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Message
First time home buyer.. Questions
Posted on 5/18/15 at 2:11 pm
Posted on 5/18/15 at 2:11 pm
Ok, any help is greatly appreciated guys!
My situation.. I'm 24 and recently engaged. The fiancee and I are in the early stages of home searching (hopefully buying). The fiancee's income is minimal until she finishes school (December). So, any house we buy will have to be managed by my income only.
Our debts are
Car 350 mo
Student loans 90k or around 500-700 mo. This is the minimal payments and lately we've been putting all extra cash into the loans.
Our credit scores
Mine-650-670
Hers-680-710
My income is 33 dollars an hour atm and I bring home approx 1700 dollars in 2 weeks and 80 hours. I will get about a 3 dollar raise in September, and I will be working quite a bit more than 40 hours a week. A rough estimate of me bringing home around 2000-2500 every 2 weeks is reasonable.
We are looking to purchase a house under 150k.. With my income I believe this is reasonable, and with her income (35k +) being added in January, I believe we will be financially comfortable.
Finding the home for us has been difficult. We both are very picky, but I think our expectations are realistic. If I am spending over $110 a square foot, then I expect the house to be reasonably updated. So far we have had very little luck finding a house that didn't need new floors, counters, cabinets etc... SO, we've been looking into some "fixer uppers". The problem with a fixer upper is that we have very little money to put down on a traditional loan (maybe 5-7k maybe a little more), and we definitely have no money to use on a renovation. I know there is 203k through a FHA, but I have minimal knowledge about them.. Are these loans reasonable, and do I fit them..? I've got tons of questions, but this seems like a good place to start..
Any help/advice is greatly appreciated
Edit: I have 2.35 acres of land. Forgot this bit of info
My situation.. I'm 24 and recently engaged. The fiancee and I are in the early stages of home searching (hopefully buying). The fiancee's income is minimal until she finishes school (December). So, any house we buy will have to be managed by my income only.
Our debts are
Car 350 mo
Student loans 90k or around 500-700 mo. This is the minimal payments and lately we've been putting all extra cash into the loans.
Our credit scores
Mine-650-670
Hers-680-710
My income is 33 dollars an hour atm and I bring home approx 1700 dollars in 2 weeks and 80 hours. I will get about a 3 dollar raise in September, and I will be working quite a bit more than 40 hours a week. A rough estimate of me bringing home around 2000-2500 every 2 weeks is reasonable.
We are looking to purchase a house under 150k.. With my income I believe this is reasonable, and with her income (35k +) being added in January, I believe we will be financially comfortable.
Finding the home for us has been difficult. We both are very picky, but I think our expectations are realistic. If I am spending over $110 a square foot, then I expect the house to be reasonably updated. So far we have had very little luck finding a house that didn't need new floors, counters, cabinets etc... SO, we've been looking into some "fixer uppers". The problem with a fixer upper is that we have very little money to put down on a traditional loan (maybe 5-7k maybe a little more), and we definitely have no money to use on a renovation. I know there is 203k through a FHA, but I have minimal knowledge about them.. Are these loans reasonable, and do I fit them..? I've got tons of questions, but this seems like a good place to start..
Any help/advice is greatly appreciated
Edit: I have 2.35 acres of land. Forgot this bit of info
This post was edited on 6/10/15 at 6:57 pm
15
Posted on 5/18/15 at 2:15 pm to Athletix
quote:
Finding the home for us has been difficult. We both are very picky, but I think our expectations are realistic. If I am spending over $110 a square foot, then I expect the house to be reasonably updated.
Do you really think your expectations are realistic?
Posted on 5/18/15 at 2:19 pm to Athletix
$150k will get you a spec house in the burbs or a older home that need to be remodeled in the city
you might need to lower your expectations
you might need to lower your expectations
Posted on 5/18/15 at 2:22 pm to Salmon
yuppppp
Posted on 5/18/15 at 2:22 pm to Athletix
Why not just rent for 6 months until she's working? It may not be ideal, but it's only 6 months.
Posted on 5/18/15 at 2:23 pm to Athletix
get your credit scores up. hopefully that 90k+ in student debt includes a couple of masters? but seeing that she is only expecting 35k then that might not be the case.
Posted on 5/18/15 at 2:24 pm to SouthOfSouth
quote:
Do you really think your expectations are realistic?
Maybe they aren't? It's probably why we've looked into fixer uppers so we could update it..
quote:
$150k will get you a spec house in the burbs or a older home that need to be remodeled in the city
you might need to lower your expectations
We are looking at houses in smaller cities outside of BR if that helps any..
Posted on 5/18/15 at 2:26 pm to Hermit Crab
quote:
Why not just rent for 6 months until she's working? It may not be ideal, but it's only 6 months.
This is another option.. Not ideal at all, but we could live with parents until she has a job and we have more money saved and better credit. Will our credit really move in 6 months?
quote:
get your credit scores up. hopefully that 90k+ in student debt includes a couple of masters? but seeing that she is only expecting 35k then that might not be the case.
She will have a masters, and her starting income of 35k is the absolute floor. We can reasonably expect double to triple that in 5 years, maybe sooner..
My bachelors got me my current job so the debts suck, but I can't complain.
This post was edited on 5/18/15 at 2:32 pm
Posted on 5/18/15 at 2:42 pm to Athletix
quote:
We are looking at houses in smaller cities outside of BR if that helps any..
well you should be able to find a 10-15 year old spec house in the price range then
it is not going to have any high end furnishing and will basically be an apartment but as a house
Posted on 5/18/15 at 2:44 pm to Athletix
quote:
Not ideal at all, but we could live with parents until she has a job and we have more money saved and better credit.
This is what I would recommend. Live with parents, save on rent/housing and get serious about a house after she has started work. IMO, you should still look for a house in the same price range. Just because she's making more, doesn't mean you should buy a bigger house.
quote:
Will our credit really move in 6 months?
I'm not an expert but probably only minimally unless you are actively trying to improve it.
---
Also, just a note about something you said earlier. If your goal is to buy the house sooner rather than later, I would stop paying extra on the student loans and save that cash for a down payment. I'm not necessarily saying this is the best strategy, but if your goal is a house, then focus on a house.
Lastly, if you don't have an emergency fund, please save for one before you even consider buying a house. Last thing you want to do is throw all of your savings into a tiny down payment and then have a major repair 2 months into living in the house. Please have a good emergency fund.
This post was edited on 5/18/15 at 2:45 pm
Posted on 5/18/15 at 2:47 pm to Salmon
quote:
well you should be able to find a 10-15 year old spec house in the price range then
it is not going to have any high end furnishing and will basically be an apartment but as a house
I should have probably also mentioned we are looking at smaller houses 1000-1300 sq ft maybe more..
Posted on 5/18/15 at 2:49 pm to Athletix
Owning a home is ok, but having a mortgage has some downside.
As a young couple with no kids, I do not see an overwhelming reason to saddle yourself to a house.
Pay off your debts, save your money.
The lack of a mortgage will allow you to consider a wide variety of opportunities early in your professional career. You may get an offer in another city that leads to a big pay raise, etc.
As a young couple with no kids, I do not see an overwhelming reason to saddle yourself to a house.
Pay off your debts, save your money.
The lack of a mortgage will allow you to consider a wide variety of opportunities early in your professional career. You may get an offer in another city that leads to a big pay raise, etc.
Posted on 5/18/15 at 4:06 pm to makersmark1
quote:
Pay off your debts, save your money.
We may end up living with parents until she's done with school then renting until we have enough saved to either build or renovate a home.. We don't like that route but buying a home at our current state is a pain in the arse
This post was edited on 5/18/15 at 4:09 pm
Posted on 5/18/15 at 4:12 pm to Athletix
quote:
We are looking to purchase a house under 150k.
Posted on 5/18/15 at 4:47 pm to Athletix
You always hear from people who made a big profit on housing. Much of that is right place right timing. I've never timed purchase sale very well and have "made" very little profit.
"Owning" a house is ok because you do have to live somewhere, but if you get along well with family- it is hard to beat the return on free housing.
"Owning" a house is ok because you do have to live somewhere, but if you get along well with family- it is hard to beat the return on free housing.
Posted on 5/18/15 at 5:09 pm to Athletix
If a home is FSBO and they do not want to use a realtor... does anyone have any good links to a purchase offer contract?
I'm a first time home buyer as well.
I'm a first time home buyer as well.
Posted on 5/18/15 at 6:15 pm to Dellort
A house is a pretty big purchase for most people so I would not reflexively say not to get an experienced realtor to make sure the process is smooth and all the necessary documents are processed.
Most people buy a house (on average) maybe 3 to 5 times in their life. Many realtors close that many every month.
Most people buy a house (on average) maybe 3 to 5 times in their life. Many realtors close that many every month.
Posted on 5/18/15 at 7:16 pm to makersmark1
quote:
She will have a masters, and her starting income of 35k is the absolute floor. We can reasonably expect double to triple that in 5 years, maybe sooner..
What does she/will she be doing? Is this something that will happen where you live now, or are you reasonably expecting her to get better offers in other cities for instance after she has some experience? In any case, regardless of the debt situation I wouldn't buy a house until she is settled into her career.
Posted on 5/18/15 at 8:05 pm to Athletix
quote:
Student loans 90k
quote:
I'm 24 and recently engaged
quote:
We are looking to purchase a house
Of the 3 items listed, the only one that you are "financially married" to is the student loan. Why not get rid of this ball and chain before chaining your neck with two more balls?
Marriage and Home are two items you can get out of legally. But you can't with the student loan. Why overburden yourself at such a young age?
Posted on 5/18/15 at 8:06 pm to Huey Lewis
quote:
What does she/will she be doing? Is this something that will happen where you live now, or are you reasonably expecting her to get better offers in other cities for instance after she has some experience? In any case, regardless of the debt situation I wouldn't buy a house until she is settled into her career
We are confident in her ability to acquire a job near where we are looking to buy. But, it is a good point to bring up since she is not guaranteed a job at this point in time.
Another thing to think about is that the bulk of our student loans are at 6.8%.. Until the loans are paid off my mindset has been to send all extra money outside of about 4-5k to eliminating the debt. It doesn't seem right to save up a large sum of money for a down payment when our loans are at such a high rate. Nor does it seem reasonable for us to rent until we finish paying off our loans.. We both want to buy a house sooner rather than later, but it seems like the reality of us getting into a home we like in the next 6 months is fading. More and more likely we wait a year (rent) or until her income allows us to purchase a more expensive home that would probably fit our wants.
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