First time home buyers here... I have a credit score of 790 and make $42,000/annually. He has a credit score of 650, and makes around the same amount. Our lender recommended I take the loan out in my name since our interest rate will be 4.62%, instead of almost 6% if we consider my husband's credit as well.
We live in a beautiful area by the beach... currently rent is $700 due to knowing people and having friends. We are not sure how long this will last, however, which makes us antsy to purchase a home if it's a steal. We had planned to save for a long time, but a house came up on the market for $200k and the buyer wants to accept our offer of $190k (and buyer will pay closing costs). We are only able to put 3% down, which is fine due to the type of loan we qualified for.
I really wanted to save up more for a down-payment (at least 10%), BUT we are not sure how long we can stay at our current place for $700/mo... and anywhere else nearby is at LEAST $1300/month to rent. Our estimated mortgage payment for this house would be $1200 including everything but utilities. It is also attached to a ton of land which is very uncommon for the area. It's a beautiful home, VERY small (800 sq feet), but perfect for us and in a decent area. Our budget for a home was no more than $270k (after estimated 3-4 years of saving), so $190k sounds amazing. Any other home, even at $250k, needs extensive work and is probably not in the best area. Prices are just going up and we are afraid we will be priced out eventually.
The house is awesome and newly built... inspection was perfect. It seems like a steal and a safe bet considering we don't know how long we will be able to continue renting at our current spot. If we had to move, we'd likely be paying the same amount as we would need to put toward the mortgage.
Any thoughts?? It's tough navigating this never having bought a house before. My main issue is the minimal down payment, but I don't want to pass up a good deal!! The lot has plenty of space and enough to even add another massive house (which we wouldn't). RS-2 zoning, so not sure if we could ever do long-term rentals if we did build another house and also lived on site at the current house...
EDIT: Monthly mortgage with taxes/hoa/mortgage insurance included ($1200) would be roughly 20% of take home pay.
Submitted May 30, 2019 at 08:35PM by ithicain http://bit.ly/2I9bWvz
