4 responses to “Need help getting a mortgage?”

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  Tsunami November 30th, 2010 at 00:22

  Paula

  try bank loans first they are better and give better stuff but 400,000 ialot for a home oh well its up to you but you have to have a Good renter also. take care.

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  rtfm November 30th, 2010 at 05:34

  Nathaniel

  With a salary of $45-55K, nobody’s going to give you a mortgage for a $400K house, especially with only a 5 percent down payment.

  Sorry. Try looking for a house about half that price and you’ll have a much better shot.

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  Colin T December 1st, 2010 at 11:17

  Gene

  I would suggest asking maybe your parents or someone close to you to help you out on getting the house. If they co-sign with you, you might have a better chance of receiving the loan from the bank. It’s a big step, but it’s a good investment.

  Also if you have a 401k, you could take out money from there to pay for a house without being charged penalty for withdrawing it early.

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  Thor December 4th, 2010 at 02:37

  Cecil

  I know you are asking about a mortgage but that contains an assumption that it is good idea for you to do this.

  Two things bothered me on the face of it.

  First, the pool. Banks don’t like them and having a pool increases your insurance cost a lot. The rates are rather high and higher if you have renters. The liability is huge. And pools are a big cost and a lot of work to maintain and operate. I have heard agents say pools are worth what it costs to fill them in.

  But I do not doubt that a pool sounds like a great idea for a single man. But if you have never had to maintain one, you might want to talk to people and reconsider that.

  Second, you said “wasting money” paying rent. That tells me you have not figured the cost of owning. Your rent goes to taxes, maintenance, and other costs of owning. It is not “wasted”. This says to me you haven’t figured out all the costs of owning, like depreciation of the building.

  You can’t figure you will always get your $2k a month in rent. Renters skip out owing rent (harder to do if you live below though). They also can do damage and there will be times it is not rented. Sometimes that is necessary to do repairs. So you can’t count on that full income all the time.

  If you have cash why are you carrying credit card debt and paying that interest? If you have $20k for a down payment wouldn’t you be ahead paying off that student loan debt first and eliminating that cost?

  I do not think you have fully considered your costs. And second the mortgage rates for a rental, the rental portion, will be higher since that is “investment” and not your residence. Also that mortgage interest is not deductable on your taxes.

  Unless this is particularly good buy at this time, and you are speculating on home prices, then it is a risky idea. But risk and reward go together.

  From purely a numbers stance you would be better served paying off all your debt instead and then saving again for a down payment. The $20k and the cash almost pays off all your debt. Then buying a single family home which is fully tax deductable. That tax deduction shifts the numbers in a big way for home ownership that the rental part doesn’t get.

  And last being a landlord is not a passive investment. It takes work and ability. I hope you have advice on that “job” as well.

  Good Luck.