We got an offer on the house a couple of days ago. The couple had come to look at our house three times, and made a formal offer, but it was low. They offered $13,000 less than the house is listed at... AND they wanted us to put a roof on it... AND they wanted us to provide a $2500 account for repairs! Ridiculous! So we countered with YES, we'll do all that shit, at the original asking price of $209,000.
They walked.
Well, I met with Cathy yesterday. She's the woman who owns the house on 22nd street that I want so badly. I looked at the house again. Still Love it. Still love where it is, love being able to stay in the city. She offered me decent terms on a rent-to-own option: even let 100% of my rent apply toward a down payment. But now I don't know if I can do it. With the house still on the market, I will not be receiving child support, which means that I could not pay the rent she is asking without coming up with a magic pot of money from somewhere. I could borrow against my 403B, which I've done in the past. That would put some cushion in a savings account for me to supplement my income with, but would only last a couple of months, considering I'll also have to pay for an inspection and appraisal. It's a risk. But is it worth it?
I COULD just stay here in the apartment and wait it out. I am determined to go off my folks' payroll in May, however, which means I'll have to borrow from the 403B anyway. If I'm borrowing to pay rent, shouldn't I be paying rent on this great house I will eventually own?
I checked mortgage calculators online and found that there's not a huge difference in mortgage payment between a $119,000 house (in Norman) and a $130,000 house. And I won't have the down-payment saved up for a place in Norman, nor will I have a way of saving up a down payment until our house sells. More and more it seems like the thing to do is to go ahead and take the house on 22nd as a rent-to own for 6 months and then get a loan.
Is this just because that's what I want to do? Or because I'm impatient to have a house of my own and get on with the next stage of my life? If I stay in the apartment and save for a down payment, It will take me 16 months to save $5000, even if I can save $300 a month, which I don't know that I can. If I take the house, I can accrue that amount in 6 months.
I realize I'm obsessing about this, but the decision is upon me. May 1 is not that far away.
Gray has made me an astonishing offer. I pay him $250 a month toward the house and overhead: mortgage, loans and credit card debt. He has offered to absorb that to give me more money to spend on a house. He says we can negotiate a way to make up the difference when the house sells and he starts paying child support. (right now child support is just deducted from what I owe for the house, leaving me the $250 monthly balance). It is very generous of him to do so, considering it will leave him pretty strapped. But he says he has an interest in keeping Grayson in Oklahoma City if at all possible. I can see that, and I think it's very sweet of him to be willing to make that sacrifice to allow us to get into a house in the city.
I know what I want to do. I'm just not sure if I'm crazy for doing it.
No comments:
Post a Comment