[blparent] Advice: buying a house

Wed May 9 17:24:44 UTC 2012

        Sean gave some good arguments for renting.

The reasons for buying.
1. Your house, your rules. If you want pets, you can have them.
2. You can have repairs or work done and have it done your way.  If your house feels "too cold" you can decide to replace the furnace.  A landlord won't care about that especially if he/she isn't paying the utility bills.
3.  A landlord can ask you to leave. Not a big deal prekids, but can be huge when you've got school and other kid stuff going on.

You do want to make sure you can aford a home.  If you can't, then you should rent
Shawn has some good points, though I don't think they are blindness related, more just personal preference.
Also, be sure you and hubby agree on this issue. If I was married to Shawn and he didn't want to buy a home, I'd divorce him. And I'm serious.  Ideally this should be discussed before marriage as it is so fundamental, but things don't always work that way.

Where you live and how you live is huge and highly personal.

-----Original Message-----
From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sean Paul
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2012 10:56 AM
To: Blind Parents Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blparent] Advice: buying a house

Mrs. Jackson:
Thank you very much for your response here ma'am. I thought that the earlier
post on this subject was entirely out of line & extremely rood &
disrespectful to the person asking the questions. I will now post to the
list what I wrote to Jan off list. In no way am I in any way attempting to
discourage anyone from purchasing a home if that is their desire. These are
simply my opinions. & some things I have thought about & learned as I've
aged. I was simply attempting to give Jan things to think about. Specially
with young children. Especially where & when it comes to dollars. As I said
in the email to Jan directly. I'm sure that many will find fault with the
things I've said. However this is exactly how I feel & probably will not
change my mind before my days on this earth are through.
Good morning Jan.
Sense apparently someone is going to complain that you posted your question
to the list. I'll write you off list & directly in hopes of answering your
questions. &, I hope that I'm able to answer them all. I don't mean to give
you my life history here. &, in no way am I trying to force my opinions on
you. These are just thoughts & ideas I've developed as I've grown older.
I know when I was in the market for homes in the past. I did find realtors
who would take you to the locations. I think it is very important to find
one who is understanding of your situation. If a realtor isn't understanding
in this way. I'd say, find another. When looking. Explain your situation to
them. Explain your wants for a house & your needs from them. &, remember.
The realtor works for you, not, you for them. If they're interested in
making a sell. They'll go the extra mile. I don't think by asking them to
take you to locations you're asking anything unreasonable of them. You're
paying enough for their services. Make them earn it.
Even when I was looking for a home @ the time. My wife was sighted & she did
drive. However, she wasn't very good with direction so the realtor drove us
from location to location. &, was quite helpful to us. Ultimately, we
decided that we weren't interested in purchasing a home. As we weren't sure
we wanted to stay in the small town that we were in @ the time. This was
several years ago. When I was in the vending program & also working in small
town radio. We didn't. I left the vending program. We moved back to
Chattanooga. We had 2 children. I got a job here in radio. We divorced, so,
looks like the best choice was made.
Fast forward several years. My current wife. Who is also sighted & drives.
Approached me about buying a home just after we 1st got married. I'm not at
all interested in buying a home now. For several reasons. 1. If something
breaks. You the home owner are responsible for making repairs to it. 2. If
that something breaks, you the home owner are responsible for finding the
money to make those repairs. 3. As a visually impaired individual I'm not
very good @ such things. I can do simple things such as change a door knob,
unclog a sink, change light bulbs, etc.  So the expense increases as you
have to factor that cost in to have someone do major repairs for you. 4.
With home ownership comes major repairs, general maintenance that have to be
done such as replace a roof, replace HVAC units, exterior painting, etc.
These things do not come cheep. &, I know for me. We live on a limited
budget. As most of us do these days. &, as a visually impaired person, I'm
certainly not climbing no latter to do no painting... 5. You are responsible
for doing yard work. Or, hiring it done. 6. With home ownership comes
property taxes. Many times those are factored in, in the monthly price that
you pay. However, if they're not. You have to come up with that lump sum
once or twice a year. 7. The cost of home owners insurance is significantly
more than the cost of renters insurance. I'm sure that their are other
factors I've even left out in this list. &, I'm sure if you presented this
to a realtor. He or she would tell you why & how I'm wrong. Personally I
don't think long term. That you ever really own your own home. You pay
gargantuan amounts of interest to a bank. Tons in property taxes, out the
nose for major home maintenance, etc.
My dad & I used to argue that renting is a waist of money. Or, at least that
was his side of the argument. Mine is this. By renting. The things which I
listed above fall on someone else. If the HVAC unit breaks. My apartment
complex is responsible for replacing it, @ their cost, not mine. When the
roof on the building has to be replaced, it's their dimes, not mine. Even
simple things I can do. Someone else has to do. The cost of property taxes
are factored in to my monthly rent. Yes, I know that renting does cost more
than actually owning a home. If you break it down on a monthly bases.
However if you factor in all the things I listed above. I'd say over a
lifetime, you probably break even. However, I look @ it like this. It's like
having insurance. We hate to have to pay that bill every month. But when we
need it & have to have it. It should be there for us. &, you know what? My
dad is now 70 years old &, he's come around to my way of thinking. He sold
his house several years back & now rents. My wife has also seen why I feel
the way that I do as well.
As far as being on a good bus line or transportation line. One of the things
I figured out after my divorce & lived single for awhile, is this. Living on
a good bus line probably means @ least in most large cities living on a high
crime line. I know as a news reporter here in Chattanooga Tennessee. For the
most part, this is the case. I'm not saying you shouldn't live where
paratransit is. &, trust me. I know paratransit can & is in most cities a
major headache. I know it is here as well. But, living on a bus line
probably means that crime is just outside your door or @ the very least.
Right around the corner. When I got my divorce. I lived in the downtown area
of our city. I never really felt threatened. I rode the buses @ all hours of
the day. Walked the streets alone @ all hours of the day & night. But the
young lady I was dating @ the time did. &, I never felt real comfortable
about leaving the apartment & leaving her there alone. She was total as I
am. &, she never felt comfortable about going out on the streets alone. She
always wanted me out there with her. Even now with a sighted wife. I still
have to use paratransit. I can't, don't & won't depend on her for my every
move. So, I know what a pain in the posterior it can be.
Once again, I apologize for the long windedness of this correspondence.
However, I wanted to give you some things which I have though about as I've
progressed throughout my life. Just 1 man's opinion. &, yes, sometimes I do
get paid for it. Please feel free to write me back with your own thoughts &
ideas. I'd love to hear & talk about them.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jennifer Jackson" <jennifersjackson at att.net>
To: "'Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2012 19:15
Subject: Re: [blparent] Advice: buying a house

> Gabe, I think you are wrong. Further more, whether you intended it or not,
> your message came across as intentionally inflammatory. Use your delete
> button if this topic does not apply to you or interest you.
>
>
> Jennifer
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Gabe Vega Via Iphone4S
> Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2012 7:04 AM
> To: Blind Parents Mailing List
> Cc: blparent
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Advice: buying a house
>
> Not only is this topic not blindness related, it isn't  even parent
> related.
> So you have two for two.
>
> Gabe Vega
> Sent from my iPhone
> (623) 565-9357
>
> On May 9, 2012, at 4:52 AM, jan wright <jan.wrightfamily5 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi All,
>> First, I want to thank everyone who responded to my questions about
>> bottles and johnny jumper things.
>> We have a pretty consistent group of parents and child care providers
>> who --- may not always agree, but give wonderful advice for each
>> season of our lives. And, we are as diverse as any other parent group:
>> from spiritual to not; from crunchy to progressive (those might not
>> be opposites, but you understand what I mean); from babies to adult
>> children; from stay-at-home parents  to working parents; ... etc.
>>
>> So, I thought that I might post here about our "house buying" and ask
>> for any tips and advice. I have done research, but, there isn't much
>> from a blind person's prospective. Maybe there doesn't need to be:
>> because maybe it is not any different from sighted people buying a
>> house. But, I did have a couple of questions:
>> 1. How did you choose your realtor? We have one of these, already, but
>> wonder if we  shouldn't have looked farther. DH's boss said that his
>> realtor would transport him to and from the prospective houses. Is
>> that normal??? We find that this is one of the most difficult things
>> to do because paratransit takes so long, we can only see one house
>> per day.
>> 2. Public transportation is not very good here in Indy. People from
>> other cities have commented on how fragmented it is. And, there aren't
>> many sidewalks in residential areas or down busy streets and ... ... a
>> good shoulder is hard to find. [ARe those words to a country
>> song?????]  (smile) But, we are trying to find a house that is close
>> to a bus stop --- and a bus stop that would take DH to work and us
>> downtown. Sometimes we find a house close to a bus stop, but the wrong
>> bus stops there.
>>
>> Any other advice????
>>
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