House/Condo Buying Tips Please

talk random
21

i would really do research on yahoo! finance.

some recent articles/resources i found useful:
http://finance.yahoo.com/loan/mortgage/overview/article/101345/buy_dont_rent_when_you_can_afford_the_down_payment


http://finance.yahoo.com/loan/mortgage/home_buying_tips

btw, the first article that suggests to buy, not rent doesn’t take into consideration that if you invested the down payment and got a 10% return, you would be better of renting. just a thought.

22

You also have to take in account that interest on a home loan is tax deductable whereas rent is not.

23

I have heard that you get tax deductions for owning a home. What exactly does that mean? :h:

24

That you can deduct all the taxes and interest (most of your mortgage payment) at the end of the year.

25

basically your mortgage is comprised of 2 parts:

  1. principal
  2. interest

your mortgage payments will include both part principal and interest. the interest you pay on your mortgage is tax deductible. in the first few years of owning a home, most of your mortgage payment will be interest. so in the first few years, you will have higher tax deductions b/c you’re paying more in interest than in later years.

26

Thanks for the explanation!

I talked with the broker on Friday and got a better idea of what I can afford. Also, I learned that I qualify for a type of loan that has no PMI payments (it’s for first-time buyers) so that’s good news.

Now all I have to do is find the right place for the right price. Shouldn’t be a problem, right? :ne:

27

Good luch mrhines1~

I have been looking for a while but pretty much everywhere in Massachusetts is so expensive…Got to love being near Boston

28

Yeah, the area I’m looking at has been developing fairly quickly so the prices have been rising, but they aren’t quite out of my range yet. I’m sure the Boston area has to be ridiculous!