Another option is to simply find a open lot in town or at a trailer park to move the house to, but we are hearing numbers from 5-10k for moving the trailers.

I can get you a deal on a used refrigerator box.

I doubt you could afford it

Trailers depreciate as fast as cars do- that is why the lending criteria for them is different.  I have heard estimates that a trailer will lose 50% of its value within 5 years.  35% of that is wihin the first 2 years.  Like a car, it loses about 10% value the moment it leave the dealer lot.

Um...are you serious?  $400 a month can go a long way if not wasted, especially if you don't have steady employment.

But, back on topic- I totally understand why renters don't accept pets.  All pets cause damage.  Even if the pet is well behaved, they still get sick and puke on the floor, they still cause extra wear from their nails, they still leave pet dander in the carpet no matter how well you clean.  Otherwise, a normal pet will end up destroying something- be it a cat that jumps at a screen door, or a dog that chews on the corner of a cabinet.  I love animals, but if I rented out a place, I wouldn't allow pets, either.

 

But, back on topic- I totally understand why renters don't accept pets. All pets cause damage. Even if the pet is well behaved, they still get sick and puke on the floor, they still cause extra wear from their nails, they still leave pet dander in the carpet no matter how well you clean. Otherwise, a normal pet will end up destroying something- be it a cat that jumps at a screen door, or a dog that chews on the corner of a cabinet. I love animals, but if I rented out a place, I wouldn't allow pets, either.

Well yeah, I understand too, but just like some places have special units for the disabled and such...it would be a good idea to save a couple units for pets. I mean...some places refuse pets, but at the same time allow smoking. When I lived in Fargo...the place I lived in smelled like smoke...you could tell from the walls and everything and Im sure it was in the carpet. Heck, I even had the apartment flood 3 times...one with water from a backup or something and two from a sewer line that overflowed or something and got into my place. They refused to change the carpet...instead they steam cleaned with some sort of bacterial cleaner. With most apartment complexes, they simply cheap out on everything. Many cities have requirements where a place is recarpeted AND repainted for each new renter. That takes care of most of the issues right there. As far as screen doors...I don't really see those on apartment complexes, mainly houses.

Once your credit scores are in the 650-720 range, you can qualify for 'no money down' home loans and decent interest rates, until then, any financing you ARE offered is going to be a real cunt to keep up with, pardon my french.I find it telling that you don't even know for sure what your scores are when credit-monitoring services can be had for around $15.00 per month. Without that information, you're flying blind, trust me on that.

We know what our scores are...I just didn't post them. We got a print out of everything and there are some things we need to look into. Everything looks fine, as far as everything on there is what we owe and nothing unexpected...we went over everyting and at the time, just one thing didn't pop into my memory, I couldn't recall at the time what it was for and some things simply haven't cleared off the report yet.
The financing we are offered for the owner financing is locked at 6.5% for the year until we get our own financing after that. My main worry is the off chance that we don't get financing at the end of our one year term.

Then again, I always wonder why I even bother to offer you my professional advice (for that is what I'm doing here, and to think I used to get paid for it) when all you do is find excuses not to follow it, like telling me some dude told you that you'll get all your money back out of that trailer.

I never said I didn't want any advice....its your advice as well as opinion and I take that into consideration.

You let me know when that happens, Ryan, and if you can prove it, I'll kiss your fat ass on main street in apology.

I guess we will see what the realtor suggests when she calls back later this week.

Which would still put him at a loss, right? With all the fees to close and realtor commissions.

I agree.  I won't have a car payment over $300, and both my husband and I have decent jobs. 
And, when it comes down to it, anything is too expensive if you are short on money.

Just to give you an idea -- my credit score is 800 (or it was when I purchased my place in May) and they were very hesitant to let me get 100% financing -- I had to prove that I had six months in reserves. You also shouldn't have to pay to lower your interest rate if your credit is good. If you really are going to buy, you should find a good buyer's agent (paid for by the seller) who can help you with all of this. And again, don't forget closing -- It set me back well over $5K.

Also, check out Suze Orman's stuff (I think I suggested Young, Fabulous and Broke to Marcie before). It is very easy to damage your credit score, but a lot harder to build it back up.



I still think it is excessive -- especially if a budget is already tight. Yes, you have to pay it off -- but you didn't have to buy such an expensive vehicle in the first place. I've no idea how much you guys make, but just for the purpose of this exercise, let's say you make $40K a year -- that means you gross about $3,333 a month. Budget experts say roughly 60% of that should cover all your committed expenses (taxes, food and clothing, all bills, insurance premiums, rent, car payments...) [note: the remaining 40% gets divided among retirement, long term savings, short term savings and "fun money"].

Anyway, 60% of $3,333 is just under $2000 -- of which you'd be using 20% for your car payment alone. Remember -- another 20-25% will be taken out in taxes. Which means you are down to approximately $1200 for everything else -- credit card bills, rent, food, clothing -- everything. Certainly doable -- but it just seems unnecessary to dump 20% of your committed expense funds into a car.

, isn't the $400/mo for a motorcycle?

yep

I wish I had $400/mo.

You should be in a permanent employment situation for a minimum of 5 years, with all existing debt paid off, before even considering purchasing a house.

I totally agree, and that is what we would like to do, IF we can find something. The housing market...it isn't even funny out here. Rentals are just as bad, if not worse. We just got a call back today and are going to look at a potential rental house tomorrow. When we came out here, there wasn't anything available and we couldnt keep our stuff in a rental truck until we found a place either.

That actually could be an option....although I haven't heard of anything for sale...although I havent looked at all for them either...will have to keep that in mind for sure. Either way, we dont have anything with a fifth wheel and Marcies car doesn't have the towing for that kind of weight if it was just a regular ball hitch set up.