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Road to home ownership

  1. 01Starting my journey towards my own homeLast Updated on February 8, 2022 by Mr. FightToFIRE I turn 29 in four months which implicates my thirties are right around the corner. Closing in on my third decade on this spheroid made me think about my current lifestyle. Though to be fair, it’s also getting a girlfriend that made me think about my…
  2. 02Should I buy or rent my first home?Last Updated on February 8, 2022 by Mr. FightToFIRE This was the first thing I asked myself. While most [Belgians] believe buying your own home is the best way to go (but not all, more on that later), I wanted to keep an open mind, so instead of just assuming buying was the best for…
  3. 03The Truth About Room Investments: Off-limitsLast Updated on February 8, 2022 by Mr. FightToFIRE On my journey towards my home, I’m doing more searching online and one of those search sessions resulted in having a talk with an “investment advisor” of a realtor specialized in hotel investments. I will start by kicking in an open door: I didn’t take the…
  4. 04Buying an apartment in Brussels while renting elsewhereIt’s been a tumultuous two weeks. As you know I’ve been searching for my first home. I started that search 4 months ago and the original plan was to move in once I found the perfect fit. While I originally intended to take more time, I recently made two major decisions that turned my slow approach into a rapid one.
  5. 05The big move and moving aroundLast Updated on February 8, 2022 by Mr. FightToFIRE What a crazy week it was! I moved into my own place together with my girlfriend and her mother came over to visit. For a week, I drove around Belgium and The Netherlands to help them discover this little corner of the world. All while trying…
  6. 06My mortgage: an interesting experienceLast Updated on February 8, 2022 by Mr. FightToFIRE Unavoidable in the search for my place in the search for the best mortgage. Trying to find the best mortgage in Belgium typically means going to different banks to get the lowest rate possible while figuring out which type of rate to get (fixed or variable).
  7. 07Apartment progress: 5%It has started! The first patches of dirt have been moved. Coinciding with the start of the construction I also signed the notary documents. A while ago I found a great mortgage deal that now got officialized at the notary.
  8. 08How one tax deduction reduced my apartment cost by 17KSomething interesting happened about a week ago. As you might have read –on my twitter feed or on the blog– I signed the deed of the mortgage and apartment. As a result I'm official the owner the apartment and the land the building is build on; Partially when it comes to the land. What I hadn't mentioned was that I got a 16,575 EUR tax deduction!
  9. 09Coronavirus impact on my new apartmentBecause of lockdown and social distancing rules, many constructions sites have come to a halt. Just like my newly bought, yet to be completed apartment. I mailed my contractor to see what the impact will be for the Brussel’s apartment. I expect a half evasive answer saying they’ll do their utmost best to limit the impact but ”a small” delays might be possible.
  10. 106 reasons why you should(n’t) get a turnkey apartmentIf you would have told me 2 years ago I was going to get a turnkey home, I'd have a good laugh and move on. In my mind, I had already worked out that I wanted my house to be build from scratch or at least heavily renovated to modern standards. Boy, was I wrong. I ended up getting one as my first property.
  11. 11Apartment progress: 15%A couple of weeks have passed and the construction is making good progress. The foundation and base plate is placed. How do I know? As the project progress, I receive invoices for said construction. Last week Friday I received the invoice for the finalization of the foundation works.
  12. 12Startling Extra Costs To Get A Better Turnkey ApartmentWhile we are crawling closer to the delivery date of our baby girl (27 May), there is another delivery that is causing more headaches: my heavily delayed turnkey apartment. Progress is being made of course, but at the current speed, I shouldn't expect a delivery sooner than March 2022. Given these delays, I was startled when I recently received a mail about the fit and finish of my delayed turnkey apartment. My shock continued when I saw the standard finish and how much they charge for extras.
  13. 13Apartment progress: 30%; finally above ground!Delays are normal in life. A train that's delayed because the machinist overslept, bad weather causing you to get stuck in traffic and arrive late at work. A lot of them are due to circumstance and you can't do much about them. However, my apartment that only now has reached ground level, clearly didn't just have delays due to Force Majeure from Corona.
  14. 14Apartment progress: 50%; rough construction finally finished!An update was long overdue, but until mid-August not much had really changed as they were still busy with rough construction. Because they continued working during the yearly Belgian construction leave, the construction company finished rough construction on the heavily delayed schedule.
  15. 15Is prinicpal payment a saving or expense?One major item is never present in every monthly savings rate report: my mortgage principal payment. Omitting this one item makes the difference between having 50% or 30%. So, am I cheating by leaving it out? Today I want to go over the details of my mortgage payment and give a clear answer to this question.
  16. 16Where to get the cheapest furniture in EuropeWhy am I looking at the cheapest way to buy furniture? My Brussels apartment is -finally- reaching the final stages of construction and while we are not quite there yet, it's about time to look at how I will furnish it. Having a fully furnished apartment should allow me to rent it out for about €1400/m incl. garage.
  17. 17Apartment progress: 100% – Ready for renting out!After my last update, I couldn't give any more visual updates as everything continued inside, where I was prohibited from entering alone. On top of that, I was busy preparing for significant professional changes, and our daughter still proved to be a bad sleeper giving us very little sleep and time in the evening. But I'm happy to announce the apartment is finished as of July 2022!
Mighty percent of dollars

My mortgage: an interesting experience

Last Updated on February 8, 2022 by Mr. FightToFIRE
Unavoidable in the search for my place in the search for the best mortgage. Trying to find the best mortgage in Belgium typically means going to different banks to get the lowest rate possible while figuring out which type of rate to get (fixed or variable).

Read more
Luxury interior Residence Schuman

How one tax deduction reduced my apartment cost by 17K

Last Updated on March 16, 2022 by Mr. FightToFIRE
Something interesting happened about a week ago. As you might have read –on my twitter feed or on the blog– I signed the deed of the mortgage and apartment. As a result I’m official the owner the apartment and the land the building is build on; Partially when it comes to the land. What I hadn’t mentioned was that I got a 16,575 EUR tax deduction!

Read more
Luxury interior Residence Schuman

Coronavirus impact on my new apartment

Last Updated on May 22, 2020 by Mr. FightToFIRE
Because of lockdown and social distancing rules, many constructions sites have come to a halt. Just like my newly bought, yet to be completed apartment. I mailed my contractor to see what the impact will be for the Brussel’s apartment. I’m still waiting for a responses, but I expect something like: “we’re doing our utmost best to limit the impact but ”a small” delay is possible”.

Read more
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