mjk3040

I could come up with a detailed scenario where buying a house would be much better for you financially. I could also come up with a scenario where renting would be better. Much of it is luck, much of it is planning. Two people living in the same style house built in the same year might have considerably different upkeep costs depending on how they use the property and how proactive they are in fixing problems before they start. Two people renting in the same area might have a different set of costs if one has an honest landlord and one is stuck with a predatory landlord. Mobility versus stability building equity for a landlord versus building equity for yourself PMI/interest/taxes/homeowners versus rent 12 month contract termination fee/security deposit/legal battle with landlord versus closing cost/market losses if you have to move privacy/control versus convenience All valid arguments, all quantified differently by different people in different geographic areas during different economic cycles.

You already have a good rate, I don't think refinancing would be worth it even if you had the equity to do it. This is a tough situation, I'll leave it to the loan experts to tell you if there is some magic program that will lower your payments but I don't think there is one. Without a principal reduction (forgiveness), or extension of the interest only period, there isn't much you can do other than pay down principle. You still have 2.5 years until the reset by my math (Sept 2012), start looking for ways to cut expenses/increase income. If you haven't had a raise in 3 years, maybe there is another company that will pay you what you are worth?

Did your closing data change? Moving the date to earlier in the month tends to inflate closing costs due to interest charges, and that is not limited to 10%.

Cash to close will depend on closing date for prorated taxes, per diem interest, etc. Origination charges and points cannot change at all from a GFE. Per diem interest, homeowners insurance estimates can change to whatever they happen to be. Everything else is limited to 10% increase (recording, appraisal, survey, MIP, title services, etc). Line items might be added if unexpected things like a final inspection are needed to verify repairs with the lender. You shouldn't write a check until you get your final HUD-1, you can see what that looks like in the sticky on this board.

Pennsylvania has a similar program, low rates (4.95% now) and down payment assistance http://www.phfa.org/ You can get a $3,000 interest free loan for down payment, with no payments required, and the balance of the loan only due upon resale of the home. Unfortunately their income requirements vary by county, and the county I live in has an unusually low income threshold.

What is the loan balance (do you have any equity)?

I ended up having to have my wife's paychecks deposited into my account and doling her an allowance every month (I got 7k of collections and 100k in student loan debt along with her as part of our marriage). She is very intelligent and reliable, but there is something about managing money and debt that triggers a defensive responsive in her. I put together a spreadsheet to show her how much interest and principle get paid on her student loans given a payment of $800 a month, $1600 a month, etc so we could plan long term and get rid of the debt. She didn't even want to look at it. I think it was a combination of shame and guilt that a decision she made to go to an expensive school as a naive 18 year old is going to cost both of us a sizable amount of money every month for a decade (or two). Maybe she thought if she didn't look at it, it would go away? At any rate, I decided that I can't be bitter about something like this if we want our relationship to be healthy. And she shouldn't have to feel guilty. I think growing together as a couple means that sometimes your SO will learn something that you learned years ago.

In the municipality where I am purchasing in PA, the transfer tax is actually split 50/50 between seller and buyer, but the new GFE doesn't take that into account so it inflates the cash to close estimate. For example transfer taxes are listed as $1500 on my GFE but I am only responsible for $750 of that.

It would be difficult if not impossible to hold the appraiser liable for any costs above and beyond the actual cost of the appraisal, as they have no control over the extent of loss you may incur due to a timeline that they did not establish. I also think a credit card chargeback would be unwarranted in this situation because the services were performed, albeit late. In other words, if the appraiser were to file suit against you for non payment in small claims court, I think they would have a good shot of winning. I think your best option is to work with everyone in a civil manner to keep the deal moving along. Let everyone know that you were acting in good faith to meet the terms of the sales agreement and that things just took a few days longer than expected.

I could go either way on what to do. It would probably be better to pay off the car from an interest rate standpoint unless it's a 0% loan. If you don't have an emergency fund, then I would definitely put the money in the bank. 5k of cash reserves is about right so you can handle an emergency and not fall back into the credit trap.

I suppose it depends on how you worded your contract, but mine was worded such that if both the buyer and the seller executed the agreement, then I was bound by contract to place earnest money is escrow. In other words, the contract is considered binding when both parties sign it. I could be sued under written contract law for earnest money even if it wasn't in escrow yet.

I'm supposed to close on April 9th, still waiting for final approval from the underwriter. I'm supposed to give my landlord 90 days notice to move out with payment due on the first of each month. Rather than getting stuck with an extra month of mortgage/rent overlap, I took a chance and sent out my intent to move letter by certified mail yesterday. It should be possible to withdrawal the intent to move with the landlord provided they haven't signed a contract with someone else (depends on your contract wording I suppose). It will take them a few days to advertise the property and schedule walk through's with potential tenants so I'm not too worried about it.

It only counts if it was reported to the credit reporting agencies as over 30 days late. If it was only 2 days late it should not have been reported as late to the CRA's.

Interesting/informative discussion on rate locking versus floating in the wake of last week's volatility: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/142859.aspx FTA: "To lock or float… If you can lock at 4.75%, there is no question, you should be locking. If you have been floating, last week likely made you feel ill. You probably even kicked yourself for floating when rates were at their best levels of 2010. With Friday’s rally and continued improvement this morning, I am not quite ready to throw the towel in on a rebound rally just yet. If we do recovery lost loan pricing in the next two days, I would strongly consider locking. After Wednesday the mortgage market could get a bit more volatile as the Fed will be completing their MBS Purchase Program this week. Let's cautiously float for the time being and see if the Treasury market can regain lost positive progress. If benchmark Treasury yields do move lower, it will give mortgage rates a bump in the right direction. Stay close though, this is a speculative decision and you should be ready to lock your loan at a moments notice. The last thing we want to happen is for you to lose the progress that has been made over the past two days. If that sounds to risky for you, you should be locking in now."

You can check out the form for claiming the credit on the IRS website: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f5405.pdf There is a box you can check in part 1: "If you are choosing to claim the credit on your return for the year before the year in which you purchased the home, check here (see instructions)" Instructions are at: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i5405.pdf This document clearly states dates in 2010 as eligibility requirements for 2009 tax forms.