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Home ownership questions??

DC_Dude

DC_Dude

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
Fam, thinking about purchasing a condo or townhouse in the DC area. What's the best indicator or general rule of thumb to consider the amount you can afford for a mortgage? I have no debt except student loans, but I am tired of living in an apartment. Any suggestions or website to view are welcomed.
 
just google a mortgage calculator, when you get the figure add about 500 to it to cover mortgage insurance ( if paying less than 20%), taxes, hazard insurance. Also if you have a steady job and been working there for more than 2 years the will approve you
 
I was just about to make a mortgage thread. My wife and I are looking to buy in southern PG county. I believe they say you should multiply your gross income by 3 to determine how much house you can afford.

I was going to ask: Is it better to get approved for your loan first then find an agent, or use the agents' broker?
 
DC_Dude said:
Fam, thinking about purchasing a condo or townhouse in the DC area. What's the best indicator or general rule of thumb to consider the amount you can afford for a mortgage? I have no debt except student loans, but I am tired of living in an apartment. Any suggestions or website to view are welcomed.
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As far as what you can afford is simple. Your mortgage should be the same as your rent in an apartment. If you are able to pay your rent without a problem than a mortgage payment should be fine.

If you want to judge how much can you extend yourself and still be comfortable simply over pay your apartment rent. Place the over payment in your savings account and see how long you can go without having to use that money.

My rent was around 800 and I over paid by adding 900 dollars to my rent. I found out that was to much and reduced my over payment to 400. I was able to live comfortably and that is how I knew how much to spend
 
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Don't even think about buying a home unless you are willing to get a home warranty that will cover most major shit that might go wrong in the house i.e. ( furnace , AC, thermostats, etc )
 
simonmarcel said:
I was just about to make a mortgage thread. My wife and I are looking to buy in southern PG county. I believe they say you should multiply your gross income by 3 to determine how much house you can afford.

I was going to ask: Is it better to get approved for your loan first then find an agent, or use the agents' broker?
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Having options is always a plus. So getting pre-approved is a good thing
 
simonmarcel said:
I was just about to make a mortgage thread. My wife and I are looking to buy in southern PG county. I believe they say you should multiply your gross income by 3 to determine how much house you can afford.

I was going to ask: Is it better to get approved for your loan first then find an agent, or use the agents' broker?
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That logic is fucked up; you could afford that much and by the time you pay taxes, utilities, lawn care, maintenance, furnish the joint, etc. you are house poor as hell.

I say no more than 2 to 2 1/2 times your NET income. Depending on how much $$$$ you put down, with today's low interest rate, the mortgage deduction on your taxes my be null and void.

Better to spend less and save more than to follow that 3 times your gross logic IMO
 
Pros vs. Cons of buying near a new shopping center?
Best investment: Condo or Townhouse living in a metro city?
 
being pre-approved is working from a position of strength...you know up front what your payment is going to be and you can negotiate better with the seller,,,being pre-approved also let;s the seller know that if they go with your plan they don't have to wait on the sell to go through so they are more willing to concede to your demands
 
Fight for the best mortgage rate possible. Period.

Mortgage rates affect your payments more proportionately than prepayments. If you are considering purchasing a new home in a good resell area like Montgomery County, Maryland or McLean, VA, you probably will have equity by the time you close on the home.

Also use online real property databases to see the value of homes in the area. Your realtor will more than likely give you a comparative analysis report, but you can do that on your own right now. If a new development offers a home at one price that is higher than what you see on the search, parlay that into your initial offer.
 
Rent...do not buy a home in this market unless the home is a foreclosed property worth 2-3 times what you paying for it...for real.
 
tell you to only buy a home if your plan on staying there for more than a couple years. dont buy a house thinking you can sell it and move across town into something nicer. market aint having it. and get preapproved through the internet companies. i.e. lending tree. they usually have deals that the local mortgage companies cannot offer. my experience was this. i got preapproved thru a group out of dallas, then the local beat it by .05 percent which aint much but its something over 30 years. if not for the pre approval they just give u something and expect u to take it and not shop around
 
my gal is about to get a house that we're gonna rent out, we're gonna ask 905 a month and the area where we got it rents for 1200+. payment on house is only gonna be 700. win win.
 
cold-n-cocky said:
That logic is fucked up; you could afford that much and by the time you pay taxes, utilities, lawn care, maintenance, furnish the joint, etc. you are house poor as hell.

I say no more than 2 to 2 1/2 times your NET income. Depending on how much $$$$ you put down, with today's low interest rate, the mortgage deduction on your taxes my be null and void.

Better to spend less and save more than to follow that 3 times your gross logic IMO
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I know, most people shouldn't spend that much. I was just saying I thought that was in the range financial institutions use to figure out what you can afford. My wife and I only plan on spending less than twice our gross income.
 
simonmarcel said:
I was just about to make a mortgage thread. My wife and I are looking to buy in southern PG county. I believe they say you should multiply your gross income by 3 to determine how much house you can afford.

I was going to ask: Is it better to get approved for your loan first then find an agent, or use the agents' broker?
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GET PREAPPROVED

GET PREAPPROVED

GET PREAPPROVED

GET PREAPPROVED

GET PREAPPROVED

GET PREAPPROVED

GET PREAPPROVED

GET PREAPPROVED

part of the problem with the mortgage crisis was that people used "brokers" that guaranteed them a rate, then the broker sold the mortgage to another shell company that sold the mortgage and every time this happened, the more and more, the rate on the homeowner changed. So the mortgage that started off as $1100 is now $1900 within a 12 month period. Get pre approved and control what you can spend. you'll know your limit.
 
jackeebleu said:
GET PREAPPROVED

GET PREAPPROVED

GET PREAPPROVED

GET PREAPPROVED

GET PREAPPROVED

GET PREAPPROVED

GET PREAPPROVED

GET PREAPPROVED

part of the problem with the mortgage crisis was that people used "brokers" that guaranteed them a rate, then the broker sold the mortgage to another shell company that sold the mortgage and every time this happened, the more and more, the rate on the homeowner changed. So the mortgage that started off as $1100 is now $1900 within a 12 month period. Get pre approved and control what you can spend. you'll know your limit.
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what this man said, then just do a budget. see what you can afford to live comfortably.
 
Mortgage calcs are great but don't factor in tax and insurance. Keep that in mind because it's usually part of your monthly payment. That $1200 can turn to $1600 quick. Could also have a PMI in there too.
 
My wife and I don't have much for a down payment. Should we get pre-approved at our credit union first and then apply for an FHA loan? How does the process go? How would I find out about mortgage programs in my state or county?
 
DC_Dude said:
Fam, thinking about purchasing a condo or townhouse in the DC area. What's the best indicator or general rule of thumb to consider the amount you can afford for a mortgage? I have no debt except student loans, but I am tired of living in an apartment. Any suggestions or website to view are welcomed.
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If ur single its not worth it
 
SamSneed said:
my gal is about to get a house that we're gonna rent out, we're gonna ask 905 a month and the area where we got it rents for 1200+. payment on house is only gonna be 700. win win.
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So you're only gonna make 200 a month in profit? If my math is wrong please correct me. That isn't exactly a winning deal. In the future I'm planning on buying a house for like 25k which will be a hella cheap note and charging 8 to 900 bucks. Folks is paying that. I'd want at least a 500 a month profit.
 
If you have any military time go the VA home loan program. It's 100 percent backed by the federal government and you don't have to put the usual 10 percent down. As a matter of fact when using your VA loan you don't have to put any money down.
 
dnice23666 said:
If you have any military time go the VA home loan program. It's 100 percent backed by the federal government and you don't have to put the usual 10 percent down. As a matter of fact when using your VA loan you don't have to put any money down.
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Do you know if they have programs for children of veterans?
 
simonmarcel said:
How much do warranties usually run?
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Before the warranty, you should get an inspection just after your offer is accepted. Offer should be conditional on a successful inspection.

Warranties usually run about $350-$500 per year, depending on the area and home size. I used to have American Home Shield (AHS), was well worth the money. My house was only 3 years old when I bought it. In the first year, refrigerator started acting up and needed a $700 repair. In the 3rd year, my A/C compressor went out just as summer started ($1000). I was lucky to have the home warranty but it wasn't really necessary in this case because the A/C unit had 3 months left on its manufacturer warranty.
 
a1rimrocka said:
Before the warranty, you should get an inspection just after your offer is accepted. Offer should be conditional on a successful inspection.

Warranties usually run about $350-$500 per year, depending on the area and home size. I used to have American Home Shield (AHS), was well worth the money. My house was only 3 years old when I bought it. In the first year, refrigerator started acting up and needed a $700 repair. In the 3rd year, my A/C compressor went out just as summer started ($1000). I was lucky to have the home warranty but it wasn't really necessary in this case because the A/C unit had 3 months left on its manufacturer warranty.
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I was wondering why someone would get a home warranty as opposed to the manufacturer's warranty. Is it like having an on-call repair man?
 
If I got approved for a FHA loan, would the rate be the same no matter what lender I used, or would I need to shop around for that too?
 
moblack said:
So you're only gonna make 200 a month in profit? If my math is wrong please correct me. That isn't exactly a winning deal. In the future I'm planning on buying a house for like 25k which will be a hella cheap note and charging 8 to 900 bucks. Folks is paying that. I'd want at least a 500 a month profit.
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she got the house for 50k, we're gonna pay 700 to pay it off faster. have others pay for the note is the plan. once the first renters move out we'll jack it up 100 till its close to local rent avg. its not about profit to us, i dont have long to pay on my house. i'll use my va loan again to buy another house and rent it out to0, that would give us two. old folk next to me do that. they own 4 homes which they rent out. our plan is to own as many as we can.
 
simonmarcel said:
I was just about to make a mortgage thread. My wife and I are looking to buy in southern PG county. I believe they say you should multiply your gross income by 3 to determine how much house you can afford.

I was going to ask: Is it better to get approved for your loan first then find an agent, or use the agents' broker?
Click to expand...

Bruh, get your own financing and present the pre-approval letter to your realtor.
 
Flawless said:
just google a mortgage calculator, when you get the figure add about 500 to it to cover mortgage insurance ( if paying less than 20%), taxes, hazard insurance. Also if you have a steady job and been working there for more than 2 years the will approve you
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There's ALOTTA mis-information in this thread...:smh:

I been in the mortgage industry, in some capacity, for the last 12 yrs...

This ain't 2002. It ain't that ez anymore. I've seen people with almost perfect scenarios NOT get approved.
 

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