First time buyer: where to go and what to ask?

Guest 0.10 Dollars($)

I am a first time buyer making $30K a year. Looking or house worth $140K-150K..credit excellent, no credit card debt,I've been paying rent for the past 4 years, no bankruptcy an no student loans tool, all paid off. I'm new to the home buying process. Where do I start off with - bank or company or any credit union? How to know which is better? Just know it's better to not go for an ARM..will there be ny problems getting loan worth $140-150K , I would certainly like the upper limit?

larry · Joined: 27 Jun 2007 Posts: 3328 473.40 Dollars($)

Hi joseph.

Welcome to the forum.

If you have excellent credit and a steady source of income then you can get approved for a mortgage and as a first time buyer you will get some added advantages. But to know whether you can get approved for a loan worth $140-150K, you can check it out through "How Much Can I Afford?" calculator at http://www.mortgagefit.com/calculators/howmuch-afford.html

Hope this helps.

Best of luck,
Larry

brian1 · Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 5:34 pm Post subject:

Do you have any money to put down?
If not your best option will be either a USDA loan if you and the property qualify or FHA in both cases yoor total debt to income needs to be in the low 40's (43 or so) a little higher may be ok

what this means is calculate the total debt including the home and divide your gross monthly by the total monthly payments.

If you have no debt it will be close if you have any debt it may be a push to get you to 150k

Good Luck
Brian

chrisburns · Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 12:13 pm Post subject:

If you truly have no other debt that it looks like you'll be capped in the $140-$150K range using my estimates for hazard insurance, taxes, and mortgage insurance coverage on an FHA loan.

You may qualify for a bit more with USDA as previous poster commented since they have no mortgage insurance and they fund 100% of purchase price.

Your best bet is to apply for a quote on this site and discuss your situation in detail with a loan officer.

gmakerley · Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 1:03 pm Post subject:

i'm in agreement with most of what has been said. $140-150K seems like a reasonable estimate of where you can afford to look. taxes, of course, would impact your affordability. you didn't state where you're from, joseph, but as noted by others, you'll want your monthly payments to not exceed 43 or so per cent of your total gross monthly income.

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