up that is I am so sick of apt life and all the BS that goes with it I am going to be gettig a place of my own and i will prolly have a roomate but i really thik she won't mind. I am sick of getting my car spit on and having still burning cigarettes left on my car that I am going to venture out into the big world. Now comes the fun part of finding a place but at least I will have a garage and no noisy neighbors having sex so loud you can hear them all through the floor. If things work out i might have a place for you all to crash on the way through for WCBF. wish me luck and any advice would be greatly appreciated

good luck.

The only suggestion I will give you or others in life is............Don't live beyond your means. Get a place that you can afford and that you won't have to worry about paying for. No lecture only a suggestion, it has been the best financial advice my parents ever gave me.

well I will say this i got a nice gift from my grandpa when he passed on and I have been holding out for awhile but when you only get 2 hrs of sleep thanks to the neighbors and you go out almost every day and find fresh spit and cigarette butts on your car you will say enough is enough and where is the respect for others property anymore

I'll second Frank'* advice and expand on it to be specific. Don't let the realtor'* or mortgagors tell you what you can afford. Most will invariably use a standrad formula that makes you think you're rich, but doesn't take into account many other realistic living expenses.

If you've never really done the work to create a true budget, do the work now to do so...BEFORE you start shopping. I could tell you many a sad tale of woe about folks who drowned in debt by believeing what they wanted to hear and not doing the homework up front so that they KNEW what they could really afford.

If you need budget help, there are any number of good templates online. Do a google search...then DO the homework!

If you already have, just ignore my whole post...lol.

In any case good luck!

Goodluck to you gojo.

Good luck!!!

Oh MAN did we hate living in apartments....we had the cops called us once for a 'loud party' one saturday night....WE WHERE AT THE LAKE. Nobody was even IN our apartment, and we had a complain filed against us. One time I had some friends over, and one girl went out onto the deck, and noticed our downstairs neighbor VIDEOTAPING INTO OUR APARTMENT!!!!

My husband and I said screw it and started looking at houses. Here'* a suggestion, dont blow it off until you hear me out:

Look at mobile homes. Thats right, Trailers.

Instead of going broke trying to buy a house (both full time students and 20 and 21 years old) we looked at trailers. We found a 1996 Dutch, its 1100 square feet, 3 bedroom, 2 full baths (master w/whirlpool tub and separate shower), central air, gas forced air heating, vinyl double pane windows, tan vinyl siding, 12x30 deck, a big fully fenced yard, 12x12 addition (we use for deep freezer/storage) fenced in dog run, 10x10 shed, wood laminate flooring, marble-looking tile in the kitchen (we did that ourselves) and we can have our two cats and one big *** dog. All this for $23,000....or $315 a month including insurance. With our lot rent it is $605 total.

I'd rather live in a trailer FOREVER than go back to an apartment. Plus, now that we both graduated college and are gainfully (!) employed, the low cost of our current place will make it ALOT easier to save for a "Stick Built" house.

Just another option people generally turn their nose up at....

In regards to renting or purchasing you are in a postion to negotiate, yes even if it'* rent. Sell yourself and be confident. You have to be willing to walk away but always have a back up. When it comes to purchasing, negotiate everything including the lawyers fees. When I bought my house, I almost lost it over $400.00, and the real estate agent gave it to us out of her pocket.


Good luck.

well out of the blue a buddy called me today and he is moving down here so he needs a place to live so this just might work out great . It was a great day besides that