Help buying a house...

[SRT4toCivicSi]

Alright... here's the down low. As most of you know my girlfriend is being propsed to in July of this year (2008). So, were setting a wedding sometime in 2010 and buying our first townhouse together around the exact same time so we can save up for a downpayment on a house and pay for the honeymoon. Well, we already have a townhouse picked out as well. It's the townhouse that i'm in right now with my mom. However, after I get married my mom plans on selling the house to Heather and I; then my mom is moving back to Kentucky where she was born and raised. So, I need some tips and what not. Teach me about house buying!

I guess the main part is... CAN I be accepted for a house loan? I know it depends on your credit score, FICO score, etc...which I know my other half doesn't have ANY missed payments or anything on her credit score. My credit score is in the "GOOD" category and last time I checked it was 713, but both of those should be good I would imagine. I have a $20,000 school loan out that I pay $300 a month for and thats it.

All and All between my girlfriend and I we make $70,000/year combined. She makes $40,000 and gets a raise after every school year, and I make $33,000 and get 2 raises a year, or 1 raise every 6 months if you will. She takes home around $3,000/month. I take home around $2,300/month. If I were to closely estimate I KNOW for a fact that I would have $1,500 left after I payed all my bills, school loans, etc... my other half would have around $2,300 take home.

My mom said she would sell this townhouse her and I are in right now for $170,000 - $175,000. We already planned on saving up for a 20% downpayment.

[korey@teamhonda]

i would check on getting a pre-approval loan amount from your bank or a broker to see what you qualify for...

[ffswizzlestick]

Banks are being a little tight on who they give money to right now because of the whole market right now. You should have no problem getting approved for a loan of some kind with a credit score like yours. Then its just a matter of how much they will give you. As general rule of thumb, they don't want to loan you money that would make your total monthly debt more than about 37% of your total monthly income. So, the more debt you have
(good standing or not) the more difficult it will be to get more money.

[SRT4toCivicSi]

Originally Posted by korey@teamhonda

i would check on getting a pre-approval loan amount from your bank or a broker to see what you qualify for...

Is that free of charge? Also, does that effect your credit score at all to do something like that?

[SoLegit]

I actually just closed on a house today and was suprised with the realtive ease of acceptance. I make apppx. the amount of you and your future fiancee and have about 18k in debt. The house I closed on was 218k, 7% down with a mortgage of appx 1500 per month, my credit score is in the 650 range because of old delinquent and closed accounts during college. From what my broker told me most of the 0 down/interest only loans are going away simply because they were too easy to get approved for and had high risk of default, I was approved for a MA housing loan for first time buyers with downpayment/ proof of income and employment/ liquid assets.

[pockings]

Assumption:

Cost of house - $170K
20% down - $34K
Mortgage - $136K
Monthly payment based on 30yr fixed at 6% (today's rate) - $815.39
Insurance and property tax on townhouse - I'm guessing less than $100 per month

Base on these numbers, if you can shell out $1K a month for your townhouse only. You should be fine. Good luck.

[audibleforce]

Wow, I wish home prices were that low here in California.

[SRT4toCivicSi]

Originally Posted by pockings

Assumption:

Cost of house - $170K
20% down - $34K
Mortgage - $136K
Monthly payment based on 30yr fixed at 6% (today's rate) - $815.39
Insurance and property tax on townhouse - I'm guessing less than $100 per month

Base on these numbers, if you can shell out $1K a month for your townhouse only. You should be find. Good luck.

I could shell out $1,000 on my own. I know my mom pays around $1,200 with EVERYTHING (gas, electric, cable tv, phone, internet, garbage, assoc. fee, etc...) then she just buys food. So, if this is the case then I think we should be ok.

[pockings]

Originally Posted by SRT4toCivicSi

I could shell out $1,000 on my own. I know my mom pays around $1,200 with EVERYTHING (gas, electric, cable tv, phone, internet, garbage, assoc. fee, etc...) then she just buys food. So, if this is the case then I think we should be ok.

Nice .

Also use this to calculate your mortgage Mortgage Calculator -- Bankrate.com .

[korey@teamhonda]

Originally Posted by SRT4toCivicSi

Is that free of charge? Also, does that effect your credit score at all to do something like that?

it should not cost you anything more than a credit check for a pre approval, and when you are ready,it should not cost you more than the appraisal of the condo est.@ $350-400 (for app. here in La.)

[pgFA]

With that credit score and income, you should have no problem getting a loan for that price. When we bought our house almost a year ago, pretty close criteria as yours minus the $20K student loan but I have about $6K on my civic under my wife's name, we got into a no down loan and the price of the house is $410k. Also, they look at your savings account and see how much you have there so that they'll feel confident to give you the loan cause they know that you have the money to pay for it. We only had about $10K on our savings cause we just had our church wedding few months before.

[korey@teamhonda]

you are allowed a credit check 4 times in a 30 day period b/f it affects the score and most mortgage lenders are going to use your middle score...

[korey@teamhonda]

the savings account balance is an asset, (money you have left over after everything else is paid) so that if something happens you still have enough money 2 pay the mortgage. IT IS EASIER TO GET APPROVED ON A HOME LOAN THAN A CAR LOAN.. the house is not goin to depreciate like cars do....

[SRT4toCivicSi]

When you guys say "Savings Account" do you mean a bank Savings Account? Because I have $10.00 in mine but I have about $3,000 so far in a stock fund that im saving up towards the house.