Mom (and Bubble donor) with a Real Estate question...
Daughter is looking for a first home to purchase. Her job, related to law enforcement, comes with a certain level of personal security issues. She's young and lives alone. Is there a way for her to purchase, in Washington state, without her name being publicized in county records as the homeowner? Some sort of Trust or LLC? She will be getting a conventional loan to make the purchase. Will there be roadblocks with lenders?
What do you suggest?
Thank you.
What do you suggest?
Thank you.
Comments
And it still has a LONG way to go. Especially in places like Seattle.
After discussing this with lenders it seems like we are getting nowhere.
As far as renting, she'd be paying about the same or more in some cases than if she bought. I haven't seen rent prices go down in her neighborhood during the past few years. Places around her area up the rent often, until people move, then rent to someone else and start all over again.
She is determined to buy into a specific neighorhood. She already has enough savings to get into a conventional loan. Of course nothing is For Sale now. The neighborhood was sold mostly during the peak. I imagine we won't see any re-sales there until hell freezes over, death, divorce or job loss..which ever comes first.
:roll:
It may not be relevant, but if your friend is very specific about her neighborhood, something similar may be happening. And real estate IS local. It is a bit like stocks. There can be huge downward pressure but some actually increase in value at the same time.
I'm gonna throw this out though. A new director at the company I worked at two years ago moved to Seattle from another city to take the job. When she asked around about where the best place in the area was to buy, I was the only one that said, RENT. She and I talked about it at length and she DID end up renting, just where she wanted. A year ago she left for a better opportunity in another city. She gave her landlord 30 days notice and was outa here.
If your friend is in a career that includes the possibility of mobility being important, that is another reason to consider renting. The place I bought in Kentucky is a ~13 acre farm with a new home on it. I am putting a 40x80 building on it, it has pasture and I am purchasing a couple of calves. It is my "Galt's Gulch". BTW, I'm still in IT but I have farming in my past and can make the switch if it's all I got. And the fact that my home payments are less than $600 a month and RE taxes are less than $500 a year, I could basically work at McDonalds and survive if I lost my 401K. The farming is a hobby unless the SHTF. If it were not for the fact that one HAS to own such a place, I'd have rented out here too, even though rent and home prices are much closer here.
If I were a person who does NOT own a home right now (especially in places like Seattle), I would consider myself blessed. Buying a home in such a market right now is the equivalent of welding the shackle shut on your ankle which is attached to a huge ball and chain. If you wait a year and prices end up going up, they won't go up by much. But if they go down, well, all bets are off.
Lastly, the worst market you can buy in is a historically low interest rate market. People don't buy a price. They buy a monthly payment. The lower the interest, the higher the price all things being equal. That means there will NEVER be a "refinance" opportunity. But if you buy in a high rate environment, the interest is supressing the home price. You buy the home at a "lower" price and when interest rates go down, you refi, reducing your payments.
This is just a really, REALLY bad time to buy. Worse than last year or the year before. But sometimes young people want what they want and they lose the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others. But they do get the opportunity to learn from their own mistakes. I've learned a lot from both sides. :-D