One of my goals is to eventually be able to purchase a house. Many of my nursing colleagues are purchasing homes that are worth $450,000, $500,000 or even more. Sadly, my budget is about half of that or even less, which means the houses I have to choose from are not appealing. Most of them are small, old, or both.
I am just curious how other nurses manage to purchase decent houses? I've been looking through my income, and I just can't find a way to make it possible to incorporate such a house into my budget. I am salary, so there are no opportunities for overtime.
What are other nurses' experience with buying houses? How did you make it work? Did it require switching jobs? Inquiring minds want to know!
I heard of stories of nurses purchasing a home that they can't afford so they work 2 jobs and countless overtime.
I had a coworker like that, worked 2 jobs and relied on her husband's income, but after he died her house ended up in foreclosure when she couldn't make the payments. I believe she probably had a subprime mortgage due to poor credit which didn't help. Plus she had taken out a HELOC to do lots of fancy upgrades.
Another coworker kept refinancing the mortgage for a new car, for upgrades, etc and never paid down the balance. Actually owed more at the end than when she bought it! Still paying it down, won't be paid off till she is 75!
Another is almost 70 and still working, can't afford to retire as she has a 7% mortgage and 18% loan for a recreational vehicle. I suggested she refi both at the local credit union, rates less than 3%, but to my knowledge she never followed thru.
Then there was a PCA in her 60's with a subprime ARM from Deutsche Bank at the end was 20% and she spent down all her retirement savings trying to keep up only to lose everything in foreclosure. If only she had known better than to get an ARM and that she could have filed bankruptcy and preserved her retirement savings.
It is really sad what can happen if you aren't cautious and financially savvy!
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
19 hours ago, londonflo said:
I took another route...sold my home for a great profit and moved into an older home that has so much charm! I know I am probably alone in liking a master craftsman building that does not involve 'nail gunning' the trim, making sure trim edges actually meet, good stain and the BEST underlying wood without knots.
You are definitely not alone. I dream of having a house like that one day. Mine is newer, 16 years or so and in great shape but I love the craftsmanship of older homes better.
I haven’t encountered any ghosts in my 140 year-old house. However, I did find a very old wedding ring in the attic! (I know it was old because I researched it and the symbols in the gold aren’t the ones used in jewelry now).
His name is Charlie (don’t ask me how I know I just do). About a month after I moved in I heard something downstairs in the middle of the night. I went down to find my previously locked kitchen door (still used a skeleton key) rapidly opening and closing despite no wind and a very strong smell of cigarette smoke. I freaked and called my neighbor who went through the entire house with me to check for intruders. This was no small feat as my cellar is a warren of small, scary rooms but we didn’t find anybody. This happened for 2 more nights until I hung a crucifix on the door handle. A few months later, my house was decorated for Christmas when all of a sudden the lights on the tree and china cabinet started going crazy (different outlets and circuits). Again I smelled smoke. I freaked out but then I got pissed and told whomever was doing this to stop it immediately. And it did. ?. Over the last 20 years I have had frequent episodes of the odor of cigarette smoke (my neighbors don’t smoke) usually followed by random lights turning on and off, especially Christmas lights. He loves Christmas lights. I acknowledge him and let him play for awhile but then remind him that the smoke bothers my asthma or I’m beginning to get scared and it literally disappears instantly. We have an understanding. He can play with the lights and move things but he is absolutely not allowed to touch me, appear or make any scary noises. If he abides by those rules he can stay. If not he knows I will take measures to move him out. One of my good friends brings her dog here pretty frequently and she sometimes goes crazy about something on the landing of the stairs. She also absolutely refuses to go up the stairs. Nothing will make her go to the second story of my house. That being said, I’ve been told that he means no harm and feels it’s his job to watch over me.
My family moved to a house that was going to be the best years of my parents life. I was a teenager. We moved in, which was the midyear of my second year of high school, I developed appendicitis but kept going to school, never said anything was wrong because I wanted to adjust to this new high school. I will admit it was hard to switch from a Spanish 1, Geometry 1 curriculum to different books and different ways of teaching. I did not want to think I was unwilling to tackle this.
Eventually I had to admit to my parents I just felt sick, got diagnosed with peritonitis and (this was in the early 70s) was in the hospital for quite some time.
We once came home from an activity and found our German Shepherd injured with a large cut on his chest. We could never find any blood or signs of entry.
My father was setting up his workbench and found a snub nose handgun hidden behind a peg board. Of course we called the police.
Nothing ever felt good in that house, and my mother developed colon cancer in her early 50s. Despite a alot of hope and prayers she died.
After my father sold it I remembered I had not collected my mother's walker and other medical equipment to donate. I swear when I went back to get those things I heard nasty chuckling, happy that we were leaving. I had shivers and I don't get scared easily.
Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
On 3/7/2021 at 9:47 AM, londonflo said:
BTW, the usual financial advice for house payments for security is it should be no more than a third of your take home pay. 50% is way too much if you want to have money for emergencies including health and job problems. Think about how Covid has impacted the US. The moratorium on evictions does not mean you don't have to pay your mortgage.
I am not sure if this part of your post was directed to me but I said house payments should be no more than 28% of you monthly pre-tax income.
With re: to Dave Ramsey the only thing I have against him is the underlying religiosity of his program. I am one of five kids and while my parents were very successful they did not contribute greatly to our post high school educations. Of the 5 we have 2 lawyers, 1 nurse (me) a high school administrator and 1 teacher. We have all been successful and have no student loan debt - but we all worked our tails off while in school. I had a full time job and was a full time night student. My father was always there with sound financial advice and help with emergencies but he told us when we were young that a parent was responsible for providing, food, shelter, clothing, discipline and love for their children. While I am paying for my son's Community College education it has never been his expectation that his father and I do so. (It just that Covid restrictions in CA make it hard to find a job)
I do not feel that parents should give up a well earned retirement to fund education for their children especially since many of those will rack up huge debts anyway, because they have not been taught fiscal responsibilty, only to have those children ship them off to nursing homes as soon as they get sick and sell of their homes for the cash.
Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
@SilverBells You seem very focussed on appearing successful! Appearances are deceiving. The house my husband and I have was built in 1945. My husband grew up here and we have only made minimal upgrades to the kitchen and bathrooms. We have 1800 square feet of living space and 2200 square feet of yard space which is mostly given over to a large vegetable garden. We have a son and two dogs and live comfortably within our means. Our house payment is low and our property taxes are also low. In fact we couldn't rent a 2 bedroom apartment for what we pay to live in our home. Many people that I know who have big luxy new homes are so deep in debt that they will never get out. the only thing I want right now is a midsize in ground swim spa which we are working to afford. I still think you ahve a bit of growing up to do.
I had a coworker like that, worked 2 jobs and relied on her husband's income, but after he died her house ended up in foreclosure when she couldn't make the payments. I believe she probably had a subprime mortgage due to poor credit which didn't help. Plus she had taken out a HELOC to do lots of fancy upgrades.
Another coworker kept refinancing the mortgage for a new car, for upgrades, etc and never paid down the balance. Actually owed more at the end than when she bought it! Still paying it down, won't be paid off till she is 75!
Another is almost 70 and still working, can't afford to retire as she has a 7% mortgage and 18% loan for a recreational vehicle. I suggested she refi both at the local credit union, rates less than 3%, but to my knowledge she never followed thru.
Then there was a PCA in her 60's with a subprime ARM from Deutsche Bank at the end was 20% and she spent down all her retirement savings trying to keep up only to lose everything in foreclosure. If only she had known better than to get an ARM and that she could have filed bankruptcy and preserved her retirement savings.
It is really sad what can happen if you aren't cautious and financially savvy!
Well when you go from making $9 per hour to $30 per hour (In my state) after finishing school you dream big. Then reality sinks in, but it is too late after you sign on the dotted line.
Some creditor will sign you up because you make a lot per hour and have no qualms in repo/foreclosing you when you can't make those payments.
At least they will smile both times once when you sign and again while their laughing as they tow your Tesla away
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
2 hours ago, Wuzzie said:
His name is Charlie (don’t ask me how I know I just do). About a month after I moved in I heard something downstairs in the middle of the night. I went down to find my previously locked kitchen door (still used a skeleton key) rapidly opening and closing despite no wind and a very strong smell of cigarette smoke. I freaked and called my neighbor who went through the entire house with me to check for intruders. This was no small feat as my cellar is a warren of small, scary rooms but we didn’t find anybody. This happened for 2 more nights until I hung a crucifix on the door handle. A few months later, my house was decorated for Christmas when all of a sudden the lights on the tree and china cabinet started going crazy (different outlets and circuits). Again I smelled smoke. I freaked out but then I got pissed and told whomever was doing this to stop it immediately. And it did. ?. Over the last 20 years I have had frequent episodes of the odor of cigarette smoke (my neighbors don’t smoke) usually followed by random lights turning on and off, especially Christmas lights. He loves Christmas lights. I acknowledge him and let him play for awhile but then remind him that the smoke bothers my asthma or I’m beginning to get scared and it literally disappears instantly. We have an understanding. He can play with the lights and move things but he is absolutely not allowed to touch me, appear or make any scary noises. If he abides by those rules he can stay. If not he knows I will take measures to move him out. One of my good friends brings her dog here pretty frequently and she sometimes goes crazy about something on the landing of the stairs. She also absolutely refuses to go up the stairs. Nothing will make her go to the second story of my house. That being said, I’ve been told that he means no harm and feels it’s his job to watch over me.
Wow cool. I have a few stories of my own, but this is the wrong thread.
brandy1017, ASN, RN
2,910 Posts
I had a coworker like that, worked 2 jobs and relied on her husband's income, but after he died her house ended up in foreclosure when she couldn't make the payments. I believe she probably had a subprime mortgage due to poor credit which didn't help. Plus she had taken out a HELOC to do lots of fancy upgrades.
Another coworker kept refinancing the mortgage for a new car, for upgrades, etc and never paid down the balance. Actually owed more at the end than when she bought it! Still paying it down, won't be paid off till she is 75!
Another is almost 70 and still working, can't afford to retire as she has a 7% mortgage and 18% loan for a recreational vehicle. I suggested she refi both at the local credit union, rates less than 3%, but to my knowledge she never followed thru.
Then there was a PCA in her 60's with a subprime ARM from Deutsche Bank at the end was 20% and she spent down all her retirement savings trying to keep up only to lose everything in foreclosure. If only she had known better than to get an ARM and that she could have filed bankruptcy and preserved her retirement savings.
It is really sad what can happen if you aren't cautious and financially savvy!