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what would you say is a good downpayment on a house that costs ...

purbeast0

purbeast0

No Lifer
between about $200K and $250K ?

reason I am asking is because i recently got my first 'real' job and i am seriuosly considering starting to save for a house right now. i currently live at home and have about $400-500/mo in bills, and i am also helping my mom out giving her about $300/mo to help around the house. that leaves quite a bit of $$$ on top that I could probably save about $800/mo if i really tried, sometimes more sometimes less, depending on the situation.

my mom is by no means going to kick me out or anything like that, and has already told me she wants me to stay for a while. i am only 22 now, turning 23 in about 10 days though.

when i first got my job i wanted to splurge and get a new car, a huge tv, and all this other stuff i have always wanted. but talking to alot of late 20yr old people, very low 30's, i have heard the same response from them all. they all wish they did not go out and spend their $$$ and wished they all had bought a house first, because now they would all be alot better off if they had done so.

so i think that I am going to do that. right now i see houses go for between $200K - $250K in the area around where I live now. so as of right now, that is about the price range i think they will cost when i seriously have some $$$ saved up to put down on a house.

so what would you all suggest is a decent amount to put down on a house in that price range? i know its a pretty general question and there are alot of details that can change it, but I am just looking for a general response. thanks.
 
Hows your credit?

Depending on where you live and hoe the housing market is, most lenders will loan on 0-down.

I would want to go in with the 5-10%.


Move out, buy house, get room-mates.




 
Originally posted by: Fmr12B
Hows your credit?

Depending on where you live and hoe the housing market is, most lenders will loan on 0-down.

I would want to go in with the 5-10%.


Move out, buy house, get room-mates.
Click to expand...

Plus you could get an 80/20 and skip out on the PMI.
 
jesus man, 200-250k?1!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?1

did you win the lottery or find a cure for cancer at 22?
christ, when i bought my house i was 23 and the house was worth 118k. i have a FHA loan and i had to put down around 3% or something like that but i put down around 4k.
 
As a first time buyer, 10% would be ideal. If you can't get a loan without PMI, just refinance after a month or two, and get rid of the PMI.

 
I would say you would want 25k for the down payment, and another 10k to spend once you move in, and of course, you should have a nice cushion in savings that would get you buy for 3-6 months if you lost your job. SO, about 50k would be a fiscally conservative suggestion.
 
I agree with rudder and iamwiz82 - avoid paying PMI if you can. The more you can put down the smaller your mortgage payment will be (obvious). This makes it easier to live comfortably month-to-month - since you don't have to put so much aside automatically for the payment. I say aim for the 20% downpayment and see where you end up... property will most likely keep appreciating between now and when you eventually make your purchase.
 
well my credit is great, i remeber when i checked it when getting a car loan it was about 735 points or so, so thats not a problem.

and my plan is to get a house with 3 bedrooms, or one with 2 and a den that can become one, and then rent out 2 of the rooms to people. i already have 2 friends whom i told my plan to and they both arleady told me they would move in with me if i did that. right now one of them is paying $1000/mo on rent for an apartment and has done so for over 3 years, so I know he's responsible, and the other has lived on her own for a while (yes its a she, a very good friend of mine who's female, nothing more). so i already pretty much have roomies lined up, which would make my personal mortgage payment out of my pocket even cheaper. and i would like to get it near the university I went to so that if they decided to move out, i could find a roomate pretty easily, not to mention its about 10 mins closer to my job than my current location.

and saving 20% for a downpayment would probably be stretching it for me now, as I am young and am not making too much yet, about average for a software engineer in my area. so i was looking along the lines of 7% - 13%, but wanted some opinions as well.

thanks for the replies so far.
 
It is an exceedingly bad idea to rent to your friends, or anyone. Especially since you will be in the same house.
 
Originally posted by: iamwiz82
It is an exceedingly bad idea to rent to your friends, or anyone. Especially since you will be in the same house.
Click to expand...

well i obviously want to get a house that i can afford IF i were not to have any roomates.

and i have rented with friends before (apartments) and it was always fine. and like i said, one dude is a very responsible person whom has been paying $1k/mo on his 1 bedroom apartment. paying $400/mo for rent in a house is ideal for him, he would love to do that, and i would have no problem doing that with him.

please keep this thread on track. i don't really care if you do or dont agree with my intentions of renting, i just want to see what people have to say about the downpayment. thanks.
 
Originally posted by: Fmr12B
Hows your credit?

Depending on where you live and hoe the housing market is, most lenders will loan on 0-down.

I would want to go in with the 5-10%.


Move out, buy house, get room-mates.
Click to expand...

Agreed, rent out 1 or 2 rooms if the house is big enough, REALLY helps on mortgage payments, AND bills.

That is pretty much what I will be doing when I get my next job.
 
Originally posted by: CraigRT
Originally posted by: Fmr12B
Hows your credit?

Depending on where you live and hoe the housing market is, most lenders will loan on 0-down.

I would want to go in with the 5-10%.


Move out, buy house, get room-mates.
Click to expand...

Agreed, rent out 1 or 2 rooms if the house is big enough, REALLY helps on mortgage payments, AND bills.

That is pretty much what I will be doing when I get my next job.
Click to expand...

yah, thats my intentions 😀. read my post about 5 or so up 🙂

im going home now but ill check this thread when i get home, thanks for the replies.
 
If you can only save $800 per month living at home then you cant afford a $250K house. Even if you take into account the $300 you are giving your mom. Thats only $1100 per month. Not enough for that kind of house once you take into consideration property taxes, utilities, upkeep, etc.
You need to rethink this.
 
hold on there is a misunderstanding here.

i said I have about $400 - $500 in bills a month, with $300 on top of that. so total about $700 - $800 a month that i have to spend.

i can save more than $800/mo if i really tried to, thats the thing. thats why I want to see what you guys recommend as a down payment. i could save probably $1200/mo if i REALLY tried, but that would cut down on alot of stuff, and I wouldn't have nearly as much fun as I can if i save say $800/mo. but i would rather save for 30 months and have some fun than save for 24 months and not have as much fun, if you see what i'm saying.

and i'm thinking by the time I get a house (in say 2 years or so) then I will also probably be making more $$$. not to mention, i get 2 bonuses a year, and the one in the spring can be a much as a 15% bonus.

 
First of all, congratulations on not making the same mistake all of your older friends made.

Even if you can save $1200 a month now, you're probably cutting it close with a $250k house. $200k is much more reasonable, but really only if you have a decent sized down payment. You still need to be able to save money after you buy the house - houses mean the potential for large expenses, plus you need to have several months of living expenses set aside in case you lose that job (which is not in the most stable field as I'm sure you know)
 
Purbeast, I remember posting in your "should I buy an M3 now" thread.


I'll ask you something that nobody else has brought up yet, " how long do you plan on staying in the area? "

 
Generally speaking your bank will want you to put down in the 10% neighborhood. However, don't be fooled by all the mortgage calculators etc out there that make it sound like your house payment will be $700 a month.

Your monthly payment (including insurance, taxes, mortgage) for a $250,000 house will be somewhere between $1400 and $1800. If you can only save $800 a month now - it doesn't sound like you'd be able to handle that kind of payment...

(offhand I'd say you need to make at least $60,000 a year to realistically afford a $250k house.. and even that might be a stretch depending on your spending habits.)

 
Originally posted by: flot
Generally speaking your bank will want you to put down in the 10% neighborhood. However, don't be fooled by all the mortgage calculators etc out there that make it sound like your house payment will be $700 a month.

Your monthly payment (including insurance, taxes, mortgage) for a $250,000 house will be somewhere between $1400 and $1800. If you can only save $800 a month now - it doesn't sound like you'd be able to handle that kind of payment...

(offhand I'd say you need to make $60,000 a year to realistically afford a $250k house.. and even that might be a stretch depending on your spending habits.)
Click to expand...



250k house is a stretch at 60k salary unless if you can at least put 20% down. Even then, its pretty tight.



 
Originally posted by: amoeba
250k house is a stretch at 60k salary unless if you can at least put 20% down. Even then, its pretty tight.
Click to expand...

Actually, I've been thinking about that, and I agree. I should have said, it CAN be done, but I don't think it would be a comfortable situation. Obviously your milage may vary based on your spending, other debts, savings, etc.

I make more than that, and paid less for my house, and I still curse my mortgage payment every month.
 
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