Fiancee and I want to buy a house.

[Eli]

Moving back to Portland, want to buy a house. First time homer buyers. Currently working on both saving for a down payment and getting our credit scores as high as possible. Neither of us have great credit as of now, but we're paying off our shit as fast as possible.

Any advice, links, etc will be much appreciated! Is FHA the way to go, or are there other first time home buyer plans? I heard something about a Fannie May deal...

Should we try and buy a house in '09? Is there any indication that the 8000$ credit will disappear, or will it continue on into '10? Or is there any chance that it will go up in '10?

How does the whole marriage thing work with buying a house? IE: If we're not officially married but we're both on the contract, is one of us essentially a co-signer? What if one of us has better credit than the other? Could that possibly be detrimental? Do we have to be officially married to combine our income as far as the loan outfit is concerned?

/head asplodes.. So much data to absorb!

Edit: On lunch, heading back to work. Will check thread when I get home.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Ask a realtor? They answer this stuff for free.

 

[Modelworks]

I was looking at hud homes online yesterday. There are some good deals on there and they get FHA coverage and special first time buyer perks.
http://www.hud.gov/homes/index.cfm

 

[zerocool84]

Wait until your credit is better.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
Ask a realtor? They answer this stuff for free.

My Fiancee's step-dad is in the real estate business, so we do plan on talking with him extensively.. Just really looking for web-based information right now.

Talking to any old realtor is kinda scary; they're in it for themselves.

 

[meltdown75]

hit eject. just hit eject from the whole damn thing

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: Eli
Is there any indication that the 8000$ credit will disappear, or will it continue on into '10? Or is there any chance that it will go up in '10?

Wondering this as well. Planning on buying in October/November 09 regardless of the tax credit. The credit is just icing on the cake, but if we can get more icing by waiting a few months that will be nice.

 

[rh71]

we bought before marrying officially also and we were both on the deed and financially responsible. They checked both our credits of course... it was based off combined income. In essence, it was just as if we were married.

Things could have changed as this was back in '02.

 

[OCGuy]

1. FHA will give you 3.5% down. Fannie you will need 10% down to get the mortgage insurance, and you would need a ~720 FICO.

2. There is a bill in the Senate to increase the rebate to 15K and extend it through 2010, but it hasnt passed yet

3. If you arent married it wont matter. You will both fill out separate applications, but the rest of the loan will go about the same as if you were. You will hold title separately until you are married.

4. The qualifying FICO will be the lower middle score between you two

 

[MiniDoom]

in a competitive market, cash or conventional will usually win a bid over fha. I did fha recently on a foreclosed home, no problems. my wife also has bad credit so i was the only purchaser on the loan.