Yesterday I was asked a few times just what type of house we could get for $461 a month. As I mentioned before, we live in the midwest where housing prices are much lower than other areas. We also live in a small town that is about an hour away from any large city, so that keeps the costs down as well. This is the house that we pay $461 for:
It's not a Mcmansion by any means. In fact, it is just a story and a half house. It is also over 100 years old. But it is in a good neighborhood and fits us perfectly, for the time being. We got it at a decent price and have so far remodeled the bathroom (yes, we just have the one) and had new roofing put on two years ago. Yesterday I avoided doing any shopping. I took the boys to their speech class and then we came home and worked around the house all day. My husband did mail a CD at the post office, since he regularly uses Swap A CD to get CDs that he is looking for. That cost $1.73 which means that we now have $737.27 for the rest of the month.
If it doesn't rain today we will be heading out to a nearby city wide sale. I debated about how to tally the money which I will use because in April we had our own garage sale and I have been using the money I made to go garage sailing myself. I only have $30 left and will be using that at the garage sales, but since I had it set aside since April, I feel it is only fair that I don't have to count it as our $1,200 total. This was money already reserved two months ago. With that said, it will take gas money and if I go above the $30 I already have that will count towards the total. I'll let you know how we do tomorrow.
I want to wish my parents a Happy 31st Anniversary today!
Are you on a 30-year mortgage? Maybe you should do a 15-year and save TONS over the course of the loan?
ReplyDeleteI think your house is so cute, and I am very impressed with the challenge you set for yourself and your family! That inspires me to do the same thing!! Good luck!!
ReplyDeleteOh, I love your house! McMansions are abominations and all the fixtures break in a few years anyway. Give me an oldie-but-goodie any day!
ReplyDeleteWe are an army family. The military will pay for our housing, so after that we have $1200 a month...and student loans. So I think I am going to be ponying up to a similar challenge! Good luck! I'll be following ;)
Chrissy, yes, we have a 30 year mortgage. When we first bought the house we couldn't afford the payments on a 15 year loan. We have thought about refinancing but right now we are paying extra every month on the loan so will get it paid off before 30 years (thus saving a lot of interest!). We hope to have it paid off in 15 years this way anyway. :)
ReplyDeletei'm all about buying an established home. the one we just bought is not 100 years old, more like 15 years old or so. and its a manufactured home. so like i said, modest. it's the acreage that's the big price point. we only have 1 bathroom too! i actually like it. before our 13 yr old would get sucked into the vortex that was her own bathroom forEVER!!! was such a pain. now she has to be in & out in a shot. i love it!
ReplyDeletehowever, 100 years old or not, you still got a BEAUTIFUL deal on your cute home!!! kudos to you on THAT! and if it meets your needs, awesome. i'm gonna have to check out swap-a-cd. thanks for the link.
happy garage/city wide sale-ing today!
I *love* your house! It's so cute and Martha Stewart-esque. It's crazy that you're only paying a little over HALF what we pay in rent! How much did you have to put down and what was your monthly payment limit?
ReplyDeleteI have been looking at housing in our area but I know that with mine and my husband's jobs, we're not secure enough to own a home even if the price was right. We would have no money to make necessary repairs, if needed, but I am glad that we're smart enough to know that instead of buying a house and suddenly being late on a bunch of payments and potentially having to foreclose.
I still love your house though and it's an amazing deal!
People are amazed that we have a beautiful, large home on 5 acres in the country and pay only $440 a month and that is a 15 year loan. We bought a very run-down home that need a lot of TLC in the middle of nowhere. We made sure that it had a good foundation and well. We have now gutted it all out and live in a pretty much brand new home. It is amazing what you can come up with if you do not need the big city life and are willing to put some hard work into it!
ReplyDeleteOh wow, Amy! Our dream is to afford an acreage. I mean, we could probably afford a real fixer upper but couldn't afford to fix it up for quite awhile! We hope to gain equity in this house and trade up for an acreage someday.
ReplyDeleteSilly Mommy, we put $10,000 down on the house. There is no monthly payment limit.
You all must remember though that while we live in an area that has low expenses, the jobs also pay less than other areas. So it isn't as though we are living on a $5,000 monthly income and only paying $461 on our mortgage. It is a balance, really.
Your home is PRECIOUS!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff! Thanks for showing your house!
ReplyDeletewhat it comes down to is if we are willing to give up a few things, but in return we are actually gaining a few things.