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Sooo...I have an accepted offer for a house and have a loan lined up for it but subtracting mortgage, car cost, food, pet supplies would leave me with 300 for utilities (electric for a small house, water, internet) and anything else for the month. I'm bouncing between "idiotic to even think of it" and "first years would be rough but I should be able to make it".... X_X
Have you factored into that $300. per month the tax benefits of owning a home. I know that the federal deduction has changed for interest and State and Local Taxes (SALT) - speak to your accountant, that $300 might be higher after you adjust your payroll withholdings.
I have always felt (at least when I was younger) that I would make more money as the years went by and as long as my mortgage was at a fixed rate, things would get easier over time.
The house has electric heating - and a pellet stove. The roof looks like it is near the end of its life.
When I put in an offer on the place, I forgot to calculate in the price being a bit more to roll the closing cost in. It's funny how a $100 isn't a lot (compared to all the other house costs) and is a lot.
Meh, next year STAR would come into effect and leave me with $100 more. I should also be getting a raise when would give me $200 more a month. If my car last (I drive a lot of miles), still more money. And 3 paycheck months would give money to put in savings, plus I would be getting a good tax return next year.
But anything major happens in the meantime, credit card Bill's can quickly snowball into a massive amount.
What do you do when the boiler breaks down? What about when oil jumps up to $4 a gallon out of the blue? What about when your car registration and inspection is up or it breaks down?
Just save more money and wait and buy, that’s your best move.
The house has electric heating - and a pellet stove. The roof looks like it is near the end of its life.
Electric heat? OMG. Unless the house is REALLY small, meaning that the pellet stove will be able to heat most of it, you are not going to be happy with your electric bill at all.
A new roof is a major expense. I don't know the size or style of your would-be house but just as a point of comparison, last December (off-season!) the best price we got to re-roof a ranch with a footprint of 30' x 60' with GAF Timberline HD shingles, and tearing off just a single layer of old roofing, was $19K. Even if the house is a small cape, you will be looking at $10K easily.
May I ask what year the house was built? Because by your description (esp. with the electric heat and pellet stove) it sounds as if it may have originally been an "oldie" bungalow on an oversized property that has been updated now and again over time but was originally built in perhaps the 1930s or 1940s? I may be off base, of course, it's just a hunch.
Old (1940s or older) houses have their own unique set of potential problems. For example, if you want to eventually convert to baseboard or forced air heat (or add air conditioning if it only has window units now), it's typically trickier (read: more expensive) in an old house. And please don't tell me the walls are lath and plaster rather than drywall!
Credit cards are the tools of Satan.
The biggest ripoff of all time is credit cards.
Wont have them. I like keeping as much of my money as possible.
I know plenty of fools in debt for life because they live from card to card.
Lotsa electric heat homes out there. Specially Suffolk.
See them all the time. Different kinds of electric heat too, obviously baseboard, heatpump, convection panels, etc...
Maybe someone got tired of escalating oil prices at some point; either way the OP has no reserve to cover anything should it arise.
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