Personal sales on ebay

I could definitely pay it off really early because I have no other expenses

It’s not just about the financial stability, but rather about the life stability.

What happens if one of your friends decides he doesn’t want to go to school, or has a reason to move away? Do they stay invested in the house and rent out their room? What if they don’t want to be invested anymore and get their cash out?

You’re also just thinking about the month-to-month finances. One of the big benefits of renting is that if something goes wrong, the landlord is on the hook to fix it. If you own it, you’re on the hook. What if the roof leaks and have to pay $2k to fix it? What if you have foundation issues and need to pay $10k? There are all sorts of things that can go wrong.

If you’re really serious about this, you should research the concept of “Tenants in Common” it may be more specific to California, but the idea is that there are very clear rules and precautions in place to ensure everyone who owns a property is legally bound to take care of it.

I know what you’re thinking “oh we’re all friends and we’ll figure it out”. What I can tell you is that when money is tight and a $10k comes your way, friendships can be broken.

Renting a place avoids most of that.

I have probably about half the stuff but since eBay only started saving older sales very recently I think some is lost.

I'm definitely not paying the full amount shown since refunds and fees are probably half the number that they gave me

• Sale price - your cost (- fees) = Gains

1099k reports sale price.

You report your cost (and fees).

You report your gains (if any).

If you need the car, yes, but pay that bad boy off in 18 months or less. If that is. It achievable, go save more for the car.

There’s a reason why this is going to be almost universally considered an awful idea.

Let’s put side the ideas of whether you all getting a mortgage is even feasible.

You haven’t even considered any of the routine maintenance costs that pretty much every new homeowner grossly underestimates. And what if you need a new roof? Or a pipe bursts? Or you need a new hot water heater?

What if the washing machine breaks? Do you split the cost to replace? What if one friend can’t afford to chip in?

These are real issues that homeowners deal with all the time. One moderately priced, unexpected issue completely obliterates all the math you did.

And why would you want to tie yourself down to this house? What happens if you decide you no longer want to go to school there? What happens when someone meets an SO? Do you allow that person to move in? What if you get tired of each other and want your own place? What happens if you graduate in 3 years and want to find a full time job elsewhere?

Also, your mortgage company could not care less about the agreements between the four of you. It doesn’t matter how you agree to split costs - each of you would be 100% responsible for the mortgage. If one of your friends doesn’t pay, you have to find a way to come up with the money.

The reasons most suggest to not buy a house with someone unless you’re married (or at least in a long-term relationship), is because at that point, you’ve agreed to create a single household. My wife and I don’t have to discuss how to split the cost of replacing the dishwasher or getting new windows. Neither of us will (hopefully) get a job offer tomorrow on the other side of the country and decide to roll out. Buying a house together is not the same as creating a single household.

I can’t imagine you’d be able to get a mortgage. My brother has a graduate degree and a 6 year work history at a very well paying job, large down payment, etc. He moved to a new town and couldn’t get a small mortgage until he had accepted an offer and was working at his new well paying job.

1. Closing costs are going to be at least double what you have estimated
2. Room and board includes food. You haven't budgeted for that in here
3. Do you all have 2 years of income history to show the lenders?
4. What happens if someone drops out or moves to a different college?
5. Interest rates are generally above 5% right now.

It's not much more risky, because it's $100k for *you* and not tied to anyone else. If this guy could make it work financially without the 3 other people, I'd say go for it. But anyway, student loans are a bad idea too if you can avoid them. Never get into a situation where you *need* everything to go perfectly in order to remain solvent. The road of life isn't smooth, there are bumps. Don't buy a car without shocks.

I kinda need a car soon because my current car has leaks all over and no working a/c. So I was really just wondering if getting refinanced is easy

With closing costs, taxes, and repairs you’re likely to lose money compared to renting.

I honestly don't see that working.

I've never thought about it like that, it is kind strange how its a sort of double standard.

I don't have any experience with Optima, but they advertise themselves as a tax relief & resolution company. Some quick research indicates that they are reputable.

Optima Tax Relief Review 2022: Pros, Cons and How It Compares

If your mom already signed something with Optima, then your father is likely committed to their fees. He should, of course, understand the breakdown of what he's paying. For example, is that $20k all taxes? What portion are back taxes and what portions are penalties & interest? Also, what are Optima's fees?

There's nothing wrong with using a service like Optima. Your dad was, essentially, operating his own business for 2018 and 2019. If he paid $0 taxes, then $20k owed over two years is not an unreasonable amount of money to owe. That's around $10k each year.

Working directly with the IRS is fine, but as I mentioned, if your dad has already signed paperwork with Optima, at least some of the fees have already been committed to. What you need to understand is where they are in the process, and what fees are yet to come.

Navigating back-tax issues can be confusing and difficult. While the folks here might be all to willing to go directly to the IRS, you should understand that it's your dad's responsibility to get his filing in order. The IRS won't do that for you.

Taxes are unavoidable. They cannot be discharged in a bankruptcy. Your dad will ultimately end up on a payment plan. If he doesn't make the payments, they'll garnish his wages. He's got to figure out a way to make ends meet. He doesn't have a lot of options at this point.

You should (if you can) save up to buy rather than take a 10+% interest rate.

Thats awesome. I wish i would have had more money up front when all this happened. Id be throwing as much as i can in the S&P right now as well as fixed income investments. WHEN the market turns around becuase its inevitable, you could make a nice return from both.

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Your parents could collectively buy a house. Now all of them have to align on rental property decisions.

It's doable, *if everything goes perfectly*. Which it won't. One of you will become a deadbeat. One of you will get injured. One of you will have to drop out. You just never know what could possibly happen. It's not worth the risk for something you know you're going to sell in 4 years, and tie yourself to 3 other people you're fully expecting to walk away from in 4 years.

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Never get into a situation where you need everything to go right in order to make it work.

Im wondering if doing CD ladders would be a plus right now for the long term while rates are high and lock them in.

It was reported on my TransUnion report, which was alerted to me by Credit Karma

I'm not disagreeing with your point, it just made me think about how we think it's bad for 18 year olds to take out a $100k mortgage for property, but it's perfectly normal for them to take out $100k in student loans, which are arguably much more risky.

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