · July 2009

Yes, but somehow a year later we are able to scrape an extra $1000/mo together for daycare and car payment! There's definitely an adjustment period...we are fine now after 2 years (but also 2 annual raises for both of us).

Good Luck!

peapod8 · July 2009

don't forget about the tax benefit. you'll get some of that money back in tax write offs.

tmp-354536812503300 · July 2009

We were totally nervous buying our first house but incredibly excited at the same time.

We did struggle the 1st year (we've been in for almost 15 months) but it's been worth it. DS was only 5 weeks old when we went to closing so we were dealing with a new house and new baby and all of those expenses at the same time. We purchased a new build so we didn't have maintenance expenses just things like window coverings (I always took those for granted as a renter) and household items that are necessities from the start. We also had to get some new furniture and bedding, towels, etc. and we've run into some other Murphy's Laws where stuff has just happened out of nowhere and we need extra money.

It's definitely hard sometimes but I wouldn't change it, I love our home and the life we're building in it.

fIowerchild · July 2009

We didn't struggle, but the first house we bought together was bought for the land (2 acres on a lake) so it was a 'fixer upper' and did not cost all that much compared to what we could afford. We lived in 'Dumpy' (for 5 years! while we renovated it ourselves to save money so we could design and build this dream house we are in now.

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