New Roommie

I finally got my new roommate last month. Along with him came an awesome fresh water fish tank and his dog Bentley. Bentley is a pure bred Golden Retriever.
Also I noticed they were taking more out of my check than I had anticipated for my 401K loan. I had taken the loan out to help pay for stuff when moving into the house. I had thought that I had taken the loan for a total of 54 months. Turns out it is 54 weeks. This is good an bad. Though I am paying more than expected, I will be done with it sooner than expected in August.
I cant wait to get my $8000 from my home buyers credit. I will be putting about 2K towards furniture I had purchased, and hopefully can put the rest towards credit cards.

Once early 2013 rolls around I will have my car paid off. That is unless the Earth is destoryed on Dec 22 2012. It would suck if the world were gone and I still owed these F#()*)(ers money :)

No Gas For me....

At least not for now. In my area Gas is controlled by National Grid (formerly Keyspan). I called up and inquired about getting gas service run to my house. The closet gas main to my house is 466 feet away. NG will pay for 100 feet of main, and the rest the consumer (me) would be responsible for. The cost is $72 a foot. That comes to $26,352. On top of that I would still have to pay for the new heating equipment and a plumber to install it. I had wanted to convert to natural gas as soon as possible. As a new homeowner spending over $30K is just not an option. In the future if they offer a promotion or if neighbors are willing to share the cost I would be interested. Until then I am stuck with Oil.

update:
The 3rd bedroom which is downstair is for rent. It needed a door added and some painting done. Most of the painting is complete and the door was installed yesterday by a friend (cost $79 for materials and a six of Coors Light for my friend). I have posted the room on craigslist and as of yet I have only had one person come by to see the room. I have had 3 other people show interest, but all have either flaked or already found another room. There was also one guy who tried to pull an internet scam on me. Luckily I am internet savvy and recognized the signs before I was defrauded and left with a negative balance in my account.

Closing and Such

Closing was on 8/11 and I moved in on 8/12. Since then I have spent what for me ammounts to a fortune between Home Depot and Lowes. Dont forget Walmart. Mortgage was sold to JP Morgan Chase and is due on 10/1. Luckily I was able to get my newphew to move in right away. He is helping me with a little rent and money for cable as well. He has also been a great help around the house. Speaking of helping around the house. I have to thank all my friends who have done more to help than I could ever hope for.

Now I just have to get one more bedroom rented.

The waiting is the hardest part

So my tentative closing date of July 10 is approching fast. I am still waiting on the results of the appraisal which is actually scheduled for today. Final mortage approval depends on what the house appraises for. In my case I need the house to appraise for more than what I am offering the seller, since I am planning on rolling my closing costs into the loan. The appraisal will determine whether I actually have to come out of pocket or not. If it appraises way to low, then my journey as a home owner will come to an abrubt stop.
So here I sit waiting for a call from my mortage guy, hoping the numbers work out in my favor.

Talk about Agita!

VA Home Loan: Buying a Home with No Money Down

Right now as most people know it is a buyers market, but most are expecting that the market has pretty much hit bottom. Not only that but as the economy improves home loan rates will most likely climb as well. For those of you who are Veterans like myself, and looking to purchase a home, the VA Home Loan Guarantee program may be your best bet. I am currently buying a home with no money down, and the closing costs are rolled in. There is no Mortgage insurance to pay, because you pay an upfront "VA Funding fee, which can also be rolled into the mortgage. If feel this may be a good option for you here are some things to consider.
If you have the money for a down payment it is always better to go that route. Your mortgage payment will be cheaper and there will be no need to pay the VA Funding Fee.
The VA does not provide or guarantee that you will get a loan. You have to have a reasonable credit rating and a Income to Debt ratio of 41% after your mortgage payment is calculated. the VA is basically guaranteeing your downpayment, which is why there is no PMI.
VA loans limits vary depending on where you live, but right now is Typically $417,000 in major metropolitan areas.

For more info check with your lender and the VA's website: http://www.homeloans.va.gov/


*right now I am waiting on appraisal and final loan approval, but the tenative closing date is July 10th.