How much money do I need to buy my first house?

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jlee

jlee

Lifer
Sep 12, 2001
48,518
223
106
DesiPower said:
20% for convention loan, can do 10% with PMI and conventional. Anything below 10% will not be conventional fixed rate iirc

Only other think you need to pay for is Closing cost, which includes title fees, title insurance and few other surveys and inspections, typically amounts to around 5k. Realtor will not charge you anything they get their commission from the seller. Closing cost is always negotiable, for example if you are buying a brand new house in a community that is almost sold you they might give "incentives" which will cover closing cost. Many loan agencies or agents sometimes will cover the closing cost minus the title insurance if the loan amount if substantial, typically over 200k
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I did 5% down with conventional / fixed (last year).
 
NutBucket

NutBucket

Lifer
Aug 30, 2000
27,150
635
126
Ah. FHA loan terms changed this year (or possibly late last year). The old terms were great. The new not so much.
 
pontifex

pontifex

Lifer
Dec 5, 2000
43,804
46
91
I got a USDA mortgage and if i don't think i put anything down, or if i did it was very little, like $1000.
 
Z

Zee

Diamond Member
Nov 27, 1999
5,171
3
76
FYI, interest on the loan and taxes may exceed what you think you save on equity over renting.

Renting is not the worst thing especially if you dont find a place that's really good.
 
jlee

jlee

Lifer
Sep 12, 2001
48,518
223
106
Zee said:
FYI, interest on the loan and taxes may exceed what you think you save on equity over renting.

Renting is not the worst thing especially if you dont find a place that's really good.
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That'll depend on the market. My mortgage/taxes/insurance/PMI is $300-400/mo less than renting.
 
I

Insomniator

Diamond Member
Oct 23, 2002
6,294
171
106
fleshconsumed said:
Out of curiosity, what's your typical CC bill excluding any utilities you may be putting on your CC?

For the record, based on what you said, buying a house would be a bad idea.

One, you guys are not married yet, either both of you are going to have to be on the title/mortgage, which is problematic if you ever split up, or only one of you is going to have title/mortgage which once again can prove problematic if you split up and one person can't pay the mortgage.

Two, with only 15K saved between two of you, buying a house with any kind of down payment (expect to pay 5-7K between closing fees, inspection, attorney, title fees, etc on top of down payment) you will be left with ZERO cash for emergencies, such as job loss or house repairs. House repairs aren't cheap, and ideally once you buy a house you should have enough cash saved up to handle any emergency. New driveway can cost 3-5K, new garage door 1K, new roof 10K, new furnace/ac 5-10K, new siding - you do not want to know. If you have zero in your bank account and you can't handle those repairs by borrowing from relatives/putting it on CC you lose the house.

I'd recommend having enough for desired down payment + 7K for closing fees plus another 20K for unexpected events such as job loss/major house repairs. You're not anywhere close to that with 15K.
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Yeah I figure we aren't close.. Will need at least this year + next. For example I just paid off a $1900 cc bill. $500 in restaurants/bars... had to go to a wedding so I bought $450 suit... + $200 for the hotel... I mean it never ends. Every month is some new $500 expense or some event we have to go to with friends that costs $100's.
 
postmortemIA

postmortemIA

Diamond Member
Jul 11, 2006
7,721
40
91
LPMI is another option - for slightly higher rate you pay no PMI. Or second mortgage - shorter second loan for remaining 10%
 
Carson Dyle

Carson Dyle

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2012
8,173
524
126
mike2fix said:
Everything else aside, buying a house with the GF, that rarely ends well, unless you have your wife's permission.
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All kidding aside ... I know a lot of people who have gone in with girlfriends/boyfriends to buy a house and you're right: it very seldom ends well. The relationship ends, then you have any of a half dozen or so very awkward to downright ugly choices.

- You both continue to live in the house. It takes two very special people to keep that up if both of you are dating. Typically, one or the other gets a little crazy when their ex is screwing a new friend in an adjacent bedroom.

- One of you moves out and the other is then responsible for not only their mortgage share, but paying rent to the other. That's _if_ you can agree on which of you will move. And once you do move out, you're going to be very hard-pressed to buy a new place, so you'll be back to renting.

- You agree to sell the place. Do so after only a couple of years in most housing markets and you'll lose money on the adventure.

- You both move out and rent the place to someone else. This would often be because you know you'll take a bath if you sell now. So you now have a mortgage and you're back to renting at the same time. Oops.

If the breakup was difficult, it can all get very contentious. And if the two of you are unable to agree on selling the property now, you have a wonderful, constant reminder of a very painful time, when all you want to do is move on as quickly as possible.

Bad idea.
 
alkemyst

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
Carson Dyle said:
All kidding aside ... I know a lot of people who have gone in with girlfriends/boyfriends to buy a house and you're right: it very seldom ends well. The relationship ends, then you have any of a half dozen or so very awkward to downright ugly choices.

- You both continue to live in the house. It takes two very special people to keep that up if both of you are dating. Typically, one or the other gets a little crazy when their ex is screwing a new friend in an adjacent bedroom.

- One of you moves out and the other is then responsible for not only their mortgage share, but paying rent to the other. That's _if_ you can agree on which of you will move. And once you do move out, you're going to be very hard-pressed to buy a new place, so you'll be back to renting.

- You agree to sell the place. Do so after only a couple of years in most housing markets and you'll lose money on the adventure.

- You both move out and rent the place to someone else. This would often be because you know you'll take a bath if you sell now. So you now have a mortgage and you're back to renting at the same time. Oops.

If the breakup was difficult, it can all get very contentious. And if the two of you are unable to agree on selling the property now, you have a wonderful, constant reminder of a very painful time, when all you want to do is move on as quickly as possible.

Bad idea.
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No different than buying a house with a wife.

It's a contract.
 
jlee

jlee

Lifer
Sep 12, 2001
48,518
223
106
DAGTA said:
but then you are paying PMI, which is simply wasted money.
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Not as much wasted money as renting until I had 20% down would've been. :p

(not to mention my house value has been increasing an average of ~$1150/mo since I bought it, so waiting would've cost me $20k+ so far).
 
Z

Zee

Diamond Member
Nov 27, 1999
5,171
3
76
jlee said:
That'll depend on the market. My mortgage/taxes/insurance/PMI is $300-400/mo less than renting.
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exactly. you have to calculate mortgage interest, loan fees, property tax, home insurance and any utility thats not included.

take what you pay in rent and compare to this amount.

The equity of the property will roughly equal your loan + downpayment so that should equal out.

does that about cover it?
 
angminas

angminas

Diamond Member
Dec 17, 2006
3,331
26
91
You've got to get your finances under control before buying a house. Don't know where your money goes? Fix that first.
 
yh125d

yh125d

Diamond Member
Dec 23, 2006
6,886
0
76
I have a 20 year fixed a 4.125 with 0 down and a total of about $1200 for all closing costs/fees, + $400 for inspection. I got a recently updated but relatively small 1100sf 3/1.5/2 in a nice suburb about 35 minutes from work and my total payment for P+I/ins/tax is under $700.

People like to say that living in the flyover states is soo boring/fat/racist, but unless you're someplace like Manhattan, LA, Chicago, Seattle, I don't get it. People are going to pay $300k to buy a crappy house somewhere in Jersey? No thanks.
 
Hugo Drax

Hugo Drax

Diamond Member
Nov 20, 2011
5,647
47
91
Insomniator said:
50k would take years and years to save. Doesn't seem feasible. I have ~15k right now, GF has zero. Even if we ate beans every night, I don't think my bank account is even capable of going over 20k... the gods would not allow it.
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Question, your the one putting capital at risk. Why not just buy the house under your name.

She ait. Putting anything in so she should get no say. And besides in 6 months you might not even be dating anymore.
 
Hugo Drax

Hugo Drax

Diamond Member
Nov 20, 2011
5,647
47
91
Insomniator said:
Not a terrible question. I don't know why we have no money. We make enough, but somehow my CC bill is ridiculous every month.

I just want to turn our 1750/mo rent into 1750/mo mortgage.
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You don't seem good at maths. I recommend avoiding buying a home.
 
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