Mortgage Questions

[BanditsCousin]

I rent a house for 1395 a month. Probably way too big for me, but I too felt the urge to spread my wings. 3bdrm, 2 car attached garage and a big fenced in yard for my ugly dog to run around in.

Sometimes renting is ok, sometimes it's not. of course, I'm paying somebody else's mortgage, but I'm still deciding on where I want to live. As of now, my landlord says the annual property taxes are around 5500, and thats something to factor in when buying a home.

760 credit score is the cat's meow. I think I'm in that neighborhood too. I'd look into a foreclosure if you can...those seem to be the big thing right now.

[movinit]

Check out this link to the IRS. It explains the $8000 credit if you buy this year and NO IT IS NOT A LOAN. For anyone considering buying a home, this year is probably as good as it is going to get since the rates are at record lows and this credit is unheard of.

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/...html?portlet=7

[Jackrabbit379]

He he You are in luck son. Before driving truck I was a mortgage broker for a year. Actually a broke mortgage broker, which is why I now drive truck.

too funny. woooo.



Mackman, like everyone else said, I would apply for no money down for first time home buyer.
We tried it. We were told that we make too much. I was like, what???

[mommee]

i don't know if anyone mentioned it too. the mortgage payment that the realtor/lendor is usually good for about a year, then it goes up and will keep going up. and it's not that your actual mortgage goes up, that is always the same. your property taxes always go up. every october i get a letter from our lendor saying there is a short fall on our escrow by $xxx amount. if you don't want to pay it all at once we can roll it into your monthly payment. that amount will depend on how much you taxes went up. it's always fun to get that letter.

[geomon]

You will need to hire a "good" home inspector to look at the house. Could be the roof only has a few years left...or termites...or mold or....(the list goes on).

Also...renting for a while isn't so bad. Maybe your girl gets a job somewhere else and you want to go with her. If you rent...you are very flexible and can scoot pretty quickly (assume not in a 12 mo lease). If you own...takes a while and a lot of work to sell a house.

My recommendation: spread your wings by renting for a while. Home deals will always be around if you are patient.

[dollarshort]

Well I'm 25 years old and still live at home with moms and pops. I think it is time i need to move the hell out. Plus my GF is almost done college. Anyway has anyone or can you get a mortgage with no money down. I'm looking at a house that is 119,000 (what the are asking) With no money down and roughly 5% interest rate my payment would be around 650 a month for 30 years. I can make that with no problem. I make around 40,000 a year now.


The problem is i have nothing saved up to put down. What i do have saved up i will need to furnish the place. I am seeing alot of this 20% down stuff. Do i need 20% down???


The only other payment i got is the Harley and that is 250 a month. My truck and car are paid off. I just paid the truck off last month. Also the Harley is for sale right now. So I'm hoping to get rid of that payment.


Any advice or info would be great.

Stay with mom and dad for as long as you can. If I had it to do all over again I would still live at home, and I am 43 years old.

[Skywalker]

PMI is a rip off scam!! Freakin' near as big a scam as "Title Insurance".....

Offer 15% less than the asking price, then work it from there.....

[Cluggy619]

Well, with a credit score of 760+, I would look into buying a foreclosed property. Some of the benefits is the banks don't want them, and that usually means a faster closing date. It could also mean buying a house with some built in equity, ie. getting that 200K house for the money you wanted to spend. Hugh discounts are out their simply because no-one is buying a house in this economy. So you might as well take advantage of it.

The cons is that the house usually need fixing up. The one thing to look for is your foundation. Make sure you got a good foundation on any house you buy -- repairing a foundation can cost up into the thousands.

You might also want to look into tax sales. That's how I got mine. It's not the greatest, in fact, it's a POS. But all I paid is $1500 total, and over time, I'll fix it up to how I want it.

Good luck with your search.

[Heavy Duty]

IMO, ignore the $8K tax credit...my understanding is that it's a loan and has to be repaid (I could be wrong, though...).

When figuring payments, don't forget the taxes and insurance...$650 sounds like principal and interest only.

Personal recommendation...try to save up at least 10% for a down payment. Then have some set aside for emergencies. Do not use all available savings for the DP, because there will be things you either have to change or just want to.

And by all means....FIXED RATE ONLY. (I know it's been stated...just wanted to chime in on that specifically as well.)

Lots of great advice here. Home buying is a very emotional issue, even for those of my age group (48). Wife and I bought a house a year ago when she landed a job close to her mom and her kids, who are college age. So you can bet it was emotional for her especially.

Good luck!!

The $8000 is not a loan now, Obama will give you $8000 tax rebate if you have paid in that much and you don't have to give it back. My daaughter was able to get a $7500
check.