topic Re: New House Expenses in Mortgage Loans

New House Expenses

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 00:35:52 GMT

Curious as to how others are budgeting for new house expenses. After the downpayment and closing costs there are those nickel and dime expenses that really add up. And then adding new furniture/electronics/artwork/bathroom stuff on top of moving, trash haul, etc.

Curious about how the current homeowners went through this setup phase and the associated costs. I'm wondering if I am spending too much.

I also want to hear how the homeowners to be are planning on handling all this and how much they are budgeting to spend.

Thanks all.

Re: New House Expenses

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 00:39:39 GMT

I'm curious to know this too. Trying to create a budget and its difficult to do with all the unknowns. Can't wait for the s responses to this....

Re: New House Expenses

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 00:47:37 GMT

Look for many types of coupons..

Home Depot, Lowes, Bed Bath and Beyond as examples all offer coupons when moving into a new home... Any little savings help...

Try to spread out the cost of the things you need. Buy the things that are a must need first and the do not need right away things over a few months...

Re: New House Expenses

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 01:09:05 GMT

Forunately we are getting $10,000 back at closing because one of us is a realtor, unfortuantely, $5000 or so is going toward a fridge right away. The other $5000 we plan to spend on window coverings as that needs to be done ASAP in my opinon and maybe front landscpaing, depending on how much is left.

For other things we need, we plan on doing it over time as we have the cash, don't want to load up any of the credit cards. We really aren't planning on buying much new...we have nice electronics already and furniture. There are some new rooms that we don't have now, like a den, that will need to be furnished but there's no rush. So I guess our plan is to do it slowly over time and not buy everything at once.

Re: New House Expenses

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 01:07:24 GMT

Thanks JM-AM, that is definitely the reasonable approach to take but it so hard to fight that because of the strong desire to have the house all setup right away.

I'm definitely hunting for coupons. I got a lot of stuff from the builder, realtor, and inspector too. I forgot about the ADT house alarm setup...ugh!

Re: New House Expenses

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 01:30:54 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Forunately we are getting $10,000 back at closing because one of us is a realtor, unfortuantely, $5000 or so is going toward a fridge right away. The other $5000 we plan to spend on window coverings as that needs to be done ASAP in my opinon and maybe front landscpaing, depending on how much is left.

For other things we need, we plan on doing it over time as we have the cash, don't want to load up any of the credit cards. We really aren't planning on buying much new...we have nice electronics already and furniture. There are some new rooms that we don't have now, like a den, that will need to be furnished but there's no rush. So I guess our plan is to do it slowly over time and not buy everything at once.

Depending on the Brand you prefer to buy I may be able to save you a few dollars. I only pay contractor pricing on certain Branded appliances and sometimes still get additional discounts. Last refrig we bought for some one we know saved them $725. Sometimes its more and sometimes its less. But its free if you want me to give you an idea of cost.

EDITED TO ADD. Once I looked up price if you wanted to purchase you would do it directly yourself. I Would give you the information needed to gain access and you purchase with your information for warranty's and delivery stuff.... I dont make a penny, just a perk I offer people who can take advantage of it.

Re: New House Expenses

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 01:43:38 GMT

Wow that's really nice of you to offer that! The fridge we are looking at is a KitchenAid KBRC36FTS: http://www.ebay.com/itm/KitchenAid-Architect-Series-II-KBRC36FTS-/121061322289

Re: New House Expenses

cclee — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 02:04:18 GMT

Mike, another great place to try is Spencers on Bell by Arrowhead, they beat everyones prices when we were looking for an appliance, and I remember looking at their built in refrigerators and they were a lot cheaper than what we had seen elsewhere. But if JM can get it cheaper, that is great too!

Re: New House Expenses

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 02:12:16 GMT

Ok, once again my little midwestern-low-cost-of-living mind is blown away...$5000 for a refridgerator?? I bought mine brand new, with ice maker in the door, very nice fridge, for $700 just about 4 years ago. I already knew the housing prices in my area were lower than most when I saw that some of you have monthly mortgage payments that are more than my gross monthly income, but you mean to tell me appliances and such are that much more expensive in other parts of the country??? Y'all need to move to Indiana! My new mortgage is $301 a month (that includes taxes, insurance etc), I just bought a new loveseat and two new recliners for $900, its gonna be a little under $100 for the uhaul this weekend, and the trash haul is free, I just called the waste management company that picks up our weekly trash and arranged an extra trip out here to get the bigger junk we're throwing away. My closing costs were lower than I saved up for, so that extra money paid for the new furniture and what I have left from that will buy a couple new TVs.

If I didnt have that extra money we would just keep our junky old stuff and make do. I don't have a credit card and I hope to NEVER have one again. I have learned to live with the motto that if I can't pay cash or save up for it, I don't truly need it

Re: New House Expenses

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 02:16:02 GMT

You are lucky BetterHalf. 300 bucks for a mortgage!!!!?!?!?!?! $300 in New York City won't get you a night on the town. Lol.

Re: New House Expenses

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 02:19:15 GMT

You can buy $700 fridges here as well, and all over the US I'd imagine. This is a built-in fridge which is why it costs so much. Really it doesn't make sense, there is no reason why it should cost 5x or more as much as a regular fridge, but I guess just "because they can." $5000 is actually a deal on that fridge since it's a floor model on eBay...in store it's $6750 after discount. http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/KBRC36FTS.html

Have you seen some of the Sub-Zero brand fridges? They are like $10,000!

Re: New House Expenses

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 02:21:48 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
You are lucky BetterHalf. 300 bucks for a mortgage!!!!?!?!?!?! $300 in New York City won't get you a night on the town. Lol.

LOL! Yeah I know! My house may not be a new build, but its a great little home, has everything we need, its clean and in a great neighborhood. They were asking $48500 and we got it for $46500. And its FHA so I have a super low locked in rate.

And just FYI, I have been to NYC a couple times, so I know you aren't exaggerating, LOL

Re: New House Expenses

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 02:24:31 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

You can buy $700 fridges here as well, and all over the US I'd imagine. This is a built-in fridge which is why it costs so much. Really it doesn't make sense, there is no reason why it should cost 5x or more as much as a regular fridge, but I guess just "because they can." $5000 is actually a deal on that fridge since it's a floor model on eBay...in store it's $6750 after discount. http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/KBRC36FTS.html

Have you seen some of the Sub-Zero brand fridges? They are like $10,000!

Well maybe I'm just a cheapskate, for $5000 it better chill my food, cook my supper, pour me a glass of wine and massage my feet after dinner!!!!

Re: New House Expenses

tooleman694 — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 02:37:44 GMT

When I get around to it, the second fridge we buy for the house will be 10k minimum..

I want the Sub Zero that has the glassdoors.

You have to be totally obsessive compulsive to buy a fridge like that.

Re: New House Expenses

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 02:48:12 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Wow that's really nice of you to offer that! The fridge we are looking at is a KitchenAid KBRC36FTS: http://www.ebay.com/itm/KitchenAid-Architect-Series-II-KBRC36FTS-/121061322289

Mike I will look it up when I get back home tomorrow evening, I wont fly home until about 7pm tomorrow.

Re: New House Expenses

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 02:57:51 GMT

I can't say it better than BetterHalf did. While we may have to put a couple appliances on no-interest credit, furniture and televisions can wait. Our old stuff will work just fine for a few months until we can save some more up. =)

Re: New House Expenses

tooleman694 — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 03:15:56 GMT

TVs cant wait, you need 60in plus 1080p screens in every room.

Re: New House Expenses

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 05:18:09 GMT

See tooleman thinks just like me. LOL! He is reinforcing me to go all out... In other words, be bad. But I will be an angel once it is all paid for. hehe

I would definitely buy that fridge if it massaged my feet, especially after holiday dinners. Someone needs to invent that or maybe the White House already has it to go with their $10,000 toilets! :-)

And yes NYC is very expensive but it is such a beautiful city with so much to do. I visited there for vacation about 8 years ago, I would love to go back soon and spend more time. Kudos to you for winning the bidding war! :-)

Re: New House Expenses

JonRun — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 06:06:45 GMT

JM-AM, I am also looking at buying a new refrigerator when we move into our new build in a couple weeks. The other appliances are stainless Frigidaire. Any chance for a discount on a stainless Frigidaire refrigerator?

Re: New House Expenses

thankfulheart — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 08:23:06 GMT

I spent $3K on my Samsung French door fridge. LOVE it. Having come from a "settle because it's cheap" prior home, I decided to splurge this time around and do it right from the start and am very glad I did. Definitely make use of the coupons/sales/special financing. I've been able to migrate my expenses over to a 0% card for 12 months which will help quite a bit as well. All the appliances, window treatments, fence, mailbox, etc, I was pretty passionate about starting out with regardless of having to put it on CCs. Each person's willingness for risk exposure varies and it was more important to me to set the house up right from the start for my kids' sake. All told, I think I'm at about $15K with everything I've spent since closing. Those nickels and dimes and thousand-here-and-there appliances really add up.