Help me find $2K in 1 1/2 months!

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-19-2004
Help me find $2K in 1 1/2 months!
8
Wed, 04-12-2006 - 12:13pm

Okay girls, I need some serious penny pinching ideas!!!

We thought we would be able to include our tap in fees in our construction loan and now it seems they need that money upfront. We haven't even applied for the loan yet because we need the property deed in our name first. We are still waiting on the surveyer to finish for that. We are preapproved though and now our loan will be a bit smaller without those tap ins, but so will our downpayment! This should be finished up next week and closing should take 1 month.

Well here are the numbers and how much we need out of pocket(I think):

Water tapin fee: $2500
Sewage tapin fee: $1500
Surveyer: $1000?
Permit: $1300?
closing costs: $4000
Total out of pocket costs: $10,300

We have $12,500 in savings and I would like to put down $4500. We have equity in our land, so that would be enough to make 20% down payment. So that's $2300 I need in less than 2 months.
I didn't include the lawyer fee for the transfer of the deed because I don't know how much that will be yet- does anyone know?

And of course DH's extra paycheck is in June which is after the closing! I'm trying to put as much of my tips in saving as I can, but everytime I turn around one of the cars needs gas, dd's bday is in 2 weeks and dh is going hunting for the weekend and needs money!! I usually can save up $1400 a month, but this is pushing it!!

Anyone have some ideas how to come up with cash in a flash, or penny pinch? We'll be okay once I have that down payment, then I can go back to snowflaking student loans.

Thanks, Nicki

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-25-2006
Wed, 04-12-2006 - 1:12pm

Hi Nicki,
Wow, lots going on. Here are a few ideas (some more ideal than others):

First of all, are you sure all these expenses are going to come in simultaneous with your closing? Seems like with construction, these things often don't happen all at once but I've never had to do new utilities so maybe it does. Just make sure you are operating on the correct assumptions.

1. Anything around the house that you can sell? Maybe a garage sale or some eBay action? You might want to be clearing things out for the move anyway.

2. Can you pick up some extra hours? Any way to increase income on either your or your husband's part? Maybe one of you could substitute for a paper deliverer for a week or 2 or something equally temporary?

3. This would be my second to last resort but can you call any lenders and see if you can get a month or 2 of skipped or reduced payments? I noticed the mention of the student loan so I thought maybe you could check with them particularly. You are looking for a 2-3 month forbearance if you call them. My MBNA card came with a reduced payment option this month (I think they see I'm paying it off at a rate they are less than happy with! hehe)...maybe your cards would let you do interest only for a couple of months. The good thing about this option is that if the other things work out and you do manage to save the bucks, you don't have to take advantage of them. You can just make your payments as planned.

4. My very last resort would be to look to any available 401k accounts for a loan. I can't remember all the requirements but real estate expenses are definitely one of the things that you can borrow against these accounts penalty free. It may not be a big enough amount though.

Peg

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2006
Wed, 04-12-2006 - 11:00pm

First things that jumped out to me were DH's birthday and hunting trip. Now, I'm not saying he should be the only one to make sacrifices, but perhaps put these things aside for the moment if they are going to strain your ability to come up with the cash you need. My fiance and I bought our property about 3.5 yrs ago and hope to build a house once all cc debt is gone. 9/30/2007 is our target date right now. So I have saved your post because I know when we're ready to go I have no idea where to start with all we'll need to do, electric, well drilled, grading, I'm sure there's tons we haven't thought about and then of course the matter of one loan or two for construction/mortgage. My younger brother works for a survey company so maybe we can get a deal on that, but I hadn't even thought about it till I read your post.

Good luck and congratulations!
Pam

Proud sister of a Marine:

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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-19-2004
Thu, 04-13-2006 - 11:27am

Yea Pam, it seems like everyone has their hands out for money when it comes to construction. We are actually purchasing a modular which is saving us money and are built very well, but it is treated just like a stick built in the ways of excavation(foundation with superior walls), survey costs, deed transfer, right of ways for utilities, we are adding a saddle roof with porch, property taxes....... it will add up!! Plus the interest rate has jumped from 5.75% when we started looking at companies and now it's 6.5%. If you have any questions you can ask me, I know mymartes(sp?) just went through it and I asked her info. Hey, if you own your property free and clear by the time you build, you can use that as your down payment as long as it's 20%, if it's not worth the 20%, it shouldn't be much to make up the difference.

We too paid off all cc's and personal loans before we started this. We will pay off our Durango and my student loan when our current home sells, and then we'll just have DH's student loan and the new mortgage. Believe me, If we could do it, so can you!

It's actually dd's birthday in 2 weeks, I told her I'd let her pick out a few outfits for now and in June I'll throw her a Luai(?) Pool party at her grandmas for all her girlfriends(After the closing!)
DH has had his hunting weekend planned for months now, he's going to stay with his brother 6 hours away, so really the expenses would be gas, and if they eat out. He's never gone away from home anywhere in the 9 years we've been married, so I couldn't say no. And it's his brother ~that he hardly sees. Today's actually my birthday~ dh and I don't exchange presents with each other. We are just having hot dogs on the grill and instead of dh buying me a cake like he wanted, I am making a yummy smores ice cream pie!

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-01-2003
Thu, 04-13-2006 - 3:45pm

Just delurking to say "Happy Birthday!"

Lisa

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2006
Thu, 04-13-2006 - 8:22pm

Happy birthday. I just finished up my message and thought of another way you might get some $$. When I was at my last job we had paid time off one lump sum of accumlated time you could use for vacation or sickness, whatever you needed it for. Once a year we could "Cash Out" hours, no more than half our accumulated time off. So if you had 400 hours you could ask for a check next payday for 200 of them. Maybe you or your husband could do this at your jobs, at least it couldn't hurt to ask. My current employer says in the handbook that anything over 200 hours at the end of the year will automatically be paid Jan 15th the following year, but they didn't do it for me this year when I went over, and my co-workers say they have never automatically done it to any employee that they know of. They did cash out all their accumulated hours for one couple (we have a lot of families working there) when the wife's brother passed away unexpectedly and they had to leave the country for the funeral.

I could do as I say and put off vacation till the cc are gone, but for the past 3 years I've paid my bills with my tax return and paid time off to the tune of about 400 hours when I left my last job. So I know what you mean about your husbands hunting trip hope he has a great time. We could pay off one CC completely right now and another one by the time I go on vacation in September, but I'm pretty sure I'll like the vacation more than paying off those cards right now.
Good luck.
Pam

Proud sister of a Marine:

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Avatar for mymartes
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 04-18-2006 - 4:38pm

we just built a 4 bedroom, 3 1/2 bathroom w/unfinished basement 2600 sq ft house. We had alot of unexpected expenses during construction. We got a construction loan. We were paying the interest while the house was being built. Once construction finished, the construction loan converted into a mortgage.

We got the keys to the house in January, 2006. We had our water tested. (it's well water). Well....we need a water treatment system.

Overall, we are very pleased with how the house came out. It's beautiful and it's ours. lol

good luck.

MYM

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-19-2004
Thu, 04-20-2006 - 6:29pm

Congratulations on the completion of your home! I remember talking to you before~ we are both from PA and I was complaining about the property taxes! They are guessing between $4500-$6000/ year but can't promise anything until the house is done! We at least get a 2 year abatement on school taxes in my area.

Our house is not as big as yours. It's 1500 sq ft, 3 br, 2 bath with extra hookup in the basement, fireplace, big porch~~ It's not my dream home, but I like it and the price was great in an area I love. (Plus the 2 acres was a gift)

That stinks about your water~ how much will that be? We were told once we signed the contract there would be no surprise expenses, so I'll cross my fingers. We are paying all of the tapins and closing costs out of pocket. We will have city water, so I imagine our water will be fine. We do have to get a temp septic tank($1800 included in excavation cost) because city sewage is coming thru, but won't be done until next year. At least we didn't need a permanent tank ($15k+)

I'm really hoping we can sell our current house soon to have some extra cash!

Nicki

Avatar for mymartes
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 04-20-2006 - 7:54pm

Thanks!!! Congrats to you. 2 acres that's great and free!!! We have a little over one acre. Hope you don't get any surprises. However, once they start evacation (Sp?), pray that they don't have to blast. (Meaning if they find rocks underground). Thank God, our lot was fine. Our water treatment system is costing approximately $4,000. It will be installed on the 26th.

Good luck to you and keep us posted.

MYM

P.S. our septic tank cost $18K. We had an allowance of $10K, therefore, we had to give builder $8K. We also needed to upgrade our water pump. We have rough plumbing installed in our basement. (We plan to finish it this summer and wanted a bathroom down there.)




Edited 4/20/2006 7:57 pm ET by mymartes