All Forum Posts by: Bill West

Thanks Bill. We actually have buyers already. My wife's parents, who currently live many miles from any family members, are going to buy it. The acreage is actually broken into 4 or 5 tracks. I was told this was for tax purposes? This land is connected to property I own. Actually, I live two houses south of the property I am buying. We have an appointment with a bank tomorrow, but before that we are calling a couple of others to see what kind of rates they offer. I only have one more payment on my home, so is a refi still possible, and a good idea, or should we check on a home equity loan? Our home is worth more than the property I am buying.

Thanks Mike and Joel. My intent was to resell this property after sprucing it up with some landscaping. That is all it needs. Now, it looks like we will be selling it to my in-laws, who currently live a fairly good distance from us and are getting up there in age. The reason we thought we should borrow on our house is so we wouldn't have to put up a 20% down payment. I have since learned we would not have to do that anyway. The other reason was to avoid having the property appraised so we could get the property taxes lowered. Right at this point, I am looking into a re-fi 30 year fixed at 3.375%, or a 20 year fixed at 3.25%. I am with you Mike regarding the collateral. Not being the finance savvy type (obviously), someone has put it in her head that we should borrow against our home, not the one we are buying. She says if something goes wrong we sell the other house and pay off the loan, or move into the house. Hmm

Thanks Joel and Mike for the info. A realtor friend of mine recommended I take out a home equity loan on my house, which will appraise for much more than what I am paying for the new home. They advised I should then take the sales contract to the tax man and ask them to lower my property taxes based on what I paid for it. Since the property I am buying will not have to be appraised, the realtor said the tax man will have to go by the selling price. My plan is for my daughter to live in the house till for a short time and then resell the house minus the property (it came with 6 acres), which I will hold on to five. What do you guys think?

I am in the process of buying a very nice modular home, which was built in 2008 and sits on a large crawl space. It has many options and includes 1 acre of land. It is located in the country, on a main route, and in a highly sought after school district. It is a 1650 sq. foot ranch with an attached oversize 2 car garage, which is insulated. My plan is to either turn around and sell the house, after adding some landscaping, which it lacks, or rent it out. This is my first property and the only reason I am buying it is because of the price I am paying for it. My personal home is about to be paid off, so I will have that out of the way. Can someone give me any guidance on the best way to finance this deal, like a 30 year fixed? Also, should I use my house as collatoral or borrow against the value of the home I am buying? Any help from anyone would be much appreciated by this rookie. This may, or may not, be the only property I ever buy. Who knows? Thanks in advance!