You might, I would say, go and get preapproved through a bank, they can give you more detail than what we can because they have their own scoring system which tells them all about you and what you need to do before they would qualify you.

Ps, guess what everyone Luckylique is a new home buyer. She was being very sneaky on this one and buy passed all of us. Way to go Luckylique and KellBell. You guys haev purchased something I am dying to get. When will it be my turn?

I am a first time buyer. My husband owns both our properties and barely has equity in our current home. It is a rental (thank God!) where we live in the upper and rent out the lower, so our tenants pay 3/4 of the mortgage. The other property is a 4 unit apartment complex and that has a lot of equity.

ANYWAY, we want out of the city, but we were told by our realtor to refinance the house we live in BEFORE we decide to buy another home because the mortgage company will NOT refinance a property that we do not intend on living in. He never knew about FHA loans when buying this property and he didn't want to use the VA loan because that would have to be for our dream home. His FICO score was low at the time he financed through GMAC and our rate is 12.6% (YOWCH!)

Does anyone here think that I personally (without hubby) be qualified for an FHA loan at a low rate with downpayment assistance? I do make a lot of money, but as you all know, my FICO is in the mid-600's...

Advice?

Interesting thread for those who are thinking purchasing houses is too expensive. Up to date you go!

Best to buy in a declining market is right. Well this is the market if anyone plans to buy. Everything in my area is dirt cheap and it won’t change for a LONG time.

Dont think I am crazy progya nd eric but, duhhhh, I should slap mysrelf in the face for asking this question. I already knew about this. I guess I was thinking about something else when I asked this question, or had too much coffee in my system one.

Meya, it is called downpayment assistance. You can put down as little as 0% and get an interest rate of 5.5% (todays rate FHA). HOWEVER, owning a house is great BUT just look at what happened to so many. House prices decline and having no equity in the home so many are walking away.

The attitude of most is ; WHY SHOULD I PAY BACK A LOAN FOR $200,000 WHEN THE HOUSE IS ONLY WORTH $150,000?????

For this reason it is best to hold off buying a house in a declining market UNLESS you can get a foreclosure for 30 cents on the dollar, that should be kind of safe

WOE, we need to talk. How in the world do you get a grant to help pay for a dp on a house? When it comes down to resources and help, I am all ears. Do you haev to have good credit for them to assist you with a grant?

Porgy is right...getting a house is easy...and even the 3% downpayment can be made by different government programs and grants....I found a down payment grant for me and my wife. They covered are DP and more.

I was approved for a mortgage this week, however, I told them NOT to lock my rate until the house is ready to close. I agree, rates are going to drop

Interest rates for mortgages will likely fall with 2 cuts by FED. Sit tight and wait for the lower rates to come.

It is still easy to get a mortgage for a purchase of a home.

FHA has a minimum Fico score requirement of only 500 to get a 5.75 fixed rate 30 year loan with just a 3% downpayment.

The FHA loan limits are changing to $750,000 as well this month.

All you need is a 500 middle fico score, employment income to cover the payment and your other debts and proof of a 3% downpayment. It is not as bad out there as they make it sound

I would say put your foot down and demand your right to privacy and freedom of kids, but every parent is different and do not know how it feels to have grown children since mines are 6, 6, and 11.

I never did like living with my parents, I moved when I was 22, came back at 24, and permanently left at 27. My problem was sort of backwards, my mom started living with me when I was 28, I was soo tired of my mother in my business, until I negotiated (giving up deposit) with the landlord to put my mom on the lease and take me off, left the apartment to her, moved to San Francisco and refused to let anyone move here. I have always been responsible enough to keep a roof over my head and I feel like parents have done their job when they raised kids to adults. It is time to tleave the nest and experience the real world.

The longer you lean on others, you are depriving yourself of mandatory responsibilities. Of course I see people (like my neighbor) riding around in these new Lexuses, Benz, bmw's etc. but they live with thier parents and do not have to face nothing but personal bills. But if their parents were to become strict and make their kids pay fair market rent, then you would see a huge difference in their life-style.

As a parent of adult kids, I would have to say it is NOT better for couples to stay with their parents Our adult kids, while not married, do not save money when they stay with us because they tend to spend their checks on electronics, etc. So, they are not benefiting from the arrangement. I think it is better to find the most inexpensive rental possible and learn to budget and save. If you develop those habits, they'll carry though to when you do buy a house.

With the current market conditions of low interest rates (FED has cut rates twice in 10 days), it is actually a good time to get a mortgage loan if you need one. Mortgage loan is probabky the cheapest form of credit, definitely much cheaper than credit cards.

We got the house for $84k and he paid closing cost!

Whaaaat! Oh my goodness, that is a down payment in San Francisco...lol. You got a deal buddie. I am so proud of you. See you learn something when you join FG.