You will have to pay PMI until you reach 20% equity through amortization or property appreciation. Usually need to not have any late payments and some lenders have a timeframe stipulation. Lenders are required to cancel PMI once equity reaches 22%. New FHA and I believe VA loans have permanent PMI

heh, you're like me.

I think we were even under 60%. had a fairly large down payment and have paid at least a 13th payment each year.

tryna be done asap

Yes you still have to pay the pmi unless u refi into a conventional.

I guess that's one of the differences between Canada and the US. Here, your term is usually 5 years regardless of if your amortization period is 15 years or 25 years. There's usually no difference in rates for the different amortization periods.

Appreciation can be a tough case to prove. It's usually easier to just re-fi to get rid of it.

I distinctly remember a friend of mine telling me--circa 2004--that it was easier for him to buy a house than buy a car. Across the table another friend had just bought her place but couldn't get a car loan. Looking back I wish I'd given that some real thought at the time.

I'd bought my first place only a few years before and I was getting all kinds of offers for cash-outs and equity loans that I'm glad I decided not to take. It seemed like everyone I knew was doing it, and I was shocked at the skyrocketing sales prices of homes around me. I had all the anecdotal signs in the world that something was really wrong with the market but it was just luck that I avoided that mess. I strongly considered cashing out and buying a nice truck and remodeling, but I had a great car that refused to die and got too busy with my schedule to take on a reno.

One lesson learned: Houses are not always a smart investment and can't be counted on to appreciate over the period of your ownership. I grew up hearing the opposite (mostly from people who'd never owned a house).

Second lesson: Having a good down payment and 15-year mortgage may be a PITA, but it's something you'll be thankful for if you decide to sell the property in a shorter amount of time. I didn't need much down because it was a VA loan which seemed great then, and had a 30. But without any equity it was tough to do anything when I wanted to sell and the market was down.

And yes there are situational and financial arguments for a 30-year mortgage in some cases, or buying bigger. For practical purposes as they exist for your typical everyday buyer though, I don't agree with those arguments. A pro investor or someone who truly understands the financial implications of forgone investment income (etc), ok sure, whatever. For other people those reasons are weak justifications that can get them in trouble.

There's also a large potential cost of being house poor, overburdened, and trapped in a mortgage at the expense of better opportunities. Being able to get out of a house is just as important as being able to get into one. You never know when a neighborhood will decline, or the market, or when your employer wants to offer you a job out of state. Having flexibility is an asset too.

This is a really important lesson. People are really bad at evaluating how good of an investment a house is (generally thinking all money spent goes to equity instead of to taxes, interest, general maintenance, ...).

On the flip side, I think other people are really bad at evaluating the benefits (some tangible some intangible) that many people get from owning their own house.

Anyone thinking about buying property really needs to do their research and decide whats right for them.

In the US at least, the tax incentives for buying a house are so ludicrously generous that it ~never makes sense to rent if you can afford to buy and the loss of flexibility is not a major problem for you. I think the bigger problem people have is they justify buying more house than they would rent because they imagine there's some house magic that makes all the interest and PMI and taxes they pay an investment rather than rent, which is what it is.

While the down payment will help keep you from being upside-down in the short run, if you know you are going to sell in a short period of time the longer the mortgage the better.

Bold is not even close to true. You need to do the math in each case. Renting is often the better deal.

finished my footings and post bases, so I finally dipped my feet in the diy forum.

http://www.diychatroom.com/f19/pergo...n-help-205615/

Anyone got any advice/experience with replacement windows? Looking to get replacements for the 60 year old original metal windows in the house I bought last year.

I've got quotes from Pella and Window World so far. Pella is ~8k and WW ~5k. 12 windows total. I liked both of the salesmen that came by. Both were professional, seemingly very knowledgeable, and not pressuring at all. Problem is I just don't know anything about windows so if they were bull****ting me I'd have no idea.

Any good/bad experiences with these two companies? Any advice in general?

Thanks.

I had Pellas and loved them. Very well made. Can't comment on WW.

I got some windows and a door from Andersen and they seem good

They gave me about 25% off the exact same door I looked at at a different place so it seemed they couldn't be ripping me off too bad

When buying windows, the heavy ones are better. You want vinyl clad wood windows and not just vinyl windows. Pella and Anderson are good companies (I'm not familiar with the other), but both companies sell a variety of grades.

The top windows are argon filled between the layers and you can tell the difference by touching the glass when it's zero degrees out. Depending on where you live (and how long you are going to live there), it's well worth the extra money to get the very best windows that they offer.

WW tells me they would be selling me basically the same window as pella. The guy said they can offer a much lower price because they sell so many more and manufacture their own. Don't know if that's true or not.

These are vinyl with the low E and argon glass. I live in Indiana so the winters can be pretty harsh. Plan to stay in the house for many years.

You will save thousands if you install them yourself

While building my dream home I heard all the stories. Just lift the windows up and you'll know. They try to sell vinyl windows because that's what people have heard of. You want wood inside of that vinyl for the real E performance. (Plus, the difference in vinyl in the more expensive windows is huge, the better quality doesn't fade or scratch.)

In your climate don't scrimp on the windows, dual (or even triple pane), argon gas filled, wood clad with extra wide sleeves (those make it hard to retrofit for a homeowner install) are the way to go.

Go lift an Anderson Window Wall, (they used to be the most expensive) they are about twice as heavy as a same size vinyl window.

I love my house. I've bought a couple foreclosures and are usually in a good spot when it's time to sell. There are lots of good deals out there if you're qualified. Also have a friend who buys a fairly pricey fixer upper, renovates it into tip top shape and lives it for two years and doesn't pay any tax on the gains. Rinse and repeat.

Even it's something your going to stick with for a while...it your place. LatelY I've been obsessed with my lawn.....never used to be that way but now I love my turf....

just bought a new house, paid in full, sick brag. got anderson windows, sick brag I guess.

lol, i priced out the lumber for my pergola. hahaha, $2400 for all redwood, s4s. $1600 if I go s4s posts and con hrt for the rest.

crazy

The redwood pergola I built earlier this year is much smaller than what you are doing and ran me close to $600 for the lumber. I wasn't expecting that but it really looks nice.

Yeah, definitely sticking with the redwood. I love it.

also, I have purchased the best table / jig / router table safety device I've ever seen...



grr-ripper

planter box day

stain & casters