to buy or not to buy…
Our plan all along with this upcoming move has been to live in base housing for a year and then buy. We are on the the housing waiting list, I have researched the school for that housing area, etc, etc. But today, for some reason (I was REALLY REALLY bored) I checked out realtor.com and started looking at houses.
Big mistake!
Houses there are CHEAP! Of course, because I have never looked at houses there before, I don’t know if they are truly low or just low compared to here, but whatever…I’ll take it. You can get a 3-4 bedroom, 2000+ square foot house, with a pool (a must for me) for well under $150,000.
Now, I don’t know what to do. Bryan and I spent an hour and a half tonight looking at houses online and talking it over. He’s all for buying now and I am the one holding back. The thought of buying a house is scary. The sad part is, is there is one online that I am already attached to and would love to see in person. Sigh.
I guess all we do at this point is pray about it and wait. We have a few bills that will be paid off this summer and I want those gone before we ever even think about applying for a home loan. The hard part though, is that if we do go into base housing, we HAVE to sign a 1 year lease. At least I think we have the area we’d “eventually” like to live in narrowed down. I suppose that’s a start :).
Decisions, decisions…
Honestly if you are going to be there for 2 yrs or longer I would say buy a house. Just check your BAH and get a house that your payments will be within that. I do know with the privatizing these house they told us if we were in the process of buying a house that they would put a waiver in the lease so you might want to look into that.
I know the biggest fear is what if the house doesnt sell when we move. It is really hard and scary. We almost had that issue but I prayed and God provided someone who is moving in 2 weeks after we leave the house.
Good luck thinking/praying about this, Lacey. It was scary for us, and we don’t have the military aspect to worry with like you guys do. We do love the house though (now if we could just get everything unpacked). :)
Buying a house is a scary thing, but at some point we have to jump in and get wet. Just do your research and know that home ownership is very expensive, or at least for us it has been. With that in mind you need to know that we have painted the entire interior, the only thing left to paint is doors and trim around those doors, replaced all the broken sprinkler heads on the sprinkler system and replaced the timer, replaced all the lights, new appliances, installed a water softener, had plantation shutters installed on all but two windows, installed trim in the basement room, installed a new HVAC system…..so be sure to do your research on the house and don’t let the potentially long process of just finding a house cloud your judgement. To do it all over again we would not have bought this house. It has been a great learning experience and we know exactly what we want in our forever house.
Buying is a big step…I am a mortgage counselor at Navy Federal so if you have any questions let me know I dont mind at all this is what I do all day every day and I would be happy to help you. :o)
I know from what Ive heard is that NV, and AZ are the 2 most hardest hit areas besides CA and FL and that is why the prices are so low so it may be a great investment for you if and when the values start rising again.
and also since I deal with mainly military members like you, the biggest thing is when you do get stationed elsewhere its so hard to sell.
If you’re thinking about it….contact USAA with their buyer’s assist program. It is WONDERFUL! You even get a perk of money, depending on how much your house is, when you close. We got $3,000. Win win!
If you’re going to be there for awhile, buying makes sense so you only have to move your stuff once. Just sayin’. :-)