married couple. both are 38. we have a child due in June.
We live in Vegas and want to move and get an affordable home. We do not own real estate. She has k and I have k in debt, both accounts are in collections. The only asset we have is 55,000 in a retirement account.

I filed Chapter 7 in 99. My current income as insurance and financial advisor is too high for 7 here in Vegas. Right now it is around k but can get much higher.

A chapter 13 concerns me because of the 3 years of payments, its effect on my credit and potential to get another good job should we move, and we may not be able to get a house should we move.

I could liquidate the retirement and pay off the debt and have about k left after taxes and early withdrawl penalties. This would also include the tax liability for the k I took from my account last year.

As a financial advisor, I know that the withdrawl we took last year was stupid.

MOM is giving me 50K for home purchase.

BK or pay?

married couple. both are 38. we have a child due in June.
We live in Vegas and want to move and get an affordable home. We do not own real estate. She has k and I have k in debt, both accounts are in collections. The only asset we have is 55,000 in a retirement account.

I filed Chapter 7 in 99. My current income as insurance and financial advisor is too high for 7 here in Vegas. Right now it is around k but can get much higher.

A chapter 13 concerns me because of the 3 years of payments, its effect on my credit and potential to get another good job should we move, and we may not be able to get a house should we move.

I could liquidate the retirement and pay off the debt and have about k left after taxes and early withdrawl penalties. This would also include the tax liability for the k I took from my account last year.

As a financial advisor, I know that the withdrawl we took last year was stupid.

MOM is giving me 50K for home purchase.

BK or pay?

I live in Las Vegas, NV and am purchasing a home. I want to go VA, because I don’t want to put anything down. However, my current lender-to-be is including mortgage insurance. I was told that VA loans don’t typically need PMI. I am wondering if I am getting screwed…

I am trying to find out what hospital would be the best for my wife to get her checkups at. I will be coming from in about six months and we will move to Colorado, so I am just trying to find her the best hospital close to her home in Las Vegas. Also, our insurance is Tri Care standard. I can’t seem to locate a provider by zip code on their website search thing.

I’m wondering what should I do with my money. I’m 25 yrs. old and I have a full-time and part-time job. I invest about 7% of my earning into my retirement account. I have approximately ,100 in the account. I live at home, so I’ve been fortunate enough to pay off one of my student loans(perkins) and I owe approximately ,770 on my other loan(federal direct). I plan to go back to school for my master’s in the Fall of 2011. My goal is to purchase a home once I finish school in 2013. I have approximately ,000 in various savings accounts. I don’t have any credit card debt, so next year and while in school I plan to aggressively pay down my last student loan(I imagine once I finish my graduate program I’ll be in about ,000 debt, so I want to get rid of some of this debt). I know educational debt is good debt, but debt is debt when you’re trying to purchase a home. By 2013, I believe I’ll have about k saved.

My question is what should I do with my money now? The person who handles my retirement account is trying to encourage me to invest in life insurance. I don’t see a need for life insurance since I don’t have dependents or liabilities. What makes sense for me? I’m considering investing in real estate in the Las Vegas area. I see some properties listed as low as ,000. I also figure it may sound nice, but with all the foreclosures in Las Vegas the property value could be horrible. Would it be smart to invest in Vegas now and buy in Los Angeles 4yrs from now. What should I do? I feel like I’m letting my go to waste and it’s not working for me!

I am relocating to Henderson, NV in late summer with my family. I don’t have a dog but my husband is interested in getting a large breed (poss. American Staffordshire). I have been looking at apartments and I have seen a lot of realtors advertising breed restrictions on large breeds. Can you tell me if Clark County/Las Vegas and the surrounding areas have a legal breed restriction? Is there a problem with dog fighting in these areas?

Thanks!!
I have owned these breeds before and they are not bad, its the owners. COME ON – You should know that.

Also, when I say an apartment I mean a rental, which could be a 5,000 sq. ft. home.

I AM ABSOLUTELY NOT LOOKING FOR ANYONE’S PERSONAL OPINION!!!!
Either you have the facts or not.
Carol W:

Thank you so much for letting me know about the restrictions! The extra information about Farmer’s Insurance is very helpful, too! I also thank you for putting the breed information into perspective. I understand that people have opinions on breeds but I am also a mom to two boys and would never own a dog that I feel would harm my family or any other.
BAD OWNERS = BAD DOGS
My eldest would rather have a Rott! We love Rott puppies, they are so beautiful! Thanks again!

How bad would it be on my credit and life to just let the house foreclose. How long can I stay before the bank throws me out? I’m spending every dime I make trying to keep up with an a.r.m. I cant refi cuz the market is dead and my house in las vegas is worth less than what i paid for it new only 2 years ago! My credit is shot now cuz I’m spending so much on the house. It jumped from ,200 to ,500 overnight. I also have other expences to keep up with such as 2 small children, food. power bill, insurance etc. I’ve already given up my car and every other luxury I could think of. The house is beautiful inside and out however it seems the nieghborhood is turning GHETTO! I want out, badly. Nothing is working and I’m just getting further behind. Beleave me, I work everyday, no vacations, no life. How bad will it be if I just gave up? I’ve paid alot into this house and won’t get anything back but it’ll stop the hemoraging of money Option One Mortgage is taking. Please HELP!

i live and work in las vegas, nv and have been on my job over six years. now i want to buy a foreclosure house in pennsylvania and will have to relocate to do it. this means i will have to quit my job here and i want to know if this is a good enough reason to quit. will i get unemployment insurance or can my job deny my claim?

I’m asking you to estimate for me about how much it would cost per month and year to own and live in a 5000 sf house that is worth about 0,000. Try to be as detailed as possible, and don’t say stuff like "it depends on how much you spend on X, Y, and Z." Just give me some numbers.

To be more specific, assume the house is relatively new so it has energy saving windows and insulation and appliances, but is in Las Vegas, so takes a lot to cool in the summer and you must water the lawn (15,000 sf lot) almost year round. It also has a pool and spa.

The expenses I can think of are: water, power, gas, pool maintenance, community fees (gated community), property taxes (assume ‘normal’ appreciation), general house maintenance, homeowner’s insurance. If you can think of anything else, include that as well.

Also, assume the house was paid for in CASH, and ignore stuff like phone, cable, and internet.

BONUS QUESTION: Assuming you’re 30 years old, and never had any significant source of income (in other words, in 30 years you could get a job at Target if need be, but no 6 figure salaries or anything), how much would you want in the bank to buy this house if you could get:
a.) 4% interest on the money you had in the bank for life, or
b.) NO interest at all.
The utility companies won’t tell you anything anyway (I tried). You have to make an educated guess.

I don’t really like Las Vegas, but might have to move there. I am retired, widower, 70s. Now I live in a suburb of DC. It is expensive and my mortgage, taxes, insurance will soon drive me out anyway. People who live near me work like slaves (just like I sort of did) and raise kids (like we did). Now, I am nearly broke due to bad financial decisions and over the top over-spending. I guess that I will be able to live modestly from now on since my pension covers my mortgage and my savings pay for basic necessities.
Back to Las Vegas. I am looking for something that costs no more than 0,000 or I will have to get too much of a mortgage. I’ll do it, if necessary, but want to cut all my expenses. Can I find a nice, one story single family home that has a garage, two BR, two baths and maybe a yard with a pool? Also, privacy and really quiet and safe. Am I asking too much? Right now, if I could, I would just lock up this house, get in my SUV and drive around the country for a year thinking this over, but I have done enough of that stuff and still do not know what to do in my so-called retirement. Yes, I am really down tonight, so your help is more appreciated than ever. Thanks.