Tuesday, August 19, 2008

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).



3 comments:

Shtinkykat said...

Hey Sallie! This must be very exciting and a great learning experience for you. Don't forget the added bonus of tax deductions. I crunched the numbers and assuming he closes escrow by mid-September, he'll have an additional tax deduction of about $2,800 for 2008! (I'm assuming he's in the income group that will allow PMI deductions.) Next year, I'm estimating that his tax deductions will total $12,237, all due to his condo! :-D

Sallie's Niece said...

Awesome, yeah that's one of the reasons he wanted to buy - his income has pretty much doubled over the past two years (sweet, right?) and he keeps seeing more and more of it go to taxes. He's also going to get the sneaky first time homebuyer $7500 credit as well!

undercover vixen said...

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