patrick.net

My state income tax payments alone make using the itemized deductions worthwhile.

American in Japan says

Best of luck! Anyway more people should read your post before buying a home.

Hey American, Joys of homeownership!

investor90 says

The sector contributes generous sums to both parties, with Republicans traditionally collecting more than Democrats. Yet in the past two election cycles, bankers have suddenly shifted their cash toward Democrats. The sector gave at least 55 percent of their contributions to the GOP from 1996 to 2004, but actually gave a slight majority of their donations to Democrats in the 2008 cycle. This reversal may suggest an effort to remain influential as a Democratic-controlled White House and Congress consider new market regulations in response to the specter of economic decline.

I agree with all that you've said; I would caution that contributions from a company or sector does not really indicate if the candidate is in their pocket. I'd focus more on the CEO/Board contributions than the aggregate employees.

I know my contributions are different than many of the Partners here, and mine and others' contributions make it appear quite different at the FEC.

Thanks for all the replies. For those who are trying to figure out what it costs in maintenance. Here goes.

House is built 1974. When we bought it in 1991, it had been cosmetically updated (floors, bathrooms, some lighting, original kitchen appliances and counter but new floor, tile and sink/faucet). The house didn’t need much done to it for several years. In the first 15 years, other than paint, we replaced the roof, some lighting, installed a fence and repaired or replaced basic stuff that broke.

I estimate we have put $35K (cash) into the house in the last 5 years. And yes, some of this was deferred because life happens. Illness, disability, lack of income. We needed time to recover from some big hits. Here is some of what went into that $35K: HVAC, Windows, Interior and exterior paint, minor kitchen upgrade with appliances, complete accessible bath remodel, some flooring, some lighting, landscaping, tree removal, partial finishing of basement, washer-dryer.

In about 8 years we will need another roof $7-9K. Sooner than that we need an electrical upgrade $3-4K. The kitchen cabinets are original. New kitchen cabinets are on the list of future expenses. But that comes with a lot of other costs and a lot of disruption. We need to decide if it is worth it, and if not, then we will at least replace the floor.

cab
That's a very long comment so I'll just touch on a few things. It sounds like in NY, a rent controlled apartment is the smart housing choice. In fact it seems like the "norm" for NY. I live in the midwest. Husband and I were raised in SFH owned by our parents. We purchased our first SFH 6 months after we were married. PITI was less than the rent we had been paying. It was a small fixer upper. We moved up a couple of times. That's our "norm".

I did not say I was going to purchase again. I am seriously considering renting. Part of the reason is that I think I may want to move around after I retire. For now, I have to live in this home. My husband has said he is never moving. Part of marriage is knowing when something is important enough to the other partner to accept it without negotiation. I expect to outlive him, as his life expectancy does not look to be very long. I will make whatever decision when the time comes, but I prefer not to stay in this house.

No reason a person can't have good FICO score without a mortgage. But it does help. Part of the score is the mix of types of debt. FICO likes mortgage debt better than revolving credit. I don't make up the formulas.

Thanks for your input.

a href="/post/658038#comment-730079">cab says

ANSWER : 1) You can have pets in some apartments. I live in an apartment and my neighbor has 2 cats. There are plenty of rentals and plenty of pets in my neighborhood.

Ha ha ha . Cats. Yeah, we had cats from time to time. I like cats just fine.

One of the reasons we bought the house we live in is my son wanted a big dog. For 14 years we shared our house and 1/4 acre yard with a Weimaraner who was 100 lbs when he died.

cab says

If I get inspired by the Peace Corps or Scandinavian rock bands or want to go off and write a book somewhere, I can just pick up and go for several months and not be bothered with worrying about the building.

You're obviously single with no family. I am too and
If I feel like picking up and leaving which I do often sometimes 6 months or year at a time, I just leave. There's no rent to be paid on time, no landlord notes showing up at my door. I just go.
We're talking about owning outright here.

I am also a landlord so I see the renter perspective. I see potential tenants come to me almost to the point of tears because they're losing their apartment and no landlord will take them due to unemployment, bad credit or other factors.
not exactly a situation I envy.

It's very strange that the only two things that have loss of value are homes and cars. There is the gain of value of course. Like an old mustang or something. Everything else well it's just someones old unwanted stuff and no good for the most part. In new homes and cars. The prices are disimilar accross model lines and home prices. See way to much coinciedence.

If you notice the example old unwanted stuff well you set the price. Sometimes you get really good deals. Question is who's setting the prices on all the so-called new stuff. See the similarities are way to convient to dismiss. Monopoly is even a stupid word. If I broke that one down you would shout hey dude IM FREE. hahaha. Deal is I think people have been scammed from birth in a lot of this stuff. Schools even so called universties will never hand you a calculator and say hey look moron. This is what this house REALLY costs you. Hey school. Im spending all of this money in property taxes. Why don't you do me a real favor and tell me what A CAR REALLY COSTS TO MAKE. Or HOW MUCH DOES IT REALLY COST TO BUILD A HOUSE. Or better yet teach me how to build a house that I HAVE TO SPEND 30 YEARS PAYING OFF WITH MY LABOR? Takes a couple of months to build. See.

Nope I get to hear about Andrew Jackson and Anita Bryant and shit that really does nothing but confuse everyone. Which well they just really like doing. See.

DennisN says

Congress refuses to repeal the mortgage interest deduction on its face. But Congress is going ahead with a stealth repeal of the MID by the clever ruse of increasing the standard deduction.

Do you mean decreasing?

ArtimusMaxtor says

It’s very strange that the only two things that have loss of value are homes and cars.

Huh? Most of you folks are pretty smart. Do you want to rethink this statement?
Stocks' value is in constant flux, anything used is worth less than it was when new (unless there is a demand for it as vintage or collectable), new stuff with more supply than demand is priced at discount (last year's/season's merchandise), electronics have continually come down in price, anything with a "shelf life" is discounted until it sells or is discarded (food, medications, flowers).

Oh sure I guess I am pretty smart. I could bring the hachet down on that statement really, really quick. Bringing up stock market isn't really all that smart at this point. In my opinion. People are tired of being conned. So. I'll just leave that alone. See the confusion is really simple. All of this isn't complicated at all. It just complicating senario's. So people become confused again. It's really not a nice thing to do.