We're kind of stuck right now. The "plan" has been to pay off our debt and then save money for a down payment on a house or condo. Don't get me started on which (a house or condo) because we've gone back and forth on that about a million times.The newest thing is my husband's obsession with getting into a house ASAP. He is tired of our apartment and wants a place we can call our own. I get that, I really do. I want one too. I'm tired of being cramped in a dark studio and having ants infest our place each time it rains. I want something bright and new. But, I also want to be out of debt. The last thing I want to do is get ahead of ourselves too soon and end up house-poor.
Tomorrow is my payday. The plan is to send a good amount in towards our debt. Unless something big changes tonight, I'm still planning on putting that money towards a debt payment and not towards a down payment. We'll see!
Stick with your gut instinct with paying off all of your debt first before consider buying. I work in the Real Estate industry and can't tell you how many foreclosures and short sales I see a day.
ReplyDeleteIt is spring and the weather is not co-operating, so I can see what hubby and you want out. But remember inmost places real estate is still falling. It does no harm to look and if you come across a really good deal. Owning your own night offset the rent you are throwing away. You can still get out of debt. Take out a longer mortgage and then keep your snowball going, you can always add ore to the house payment when the debts are paid.
ReplyDeletepay your debt off!
ReplyDeleteI'd say sticking to your original plan of paying off your debt first seems like the best idea to me :)
ReplyDeleteYour plan is right on...pay off debt first. That's what Dave Ramsey says and it really does make sense, especially with house prices still teetering. What would happen if you buy a house now and it loses value? Then you would have regular debt and even more house debt than you started with.
ReplyDeleteI'd say paying off the debt makes the most sense (and I see several posts later that you did that) :-) That condo/house will feel so much nicer when you move in debt free!
ReplyDeleteGet the Ortho Home Defense Max spray for the ants. Make sure to get the spray, not the ant traps or anything else sold under that brand. Basically it kills any ants within 3 feet for like a year after you spray. It doesn't wash out in rain because it's not water-soluble. Use it indoors or out (most people don't like the smell indoors).
ReplyDeleteIf you spray a ring around the outside of your house/apartment/whatever, then no ants can get in, and any ants already nesting indoors will eventually die off because they can't get outdoors to mate. The only drawback is that you might get the mother of all ant invasions in the short term as the ants panic looking for an exit.