first time home buyer needs advice in this market

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
<p>thanks calgal, i'm already putting 20% of my gross into 401k. i'm not sure if that is "maxed out" but i do have an IRA that is maxed out. i'd be more interested in tax breaks via investments that are accessible penalty-free before i am at retirement age (i'm aware that as a first-time homebuyer i can make a one-time withdrawl from my 401k). i'll check out municipal bonds and most importantly, speak with my financial advisor.</p>

<p>just curious, how many people here are actually in real estate professionally and how many are just people with friends in real estate or do realestate "on the side"? </p>
 
<p>myfirsthome - Read this article. I most defintely could not have said it better.</p>

<p>http://money.cnn.com/2007/10/10/pf/ask_the_mole.moneymag/index.htm?postversion=2007101009</p>
 
If you've read any of IR's analysis, two things should be clear, prices are declining and cash will be king. To save $12K in taxes, you'll have pay at least 30K in interest payments. there's still 18K that you still have to payout, not including, HOA's, Property Taxes and CFD's, utilities, and other items to maintain your place. You may also be subject to AMT, which could eliminate a number of deductions you used to calculate your tax reduction (property taxes, state income tax deductions, etc).





If you don't know if you're maxing out your 401K, start analyzing your statements. The max for 2007 is $15,500, if you're putting 20% of gross, then you have to be making $75K or so to hit the limit. If you are making more than 75K, then I'd recommend you REDUCE your 20% to whatever percentage will allow you to hit $15.5K for 2007. I say this only if your employer matches say .50 on the dollar up to first 6% (or whatever percentage). If you hit the limit before the end of the year, you may be losing out on monthly employer matching on your 401K.





If you don't have 20% for the downpayment, then forget about it. Keep saving until you do. You mention you need a tax write off due to a new job, why? Just because you're making more money now, doesn't necessary mean that you will a year or 6 months for now. Companies can go under, relocate, get acquired, etc. I don't know your situation, but make sure it's stable before you financailly commit yourself to huge depreciating purchase.
 
<p>bubblegum, thanks for the comments.</p>

<p>my job is fairly secure and 20% gross is going to surpass the max of 15.5k without employer contributions. i actually need to adjust it so it doesnt surpass the max. do you know what happens if i surpass the max? i need to speak with my HR lady about that... anyway, my "new" job actually started over a year and a half ago, but this is the first year my earnings will put me in a (much) higher tax bracket. i do recognize that nothing is for sure, so i do agree that i need a safety net to catch me if i'm out of work for a while, but industry rate for the type of work i do is actually higher than what i'm getting now, so pay rate *hopefully* shouldn't be a problem if i need to change companies.</p>

<p>awgee, i'll read that article after work tonight.</p>

<p>thanks again!</p>
 
when you hit your max your company will no longer be deducting 20% of your gross since you will be capped at the 15.5K, nothing else happens.
 
<p>awesome. good to know.</p>

<p>in other news, the fine people at Lennar gave me a call to let me know that the property i was interested in has just been reserved. now that the option is gone, i'm actually relieved that i paused for a quick second and took the finger off the trigger. after reading Priced_out_IT_guy's thread i am more confident in waiting around knowing that other people are in the same boat as me, agonizing over renting. hopefully i will be able to purchase a single family residence as my first home. that would far exceed any of my previous expectations and gives me the encouragement to be patient and keep on saving! wow, i feel all "grownz up". haha.</p>

<p>thanks! </p>
 
p.s. this also means i will be able to hold on to my prized collection of artworkthat was really gonna kill me to sell... (it was going to go toward my down payment). so i guess it's a win-win if everything pans out as predicted. :)
 
<p>You'll be able to enjoy your artwork in your new single-family home in a few years. You're patience will be rewarded.</p>
 
<i>"has just been reserved"</i><p>


Kind of wondering what this looks like ... you call up and ask the buider to reserve you a home for a certain date? I think it is called a sale when someone puts down a deposit. If one family or person has a reservation on a home, and another family says they want the home and will put down a deposit, will the builder hold the home for the "reservation"? <b>Yeah. Right.</b>
 
<p>awgee- it sounds like a pressure ploy to panic him into buying now.</p>

<p>mfh- is "prized collection of artwork" a euphemism for "comic books" </p>
 
awgee, when i said "reservation" i meant that a family put down the $5k deposit required to open escrow. so yeah, my fault for choosing vague terms. it wasn't a ploy to get me to "buy now" because it was actually the last unit of this particular floorplan in the last phase of the community. all of the Lennar people who i've spoken to have been very polite, nice and didn't really pressure me. when they called to let me know the unit sold, i told them i was going to wait for a while. they still continue to answer my questions and have been very honest and upfront with me the entire time. i would gladly give them my business if the time/price/rates were right.





nude, it's actually a euphemism for street/graffiti/lowbrow art..
 
Nude - It was <strong>not</strong> a ploy to get him to buy now, because the Lennar people are all very polite and that was the last unit of that particular floorplan. The Lennar people are very honest and upfront.
 
<p>MFH, apparently it would have helped with the down payment if you had a comic book collection</p>

<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071010/ap_on_re_us/batman_comic">news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071010/ap_on_re_us/batman_comic</a></p>
 
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