Where it Went 12/23 - 1/05

Happy New Year!

Between the holidays and my busy time at work starting up I am crazy busy. Or just crazy. :-)

I do have a lot to say so real quickly:

My fiance got a $2000 bonus at work!
We refinanced the condo mortgage today!
I had a work vent but I think everything is okay.
I spent way too much money over the holidays and I'm just trying to make up for it now.

So...in the meantime here's where my "cash" went over the past two weeks and in a few hours I will deal with everything else.

Projected/Actual

Credit Card - 250/250
Charity - 50/50
Wedding Savings - 500/500

Groceries - 75/0
Christmas - 75/180*
Law School Loan - 54/54
Perkins Loan - 93/93
Misc. - 183/60*

*There's some overlap in these two categories.

My siblings never reimbursed me for a gift I bought for my parents. Who knows if I will see that $100 any time soon.

That's all for now.

Snag with the mortgage refinance

I posted a few weeks ago about how my fiance and I were looking to refinance the condo.

Well we finally got out appraisal back and the news isn't so hot. Instead of the $155k we were hoping to get, our appraiser valued the condo at $150k. Boo. And so off in my humble opinion. Based on comps and improvements we've made I think our value should be at least $160k.

But the appraiser 1) used comps from older buildings; 2) used comps from our building for units that have not done any remodeling. We have a brand new kitchen and hardwood floors whereas the other units have old kitchens and carpets!

We are in the process of challenging the appraisal but if worst comes to worst we have to come up with close to $5k to cover the closing costs ourselves.

It totally sucks but I know in the long run getting a mortgage rate 2 points less than our current mortgage rate will save us a lot of money.

Updates to come!

Refinancing the Mortgage....maybe

Remember when my fiance bought our condo? What a scary yet exciting time that was. I didn't think we would have to even think about another closing for several years to come.

With rates at such low levels, however, we are trying to refinance already.

From my post when we first bought the place:

Estimated Monthly Payments
Mortgage = $937.68
Taxes = $175.00
PMI = $61.38

The reality:

Currently Monthly Payments
Mortgage Principal = $146
Extra Payment to Principal* = $102
Mortgage Interest = $828
Escrow** = $256

*My fiance has been sending an additional payment of $102 a month so we can get rid of PMI sooner. Smart guy!

**Escrow includes PMI and taxes.

So...it seems we are paying $53 more a month than what we had originally estimated (before our extra payment to the principal). I'm not sure why that is but I suspect our taxes went up. I tried to look up our taxes online but the city's website isn't showing anything under fiance's name or our street address. I'm sure my fiance knows more but he's a busy guy today.

I do know this....our current mortgage rate of 6.75% bugs the hell out of us. With rates being offered under 5% to new buyers and buyers who are at risk of default, it seems like we are missing out. At one point, my fiance thinks that since we have so little equity in the condo and since we have an FHA mortgage already backed by Fannie Mae, that maybe we did qualify for the Making Home Affordable Program.

But like all other real estate questions I've seen, this one is complicated even for my legal trained mind. First, we called our bank and they said not only could we refinance at a lower rate, that there would be no closing costs or an appraisal!

Then, they called back and said there would be closing costs. The next call was to say they no longer offered refinancing on condos (ugh!).

Frustrated but not defeated we shopped around until we found a loan company that would refinance our loan at a better rate....with closing costs and fees of course. And we needed an appraisal.

So the appraisal was today! We cleaned, painted the kitchen (finally!), organized and staged. I hope it went well. It's a little frustrating because someone in our building is trying to sell off his multiple units and has priced them below market. And according to my research, a condo appraisal must use comps from the same building.

The loan company told us the appraised value must be about $1500 more than the purchase price of $152,659 in order to tack on the closing costs to the loan. Otherwise we would have to pay them out of pocket or they might not even give us the refinance.

We will hear back in a few days and then we can figure out what to do next, including plugging in the costs/benefits into this nifty "should I refinance?" calculator I found.

When are you moving to the suburbs?

My ex-boyfriend stopped by my office yesterday. That may sound odd but we are friendly and work in the same industry so I see him from time to time. I enjoyed talking to him - I'm way too old to hold romantic grudges - but it seems despite former intimacies he clearly has no idea about my life goals. Srlsy? I may have to devote a couple of posts to the things he got wrong, but here's the first one.

In talking about real estate I mentioned to him (let's call him X) that if my husband-to-be and I ever decide to move, the houses in one of our potential neighborhoods, X's current neighborhood, all seem to have only 1.5 bathrooms at the most. Those in our hypothetical price range, that is.

X was confused. He said "well you guys shouldn't move there, you're going to move to the suburbs, right?" Hello? Have you met me? I loathe the suburbs!

This isn't the first time people have made this assumption. People think that just because my fiancee bought a condo downtown that this purchase was cheaper than a house or just a "temporary" home. They think our priorities will change once we are married and god forbid start reproducing. Wrong. We LOVE the condo life, we love the downtown, having a sustainable walkable lifestyle, and hope to stay in this immediate area for the foreseeable future.

And, just to clear things up. Fiancee's condo cost just a little over $150k, an amount that would pay for a modest home in the suburbs. He didn't buy such a house because that's not the life we want. Mowing the lawn? Commuting to work? Driving everywhere? Nope, not for us.

As for children, I would love to raise kids in a diverse urban area where we can go to museums, the library, the park, without having to get in the car. Every time I go for a walk in our city I'll run into friends, co-workers, neighbors. I am friendly with shopkeepers and all the people with cute dogs. I don't want my kids to be sheltered!

Besides, why spend money "upgrading" to the suburbs when the money we would pay in increased mortgage costs, increased taxes, increased commuting costs, house upkeep, etc. could go towards our other goals: early retirement, world travel, college savings for the little ones?

Everyone says my priorities will change. But you've heard it here first, we're staying put as long as we can!

Tales From the Condo Improvement Front

Boyfriend and I had finally gotten the condo into livable, walking around without tripping over stuff condition when he decided the time to buy the hardwood flooring was NOW. Well this can't be blamed entirely on him. Our friends at Home Depot told us it would take 2 weeks for the floor to come in from special order. But when we showed up, alas, they had the wood in stock. Note that the picture on the Home Depot web site does not do it justice - at $3.89 per square foot, it is THE MOST EXPENSIVE wood in the store but it's pretty God damn beautiful and we are only covering a small room with it (less than 200 square feet).

Lest we get too settled, Crackhead Contractor is working on both the floor AND the tile backsplash at the same time. Furniture is everywhere. Dust is everywhere. Our cat has developed a nervous eating disorder (read: she won't STOP EATING).

It's looking pretty good so far as you can see. Hopefully by the time I arrive tonight at least one of these projects will be complete.

And meanwhile, my Very Expensive Storage Facility down the street, money is just being thrown down the drain. Nah. I can't think of it that way, right? It's like an elegant pied-à-terre I can visit once a month when I need to be alone. That's much better.

In reality though, I feel awful not being able to contribute to the Condo Improvement Projects, since we pretty much consider the place "ours" already. Just he's the one footing the bill. It sucks.

Boyfriend's Work Bonus also secured for our enjoyment a new 42' LCD TV from Best Buy, just in time for football season. Sweet! See what I mean though? What do I contribute to our lifestyle except for 1/3 of the grocery budget? I feel slightly like Kato Kaelin. Sigh.

At least I cooked dinner last night but my modern feminism prevents me from seeing that as a proper contribution. I can't lose focus on my goals, right? I just don't want to be a mooch either.

Home Depot - You Can Do It, We Can Help You Spend Money

The condo Boyfriend bought was "move-in ready" but with an unexpected bonus (man am I in the wrong industry or what?) he decided it was time to stimulate the economy - namely Home Depot - with some remodeling projects.

First up was the kitchen backsplash - or the complete lack thereof. I have been looking at a lot of real estate ads now and have been suprised that so many homeowners have neglected to install a backsplash behind their kitchen sink. What are they thinking? The kitchen in Boyfriend's condo was recently remodeled to include all new appliances and granite countertops, but yet has no backsplash. I think it makes it look a little unfinished.

We weren't going to attempt to do this work ourselves but we were lucky enough to find the labor of Boyfriend's former Crackhead neighbor (former neighbor, current Crackhead) who has extensive tile experience. Just an aside here, if you plan on hiring a Crackhead to save money, be prepared to renegotiate based on his whims or really long explanations of his outstanding debts, pregnant wife, etc. Also be prepared to provide transportation and McDonald's cuisine at all times.

Granted I don't have ALL the numbers in front of me since it's Boyfriend's money but I did have a vested interest in this project since there is a fairly good prospect (wink wink) I will come to own half of this kitchen one day. And also I was dragged along to Home Depot seven times this weekend. Yes, that's right. I, Sallie's Niece, visited a total of 5 different Home Depots in a 72 hour period. Several of the trips were because we thought of different tools, accessories, etc. that we needed. But four of the trips were in pursuit of our preferred tile.

Yes, this elusive tile only cost $1.49 at Home Depot. Not bad. But when you realize you need 100 of them when the twenty you bought are already on the wall? Well that's a Design Disaster.

The City Home Depot only had two more tiles. Yup just two. We still needed a lot more and were told the Uptown Home Depot had more. No luck, they had zero. Were told to go to Suburban Home Depot. What a store! Man those rich suburbannites have all the fun. But not many more tiles unfortunately. The very impolite man in the tile section told us where we could probably find the remaining tiles for our project - in farm country. Yes a Middle of Nowhere Home Depot about 40 miles away of a scenic drive past cows and nothingness was the key to our salvation. We were able to find all the tiles in the world there! And we did admire the plethora of rideable lawn mowers. Alas, condo residents have no lawns, sorry Boyfriend!

So between Friday night and Saturday I had been to four Home Depots. For my service, I was treated to one fancy dinner Friday night and one take out order of Boston Market which Boyfriend and I promptly spilled all over our new rug (the table is still covered in boxes so we ate on the floor - oops). Sunday we had to go out to town to attend a work function and luckily passed a Rural Home Depot to add to our collection (and we needed some wood). Five Home Depots were visited. Lots of time and money was spent but the backsplash looks pretty awesome.

Moving Stinks!

Where have I been? Yikes. My life has been disrupted and I will (sigh) be without home Internet access for a while. But don't worry New York State taxpayers, I will still take some time to update my blog at work.

This weekend Boyfriend moved into his new condo!!! Well his stuff did. Most of it. It was exhausting. We've been painting the new place and packing up the old place for the past two weeks. It's been confusing for me the past ten months going back and forth between Boyfriend's apartment and mine, I gotta admit, but with three different places - with three different sets of keys - it has been crazy! Where did I put my toothbrush? But luckily I think we have seen the last of Boyfriend's old apartment! Goodbye crackhead neighbors, one of whom we hired to clean the place, haha. Forty dollars buys a LOT of crack.

So how much does it cost to move? Other than the emotional toll of course and the wear and tear on my legs, back and arms? I'm not 100% on the numbers (it's Boyfriend's money after all) but here goes:

U-Haul Truck 17 feet - $50 including all the rip off fees (they say $19.99 but it's a lie)
Two Moving Men - $75 an hour each times four hours = $300 (BTW we only hired them for two hours and it just took MUCH longer than we anticipated)
Tip For Moving Men - $60 (they were pretty suprised we tipped them, do they not get tips? My Dad tips everyone so I assumed this was a tip business, correct?)
Crackhead Neighbor - $60 - $40 to clean the old place and $20 to help load the truck. Actually Boyfriend gave him more but that's for some tile work he claims he is going to do for us. He helped out a lot so even if it doesn't pan out, it's not that much of a loss.

Total = $470 + boxes, packing tape, etc. = $500


And yes, this was not a frugal move. There are plenty of ways to save money by doing it yourself but Boyfriend resolved never ever to move without movers long before I met him and I gotta say, I agree. Even with the movers, Boyfriend worked like a slave all day in the rain. I actually had the luxurious job of guarding the truck. Sure my back didn't break but I was standing outside in the rain for six hours.

The new place is awesome though! It's still full of boxes and furniture is all misplaced but by next weekend it should be liveable. AND the best part is that it's only 91 steps (I counted) for my apartment - where we've been staying since the condo is a big giant mess.

Boyfriend had to go out of town this morning but I hope to get some more unpacking done while he's away and will post pictures as soon as I can find my camera!

Boyfriend Bought a Condo!

As I last reported, Boyfriend had secured a mortgage commitment for his condo. The closing was yesterday and he now is officially a property owner, yay!

There were SO many papers to sign but luckily we had seen most of them prior to the closing. We were lucky to get all the seller concessions because the whole purchase cost Boyfriend less than $6,000, which includes:

$5,260.03 - downpayment plus tax escrow and some other assorted fees.

$230 - title insurance

I also think I did a pretty good job representing him. It's a little intimidating because you're sitting there with the bank's lawyers and the seller's lawyers (the sellers were not there) and the mortgage broker and all they want you to do is sign sign sign because they do this all the time. But I made sure that Boyfriend understood every piece of paper put before him and that he was free to slow down and take his time. All told, it took about an hour and a half.

The one thing we didn't know was when the first mortgage payment was due. It being August 26th already and we have very fun and exciting weekend plans coming up we didn't know if we were expected to shell out $1,000 right away. Also, Boyfriend still has to deal with the cost of moving and is paying rent at his current apartment (half the month of September). As luck would have it, Boyfriend's first mortgage payment is not due until October 1st. We both breathed an audible sigh of relief when that paper was slid across the table.

Last night we celebrated with wine and Chinese food at the new place. We are both pretty excited for him to move and will be picking out paint today. We know that it's tempting to spend a lot of money when you first move into a new place and have decided just to paint and tear up carpet and nothing else for now. His old furniture is going with him and will be replaced eventually.

All in all, it's been quite an exciting August!

This Futon Costs $150,000!

As promised, I am revealing the intimate details of Boyfriend's pursuit of a condo. We don't have the official numbers yet, because the bank likes to keep you waiting until the very last minute to tell you that, but here is an approximate estimate of the purchase price and fees:

Purchase Price = $152,659

Seller Concessions = $9159.00 (6% = maximum allowed by FHA)

Deposit = $500.00

Total Due at Closing = $143,000

Downpayment = $4,580.00 (3% of purchase price)

Closing Costs = $7,944.62 (Est)

This is where I get confused because the seller is technically paying the closing costs but it just results in the purchase price being reduced by that amount. The whole process is very confusing and I've never been good with math. Also, I have a very real and scary legal comittment to make sure Boyfriend is not getting ripped off. I don't think he is but I can only imagine how intimidating the process must be for people out there that aren't romantically involved with their real estate attorneys.

So, Boyfriend's Mortgage will be $150,300, which will work out in monthly payments of the following:

Mortgage = $937.68

Taxes = $175.00

PMI = $61.38

HOA dues $390.00

Total Monthly Payments = $1,564.06

So yes for all you apartment dwellers out there dreaming of condo ownership, here's an FYI: owning IS more expensive than renting when you factor in taxes and HOA. But, there are lots of perks we have found about condo ownership that have their own economic value. Here are the facts:

Boyfriend's building has FREE basic cable! Savings = $65.00 a month!

The building will soon have FREE wifi!! Savings = $50 a month!

Boyfriend can transfer his stuff from a private storage unit to the storage that comes with his unit! Savings = $25 a month!

Also, his crackhead neighbors will never again knock on our door looking to trade jewelery for cash. Priceless!

And the best part of all, the previous owner is giving us free stuff, including this free futon! Woo-hoo! (Okay, not us, but him. I still have my own apartment. Sigh).

Hot Damn - We're Buying a Condo!

Okay, so "we" is a subjective word here as I and my crazy finances are in no way purchasing real estate at this junction. But my boyfriend is! And my cat gets to live there. And I can sleep there whenever I want. So, in essence, we are moving on up!

Remember how I told you that Boyfriend Wanted to Buy a Condo? And that the first Mortgage Broker told us we couldn't get approved for an FHA loan? And then we were sad because in our area condos are a hot and rare commodity?

Well fast forward a couple weeks. A lot has happened and I'm happy to report that not only has boyfriend been approved to buy the awesome condo we found, I have taken on outside employment in real estate!

Here's what happened:

After the first mortgage broker was unable to get us an FHA loan for a condo, we thought all was lost and just resolved to save up enough money to get a conventional mortgage. And I know some of you out there will argue that we should have waited, but well, we didn't.

Word of mouth led us to a mortgage broker who CAN procure FHA loans for a condo, something that is called a Spot Loan. This guy was able to find a bank easy peazy who would sign off on Boyfriend's income, credit score, etc.

First problem: even with lots of seller concessions, we still needed about $5k to walk in the door. Boyfriend only had $2k. He was thinking of taking a loan from his 401(k) or just post-poning the closing as long as possible. But, alas, his parents swooped in and gave him $3k. Which was awesome and apparently something they did for his older sister as well. Parents are awesome.

Ok, so this was three weeks ago and we were all set to close but - oh no - there's a second problem in the form of a mistake on the taxes on this condo. Long annoying story but suffice it to say, it wasn't a big problem and something the city said it would fix. Next year. The bank got mad and walked away.

We were sad and frustrated because we had locked in at a good rate and the rates had since climbed a quarter of a point. Also, we were worried that a second bank would also be turned off by this itty bitty tax issue.

But, today, we get the good news from the mortgage broker: the second bank said yes!

So there's a lot to do. He's very excited and soon our cat will have a great place to live!

How does this affect my finances, you ask? Well....Boyfriend's new condo is only one block from my apartment so I will not be frustrated that I am paying rent for a place I barely get to spend any time in. Also, I elected to represent Boyfriend in this matter as his attorney. For free. It wasn't easy and there's still more work to be done but, hey, four of my friends closed on houses THIS MONTH in my city. Had I handled the closing for these four friends, I could have made about a grand! So I have let friends and family know that I now am in the business of residential real estate closings. Guess I can use this fancy degree for something, right?

Much to be done but here are some pics from "our" new place! Oh, I will also post the numbers later (with Boyfriend's consent of course) so you can get an idea of what it is like to buy a condo (it's a little scary but rewarding).

The Right Time to Buy is Now (except we can't)

So since this topic is fairly interesting me and at least some of my readers, I just wanted to share my thoughts on why (if you had enough of a down payment) it's a GREAT time to buy a house/condo etc. And it's anecdotal evidence so I'm not so sure it's applicable to every market.

But take this condo Boyfriend wants to buy is being sold for $149,900 (according to the Seller). Yet, it is listed on Zillow as being offered at $157,900. The seller even told us he would take off 2% since Boyfriend is not working with an Agent. That brings us to about $143,000 (aka $12k cheaper than it was when it was listed on Zillow 168 DAYS AGO). It is a STEAL (which is what we'd have to do to purchase it but that's a whole other story).


Check out this lobby! Right now I have to dodge crackheads to get to Boyfriend's Apartment!!

And, besides having a place to stay, what would purchasing this condo mean in the long term? Take a look at this fancy chart courtesy of Zillow showing the property valuation over time:



In the past five years this place has TRIPLED in price. In fact, had I not gone to school and just moved up here after college and bought it for $60k in 2003, I would have 1) not had to pay rent and 2) made $80k. Damn, I'm in the wrong business.

But anyway, that's my two cents, coincidentally that's also all I have to devote to a condo purchase right now, but if only....

Mortage Lender Says Ha Ha Ha!

Ok, so I consider myself very up on the news and current events. And not just that Jamie Spears had a baby, but current events as well. And yes, I've heard about the subprime mortgage drama going on and how it's screwing up the economy. Lalala. But somehow I really didn't think this would impact Boyfriend's quest to purchase a condo.

Hey, last year a mortgage broker pre-qualified ME for an $80k mortage which I turned down because it wasn't enough to buy a cute house with a yard and a driveway (what was I thinking? I could have gotten a condo with that much and would probably started becoming more aware of my finances after going through the process). Alas, what a difference a year makes.

Boyfriend went to Lending Tree and filled out all the pre-qualification forms and by the time I had come home had gotten 4 "Approved" notices from 4 different lenders. The devil is in the details, however, as it seems there is not a snowball's chance in hell he is getting a mortgage without at least 5 % down.

And why is this? He credit score is about 750. His income is almost TRIPLE the median FAMILY income for our area and his debts are less than $10k. But, money talks, and he has none, well practically none.

I knew all about FHA loans and that you could get a mortgage with only 3 percent down if you were a first time homebuyer so we figured on a $125k(target) condo he would only need about $4k. Alas, FHA loans are not available in all condos. The mortgage broker he spoke to told him he should get a house instead. As if!

And, before you ask, why does Boyfriend have no cash? Well, I guess that's his story, but it may have a little something to do with the fabulous ten day vacation we took in April.

I even have fancy pictures to show for it. But, we're learning our lesson and a condo is just about 7 months of saving away. Perhaps by that time we'll be ready to live together!

Boyfriend Buying A Condo - An Update

So on Monday I mentioned how Boyfriend is looking into buying a condo in our city. It really is a Buyer's Market in our area right now with rent prices going up (yup, mine did) and house prices going down. We both like the idea of a condo because they are convenient to everything (we both walk to work and to each other's apartments) and don't require any upkeep. The one he really wants is soclose to my apartment it will make trekking back and forth a lot easier and is in a much better neighborhood than he is currently in. It's in a really nice building, has all new appliances (stainless steel!), and is very spacious.

The budgeter in me thinks wouldn't it be easier if we could just live together. This decision has already been pondered and my parents said you should never make that kind of decision based on money (I wouldn't but why not factor it in?!) so we decided to hold off on cohabitation for now. I really hope he gets it though so I can live vicariously through him (the more fiscally responsible one) for the exciting home-buying process.

Boyfriend Birthday and Budget Envy

So today is Boyfriend's Birthday. We had a very nice weekend away seeing two concerts by his favorite band. I had been pondering what to do about paying for the hotel for this trip like I had promised but I had a heart to heart with him recently and said I really couldn't swing both nights plus a gift so I offered to either pay for one night or both but no gift, so he said not to worry about the hotel. Because of the scheduled work trip I have very little money left over after all my monthly expenses were paid. I am waiting and waiting (okay it's only been a few days) to hear back from my last job interview I went on last week because if I did (cross fingers) get the job, I wouldn't have to go on this pricy trip. But alas, no news yet.





I did spend less than I anticipated on Boyfriend's Birthday gift, however, as the item I wanted to purchase him proved elusive. One of the things I got him was "Home Buying for Dummies" because he is looking into buying a condo (more on that later!) and is devouring all he can on the topic at the moment. I gave it to him last night after we went to see a place together. I'm excited for him, but also a little jealous. I've wanted to buy a place for a while now. There are condos and even houses in my city I can get for LESS than what I'm paying in rent. But, alas, the lack of a downpayment and shoddy credit makes this dream just a dream for now.