Personal Finance Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of September 07, 2020 |
- Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of September 07, 2020
- My email inbox got flooded rapidly – it was a cover-up by a scammer making changes to my PayPal account
- Just warning people about a PayPal phishing email I received.
- Do NOT be afraid to leave a dealership without a car!
- A new (to me) PayPal scam that they refuse to address
- Friend not reporting Uber Eats income, collecting CA Unemployment Insurance
- Asking for a Raise
- Separation can’t agree
- $20K+ Credit Card Debt - Unemployed - Will They Take My House Away?
- Relatively young (mid 20s), Should I buy a house, or invest in the Market?
- Cash safety net
- My company is starting to lay off employees and I'm sure I'll be one of them. What should I anticipate/do?
- Citi Bank won’t refund $1400 of stolen money
- Can I afford to quit my job and be a SAHM eventually?
- How did you determine what price range of home should you afford? And what additional expenses should you factor in your purchase?
- Smartest way to save and gift graduation money?
- My scammer won’t leave me alone.
- My bank severely reduced my credit limit and crushed my (recently very improved) credit score. What can I do to rebuild my score?
- Is it really that bad to not negotiate a job offer?
- First job need help knowing how to handle retirement accounts
- Buy all cash Or continue renting - 5yr plan
- Does putting someone on a deed impact their FHA eligibility if they do not currently own a home?
- Keep losing to cash-only offers
- How do banks find addresses and people I am associated with during identity verification?
- Lesson Learned: $9,500 Loss... Check Your Pet Insurance Exclusions
- Single, saving for a house, with debt
| Weekday Help and Victory Thread for the week of September 07, 2020 Posted: 07 Sep 2020 04:07 AM PDT If you need help, please check the PF Wiki to see if your question might be answered there.This thread is for personal finance questions, discussions, and sharing your success stories:
A big thank you to the many PFers who take time to answer other people's questions! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Sep 2020 03:52 PM PDT TL/DR – Mass emailed, it was a cover-up to hide changes to my PayPal account. Could have lost tens of thousands of dollars. This will be a fairly long story, but it relates to a scam I've never seen mentioned on here. A few months ago I had just finished my work at around 10 am when my phone notifications blew up. I looked and it said that I had approximately 100 new emails. This was certainly out of the ordinary. I immediately opened my email to check, and by the time I got in there, there were about 200 new emails. Over the course of the next few minutes, approximately 400 emails had poured into my inbox. All of these emails seemed to be introduction emails to some sort of service or product – but all different. Never the same one twice. They were all mostly "Thanks for signing up for BLANK." This would be the kind of email you get when you want to receive more information about a product or subscribe to an email list. None of the names were correct, and they were varied. Sometimes it would congratulate "Steve" for signing up for something, other times "Robert." There or approximately 50 different names. At first, I simply thought that my email had gotten on to some list that blasted emails to various services hoping I would sign up for one. However, something really didn't seem right. I decided I needed to go through my entire inbox and look for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. Since all these emails were not really legitimate, I started looking for anything that DID seem legit. Low and behold, about halfway through, I spotted an email from PayPal. I clicked on it, and it was indeed an email from PayPal letting me know that an authorized user had been added to my account. I hadn't logged into my PayPal that day (though I do use PayPal regularly for invoicing clients), so I knew this was not a change I made. I immediately logged into PayPal, half expecting not to be able to log in at all. However, it did let me log in, but I could not see any suspicious purchases at all. I found the "Manage Users" section of my account and did see one authorized user. Here is the thing, the authorized user did not look suspicious. It was my name. Actually, it was my middle name, which is the name that I use for my PayPal business account. My PayPal is under my first name, but my clients see my middle name. I almost closed out thinking nothing was wrong, but something still didn't seem right. I hadn't added any authorized users. The details are a bit fuzzy here because this was a few months ago, but from what I remember, the phone number for the authorized user was not mine. While they used my name, they had their number. Maybe it wasn't their number, but I still knew I hadn't made any changes. I immediately called PayPal and got through to customer service. They immediately agreed to put me through to their security team because they thought something was suspicious as well. The PayPal security team said that an IP address from somewhere in another part of the country logged into my account and just added an authorized user. While on the phone, the PayPal security team told me to delete the authorized user, change my password, and recommended enabling two-factor authentication. From the moment I got all of the emails to the moment I was on the phone with PayPal security, the time frame was only 15 minutes. I think the scammer was going to play the long game on me, but because I took the time to look through all the emails and notice something was wrong, they never had the chance. My PayPal account balance hovers around $200 at any given moment, but it handles tens of thousands of dollars of transfers per month for my business. I always transfer this to my bank account quickly because…because PayPal. Had I not noticed something amiss, they could have waited until one of my larger invoices came through and drained me of my money. Long story short, if you get blasted with hundreds of emails at once, look through every single one of them to see if something seems legitimate. All of those emails are probably a cover-up for something related to your finances. [link] [comments]  |
| Just warning people about a PayPal phishing email I received. Posted: 07 Sep 2020 04:14 AM PDT Hey all, Just wanted to warn people because I received a VERY legit looking PayPal scam email. The email looks like it was forwarded right from PayPal, and the website looks very legit as well. It has all the animations you would expect, the only reason I didn't fall for it was because it didn't take me to the right website the first time. I work in IT security (granted I'm not as vigilant about checking emails as I should be) and it definitely would have been real enough to trick my tired ass this morning. That is all, and if anyone recieved a suspicious PayPal email this morning and used the link they may want to change their password. [link] [comments]  |
| Do NOT be afraid to leave a dealership without a car! Posted: 07 Sep 2020 07:19 PM PDT TL;DR: Walking out of a dealership with no car can be the best decision you make. Car dealers are SLEAZY AF. I am in the market for a new car, so I went to the nearest Acura dealership to me. I have a new-ish Honda Pilot, but an MDX before that, and I miss my MDX so here we are. I knew going in that my trade-in (the Pilot) is worth $4500 more than what I presently owe on it. It is lower than average miles and in excellent condition. I have a buyout offer in hand from a neighboring dealer as well. They do the obligatory "we have to appraise" it and I told them that's fine, but I know what it's worth and there's no need to sell my existing car, so I won't be taking less than the buyout offer I have from a dealership across the street. I ask to drive the car and my husband and I take it for a spin. It is what I expect. We return to the dealership. I had gone through TrueCar to get an offer from this same dealership and was given an offer of $48k the night before on the car I was looking for. They tell me that TrueCar is really aggressive and the best they could do was $49k. I warn the salesperson that when he gets me the term sheet that I am looking for the out the door cost for the car and NOT payments. I also ask for a breakdown of the fees. He compliments my wedding ring. Tells me he was in jewelry sales before. Cool, I am wearing a plain milligrain band. I assure you, the ring is nothing to write home about. I mention that I want roof racks and crossbars for the car. He tells me they will be $1230. I tell him the price on the Acura eStore is $850. He tells me shipping and installation makes up the difference (THIS IS A LIE). Then he tries telling me that it costs $180 just to install these (THIS IS ALSO A LIE). I tell him he can take 20% off his price for the aftermarket parts. He takes off 15. The deal that Acura is running now is either 0.9% over 72 months (car at MSRP) OR you can take the "Internet E-Price" discount. MSRP for the car is $53k. He wants to give me $4k off. Then the funny business happens. The sales manager comes out and tells me that there's something wrong with my financing (through Acura). I ask what it is, he says they won't approve me for 72 months, but only 60 months (RED FLAG). There's nothing wrong with my financing. I tell him I don't care about the term, it can be 36 , 48 or 60 for all I care. He starts being really slick and coming out to talk to me: "Look, I really want to help you out here, and really want you to leave an Acura today" "You don't have to worry about any of this, we are going to bend over backwards to make sure you get into this car" "Are we really only talking about a difference of $400?" (demeaning, dismissive, when I insisted he bring the offer on my trade-in to match what the other dealership had offered me. Him and the salesperson do the "can we get you anything to make you more comfortable while we work on this" and "the finance guy is getting this into the system right now" and I respond letting them know they've got half an hour to get it figured out, because I have a lunch date. Now something weird happens. I get an updated offer from a different sales agent at the SAME DEALERSHIP. Except, it is 3k less than what they have proposed for the vehicle. My old MDX dealer is 40 mins from my house but at this point I am willing to make the trip. I call my contact at the old dealership. I explain the situation. He tsk tsk's me for being at the other dealership. I ask him if he can make $46k happen, and he tells me he has to call me back. Bear in mind, these are 2020's sitting on the lot, and the 2021 is supposed to be coming soon. Probably delayed, but still sitting. The salesperson comes back out and is sweet talking my husband as I return from my phone call. I tell the salesperson about the email from HIS dealership with an offer $3k LOWER than what I am paying. You know, he could have swallowed his pride on this one but he says... "Oh that must have been a mistake, I bet he hit the wrong button, we can't honor a price that low" I asked him to let my husband and I chat. In the meantime I start packing up my things and I see the salesperson come back out of the corner of my eye. He has the keys to my trade-in and he hands them to me and says "Sorry, we could not make the financing work, thanks for coming out today" THIS IS A TACTIC. PEOPLE DO NOT LIKE BEING TOLD NO. I know beyond the shadow of a doubt there is NOTHING wrong with my financing. Why? Because I was pre-approved through my bank before I showed up. They did not even ask, tried to hit me with a higher rate, even though I offered my pre-approval. My husband and I left for our lunch date and my old dealership called me back. He says "Clover, if you want to make the trip out here, you'll leave in your car for that price" I show up at the dealership and he already has a no-bullshit term sheet drawn up. I tsk tsk'd him for putting GAP and Extended warranty on there, and he took them off. Those aftermarket accessories? $200 markup, not $400. He added the $500 to my downpayment from the finance company (double cash, where Acura matches your downpayment up to $500) without me asking (he knows I would have). They matched my bank's rate, and husband and I went to go drive it while they drew up the paperwork. Then, I got a text message from a number I did not recognize. "Hey Clover! I've got some great news for you, will you give me a call when you get this?" Oh you have GOT to be kidding. Then, the same number calls me half an hour later and leaves a message. "Hey Clover, my Sales Manager was really upset with American Honda but he pulled some strings and we got it all sorted out for you, and we can WORK ON the price when you get here" It was the salesperson from the other dealership, trying to convince me to come back. Got back from my test drive at my dealership, caught up with the Sales Manager (who has been there for 8 years and sold me my first MDX) and I drove off the lot 2 hours after we got there, and now my new car is sitting in my driveway. I texted the salesperson from the first dealership back once we got home. "I purchased from ACME Acura. Thanks." Moral of the story: Even the most informed and prepared of us can get swindled. If I had not received that email I would have paid $3k more for that car than I should have. Don't be afraid to walk away. There are PLENTY of cars on the lot! [link] [comments]  |
| A new (to me) PayPal scam that they refuse to address Posted: 07 Sep 2020 11:47 AM PDT A few weeks ago I got caught by this scam and so have 2 of my close friends all within a few weeks of each other. Do not buy anything from a website that accepts PayPal and only PayPal. When you buy from them, you will receive no correspondence (no order confirmation, etc). When you eventually dispute the purchase with PayPal, the scammer will send them a UPS tracking number which shows that a package was delivered in your postal code within the time frame of when you ordered. PayPal will immediately close the dispute in the scammers favor. You can not reopen it. You have no easy path to claim their "Buyer Protection" that they market every chance they can. Contacting them by chat results in a circle of escalation. They will close your chat if you don't reply within 24 hours. The scam works because UPS tracking does not divulge the actual street addresses where the package was delivered. The scammers have somehow gotten a huge list of valid tracking numbers so they are able to provide a number that was delivered to your zip code in response to a dispute. PayPal is at fault here because their dispute settling mechanism only requires that the seller provide a tracking number to your zip code. To actually get your money back you have to visit a UPS store and hope they will provide you a print out showing the address for the tracking number. In my case I was able to get this information by email from UPS because I submitted a lost package claim. To dispute the lost package claim UPS emailed me the delivery address and time of delivery, but this took almost a week after I submitted the claim. TLDR - scammer sends real tracking number for someone else's package to counter your dispute. PayPal makes it extremely hard to get your money back. Do not use PayPal. [link] [comments]  |
| Friend not reporting Uber Eats income, collecting CA Unemployment Insurance Posted: 07 Sep 2020 05:14 PM PDT My friend does Uber Eats a few hours a day, 4 or 5 days a week, and has not been declaring it on her biweekly CA UI paperwork. What sort of damage control should she be doing? When is this going to become a problem? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Sep 2020 02:01 PM PDT TLDR: started out being under paid because I was not qualified. Now I am qualified, with signed offer from another company, and want a raise while company numbers are bad, but recovering due to covid. Currenly working for a medical device company, with just over 3 years of experience all at the same company. When I started I was under-qualified for the position. I got my foot in the door with a great reference. They low-balled me initially and, in my opinion, rightfully so. They knew I wouldn't get a job like this at any other medical device company because of my lack of experience. I also wanted to move back to the Twin Cities (skol) to be with my fiance. I ultimately had very little leverage and took the position starting at 50k w/ 10% annual bonus, great health benefits BUT, no 401k match. 3 years in, I'm now at 59k, (65k total compensation). I have a signed offer for 80k with a 4% 401k match at one of the world's largest medical device companies. 15k + 401k match is quite a bit of money I'm leaving on the table. So I'm prepared to ask for a raise. But, here is where I'm struggling. Comapny had a dog shit Q1 and Q2. Our devices are used almost exclusively for elective procedures. We are now recovering due to these procedures picking back up. Back in April, upper management communicated there would be some big spending cut, although there was no explicit mention of no raises. I like my boss a lot. She is extremely experienced (30+ years of experience), company culture is top notch, work life balance is excellent, and I am fully remote until 2022, which I love. How do I breach the conversation I need to align with my currently market value without being the first to give a number? When they inevitably bring up covid as an excuse to not pay me more, what should I say? I don't want to come across as aggressive by telling them I have another offer and I'll leave if they can't match it, but if that's what's required/kosher I'll do it. PS. The extra pay will go toward my 401k as I currently max my roth. No one else besides personal fiance cares about this but im really proud I won't use the extra money for lifestyle creep or a dumb purchase. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Sep 2020 01:30 PM PDT I have a joint mortgage with my father on the help to buy scheme, I'm looking to move on with my girlfriend and buy another house. I'm looking to sell my current house with my father but he won't agree to the sale (so he says). My issues is he can't afford to buy me out and as of recently I have discovered he has a big gambling problem and plummeting himself into debt, how can I force the sale of my house so I can escape this nightmare and move on with my life? [link] [comments]  |
| $20K+ Credit Card Debt - Unemployed - Will They Take My House Away? Posted: 07 Sep 2020 08:03 PM PDT I am currently living in California. I have been laid off due to the poor economy and covid, and on top of that have accumulated +$20k in credit card debt. Currently, my life expenses are very high because i have 3 children to raise as well. I am unable to make any of the credit card payments anymore, as I have no income and savings left. Because I cannot pay the credit card payments, would the banks take away my home? my home is really important to me and my children, and if they take it away we will become homeless!! thank you so much input, i really appreciate it! [link] [comments]  |
| Relatively young (mid 20s), Should I buy a house, or invest in the Market? Posted: 07 Sep 2020 05:37 PM PDT Hi, I have been looking around for homes since the beginning of February just before COVID hit which put my search on pause. I am starting to reconsider where my money is really worth it. Quick Facts:
Right now, I am unsure whether my money would be better used in finding a home for myself and girlfriend to live in, or slowly investing back into the market and continuing to live at home (my girlfriend and I would be much happier living together again). Would love to hear your thoughts. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Sep 2020 09:16 PM PDT I'm curious to see what you guys think about this topic. Should one prioritise a cash safety net first to cover expenses for a few months in case of an emergency and then use all other money your not using to invest with or is it best to just put as much money as possible into investments first? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Sep 2020 07:13 PM PDT I've been working at my company for a couple months right out of college, but unfortunately talks about laying off employees have begun. Given my performance and how new I am to the company, I'm positive I will be the first wave to go. I still have A LOT of PTO that I haven't used. Do employers payback PTO when they lay you off? How should I go about figuring this out if this is a company specific issue? What should I discuss with HR? Should I expect to receive severance? Do I have to apply for unemployment or is this an automatic thing? Anything else that I need to make sure to do? Times are tough and I hope that anyone who's struggling makes it out okay. EDIT: typo [link] [comments]  |
| Citi Bank won’t refund $1400 of stolen money Posted: 07 Sep 2020 05:16 PM PDT Hi guys, I need your advice. I lost my Citi Bank credit card at the end of July and I've only noticed only after I've seen a 2 large purchase at the grocery store (900, 500). As soon I've seen , I've called the store...after they investigated they told me they purchased gift cards with the money and they froze the gift cards( around 300 was spent). Mean while I called the police and filled a police report. They looked at the cameras and the thief was wearing a mask, glasses and a hoodie, they also mentioned he used a loyalty number and they waiting on corporate to send more information. Still no word from the police. After I called citi bank and filled for fraud claim they said everything will be fine and I'll get a call from investigation team. I got the call from them, answered all the questions for about an hours. I provided them police report number, officers name and number, everything they asked. Few days ago a got a letter in the mail saying that I didn't provide enough information and the charge will remain under my account. What is there for me to do ? It seams citi bank didn't even follow the money... the grocery store did more investigation then them. [link] [comments]  |
| Can I afford to quit my job and be a SAHM eventually? Posted: 07 Sep 2020 05:12 PM PDT My husband (29) is a union carpenter making $5560/month for 40 hours/week as a journeyman after dues and taxes. He primarily works with 1 company that keeps him working regularly. He occasionally does side work for roughly $500-1000 or so on a weekend if he has time. He has a great pension, but does not get paid time off. I'm 28, and currently a program manager in the healthcare field, which is $2800/month after taxes. My job is moderately stressful since I coordinate live events, and the hours can be long. We don't have family nearby, so full-time childcare (especially in NJ) would be a huge expense. In 2017, we bought a two-family fix-upper that was in rough shape. We live in the bottom unit. My husband is almost finished with renovations, and we're just about ready to start renting out the top apartment again. We'll likely charge $1,250/month in rent. Our mortgage, bills/debts, and other expenses like food, etc. (without tenants) comes to about $4,400/month. We have $20,000 in emergency savings, and we're on track to wipe out credit card and student loan debt within 9 months. We currently live off his income: he saves a bit, and I throw all of my income towards debt and savings. I know we can probably swing it if I got pregnant and decided to stay home and live frugally (which is my goal when kids are young), but here are some concerns—
Any advice? I desperately wants to stay home with children those first few years, but I also want to be smart about long-term finances. Am I kidding myself? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Sep 2020 06:46 PM PDT I was thinking about buying a house that's $420k, but my income is only $85k. I am getting lots of negative vibes with my decision and I don't really have anyone to ask. What would you suggest I should do? I am only 26 and I live in a high COL area. Edit I don't know if this helps, my credit is very good. Debt free. I have a lot saved over $100k in retirement. [link] [comments]  |
| Smartest way to save and gift graduation money? Posted: 07 Sep 2020 05:36 PM PDT Hello! I have a fun goal that's a long ways out, but that gives me time to strategize and plan. I want to gift my neices and nephews a thousand dollars when they graduate from high school. I have several neices and nephews, most of them under 6yo. I am saving $25-30 out of each paycheck, and by the time the first one is 18, I'll already have his graduation money and the next couple kids as well. So the question of "how am I getting this money?" is covered. I have a few questions now. As freaking cool as it sounds, I don't think I'm going to hand a thousand dollars cash over to my nephew or niece. I also thought about simply writing a check, but I just want to make sure I'm not overlooking any options. The most I've ever been given is $15 in a birthday card, lol! Are there other ways to gift money? What if I set up a bank account in their name? Is it worth it to do that for $1k? Will they be taxed if I give them their money one way VS another way, and if so, will I be able to cover the taxes as well? Is there anything I'm not considering, like opportunities for them to earn interest before they graduate? Thanks for reading! [link] [comments]  |
| My scammer won’t leave me alone. Posted: 07 Sep 2020 06:21 PM PDT Scammer won't leave me alone. Hello everyone, I posted about me being scammed yesterday but I have a few questions and I'm hoping that someone who knows a little more about these types of check frauds and just the law in general would be willing to answer them. On Saturday a stranger practically cornered me inside the bank atm and asked me to deposit a check, me having bad anxiety and not really knowing about checks wanting to help someone I decided to do so, better safe then sorry i thought, it was an $800 check. The bank only gave $500 and I gave him my number to meet up the next day for the rest of his money. I went to the cops the next day with my mother and explained the situation as he texted me to meet up at the bank for his money. I have to get the check back from the bank and then speak to detectives. What I'm scared of is ive seen many people say nothing will be done because I willingly gave the money. The cops told me he'll be caught but I have to wait for the check to come back. He's been harassing me nonstop threatening me. These are the text messages he's been sending me as well as calling me from his number (an iPhone) it seems and other fake text frees. Do I have any legal ground here and what are the chances of me actually getting my money back? My mother and I spoke to the bank and thankfully since I'm a minor they won't close her account. If it helps I live in newyork city. Thank you for reading [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 07 Sep 2020 07:24 PM PDT Looking for some guidance as to what I should do to improve my credit score. Here are the details of my situation: I had one credit card - the only one I've ever had - with a $10,500 limit from my bank. I ran up some serious charges on this card when I was unemployed and also made some very late payments. Payment History is here: https://imgur.com/a/ecG1iMo As you can guess, this was very bad for my credit. My credit score was hovering around 580 for a long time. I was able to pay off this card in it's entirety in 2020.05, and in the process raise my credit score to 680. I was pretty excited to be actually getting my financial life more together than it had been in a long time. THEN, in 2020.06, my bank thanked me for paying off my credit card by reducing my credit limit on my credit card to $500. In addition to being a huge inconvenience, this had the side effect of dropping my credit score to 617. Which is where it is sitting at this time. Well, actually, CreditKarma tells me that my credit score went up 1 point in August, so now my credit score is 618. I try to use that card regularly and pay it off quickly. All this leads to my question: What can I do to improve my credit? - I'm wary of applying for other credit cards or applying for a credit increase on my existing card because of the possibility of worsening my credit. - That being said, I'd be happy to apply for and use any kind of line of credit that (1) I could actually get approved for and (2) would help me raise my credit score. Background info:
Thanks in advance for any assistance and/or guidance provided. [link] [comments]  |
| Is it really that bad to not negotiate a job offer? Posted: 07 Sep 2020 11:13 AM PDT Despite COVID, this turned out to be a good year for jobs in my field and I decided to apply to a few companies. I was fortunate to get offers from all of them, and decided (to myself) to take the top position which had the best offer and was the best fit for my career. My current advisor (I'm a postdoc) suggested negotiating on starting salary but said the offer was really good. I grew up poor so the numbers to me were already ridiculously high. I asked HR about potentially increasing the base salary but they told me that it was already at the high end for the role and location. They offered to go back to "business" to see what they could change in the rest of the offer, but I was fine with everything else so I just accepted it as is. I know in hindsight that I should've let them discuss it, but I'm really happy with the offer (it would allow me to be completely debt free in about 2 years). Is it generally OK to just accept a really good offer? A lot of the forums I've read talk about negotiation, but if you have certain life goals and the offer allows that, isn't that good enough? [link] [comments]  |
| First job need help knowing how to handle retirement accounts Posted: 07 Sep 2020 05:03 PM PDT I am starting my first job on Monday. I graduated with a BS in engineering with no debt. I will be making $74,000 a year with possibly some overtime. I have 9k in cash and 11k in the stock market. I'm in a very low cost of living area and live pretty frugally. I plan on maxing out my 401k and IRA. Would it be possible to max out those accounts for this year? Let me know what you think. [link] [comments]  |
| Buy all cash Or continue renting - 5yr plan Posted: 07 Sep 2020 08:45 PM PDT Husband and I (both men) have been married 2+ years, together over 8. Me: 34, expert in specialty architectural products, stable career and good work/life balance at current company. Working in current field almost 10yrs. My position allows us to have health insurance, and stable income gross ~$70k (6% commission as income + employer match contributions and benefits) I could potentially and realistically average close to 100k/yr in another 5yrs if I were to continue my career at my current employer. Husband: 31, classical musician, previously gigged with local symphony and community orchestras, lately most of his work prospects have vanished. He mostly enjoyed the performance aspect. Teaching is not his primary focus. He comes from comfortable family means, but in recent years their family wealth has increased significantly. I don't count on this money, but it has obviously contributed to his college and career choices until now and has allowed us a certain lifestyle (less goes towards our day to day living - more towards nice vacations and savings safety net). But we don't skimp on groceries We are currently spending on avg $1800/month in rent and utilities that go towards our living conditions. No cc debt or balance on cards - we both pay off every month. One car is owned outright and the other has less than two years left with less than 2% APR (~$4500 payoff) We find ourselves considering career changes for the both of us. That being said, we could pay for a house all cash upwards of $500,000. Currently the market is a sellers market as inventory was low before pandemic, and more so now. We wouldn't want to invest this all in a house as we are planning on going back to school and potentially looking to be abroad. I plan on staying local as I have immediate family close by and schooling prospects for nursing are good here. There are good programs that I could complete in less than 2 yrs. As a nurse I could be back up to my current income levels and have the opportunity to take my skills any place in the country or abroad. Husband wants to study and take our lives abroad. I'm fully prepared and look forward to that next step in our lives. Does buying a house now make sense because we can and it could be helpful towards latter goals or does it really not make sense given all the volatility? [link] [comments]  |
| Does putting someone on a deed impact their FHA eligibility if they do not currently own a home? Posted: 07 Sep 2020 06:34 PM PDT Let's say Person A is looking to buy their first home via FHA, but they haven't yet. Let's also say person B is looking to buy a different home, such that persons A and B would be on the deed for person B's home. Given that person A is on person B's deed, but has not purchased a home, would they be eligible to purchase a home using an FHA loan? [link] [comments]  |
| Keep losing to cash-only offers Posted: 07 Sep 2020 04:06 PM PDT Me and my wife has been house hunting for a while. ALL of our offers were beat by cash-only non contingents offers. Every single time. Wife and I are starting to feel hopeless. We have 20% down (including 5% good faith), pre-approved loan, shrunk our contingencies to 21 days. I felt that was a damn nice offer. What should I do better? (Cash only is not possible for us) Homes we're looking for range between $800-900k. edit: yes, we also had our cover letter to heart-tugg the seller for each house we made offer on. it does go long way, but cash wins over letters, understandably. [link] [comments]  |
| How do banks find addresses and people I am associated with during identity verification? Posted: 07 Sep 2020 06:17 PM PDT Feeling a little creeped out by this one. Today, I opened a new checking account online, and as part of the identity verification process, I was asked a series of questions about myself. The typical "which of the following addresses have you lived at," type of questions. However, two of the questions threw me off. One question asked me what year a certain uncle of mine, with whom I have little to no relationship, was born, and the second asked me what type of aircraft I own. The last question was especially strange because I only recently began flight school and have not filed for any official government documents or attempted to obtain an aircraft loan. I was wondering how this detailed information is obtained by financial institutions, it seems very invasive. [link] [comments]  |
| Lesson Learned: $9,500 Loss... Check Your Pet Insurance Exclusions Posted: 06 Sep 2020 11:41 AM PDT I purchased a high deductible ($1,000) pet insurance plan for my dog Gooby. I understand it's usually better to just "pay" the premium to yourself to stockpile funds as needed, but since the premium was only about $250 every year I was OK with probably "losing" just for the peace of mind. To me about $20 per month was worth not having to worry about potentially choosing between my dog's life and $5,000 or $10,000. Well, just two weeks ago Gooby swallowed a garden hose attachment that got lodged in his intestine and required a $9,500 surgery. It was around midnight when I noticed his symptoms and 2am when I found out what happened, so due to the situation being a medical emergency outside the insurance's business hours I couldn't first contact them to discuss pre-approval. All I could do was look through the policy myself which led me to give the go-ahead after I couldn't find an applicable exclusion. And yet the claim was denied because of this one:
Turns out that in April 2019 my ex-girlfriend took Gooby to my old primary veterinarian that I no longer use to ingest charcoal so that he would vomit an elastic band without ever telling me. She paid for it which was nice, but since the visit was in my name it counted as being within the 18-month period. I guess the insurance company was able to track Gooby's historical visits somehow. I should have asked for all medical records from every place that I remember dating back 18 months and inspected them myself rather than going off memory. But hindsight is always 20/20 I guess. Thank you for reading, I mostly just wanted to vent. [link] [comments]  |
| Single, saving for a house, with debt Posted: 07 Sep 2020 07:33 PM PDT Tl;dr: I'm single with debt, what debt should I pay down first? Car, credit card, or student loans? Hi, I am 30 years old, single, and I would eventually like to buy a house. I have recently been looking at how to best save for buying a house, but I know that it isn't just about how much cash you have on hand. About 3 years ago, I was suicidal and depressed and I racked up a fair amount of credit card debt because I didn't care. I'm better now, but dealing with the consequences. The majority of my debt is now in student loans, but the percentage break down of my debt is this: 22% Car Payments 35% Credit Card Debt 43% Student Loans I am trying to determine the best course of action. Lately I've been doing a good job of putting money toward the credit card debt, and I just got my worst private student loan refinanced (from 12% to 4.7%!!), but I want to know which type of debt is the most damaging to my ability to buy a home on my own. Any advice is appreciated! Thank you all! [link] [comments]  |
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