buying apartments or houses

[nurse1967 287]

Wow interesting to see all the Muslims willing to buy a property here in USA since paying interest is forbidden in their religion. I remind my husband all the time he should be glad that as a Christian I have no such restrictions and already owned a very nice house before his arrival. Otherwise, we would be living in a crappy apartment somewhere forever.

[Casprd 167]

Moving to a new city it is always best to rent first until you learn your way around and learn what area you like. Even then, ONLY buy if you are planning to staying for a while or you will loose money. The closing costs and fees will eat up your equity very quickly.

[Horees 2]

Moving to a new city it is always best to rent first until you learn your way around and learn what area you like. Even then, ONLY buy if you are planning to staying for a while or you will loose money. The closing costs and fees will eat up your equity very quickly.

that is what i'm asking about.

what are the closing fee? and what will I lose when selling home in a state, and try to buy another home in another state?

[Fandango 1,440]

If you're looking at one year, you will lose money. You won't pay hardly anything towards principal, and you will have to pay to sell the house.

[Darnell 8,479]

if you truly seek to buy something when you arrive in USA, knowing that you will move within a year or at the one year mark -

try to find a place where the asking price is 20 to 25 percent of the appraised price, or prior year's tax value,

otherwise -

you will not have good outcome when you try to sell your property, that first year.

[Fandango 1,440]

20% of last year's value? ROFL

[Darnell 8,479]

Sure, if you know how to buy, where to buy. It's not retail, at all.

[Fandango 1,440]

Sure, if you know how to buy, where to buy. It's not retail, at all.

20% of last year's appraised value?

How many did you buy?

[Horees 2]

try to find a place where the asking price is 20 to 25 percent of the appraised price, or prior year's tax value,

I don't understand this statement. can u please clarify?

[Jojo92122 1,924]

Friends,

I'm thinking instead of renting an apartment, buying it with loan from any US bank.

If my payment every month goes to the bank and considered as share in the price of the apartment.

Say after 1 year, I want another apartment in another place or in another state (sure the remaining amount will be still too much).

Do I take the whole money I paid? (down payment + monthly payment) or do I lost any of them?

I'm asking because I think if I'll take it all back, thus, I'll save the rent value.

Any advise or experience

There is no way that buying make sense where you want to sell within one year. If your plan could work, then everybody would do it and no one would ever rent.

If you buy an apartment or house, you will generally pay closing costs for an appraisal, credit report, loan origination fee, etc. which could run about 1-2% of the loan amount. You would also have to pay property tax which will run 1% to 5% of the value of the property depending on which state you live in. On the sale, you will generally pay a realtor about 6%. That's 8% to 13% off the top. On a home worth about $250,000, you would lose approximately $25,000 if you could sell it for what you bought it for. Rent on a comparable property would be much less than $25,000.

With the current foreclosure mess in the US, it is incredibly hard to sell real estate. It takes about 6-12 months to sell a property. Can you wait that long to sell? With all the foreclosures, there is also the good possibility that the real estate you buy will lose value.

There is absolutely no way that your plan will work. As others have pointed out, you want to get a loan from a US bank. As a new immigrant with no credit history or work history, you are not likely to get a loan. Banks want to see financial stability in their borrowers - generally a reliable employment history and credit history. You will not be able to provide either.

[Fandango 1,440]

There is no way that buying make sense where you want to sell within one year. If your plan could work, then everybody would do it and no one would ever rent.

If you buy an apartment or house, you will generally pay closing costs for an appraisal, credit report, loan origination fee, etc. which could run about 1-2% of the loan amount. You would also have to pay property tax which will run 1% to 5% of the value of the property depending on which state you live in. On the sale, you will generally pay a realtor about 6%. That's 8% to 13% off the top. On a home worth about $250,000, you would lose approximately $25,000 if you could sell it for what you bought it for. Rent on a comparable property would be much less than $25,000.

With the current foreclosure mess in the US, it is incredibly hard to sell real estate. It takes about 6-12 months to sell a property. Can you wait that long to sell? With all the foreclosures, there is also the good possibility that the real estate you buy will lose value.

There is absolutely no way that your plan will work. As others have pointed out, you want to get a loan from a US bank. As a new immigrant with no credit history or work history, you are not likely to get a loan. Banks want to see financial stability in their borrowers - generally a reliable employment history and credit history. You will not be able to provide either.

I you....

[Horees 2]

Thank you, this clarified too much for me.

There is no way that buying make sense where you want to sell within one year. If your plan could work, then everybody would do it and no one would ever rent.

If you buy an apartment or house, you will generally pay closing costs for an appraisal, credit report, loan origination fee, etc. which could run about 1-2% of the loan amount. You would also have to pay property tax which will run 1% to 5% of the value of the property depending on which state you live in. On the sale, you will generally pay a realtor about 6%. That's 8% to 13% off the top. On a home worth about $250,000, you would lose approximately $25,000 if you could sell it for what you bought it for. Rent on a comparable property would be much less than $25,000.

With the current foreclosure mess in the US, it is incredibly hard to sell real estate. It takes about 6-12 months to sell a property. Can you wait that long to sell? With all the foreclosures, there is also the good possibility that the real estate you buy will lose value.

There is absolutely no way that your plan will work. As others have pointed out, you want to get a loan from a US bank. As a new immigrant with no credit history or work history, you are not likely to get a loan. Banks want to see financial stability in their borrowers - generally a reliable employment history and credit history. You will not be able to provide either.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

I'm thinking instead of renting an apartment, buying it with loan from any US bank.

If my payment every month goes to the bank and considered as share in the price of the apartment.

I think the thing you need to understand is that the bank will charge you to borrow money.

Example: If you borrowed $200,000 at a 5% fee

You pay about $1075 a month to the bank plus maybe $100 to insurance and $200 to taxes, $1375 each month.

At the end of 1 year you paid $16,500 toward that house in payments, taxes, and insurance.

BUT you still owe the bank $197,000 and only have $3,000 as your ownership in the house.

Why? because the bank keeps about $10,000 as their fee for lending you money. And even if you move, you still have to pay $1375 a month until you sell the house and pay back the bank.

Edited July 12, 2011 by Nich-Nick