My wife and I are thinking of buying our first home and starting a family this year. She has bad credit from college that we are starting to take care of, 580 now. My score is about 700 now after buying two new cars to build credit. Together we make about $160,000. Because her credit is bad and mine is building would we have a problem getting a loan with no money down? Been renting forever at the same place but we are tired of giving our $2000 rent away to pay our landlords mortgage.

Thanks
Sincerely time for our own house
that isn’t bad rent..

for a payment of $2000 a month you qualify just roughly for a home at $500,000 your income puts you higher.(to buy a higher priced home)…but if you want to pay $2000 a month……that would be the home you could buy..

good luck

My bf and i have been saving and are creating good credit but we wanna know, what exactly we need to start talking to someone about buying our first home>?
We live in Cali but hope to move to TExas

First thing - I never recommend unmarried couples buy a home. If you ever unfortunately divorce, it is easier to unwind from a house than if you are unmarried - it can be messy. But it is entirely up to you.

Second - you have already done the first and second step - checking your credit and starting to save money.

Third - Once you are ready to buy a home, go get your loan first, THEN go looking for your house. Also, shop around - it can be tedious, but remember - this may be the biggest financial transaction you ever make. It pays to shop around, and go with someone who is knowledgeable and you trust. And who gives you a good rate.

Fourth - Go find your home. A good Realtor can help you (ask for a buyer’s agent - they work strictly for buyers, not sellers) find the house you want.

Good luck.

My husband and I are wanting to buy our first home. We do not have perfect credit but I don’t believe it is terrible. I have read about the Fannie Mae and USDA Rural Development programs for Missouri. Has anyone used these as resources and exactly what do they do? This is the first time I have ever been looking to buy a home so all of this is new to me. Thank you in advance for any information.

I am a mortgage loan officer in WA and OR. I haven’t done anything in your state, but my advice is the same that I give to clients here.

Meet with someone in your area who is a Mortgage Broker. They can help you find the best program for you and your husband based on your credit and your needs. Most brokers I know work with 200 or more banks. They will find you what you are looking for and provide you with a couple of options so that you can choose. And, if your credit isn’t perfect, a good broker will give you advice on how to improve your score.

Good luck and happy house hunting!

My girl and I are looking to buy a home, we both are 22 years old and have excellent credit and are looking for a house 200,000 and under. I heard there are grants out there that will help you out with the down payment, anyone know of any grants that are good, plus is there any information you wish someone told you before you bought your first home that you could help me out. Thanks!

I teach a class for people buying their first home and I think the best advice I can give you is to surround yourself with an excellent support team - a realtor (experienced, works f/t in real estate, knows your neighborhood well), a mortgage broker (one who will get you the v. best financing, avoid paying points or an application fee to a broker), and a home inspector (one who is experienced, knows the kind of property that you are buying - for example, if you’re buying an older home, your inspector should know what to look for in an older home).

Because financial incentives vary so greatly from city to city, state to state, I would ask your realtor and mortgage broker. My first house my closing costs were paid for through a special plan because the neighborhood was "economically distressed". I bought a house in DC, and the next year, I was able to get a $5,000 tax rebate on my tax return.

Buying a house is kind of like playing chess - you have to think several moves ahead. Chances are, you will end up buying what people call a "starter house" and once you become more established in your jobs, start a family, etc., you will move to something else.

But - when you think about buying, think ahead to how difficult it will be to resell. In other words - is it a "sellable" house for people who typically buy in that neighborhood.

Buy in the best neighborhood you can afford - but never buy the most expensive house in any neighborhood. That house will not rise in value as much as a house that’s a bit less expensive.

I suggest having 10% of the value of your future house in the bank before you close on a house. So if your mortage is $150,000, I’d recommend having $15,000. That will help you pay not only a down payment and closing costs, but also help you with move-in expenses. That way, you’re not cash poor and jack up your credit cards by all of those trips to the Home Depot and the furniture store!

Best of luck to you! Julie

We are buying our first home and dont even know where to start. Where to look for loan? how to find a real estate agent ect… Is our bank the best place to start? Any help you can give me would be great.
fyi- we do already have money for downpayment. $20,000

First make sure to check to see if you are eligible for any first time home buyers assistance, find out how much you are approved for through your bank of choice. DO NOT DO A VARIABLE RATE!! That is why people are losing their homes. Make sure to get a FIXED rate. Find a good realtor, ask friends and relatives for their opinions on any realtors they may have used. Don’t use a realtor that makes you do all the work. They should work for you. And don’t buy the first home you "love", we looked at houses for a year before deciding on one. Make sure that YOU are happy with it, it is a big investment, asset and one you will live in for a long time. Don’t be pressured into decisions, take YOUR time. There will always be plenty of houses to buy. Don’t be made to feel like "this is it!" You gotta decide now! because another good one will come along, maybe even better. But right now is a buyers market so like I said take YOUR time and don’t be pressured! Happy House Hunting!

I bought my first home this may and was just wondering if someone could give me a rough estimate on how much i could be looking at getting back on my taxes…I bought the house for $115K but with my down payment my mortgage is for $90K. What about closing costs?

The tax write off for mortgage interest was extended, you will be able to write off all of your interest paid on your mortgage when you do your 2008 taxes. You can also write off your PMI (mortgage insurance) if your bank is making you pay that also. Come tax time your bank will send you a 1098 form showing all interest paid so you can write it off. I just recently purchased my first home this year so I had the same questions, hope this helps. Oh Yeah also you have to remember that the government gives you a standard deduction each year, for 2008 I believe it’s $5,450 that you can automatically deduct. You can either do the standard deduction ($5,450) or you can do itemized where you list out each individual deduction you have, you can’t do both so the only reason you will be writing off you interest, pmi etc is if your total write offs equal more than $5,450. Hope all that makes sense.

my husband and I want to buy our first home, we have been living abroad and will be returning to the US… we have no rental history, and my husbands credit rating is poor. Would lease to own be our best option as we desperately want to own a home and get his credit fixed. Or are they just another scam?

A Lease Option or Lease Purchase can work very well for you. But you have to read the contract very careful and either have a Real Estate Attorney or at lease a lic. Realtor look over it for you.

The good:
A lease purchase contract will help you to establish credit. You just need to ask the "Seller" to report to the credit bureaus.
How a lease purchase works, most of the time you will have to have a certain amount down, this downpayment will go to the seller, part of the downpayment can go towards your purchase price.
You make monthly payments (like a rent plus an additional amount towards your principal) For example you pay 600,– amount, 500,– are going to the seller as a kind of rent and 100,– will be applied towards the purchase price.

With a lease purchase in the current market you lock the purchase price, so if the market bounces back and prices are going back up, your purchase price will stay the same as it was when you entered the lease purchase agreement.

After 1 year or 2 years your credit should be established enough that you can apply for your own mortgage and pay the seller off.

The bad:
Most sellers will not transfer ownership until you paid in full.
If you get in default with your payments the now still property owner can kick you out and you loose your downpayment and your house.

So my answer is, if it is a scam or not depends on the seller and how careful you are in reading the small print on the lease purchase contract. It can be a good way to own property for situations like yours.

One of our sons is buying a property on lease purchase and he is doing just fine with it. In a few month he will be able to get his own mortgage, he will get a good interesst rate and can lower his monthly payments.

We are looking into buying our first home. We are working with a mortgage company. Should we apply for more than one? How do we know we are getting the best rates? Should we go ahead and buy without a down payment? We just finished college and are looking ot moving closer to where we are going to be working…it looks like we qualify for a loan, but are unsure how much we can afford. According to the calculators that many of the sites have we can’t afford as much as many of the houses are going for…but we are very good with our money and I think we can pay out 1/3 of our income if not more…any thoughts, thanks.

Buying a house is a big step; my first question would be, do you really believe that you can pay out 1/3 of your income? I would never never advise anyone to attempt that percentage of their income. This will leave you no safety net, no money for unexpected bills. You need to have something set aside for the unexpected; and with 1/3 going into your mortgage payments you could get into trouble. I do not know if you have children, or are planning children. But one unexpected child will change your finances enormously. No one really should go over 25%. If you can wait, and save up more money and put a bigger down payment on a house, you will not have to overcommit yourselves. And don’t think that your first house has to be a mansion; consider a "fixer-upper." A little sweat can save you a lot of money. Good luck, and don’t be in a hurry to buy that house!

We are buying our first home should we talk to banks ourselves to be pre - approved or go through our real estate agent and let him work out the details with the banks?

Always talk to the bank on your own before talking to a real estate agent. Your agent is more interested in selling you a house than in your financial responsibilities and will do just about anything to get that house sold, including try to talk you into locking yourself into a really bad mortgage.

Talk to a few banks and see what they offer you. Make a decision about your mortgage before you ever talk to a real estate agent so that you have a solid budget in mind when you start looking for a house.

Good luck!

I am buying my first home and I am completely scared. I want to get my daughter and I out of the apartment but I am having cold feet. We got inspection report today and roof is really old as is the water heater ,ac/heat. I don’t have money saved to repair these items anytime soon. They are working properly now but what if something goes wrong? What should I do?

You could do several things:

1) Tell them you want to lower your offer because these systems, which are critical to the home, are old and need to be replaced. It doesn’t matter if they are running, they are too old.

2) Ask for a full, one-year home warranty that includes coverage on all appliances and heating/air systems. If anything goes wrong in the first year, the insurance policy replaces them with a small copay (mine is only $55 per visit). Believe it or not, within the first couple of months I had electrical and plumbing problems, and both were covered. You might even be able to purchase an addendum which would cover the roof.

3) Work out your budget. If you are able to pay all of the housing bills, and living expenses, and still have a couple hundred per month to put in savings for emergencies, then you are in good shape. Even better would be if you had $5000 in the bank for emergencies. Otherwise, you might want to consider waiting until you have saved some additional monies.

On the other hand, buying a house is a great step. Talk to your mortgage broker, are you being reasonable, will you be able to afford it. The investment is a good one, and a smart idea on your part. Each month you are putting money toward an investment instead of throwing it away on rent. You just want to make sure you’re ready.

4) Do a calculator that checks your income versus expense ratio and tells you how much house you can afford, and then make sure you are within that budget. Here is one:

http://www.bankrate.com/gookeyword/calc/newhouse/calculator.asp?Iw=0&Ii=0&Ia=0&Io=0&D=0&T=0&R=0&Ei=0&Ex=0&Ec=0&Ea=0&Ed=0&Eo=0

5. If you absolutely decide to move forward, look at alternatives to making the home more affordable. Is there an extra room you can rent out to someone who is trustworthy? That would help you out for sure.

I pray you get the right answers, and wish you and your daughter nothing but the best of luck and God’s blessings!