Buying a house

[machine528]

Looking for some advice since real estate prices are down big time. Me and my girlfriend are looking to get a house. The agreement is this, the house is mine, she will help pay, if she is living there, the loan and everything else is mine, we have been together for 4 years and are planning on getting married. If we split I keep the house. I am looking for input on what price range I can afford and live comfortably. My girlfriend after taxes clears about 950 dollars per paycheck. Myself after taxes I clear 1700-1800 bi weekly If i get some OT i can clear 2000-2100.

My girlfriend doesnt have a car payment and im paying 500 bucks a month on mine.

 

[Trauma1]

What do you do for a living if you don't mind me asking?

 

[suncloud]

if you have the 20% down, get whatever = your current rent + 10%. that way its easy to do this. make sure you're not in danger of being downsized either.

 

[Trauma1]

I agree with putting down the 20% if possible. Avoiding the PMI is always a good thing.

What type of loan are you looking to apply for, FHA or Conventional?

 

[machine528]

Trauma I am looking for a conventional loan

 

[RedwolfWV]

I don't know much about this stuff... but I would get a lawyer to draw up paperwork between you and your girl.... so you have that agreement all legal like. Kinda like a prenuptual. Just incase of a breakup that gets ugly.

 

[stxnas]

God forbid something happens between the two of you...but if it does, keep in mind that you are responsible for the payments on your own.

I will suggest that you either purchase something that you can afford on your own OR the two of you wait until you're married before buying together.

Do the two of you already live together? I don't care how long you know somebody or have dated somebody, **** is different when you live together, lol!

 

[Trauma1]

God forbid something happens between the two of you...but if it does, keep in mind that you are responsible for the payments on your own.

I will suggest that you either purchase something that you can afford on your own OR the two of you wait until you're married before buying together.

Do the two of you already live together? I don't care how long you know somebody or have dated somebody, **** is different when you live together, lol!

Sound words of advice, stx. Buying within your means is definitely the key factor.

 

[Nabisco]

Looking for some advice since real estate prices are down big time. Me and my girlfriend are looking to get a house. The agreement is this, the house is mine, she will help pay, if she is living there, the loan and everything else is mine, we have been together for 4 years and are planning on getting married. If we split I keep the house. I am looking for input on what price range I can afford and live comfortably. My girlfriend after taxes clears about 950 dollars per paycheck. Myself after taxes I clear 1700-1800 bi weekly If i get some OT i can clear 2000-2100.

My girlfriend doesnt have a car payment and im paying 500 bucks a month on mine.

You clear 1700-1800 twice a week? That's what bi weekly means dude. In that case, you're making BANK. So buy a mansion. :icon_lol:

 

[machine528]

LOL I wish ! I clear that much every other week.

 

[Palo Alto Labs]

Machine...

Im in about the same situation as you.

I bought a house in May.... g/f moved in with me. main difference is that she is in law school so has very little income right now. since we do not have a contract drawn up, what we do is I pay the mortgage and she covers the electric bill (again, low income on her part)... She also covers most trips to the grocery store and dogfood. In case anything happens between us, we can go our separate ways and she didn't input anything into the house.

What I would suggest is that you buy the house, then workup a general RENT agreement with the g/f. You can either get a lawyer or you can find a generic rent agreement online. This will protect you in case of a split up. Otherwise, she can contest that her money went towards equity and now she wants her piece of the pie. not pretty.

What can you afford? man there is no 1 answer to that. I would log into a site like Mint.com or something that allows you to track every penny you spend for the month. Add in emergency expenses (car repair), house repair ($100-$400 monthly depending on the issue), and other unforeseen issues (wedding, honeymoon, etc.) and then determine how much you (BY YOURSELF) can afford. Do not factor in the g/f's money or that of a roomate. You need to plan for worst case scenario.

I was lucky with my purchase bc I love the house, but the neighbors really make the neighborhood. If you find a property that you like, make sure you take an hour to go door-to-door to introduce yourself BEFORE you are committed to the property. You will find out what kind of neighbors you have, the pro's and con's of the neighborhood, and even some background info on your property that would not show up in an inspection.

The two people you need to know right now are a good Realtor and a great Mortgage broker. most mortgage brokers are not your friend at all ( i was lucky to have a friend in the industry so i got a solid deal). Also, some realtors will recommend brokers, but they might also get a kick-back from the broker. You can shop around to 2-3 brokers and weigh their deals and offers. Since you are not selling a home, a Realtor is FREE to you and will be a great asset.

Dont forget to research the other costs beyond the mortgage. In south florida, your costs (insurance, tax, PMI, etc) can actually cost more then the actual mortgage. In my case, about 53% of my monthly payment is interest + equity, the other 47% is tax, insurance, PMI (only $70 a month), and extra for the escrow account.

There are a lot of desperate people out there, so take your time and dont settle. You have the upper hand in this game.

 

[tribaltek]

I'm currently in the market as well, and let me tell ya, there are goldmines out there. But take your time and find the RIGHT home. There are many out there, and home values are expected to decline another 10-20% over the next 12 months.

 

[Trauma1]

Exactly. The wife and i had been saving for some time beforehand, and searched around for the best home for us. When the bottom of the market fell out, we just happened to be in a prime position to make a killing.

The house we ended up getting for the price is just unbelievable. Especially for where it is in tampa. I couldn't have been happier that we looked around well before making the final decision......even more-so due to the fact that the prices on the homes just kept falling.

The buyer opportunity is fantastic right now, but in time all will rebound again. If you can afford to do it, now is the time to buy, however choose wisely, and well inside your means.

Buying a home is still incredibly frustrating regardless though. Dave and i can attest to that. :lol:

 

[Trauma1]

Machine...

Im in about the same situation as you.

I bought a house in May.... g/f moved in with me. main difference is that she is in law school so has very little income right now. since we do not have a contract drawn up, what we do is I pay the mortgage and she covers the electric bill (again, low income on her part)... She also covers most trips to the grocery store and dogfood. In case anything happens between us, we can go our separate ways and she didn't input anything into the house.

What I would suggest is that you buy the house, then workup a general RENT agreement with the g/f. You can either get a lawyer or you can find a generic rent agreement online. This will protect you in case of a split up. Otherwise, she can contest that her money went towards equity and now she wants her piece of the pie. not pretty.

What can you afford? man there is no 1 answer to that. I would log into a site like Mint.com or something that allows you to track every penny you spend for the month. Add in emergency expenses (car repair), house repair ($100-$400 monthly depending on the issue), and other unforeseen issues (wedding, honeymoon, etc.) and then determine how much you (BY YOURSELF) can afford. Do not factor in the g/f's money or that of a roomate. You need to plan for worst case scenario.

I was lucky with my purchase bc I love the house, but the neighbors really make the neighborhood. If you find a property that you like, make sure you take an hour to go door-to-door to introduce yourself BEFORE you are committed to the property. You will find out what kind of neighbors you have, the pro's and con's of the neighborhood, and even some background info on your property that would not show up in an inspection.

The two people you need to know right now are a good Realtor and a great Mortgage broker. most mortgage brokers are not your friend at all ( i was lucky to have a friend in the industry so i got a solid deal). Also, some realtors will recommend brokers, but they might also get a kick-back from the broker. You can shop around to 2-3 brokers and weigh their deals and offers. Since you are not selling a home, a Realtor is FREE to you and will be a great asset.

Dont forget to research the other costs beyond the mortgage. In south florida, your costs (insurance, tax, PMI, etc) can actually cost more then the actual mortgage. In my case, about 53% of my monthly payment is interest + equity, the other 47% is tax, insurance, PMI (only $70 a month), and extra for the escrow account.

There are a lot of desperate people out there, so take your time and dont settle. You have the upper hand in this game.

You ain't kidding, dave. We ended up hooking up with a family friend that did it saving us money and time. I wasn't aware at the time how mortgage brokers really made their money. He explained how they basically make their money on the back end of it, and can screw you over in the process on what would have been a good interest rate to begin with.....

Just thinking about it again reminds me of the initial frustration. :lol:

 

[j4ever]

Looking for some advice since real estate prices are down big time. Me and my girlfriend are looking to get a house. The agreement is this, the house is mine, she will help pay, if she is living there, the loan and everything else is mine, we have been together for 4 years and are planning on getting married. If we split I keep the house. I am looking for input on what price range I can afford and live comfortably. My girlfriend after taxes clears about 950 dollars per paycheck. Myself after taxes I clear 1700-1800 bi weekly If i get some OT i can clear 2000-2100.

My girlfriend doesnt have a car payment and im paying 500 bucks a month on mine.

good advice on here bro,do a search for web-sites where you can plug in the numbers to see what you can afford,one that is pretty good is bankrate but dont forget to look at total payment because depending on what the property taxes are in your area it will make a big difference right now i pay 625 a month in property tax and 125 in homeowners insurance so look at everything as far as your relationship I would have papers drawn up because depending on what state you are in and after you get married it does'nt matter what agreement you both had if she wants half she gets half also half your debts are hers and vice versa just depends on state law,just consider all bills and buy what you can afford.

 

[manny1010]

Great advice from left to right. If you are worried about you and your girl breaking up, seek a lawyer. It is VITAL that you get a fixed interest rate. DO NOT fall for a variable interest rate. Also, is this the house you will like to invest in, such as; the house you want to settle in for years to come. If you can have or can save money for a down payment about 20% or even 10% you are better off at buying a house. Also dont get a 30 year term loan unless you have to.

For example, $89,000 for a 30 year loan with an interest of 5.25, your monthly payments will be 491.46. You will end up paying over the 30 year term $176,925.60 for the house.

For example, 15 year loan with the same loan and interest, your monthly payments will be $715.45 a month and at the end of the 15 years you would only pay $128,781.00.


Do not let the realtor tell you how much you can afford. As soon as they calculate both of your incomes and give you a calculation of what you can afford, you have made them richer (way richer).

Best of luck. Hope I have helped a little bit.

 

[Palo Alto Labs]

Also....

$7500 tax credit towards new home buyers after April 2008

Its not a free $7500, but a tax credit. From my understanding, you get the rebate with your taxes next april, But you have to pay it back. Good news is that you only pay $500/year at 0% interest over the next 15 years.

BTW... out of all of the websites out there that i used, ZIP realty (www.ziprealty.com) was the best. It had the best searching database, the most information, pictures, maps, etc. Its free and you dont have to go through the realtor they 'assign' to you. It also shows you the original list price and everytime they drop the price... cool to see how desperate people are.