Tuesday, November 15, 2005

The First Snowflakes of the Avalanche

Mortgage application fee $350
Attorney fee (half) $1000

And so it begins... my net worth will start being whittled away by closing costs before it begins its transformation into home equity. The fees and taxes are going to hurt, but at least when it comes time to actually put the big contract deposit down, I can show it balancing out as an asset in Quicken, to remind me that this isn't all for nothing!

This is the scary part, when I start worrying about how much interest rates might go up before I close. I can handle it if they do... but I don't want to! But that was one of my main reasons for wanting to buy now rather than waiting for prices to soften as air comes out of the housing bubble. I just didn't believe that prices would drop enough to balance out the rising cost of borrowing money, especially since all the statistics seem to show that smaller apartments are still going up in price because of the high demand from people who are priced out of larger apartments! Eventually the price backlash will make its way down the food chain, but it could take a while.

Here's another attitude adjustment I have to consider: do I still read the real estate listings every week? Do I want to keep track of what else is out there and how prices are going? Now that I'm going ahead with the place I'm buying, I kind of don't want to know about it if I could get a better deal elsewhere!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the wonderful would of owning...or at soon to be...

Anonymous said...

damn, my spelling sucks! Welcome to the wonderful world of owning

Anonymous said...

It can be really difficult to switch from house hunting to house owning mode. For my personal sanity as soon as the offer on my current house was accepted I stopped looking. I was committed to this house and did not want to find out that a week later something better came on the market.

Soon enough the time you used to take looking at real estate ads will be replaced with shopping for curtains, picking out paint colors, etc.

Good Luck!

Nina Smith said...

Re: your dwindling net worth in the near future... consider it one step back to jump three steps forward.

Caitlin said...

Boy, I go to Orlando for a few days and look what happens! ;) How exciting!

The Gnomes were game to check out a few open houses so we hit about 4 in their neck of the woods. I still love open houses...its like a hobby. It was interesting to see what 550-650k would buy somewhere other than Boston (even though that's out of the realm of reasonable possibilities for us)

Afterward, we did look at a few smaller condos in the area priced 250-300k. Very interesting.

I can't wait to see how your purchase unfolds :)

savvy said...

what Hazzard said... can't you get a rate lock?

Madame X said...

I'll be able to get a 60-day lock... but it's still too early to do that. The minute I can lock, I will, at least the way things are looking now!

Anonymous said...

Madame X,

I found you today in the Alpha Network and came for a visit. I own a Mortgage Company and would be willing to share any insights that I can.

I can't help you with your specific mortgage as I am not licensed in your state. But certainly willing to help a fellow blogger.

Congrats on the new home. I would think about locking. You should be able to lock longer than 60 days and some locks have "Float Down" provisions in the unlikely event rates move down prior to your closing.

David Porter
President/CEO
Pacesetter Mortgage

Anonymous said...

ps

Stop looking! You will drive yourself crazy!