Buying a home???

Well, This weekend the GF and I went out looking at homes (w/o realtor). We just wanted to see what was out their. Well, Im wanting to buy with in a year or less. I can get a Mobile home...HAHA yes a mobile home on a acer of land in Alvin, Tx for about $60-70k has septic and water well. So I won't have to have a monthly bill for that.

Well my question is would I be able to afford it??

I make 40k a year. Hopefully going up about 5k next year.

GF makes 20k a year, But is hopefully getting a full time job this summer.

Our truck notes are: Taco: $460
F150: $515
-------
$975

phone bill is $100
insurance is about $200 together.

Other than that, I don't have many bills she has a few credit cards, That she is attacking. I made her cut them. about $3600 in credit card debt.

Ohh, Forgot I make about 8-12k a year working for my dad installing septics.

I won't have much to put down, But I also heard you can get some kind of insurance to cover a down payment???

Anyways, Thanks for any advice. I really hate living with my GF's parents. I lived on my own for many years and I feel suffocated.

 

You can probably do it. I just bought a house at the age of 19 for $65K and the payments are about $450 a month. Just remember there are a bunch of closing costs and other things you never thing of.

 

Ya that's what im afraid of. Also my Credit score isn't great, But Im finally getting my Powerstroke off of my credit report.

 

There's really no way for any of us to tell you what you can afford without a lot more information.

Throw your numbers into a fomula that'll spit out a mortgage payment and find out what it'll be. Don't forget to factor in the cost of homeowners insurance, the power bill, etc. You can roll closing costs into the loan (many people do), but remember you'll be starting out under water in the house if you do that. I've purchased and refinanced my home (to get into the 4.5% rate we're enjoying now) and both times I paid cash for the closing costs b/c I didn't like the idea of paying those off for 30 years.

The insurance you're talking about that will 'cover the down payment' doesn't really do that. It's called PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) and is required by many lenders if you're borrowing more than 80% of the value of the home. It basically increases your monthly payment until you've paid down the loan to the point that it is no longer in excess of 80% of your home's value. You can get around PMI by getting an 80/20 loan... basically getting two loans (one for 20% of the home's value, and one for 80%). I don't know the details on how to do that, but an agent will.

DON'T get an adjustable rate mortgage.

If you get 6% on a 30-year, $70k mortgage, your payment would be $419.69/month. A 6%, 15-year, $70k mortgage payment would be $590.70. Niether of these include PMI or insurance.

I've posted a few times that interest rates don't matter a whole lot... but whenever I post that I'm talking about auto loans. They matter a bit more on home loans. If you go from 6% to 8% on the loans above, the monthly payments change to $513.64 and $668.96, respectively.

 

Don't try and calculate up what you and her MIGHT be making...

 

This. Go on what you should be able to afford right now.

 

I am an active real estate agent that loves my job. I personally think you should steer clear from a deprciating asset - Mobile Home. There are very few people that will finance you, you will either have to pay cash or a high rate of interest, you will pay someone else to put it in a park or you buy some land (you can not finance land like you can a home with land on it - typically 50% down). If you want to call me I can give you my best information.

You can get a home with as little as 3.5% down and you will be much happier in the long run. I promise you that. With a home, you will have an asset that will appriciate in the long run vs a mobile home that after 20 years you have... well, a mobile home.

PM me and I will give you my phone number and I am more than willing to share with you what you can do... what do you have to loose. Nothing! Me? What do I have to gain? Nothing but the feeling of helping someone. I bought my first home when I was 24 and still own it. I'm now an old man!

 

I don't want to be negative here but a house is a big investment and you want to be able to enjoy it for years to come. Personally I would try to buy the house with just one income. When I bought my house 15 years ago I used just my sad salary to buy it and did not use any of my wifes income. This will help in the future if you or she loses your job and keep you in a home you can actually afford, yes it wont be the nicest, but I'm assumming you are on the younger side and you have many years to make more money and by the way from my experience don't count on the raise, many who have lost there homes when the money did not come in. Good luck!

 

i didnt read everyones replies but just a thought. make sure you plan enough for other costs. ex: groceries, how much your paying for gas, unexpected breaks that you need to repair.... just a few of the things to keep in mind.


good luck!

 

I didn't even think about the fact that it's a mobile home... good points, Murphy.

 

Congrats on your idea to make the purchase! Its probably the biggest most scariest purchase you will make, but after doing it a few times you will get the hang of it!

Being that I'm a mortgage banker I believe you will qualify for a home in that price range. I did your debt to income ratio based on what you had stated and it looks like you guys make $5665 total gross income between the both of you that includes 8k a year working with your dad. If you claim that income you should qualify for a total debt ratio of about $1926 per month at 34% your income.

with that being said, your total monthly payments including your trucks, credit cards and any other things that will show on your credit plus your new house payment should be around that $1926 per month.

Now for a loan of $75k with the rate of 5.25% at a 30 year fixed your monthly payment will be about $515 a month with taxes and insurance.

So if you add the $515 + $975 = $1490 will be your total liability plus your cards.
If you have about $3600 in credit card debt and you calculate the 3% payment factor than your minimum monthly payments should be around $108 per month for all your credit card debts. Bringing you a total of $1598 total monthly liabilities which is 28% of your total monthly gross income.

So, on paper you can do it! you can even do more! Your maximum loan amount would be around the $150k to $165k

Now, with the credit situation, There are FHA first time home buyer loans out there that can get you in a home with bruised credit reports but you have to have at least a 620 fico credit score. Doesnt matter what happend in the past as long as you can explain what happend. But for mobile homes you are out of luck! there are only a few lenders that lend on mobile homes but their are requirements like the foundation being attahced to the ground and other little things that you gotta look for. I cant do mobile homes but, I bet you can find homes in TX for that same price range if not a little more can get you something better.

Good luck with your decision and let me know if you have any more questions that I can answer.

 

Thanks to all that replied. Yes I know a mobile home isn't a great investment. But here in podunk south E Tx. Mobile homes are everywere. So that's why I was interested in it. Also I can get atleast an acer with a home on it.

On the other hand, I can also get a stick built house for a lil more but with alot less land. I want land because I want a Great Dane, And a lil shop for my projects, And no next door neighboors.

Here is one of the houses im interested in. http://search.har.com/engine/1018-Rice-St-Alvin-TX-77511_HAR92183054.htm

and another.
http://search.har.com/engine/1218-Sealy-Alvin-TX-77511_HAR46207953.htm

 

damn... that first link has the land and all but thats gonna need a TON of work! if your willing to do the work then it might be worth it... second link, theres no way that an acre.. i doubt those neighbors would like you having a great dane back there. haha

 

Ya I know, The second link is very small lot, But a I guess a cute?? house. The first one ain't bad. My GF's brother and Dad are carpenters. So I have alot of help. As far as septic and Water...I got that under control, Im a poo man.

 

The second link looks like a modular home to me. That is better than a mobile but if you need an acre for great danes than you better have a litter because an acre is huge! The first link look like a modular home too but could be a mobile. at that price buy 2 of them and rent the other one out for a steal so that they pay off your mortgage.

 

Remember me in 15 years... just sayin'

 

WOW, it's kinda like spanish to me. Sorry, did I see I can get a house for $150k.... Awesome. But I ain't going that high until I get older and wiser. I want a starter home for now. My dad was telling me to get a mobile home with a few acers. My dads operator is selling his 30 acers and a crappy mobile home for $180k. I can put a few cows and a few great danes out their. But I just don't want to go that high right now. Around October, I'll be in contact with a realtor, If all goes according to plan.

 

This thread is making me angry, I live in north new jersey and my rent alone is $1000 a month. I have been looking at houses with my GF. I own my own car audio company and she is a teacher with her masters degree, we make well over 100k combined and there is no way we can afford anything right now. The lowest price (even in this economy) to get into something that is livable is 300k. Not to mention the prop taxes are about 10k a year. So we would be paying around 3k a month just to live....You all have me thinking about moving....

 

move to the great state of Texas.

 

i feel your pain. im in Rochelle Park, Bergen County NJ. listed like the 5th most expensive county in the US. 7k a year on prop tax on a 50x100 lot, but my place is valued at 475k!!!!!

as far as adjustable mortgages, SOME are good, most are bad. I have one on my place. i owe 193k between my two houses (on is a modular/double wide in NC). my INTEREST ONLY mortgage is under $360/month currently at 2.24% and is fixed 1.99% above fed rate, currently .25%, so even if it goes up to 3.01%, im only paying 5% on my loan. i dump 1500 extra each month to the principal, which most people DONT and thats what kills them later. i have 8 more years before it becomes a loan, currently its an interest only loan. So i paid down 60k in the last 2 years, so HOPEFULLY ill have it paid off or near 50k by the time it becomes an actual loan.

Now, i dont know about TX but i bought my doublewide 28x76' on 1.74 acres in Hickory NC 4 years ago, its a rental property that one day i will retire to and build a stick built on. now i paid 122k for it in 2006 and was just reassessed at 131k. Houses in the Hickory area, modular, mobile or stick are going up in value. mainly for the property but even then, an acre is about 10k-25k depending if its level or not. i have city water and sewer as well, outside city limits and my prop tax is 765.00.....almost a tenth what i pay for 50x100 lot in NJ with the same sqft house (2 story 2200sqft total).

the best advice, get together ATLEAST 10% of your house + closing costs. so if you have a 75k house, get about 10k together and pay for the closing costs out of pocket, or see if the seller will split them. Depending on the area, only mobile/modulars that depreciate are NEW ones, they get to a point, as long as they are clean and sound, they stop losing value and the property (land) increases in value, eventually....making the whole package increase in value. you can always sell your mobile home too and build a stick built later on when you get a few years behind you and the mortgage paid down.
Pay off ALL your credit cards, and reduce the spending limits, banks see this as POSSIBLE debt. Dont close them, unless you havent used them in a year or more. When i bought my first house, i didnt have any loans on cars so that was a plus, not much you can do except increase your down payment to sweeten the deal with the bank.....GOOD LUCK