buying stuff

sleuth

sleuth

Livin' Like Thanksgivin'
Btw... there are some townhouses being built on Pegg Rd right outside Gate 1 going for about $160-$170K. That's high, but not too bad for this area.

You can also look at Hickory Hills - they're building condos, which are a good investment property should you ever want to leave and charge rent, and they're also building single family homes and townhouses. They have a deal where you can rent for 18 months, and at the end of 18 months, they take part of your rent and apply it to a downpayment.

If you're looking for a detached home, you're probably going to have to live in Calvert (CRE, Drum Point, or White Sands). My personal opinion is that they're not the nicest areas, but there's a lot of young people and young families going there precisely because the prices in Calvert are about 20-30% lower for the same house in St. Mary's. And as more young professionals move there, you have to assume the areas will get better.

:shrug:
 
R

rhumbpunch

Guest
IF it is still being offered the state has a great first time home buyers program.

Your down payment is minimul, interest rates reasonable. The one catch is there is a limit to how much money you make. Ten years ago, the amount was around 40K. I have had friends take advantage of this, worked well for them.

Still trying to hunt down the name of the program, and additional details.

Regardless of what type of loan you apply for or approved for, the state also gives nice credits at closing time, since you are a first time buyer.

Good Luck
 
H

Hot N Bothered

New Member
There are lots and lots of incentive programs for first time home buyers.

Just be careful, what a mortgage company says you can afford may be more than you really can afford without a struggle.
 
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czygvtwkr

Guest
Originally posted by sleuth
Your salary is not going to increase faster than the home prices around here.
Click to expand...

Tell me about it, you would think 4 promotions in 4 years and COLA would have taken care of that.
 
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Chain729

Chain729

CageKicker Extraordinaire
A lot of good advice in this thread.

You can get a loan with under 20% down. You might want to check into FHA loans, which usually call for 3-5% down payment. Also, there are a few accounting tricks to make it possible to get a home without having a huge sum of money upfront. Example: Home appraises at $100,000. Closing costs and downpayment $10,000. You buy the home for $90K. You get an FHA loan for 97,000 (loans go off the apraised value), putting down the 3K you have (3% or the minimal down payment for FHA). You just tacked all your costs into one loan without having a huge sum of cash. Of course that's un-practicle with the market we have now, I'm just using the ideal scenario as an example.

You might want to talk to my buddy google about FHA loans. You can also do some research here: http://www.fool.com They offer a lot of money investment and management advice for free, including calculators. It should at the least point you in the right direction.
 
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cmdrfunk

Guest
A lot of people are saying "make sure you can afford it," but the question to begin with is "can i afford it?" I have no idea. I've never budgeted money at the 1000s of dollars level before. I have no idea what costs there are into the upkeep of a home.

I don't know how people know I'm a GS-7. I've never said that to anyone. I could have come in as a GS-5! I am a GS-7 on that special IT table, however, so I make a bit more than the normal GS-7...i guess.

With an income of $48,300 before taxes ($2400/mo) after taxes, what do you think is the amount I could realistically spend buying a house while keeping in mind i have 3 promotions to go in the next 3 years? I could possibly lower my amt going into TSP if i have to and increase my monthly take home because I have it at 5% now.

I'm thinking by the time I found a house and settled on it i could probably have $5k or $6k saved for whatever fees there are. People keep telling me i wouldn't need a down payment but everywhere I read says i do so it's confusing the hell out of me.


and i need a new car by april :(
 
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cmdrfunk

Guest
how much tax do you have to pay for a house?

say i calculate that my mortgage is $900... and i'm like okay i can afford that... but how much extra is tacked on for my monthly payment with taxes? 20% more? 30%?


ever clueless,

buyerfunk
 
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czygvtwkr

Guest
They hire very few people at GS-5 these days, every IT person and engineer I know hired at GS-5 was lucky anyone hired them.....

One advantage of buying is that you get to write the interest off of your taxes. That should account for several thousand a year.

What ever you do dont reduce your TSP contribution below 5% because you are then loosing matching funds.

Take what you pay for rent, add $250 to it (to account for tax savings) and go from there.

Im getting an 80/20 loan (100% financing).

Check your credit score at www.myfico.com, that helps alot. I have great credit due to student loans and having have been responsible with credit early in my adulthood. And therefore I qualify for the "best" loans.

If your credit isnt that good take steps to improve it. If you have no credit you better get to building it.
 
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cmdrfunk

Guest
Originally posted by czygvtwkr
They hire very few people at GS-5 these days, every IT person and engineer I know hired at GS-5 was lucky anyone hired them.....

Check your credit score at www.myfico.com, that helps alot. I have great credit due to student loans and having have been responsible with credit early in my adulthood. And therefore I qualify for the "best" loans.
Click to expand...


my roommate is comp sci and a 5...


credits already good but i got a report a couple days ago and somehow my mom's credit card is on my credit report and it says there is $7000 on it. I've never touched that card and my name isn't on it and there isn't anywhere near $7000 on it. So it looks like i have to spend time getting them to remove their lies until i can even get prequalified. I have good credit otherwise.
 
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wmsaunders

Guest
There are loans available to you that do not require PMI without having to put down 20% or finance a combo loan. I work with several investors who offer these programs without PMI.

PM me if you are interested.
 
M

mollee

New Member
here's a site with some financial calculators. This specific one can really help put you in perspective of how much a house to buy vs renting.

http://www.dinkytown.net/java/MortgageRentvsBuy.html

Also, pay attention to your credit score on your credit report. That's what the bank looks for. Anything above a score of 700 is great. You're okay in the 600's but don't go below that.

Good luck. I wish I had family, friends and some common sense to tell me to buy 4-5 years ago....
 
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