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[Pax]

Originally Posted by Eeyoresmom

[...] with home ownership comes lots of unexpected costs from repairs. [...]

I can attest to that, first-hand (even though I'm not the one who actually owns the home).

Our Ohana is a decidedly nontraditional one - J, dgf K, and I. Well, J's father passed away last fall, and J inherited the house he grew up in. His father had been unwell for years, and had simply closed off various parts of the house when he stopped using them - so they had outdated wallpaper, were coated in dust, and generally needed a lot of updating and even some repairs.

J has spent something like $35,000 on repairs, upgrades, and so on: we removed the carpet in one room (and refinished the hardwood floor that was beneath it), replaced a very 1970's area carpet, refinished three other hardwood floors, repainted 5 rooms, 2 hallways, and one and a half bathrooms; replaced the mirror and "vanity" lights in the full bath; rewired two overhead lights in the same bathroom; upgraded all the wiring in the house from the original "Type A" two-prong-only wiring (the house was built by J's father, in 1948) to modern "Type B" three-prong, NEMA 5-15 wiring; added a few new, isolated, it's-own-15A-circuit outlet in several rooms (for air conditioners), installed house-wide Ethernet wiring, with wall-jacks in every room we expect networkable equipment to be. Completely recarpeted one of the two upstairs bedrooms (K's room).

And we're not (quite) done yet; outdoors needs a lot of work, including professional exterminators to deal with the gigantic infestation of ants in the (very sizeable) lawn. We need trash receptacles that make it easy and intuitive to separate various categories of recyclables, too. And some lawn furniture (he's lived in a garden-style condominium for years, and we're both apartment-dwellers, so having a lawn of any size is a change for us all). And, and, and...!

Note, I haven't mentioned furniture or anything like that. Just stuff that the house and yard needed, and/or stuff you don't generally own much of when living in a rented apartment.

All this, for a house that didn't actually cost J anything (monetarily, of course) to acquire. Can you imagine if he'd had to put a down payment on a three-bedroom, 2.5-bath house with 5 other rooms, and two functional (with cleaning, anyway) fireplaces, that sits on 2-3 acres of land ..??

Homeownership is expensive.

[goofysdtr]

Originally Posted by Eeyoresmom

Think of it as not throwing away that money on rent . . . keep in mind, with home ownership comes lots of unexpected costs from repairs. Be glad that while you're saving for your home and paying down debt - you can rely on the lanlord to pay for any emergencies. I know it's not the same, but I think remembering that helps.

You'll be financially sound and in your own home soon!

I think you've gotten great advice, Gray!

[tkm1005]

I agree with not thinking of rent as throwing money away. Renting is allowing you to have a nice home without the burden of a mortgage and additional responsibilities of home ownership. Plus since your relationship with DH is still up in the air, you don't need to worry about having a home or having to sell a home if for some reason you needed to leave the area.

[stretch2864]

You might want to talk with a mortgage banker at your bank to see where you stand as far as potentially getting a mortgage. They could probably give you good advice on how best to get your finances in order in the event that you would buy a house, either now or in the future. Another consideration might be your long term plans with your husband. In Minnesota, an individual can buy a house, but is required at the sale of a home to have the spouse sign off on any purchase agreements. It doesn't matter if that spouse was on the original title or not. "One to buy, two to sell." I'm not sure if there might be similar laws in place in Florida or Ohio. Good luck with whatever you decide.