How to buy a house??

Question

I need advice, I don't know anything about buying a house and dont have family I can rely on for the information... I'm tired of renting. Idek where to start, I have good credit but I can't even afford an apartment by myself without having to work over time so I have to split with a roommate.  I think a 3 bed 2 bath is reasonable, the idea is to live there with my current roommate and one other person. The end goal is to rent the house out or have it in a tourist area to be rented out for travelers once we all get our own houses.
.....How much savings/money down should I have? How do I know if the market is good or bad? How does one "watch the market?" Is there a website or something? Does minimum wage increasing make the market bad ? How often does the market crash? At what point do people start renting the house out, When the mortgage is payed off??

Answer

Your mortgage is not supposed to more than1 /3 if your annual income. If you can’t afford to live alone you probably can’t afford a mortgage on your own. They look at your debt to income ratio. Not sure where to live or the value of homes. But if you live in the USA in the north east a 3 bed 2 bath will cost you 250,000 at minimum. If you are in the south or the mod west you can get that for much less 100,000 to 150,000 or even less the cost of living depends on taxes in the area. Like Atlanta Georgia. Property taxes are lower the worse the area 2000 per year. You come up to the north east property taxes are 8000 and up. The better the area the higher the taxes the better the schools. They normally put together your mortgage, property taxes and home owners insurance. Also if you live in a flood zone like down south that is prone to hurricanes or tornadoes it’s is much more expensive to get insurance. You are going to need to contact a mortgage broker that is your best bet that way you have more than just 1 option of a bank. They will run your credit. They are looking for at least 2 years job experience. They want to see your taxes and pay stubs and bank accounts. You may need a co-signer which like I said in the beginning if you can’t afford to rent on your own you probably can’t afford a mortgage on your own. You can have up to 4 people on a mortgage. You will need a down payment if it is an fha mortgage 3.5% it’s a government loan and they are a pin in the ass with underwriting they can’t explanations for everything. Right now interest rates are like 7% the higher the interest the higher your payment. Back when trump was in office it was 2.75%. You can pay points which are tax deductible to lower the rate.  You will need closing costs. Again depending on the price of the house it can be 6,000-24,000. You are going to have to pay for an appraisal and inspection that can be 300-600 each. You may have to pay for a service for them to get access to verify employment 100-500. They verify employment up to the day of closing. I strongly recommend to get a lawyer to represent you for the whole process. Some people use a realtor some do not. But you will have to have a per approval from the bank before you can see homes because they want to see how high you can go or what you are approved for. Your lawyers fees, and realtors fees will come out from closing costs. Lawyer should be less than 1000 unless he’s a jerk and charges like 500 per hour. If you put more money Down the leas the mortgage is. For instance there is something call P.M.I. It’s mortgage insurance in case property value drops due to the economy. It protects the bank for the first 20% of the mortgage if you put 20% down then you don’t have to pay that however it’s ok it’s tax deductible. Mortgage insurance, property taxes and mortgage insurance (not homeowners insurance) the pmi is tax deductible as well as if you pay points. Another way to lower the mortgage is to pay a 13th payment principal only once per year over the life of the mortgage it lowers the mortgage 7 years over the 30 year life of the mortgage. The higher the credit the better off you are. The better the interest rate. The prefer 680 and up. However worst case scenario 620. But no less than that. Once you start the process do not reduce your hours of work or leave jobs or touch your credit cards it will mess everything up. Depending on the area you may have to pay water and sewer separately from your mortgage, association fees if you live in a complex, electric and or gas bill etc which is why your mortgage is not supposed to be more than 1/3 of your income so you can afford everything else. It can take 1-3 months for finish the process. If you were trying to buy a home during the rise of COVID and lived in Florida or New Jersey man was it bad to be a buyer. People were dying to get out of new york. Houses were in a bidding war and were going for 50,000 over asking price. Inventory was super limited. Same with cars due to lack of manufacturing. It’s tapered off now. Plus if it’s snow and winter where you are not many are looking for homes in the snow and cold. No one is looking for a home in buffalo New York with 7 feet of snow on the ground. Honestly if it was me I would get your finances better. Save your ass off. And wait for the change in government to see if interest rates come down. Make sure you are saving in the bank because they want to see seasoned money at least 3 months in the bank. You can get a “gift” for closing costs another person that pays them but they have to give bank statements and their info to show where the money came from so they see it’s not drugs etc. I would have at least 20-30,000 saved so they take you seriously. If you are making 10.00 per hour they are not going to take you seriously. You have to be able to afford the house. 18.00 per hour is the new minimum wage in the north east. Because of inflation. Minimize your expenses. Save your ass off. Pick up extra jobs. Has to be on the books jobs if you want it to be verifiable income for the home purchase. You can walk dogs etc in cash now but it won’t count towards the home purchase just for savings for now. If you have any more questions let me know.

Answer

You have to look at house prices in your area, consider how much you have to put down plus cover closing costs, and look at your debt to income ratio. Do not buy more than you can afford 100% on your own. You can’t count on roommates to always live with you

Answer

You need to look at how much houses cost in your area and do an online mortgage calculator to see if you can afford it relative to your income and relative to your current rent. Then ask around for a reputable mortgage broker to work on a pre-qualification. I believe if you buy a house and dont intend to live in it, youll need to put more money down and pay more taxes as an investment property, the broker can help explain it to you. You dont have to have it paid off to rent it, but youd need to calculate if you can afford the mortgage plus rent elsewhere with the income youre going to get from the rental, minus upkeep/repairs to see if it's worth it. In my former area, it was cheaper to buy than rent, but that all depends on your area.

Answer

Not the time to buy. People used to say buying is h Cheaper than renting. It’s not. You still need closing costs, taxes, insurance etc. and if something breaks, that’s on you. There’s no landlord to call

Answer

Right now the market is terrible because mortgage interest is so high. Even with a great credit score you’re looking between 6-7.5% or more. Home prices in many places are also overvalued, which is bad news if your budget is tight. Basically, if a house is listed at 200k and you agree to pay that, but the bank says the values is really at 180k… Long story short they won’t give you the loan for more than the house is worth regardless what the owner is listing it for. Meaning you’ll need to present the difference on top of your down payment to buy. There are also a lot of hidden costs to moving, including paying for inspections, movers, titles, etc that you need to factor in (we factored in about 10k extra when we moved to our budget). 
A competitive down payment is about 20% but sometimes you can do less by making your offer sweeter somehow, such as putting more into escrow, allowing the owners flexible move out dates, waiving inspection (don’t recommend) whatever it is. You can go in with friends but credit scores and history can make that an even worse situation sometimes. 
Buying a home is a big step. Good luck! I personally say wait until interest comes down  at the least and home values dip back to true value

Answer

I was referred from my realtor to my finance guy/ company. I then applied and got approved for a house I could afford, then started working more with the realtor again for houses. Finding a good realtor is very important because they can be so knowledgeable about the whole process.

Answer

You can also talk to a realtor after you talk with your bank/lender. Once you know what kind ofnbudges younarenworking with, the realtor can help you navigate the market (and it's free!).

How to buy a house??

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