If you google it, it's amazing how many sites simply say, "Gifts over $14,000 are taxable" without saying to whom or noting that there are exceptions, much less that lifetime exemption.

Probably the people who have over 15k to give are assumed to have lawyers and accountants?

I want to refinance but don't want to have to put the rent money my roommate gives me on my taxes. Dilemma.

Probably the people who have over 15k to give are assumed to have lawyers and accountants?

They'd be wrong, at least in my case.

Al these stories are convincing me that renting continues to be a good idea.

What do I wear to my date on Saturday?? We met last week and have been texting since. We are going to a fairly nice restaurant. My wardrobe is not filling me with confidence. Agh.

Any credit reports pulled in the last 6 months they'll want documentation, on, they told me.

When we were dealing with BofA they took this to absurdist levels. BofA and their affiliates did hard credit checks on us 12 times. Then they sent us a letter requiring us to explain the excessive number of credit checks. You know, the ones that they had performed. So we had to write a letter explaining each of the 12 credit checks. Yes, a letter to Bank of America, explaining to Bank of America, that Bank of America had asked for a credit check in regards the mortgage application that is currently in process.

Al these stories are convincing me that renting continues to be a good idea.

This had been my thought process until I started looking at 3-bedroom rentals outside of the community I'm currently living in. I actually want to move to a less affluent area. And the rents are crazy. Much more than I'm currently paying. If I can find a house or townhouse (my preference) for a certain price range, my mortgage, taxes, insurance will be less than what I'm paying now for a 2 bedroom apartment. Houses/townhomes in the price range I want are out there, so I have a good shot at finding what I want.

Epic, shoot an email to my profile addy & we'll see if we can match up on a time! I look forward to the field mice story.

ND, that is amazing. Completely believeable and amazing.

I actually paid off my car loan a couple of months before I ended up buying the house and was panicked for a bit that that was going to screw me.

Of course it depends on the market, but if you can get a downpayment together, mortgage payments in my neighborhood are about 1/3 of monthly rent for the same houses. Yearly property taxes do not eat all that up either. Maintenance might bring it close depending on the state of the house, but all in all I'd say you save a little month to month by owning in my hood.