My lease is up at the end of April, I have a few friends who would be good roomates so Im thinking about stepping into a house instead of blowing almost 1200 in rent a month. The houses Im looking at are in the 220K range which equates to about a 1200$ mortgage dropping 20K as a downpayment. I realize my taxes where Im looking at will be around 4K a year, is there any additional "hidden" costs associated with a house other then the normal upkeep? Home owners insurance, about how much does that run a year? Not in a flood plain, no wind coverage etc, just the regular fire/theft deal? Can you have a cosigner on the mortgage, Ill be 23 when I buy it, and make pretty damn good money but Im not a 100% positive I can qualify by myself. I know what to look for as far as the house is concerned since Im in construction Im mainly just not very well versed in the financial side of it.

 

I've bought a couple houses myself, but in no means consider myself an expert on the subject. amd I will no means say that all my advice here is 100% correct. However, IMO, you don't want to have to do a co-signer by any means. It obligates the co-signer to pay if for some reason you can't which you already know, but more importantly, it keeps that co-signer on the mortgage come hell or high water, unless the mortgage is later re-financed in your name only. If you ever sell you have to have the co-signer sign off on it too. I had a similar situation when I got divorced and it was either sell the house or re-finance it. Luckily my ex signed the house over to me in the divorce, but she was still on the mortgage. Big pain in the ***.

You may have to look at less house to start out with even if you don't really want to, just so you can do it on your own. Not know what you make, you should be able to qualify fairly easily for about $150+ alot depends on your credit history but also on your debt to income ratio.

As far as other costs, should be taxes, insurance-based largely on replacement cost of the home, depending on where you move to--homeowners associate costs--which can be costly and a pain in the *** in some neighborhoods, and depending on how--what type of mortgage you do, you may have a mortgage insurance, but that is usually if you put no money down. Also remember that with a lot of mortgages out there, other than no money down, they require a certain percentage of the cost of the home as down payment. I can't remember what the percent is though.


I highly suggest it though. Nothing like owning your own place. Are you thinking new or used?

 

i was in the market earlier this year, really no hidden cost, you may have to pay the closing cost. homeowners insurance isnt much at all, my parents have a 5 bedroom house and there house is covered from flood, fire, and theft and they only payed $360 for the year which is basically nothing considering its for a year, not a month. really no hidden costs, just maybe closing cost and nothing else. and just my opinion, i would never do a co-sign loan for a house. you may not even need it, i am only 21 and im sure i make way less then you, i have top notch credit though and i was approved for a $120k house and that was with me having 2 cars in my name that im currently paying for and 2 credit cards im still paying off. he told me if i didnt have the cars or credit cars then i would easily be approved for 160k or more so if you dont have anything on your credit besides your truck, then 220k shouldnt be a problem. hope this helps

 

This is from my experience... Basically your monthly payment (loan+insurance+taxes) is about 10% of your buying price... So in your case 220,000 with 20k down would equal about 2000 a month....

 

I'd say to keep house payment to less than 1/4 of your monthly take home pay. That will give you lots of flexibility in case work slows down or you have a big expense.

 

When I bought my house, the loan officer enrolled me into a free mortgage education class. It was well worth it cause it explain everything from insurance, taxes, PMI, etc... I would look into it if I were you...

 

The cosigner would be my dad so as far as selling etc that wouldn't be a problem. I make 45K a year plus a company truck so technically I make mid 50s, my dad said he would let me borrow whatever I needed to make a decent downpayment. For the houses im looking at the mortgage with my good crdit would be around 1200, plus taxes, and ins, so Im realistically looking at about 1600-1700 a month. With a couple roomates I could finish paying off my truck in about a year then I could handle everything on my own. My credit is in the mid 700 range so that's a go.

 

what do you mean droping 20k, you mean 20%.
thats about 45,000.00 as a down payment, you will also have to pay the servayer, and a deed search to make sure their is no other leans or extra owners on the home.
now your credit will decided what your intrest rate will be.
always get a fixed rate, if you get flex rate your payments will go up as the intreast rate does.
my wifes friend did have a payment lower then us but now it is almost double what we pay a month.
you will have to get the insurance that the morgauge company tells you to get at the coverage they want to cover the loan.
as far as taxes on the home, you can chouse to pay it when it is due or you can add the tax to your payment and pay them to make your tax payment for you.
january 1st is when it is due, right after all of that christmass spending.
i would rather do it my self then have a co signer hanging over my head for the next 15 to 30 years hopping you don't miss a payment.

 

I'd say look into a loan where you can pay it off faster than the 25 years or whatever it will be. I'm on my second house, but first mortgage. Houses in crappy *** little Yellow Grass were hella cheap a few years ago. Now, not so much. But if you make good money now, chances are you're going to make A LOT more money in a few years. By then, 1200 bones will be like toilet paper to you, so you might as well save the money on interest and make bigger payments. I put 25% down on my mortgage which allowed me to pay off 20% lump sums once a year on the anniversary of the start date, so theoretically, I could pay off the mortgage in 5 years. We'll see. Also look into the home's R value and the efficiency of the appliances and utilities. Good luck with it dude.

 

now days they got real strict on home loans, so you might be in for a rought start...
do all the research you can on the neighborhood, homeowners association, taxes, etc.... 4k in taxes does not seem right for a 220k home..... insurance is also expensive... my house is valued at 255k and i pay 1800/yr (cheapest i could find!), taxes are a little over 5k/year, homeowners is like $800, plus remember all your monthly utilities!, i pay my mortgage montly and pay all my taxes seperate, but like mentioned taxes are due in Jan, so you need to make sure you have it saved and not blow it during the holidays.... I had very good luck with Bank of America doing my mortgage, they had the best deal around plus they had some deal going were you dont have to pay closing cost or application fees, that will save you a good chunk, look into it......... also try to do atleast a 20yr loan, 30kyear loans suck! you pay alot of interest with a 30kyr loan..... I believe the PMI is only added to your mortgage if you are financing 80% or more of your loan.... stick to something that is within your budget and not depend on rooomates cause you never know if they will leave you hanging one day...