Dimples' Divine Domain
My journey to financial empowerment.

Back in January I developed my Home Purchase Plan (HPP for short). I listed exactly what I was looking for in my new home including my needs and wants. I printed up my HPP and carried it will me everywhere. I especially took it with me when I went house hunting with my agent. I had a momentary relapse (I'll explain more on that on another post) but got back on track and stuck to my guns. I ended up with a beautiful house that fits all my needs and wants. HOME PURCHASE PLAN The home I want: Price: $0 -> $190,000 $180,000 Ideal Monthly Mortgage (including taxes, PMI, HOA, & hazard) : $1200 (max $1300) $1310 Location: Surrounding Orlando Area Check Bedrooms: 3+ 4 Bathrooms: 2+ 2 Square footage: 1700 s.f. + 1810 sf Year Built: 2000+ 1998 HOA: $100/month max $150/yr NEEDS: * A-rated school district Check * Quick access to major highways Check * Good daycare Check * Nice...

Hey all! I am still alive. I have been busy with the move and getting settled in. Everything has been going smoothly and falling right into place. I have a lot of topics to post on but the most important to come are the following: - My HPP (home purchase plan) results - My home shopping budget results - Do's and Don'ts of buying a home - New budget I gotta run off to a meeting so I will chat with you all later.

I closed today. It was chaotic up until the last minute but thank GOD almighty I am free at last!!! Or am I. UGH the things that need to be done. Gotta don my cap, hotpants, and mask and put a S on my chest. SUPERMOM UP UP AND AWAY!!!!!

Oh that was sooo comic book! Dude.......I KILLED today. I am tired, dehydrated, and I have a slight headache but it was all worth it. But wow! I came away with some amazing steals deals. Let me just show you rather than tell you: *Excuse the mess....we are in the process of packing* Microfiber Sofa Set Rob & Stucky (6 months old, Was kept in formal area so hardly any usage) $400 for the sofa and two chairs! Cute accent table with matching accent mirror and two candle wall sconces, Italian themed wine rack and matching decor signage. Everything for $30. Nightstand $10 Coffee Table (solid wood, huge) Bargained down to $22 I am going to restore the nightstand and stain it to match it to my bed and I will either stain or paint the coffee table to match it to my dinette set. I will also paint the legs of the sofa set (which are removable) so that they match the dinette set's color also. Currently the legs have a reddish tone I don't like. A guy is coming over to ho...

I locked in my rate at 5.375% last week. Rates had gone up since my broker sent me my GFE (Good Faith Estimate). I then bought down the rate to 4.875% which will cost 1.25 points and the will be paid by the closing costs the seller is contributing. This may mean an even lower monthly payment. I say may because I won't know until closing if the estimate on the property taxes were correct or far off. I also shopped around for quotes on hazard insurance for the house. I spoke to my future neighbor and did some research online about what kind of coverage I should have and how much. I got back 4 quotes that were pretty much identical in terms of amounts of coverage and areas covered and whose premiums ranged from $664 to $776. The only difference was the companys' reputation and ratings. I researched Demotech to find the stability rating for each company. And based off that, customer reviews, and word of mouth I went with the best company which was also the one with the high...

I have been racking my brain over ways to furnish my house but NOT bankrupt myself in the process. I created a shopping list/budget for things I will need to purchase for my first house. Even after using sale prices for pieces at modest furniture and home decor stores, my total was inching a little over $7500. This includes all appliances, living room furniture, formal area, two bedrooms, dining, office, rugs, decor, and lighting. My facial expression ----> (Translation: "Good lawd dats a lot of money!!") So I started searching through sales papers, visited some furniture stores, and found different areas to cut back on. After recalculating the shopping list, my new budget is around $6500. My current facial expression ----> (Translation: "Uhhhhh....") Now I had only been looking at brand new furniture. I came across a website, Apartment Therapy , that I found very resourceful and pretty neat. I was inspired and started searching Craigs List ...

My moving fund is coming along nicely. It is currently sitting at $208. Counting this week, I have about 4 weeks until my projected closing date. I'm going to go ahead and list my leather couches and dinette set for sale this weekend. That should bring in about $300. I'll list my two office desk and chairs after I close because will go pretty quickly. My initial budget was set at $335. After some research I came up with a revised list of moving expenses: Moving Supplies -> $50 Movers -> $75 $25 (Friends are helping. As long as they are fed they are good to go.) Truck -> $50 Cleaning of apartment after move-out -> $25 $45 (Previous listed cost was base w/o extras) Cleaning of new home prior to move-in -> $20 $55 (Ditto) Delivery fee for new appliances -> $65 $0 (Ya girl got the hook up!) Paint and tools -> $40 Repairs (the ones I will take care of) -> $50 (Spoke to a co-worker who owns a construction company and a rep at Home Depot. Par...

Home Inspection - Check Termite Inspection - Check Appraisal - Check All three were done yesterday afternoon between 3 and 5 pm. I also did a little work myself and took pictures of the entire house so that I could lay out my decoration plans and remember what things need replacing. I also did some measuring since the only measurement I was given by the listing agent was for the master bedroom, kitchen, and family room. The termite inspection turned up nothing which is great. He did note a little bit of rotting going down at the bottom of the front door frame. This was also noted by the home inspector. I used a company that uses dogs to sniff out the termites. They are supposed to be 98-100% accurate . I'll pay the extra $50 for accuracy. Total cost was $130. The guy who did the home inspection, which cost $225, said that the house was in good condition and that the roof was fairly new (about 2 years). He gave the house a pass and gave me a list of some minor repairs that wo...

Here is the info on the new $8000 Home Buyer Tax Credit: *The tax credit is for first-time home buyers only. *The tax credit does not have to be repaid. *The tax credit is equal to 10 percent of the home’s purchase price up to a maximum of $8,000. *The credit is available for homes purchased on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009. *Single taxpayers with incomes up to $75,000 and married couples with incomes up to $150,000 qualify for the full tax credit. FederalHousingTaxCredit.com Here is the info that I found that pertains to my situation: Who is eligible to claim the tax credit? First-time home buyers purchasing any kind of home—new or resale—are eligible for the tax credit. To qualify for the tax credit, a home purchase must occur on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009 . For the purposes of the tax credit, the purchase date is the date when closing occurs and the title to the property transfers to the home owner. Are ...

I have already started evaluating different costs that will be associated with the purchase of this home, specifically moving costs and furnishing my home. In leu of future moving costs, I have started up a moving fund. The fund will be used to cover moving supplies, movers, truck, and delivery of my new appliances at the least. Hopefully it will also cover some of the things needed to get the house ready for move-in (ex: paint, minor repairs, cleaning). Here is my preliminary budget: Moving Supplies -> $50 Movers -> $75 Truck -> $50 Cleaning of apartment after move-out -> $25 Cleaning of new home prior to move-in -> $20 Delivery fee for new appliances -> $65 Paint and tools -> $50 Current Total = $335 I will be selling off my furniture and some other miscellaneous items and the money from the sales will go towards my moving fund. The same with any extra income from my blog or side hustles. I started selling off some of my furniture this weekend through craigsl...

What it do folks?! Ya girl has been busy taking her life to the next level. I put an offer on a home on the Jan 30th. And after two weeks of going back and forth with the bank, we finally came to an agreement and I signed a contract on the house yesterday afternoon. :-D I am super excited and have gotten into my hustle mode. I'll get into that later. First, let me tell you about this house! The house sits in a small town on the outskirts of Orlando. I actually lived in that area before for a couple years when my daughter was born and have wanted to move back ever since. All the schools are A-rated schools. I love the small town feeling and the fact that you have basically all necessities within a 5 mile radius, including a mall with all my fav stores. It is a 4 bedroom 2 bath home running a little over 1800 square feet with ceramic tiles in the wet areas and hardwood floors in the remaining . I think the only carpeted areas are the closets. The master bedroom is HUG...

My agent thought it would be funny to include this house in a list of houses he sent me. Uhhhh yeah. Hee Hee Hell!

5 bedrooms + bonus room 3 bathrooms 2800 square feet

HOME PURCHASE PLAN The home I want: Price: $0 -> $190,000 Ideal Monthly Mortgage (including taxes, PMI, HOA, & hazard) : $1200 (max $1300) Location: Surrounding Orlando Area Bedrooms: 3+ Bathrooms: 2+ Square footage: 1700 s.f. + Year Built: 2000+ HOA: $100/month max NEEDS: * A-rated school district * Quick access to major highways * Good daycare * Nice neighborhood * Shower stall * Backyard * Large kitchen with pantry and lots of cabinet space * Large master bathroom * Walk-in closet in master bedroom WANTS: * Garden tub * Family room and living room * New stainless steel black appliances (a girl can dream can't she!) Based on my research, an FHA would be the best loan for me to get. I chose to go this route because of the lower interest rate (currently 4.6%) and the lower required down payment (3.5%). The following is...

I woke up the following headlines this morning: * DHL to cut 9500 jobs and close US service centers * Government provides record aid package to AIG ($150 billion to date and aren't these the same folks who spent $23K of that money at a spa???) * Circuit City files bankruptcy * Fannie Mae posts $29 billion loss in 3rd quarter * Wall Street falls, unable to shake economic woes Let’s keep it real. Things aren't looking too kosher in regards to the state of our economy at the moment. More and more of our tax dollars are being shelled into companies. Companies who seem unable to get their shit together long enough to get themselves out of the hole they dug themselves into. Well, I'm tired of worrying. I haven't really felt the sting from this economic crisis. Yet anyways. I have lost a few thousand dollars in my 401K account and I have had a couple of credit card companies try my patience by skyrocketing my AP...

As you all know, one of my main goals is to become a homeowner by April of 2008. After touching base with my real estate agent, evaluating my situation, and praying for guidance, I have decided to put off my homeownership dreams for another year or so. Why? Well there are a few reasons why. I have tried numerous online mortgage calculators and all of them have calculated that the amount of home I can afford is around $80,000. This calculation is based on my income, debt payments, and amount of down payment available. The only homes I have seen for under $100K have been the "handyman specials" and that aint me. I called my real estate agent to speak to him about this and he transfered me to the company's mortgage broker. She did some calculations and said that I was looking at a house payment of $2000 a month for a $200K home. I wouldn't be able to afford that at all on my current take home salary. Paying $2K a month in home related expenses (mortgage, PMI, insurance, ...

Guest Post Applying for any form of credit usually involves the lender performing an initial check of your credit rating; this is especially true when it comes to mortgages . Checking your report enables them to see how reliable you have been in the past with financial products. With this information they will decide whether or not they are going to approve you for a mortgage, and if so, what interest rate and terms and conditions you will be bound too. There a number of things that can negatively and positively affect your credit rating, such as; maxing out credit cards; declaring bankruptcy; collections; opening several accounts within a few months; and at the other end of the spectrum – repaying credit cards / loans promptly; living at the same address and being in the same job for some years etc. So, if it turns out that your credit rating is quite low, getting a mortgage is going to be a bit trickier than if you had a higher rating. However, all is not lost! There ar...

Today was pay day which is a happy time in Dimples world. I transfered money to my savings accounts and paid off some bills. I am almost at the halfway point of my E-fund goal. After reading different posts on how much your emergency fund should equal, I realized that my initial goal of $3000 is way off mark. Basically your emergency fund should equal three to six months worth of basic living expenses. My definition of basic living expenses is: bills + groceries + gas. So my emergency fund should be between $8625 and $17250. I think an E-fund of $10K will be more than adequate for me and my daughter. Once I reach my initial goal of $3000 I will extend it to $10,000. Not doing so good in the debt area. My sister's wedding is next week and I gotta dish out some money for things like a dress for the wedding, weddings gifts, bachelorette party. I am not charging this to any credit cards but I am going to need to use some of the money I would have applied to my cc debt. And I ...

Back in February, I was referred to a real estate agent from a close friend. The guy I had been working with prior to then, was fairly new to the game and wasn't giving me the info I needed. I contacted the new agent and spoke to him about his company and his years and quality of experience. I was confident in him and what he could do for me and decided to take him on as my realtor. I was very upfront with what I was looking for. Here is the list I gave him: Single family home preferably (I am open to a townhouse or condo if a single family home meeting my requirements couldn't be found) Purchase price: $200K or less (Based on how much home I can afford) No down payment Little to no HOA fee (No higher than $50 a month or equivalent) Good condition. No "handyman specials". (I am a single mom. I don't have the time nor the patience to fix up folk's mess. I prefer a home that isn't missing the kitchen cabinets or a backyard that needs complete renovati...