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Old 02-23-2010, 01:36 PM
 
2 posts, read 7,409 times
Reputation: 10

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Howdy, this is my first post after ghosting on the forum all afternoon.

We are considering purchasing our first home and I'm hoping to get a few peoples opinions who've been through the process before.

Is it reasonable to put our target price range to be just under $200k?
How will my student loans impact our financing options?
Are we better off renting for another year, which would allow us to pay off one of the cars, and save up another $15k approx?

I'm having a hard time deciding whether to jump in in time to take advantage of low interest rates and the first time home buying tax credit.

Things to consider:
I have student loans ($500/mo obligation and $70k total)
We have two car payments (another $500)
No credit card debt
Currently we have about $20k saved for use as a downpayment
We will probably be ready to add to our family ~3yrs from now, which could potentially mean my wife staying at home or working part time (if I'm really lucky I'll get to be the stay at home dad LOL)
Right now, we are blessed to have $1,200/mo we can save to add to our growing down payment.
I think we have excellent credit (mine was 760 when I purchased my car two years ago) both our credit reports are clean as a whistle.

My wife is originally from Columbus and grew up in Grandview and we knew we'd end up settling here eventually. We moved here from Houston last year and we're currently renting an apartment that is snugged in between Grandview and Hilliard.

I work in Easton and she works downtown. We're ok with driving ~30 minutes one way to work and are comfortable with that.

Hope to hear from ya'll. Cheers!

Last edited by TexTrnsPlant; 02-23-2010 at 01:51 PM..
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Old 02-23-2010, 05:18 PM
 
Location: Sacramento
14,044 posts, read 27,208,139 times
Reputation: 7373
A loan of $180,000 will result in a monthly payment of around $1400=$1450 (principal, interest, PMI, property taxes and homeowners insurance). In calculating what you can afford, the loan officers will take into account your car payments and student loans. Obviously, paying off the car loan will make it much easier to qualify for the loan.

I don't know what income to debt ratios they are using at the various Ohio banks, you would need to check with someone in the area. Just off the top of my head though, I'd say an income of about $80,000 would be needed to cover a monthly debt of $2400 (house, cars and student loan).
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Old 02-24-2010, 06:25 AM
 
Location: Columbia, SC
1,859 posts, read 5,025,387 times
Reputation: 798
Quote:
Originally Posted by TexTrnsPlant View Post
Howdy, this is my first post after ghosting on the forum all afternoon.

We are considering purchasing our first home and I'm hoping to get a few peoples opinions who've been through the process before.

Is it reasonable to put our target price range to be just under $200k?
How will my student loans impact our financing options?
Are we better off renting for another year, which would allow us to pay off one of the cars, and save up another $15k approx?

I'm having a hard time deciding whether to jump in in time to take advantage of low interest rates and the first time home buying tax credit.

Things to consider:
I have student loans ($500/mo obligation and $70k total)
We have two car payments (another $500)
No credit card debt
Currently we have about $20k saved for use as a downpayment
We will probably be ready to add to our family ~3yrs from now, which could potentially mean my wife staying at home or working part time (if I'm really lucky I'll get to be the stay at home dad LOL)
Right now, we are blessed to have $1,200/mo we can save to add to our growing down payment.
I think we have excellent credit (mine was 760 when I purchased my car two years ago) both our credit reports are clean as a whistle.

My wife is originally from Columbus and grew up in Grandview and we knew we'd end up settling here eventually. We moved here from Houston last year and we're currently renting an apartment that is snugged in between Grandview and Hilliard.

I work in Easton and she works downtown. We're ok with driving ~30 minutes one way to work and are comfortable with that.

Hope to hear from ya'll. Cheers!
Two things you didn't mention are approximately what your income is? I assume given your situation and that you are able to save $1200/month that it's probably close to $100k combined? Also, you didn't mention what you pay for rent now?

If I were in your shoes, I don't think I would buy just yet - especially in the $200k range, unless you can make a solid budget on just your income (assuming that your wife will not be working/staying home w/kids in a few years) that works. Keep in mind that not only will your house payment/taxes/insurance be in the $1400-$1500 range, but you should 'budget' probably like $100 or so/month for repairs & maintenance and another $100 or so for PMI since you would only be putting around 10% down (need to have 20% to avoid PMI). Also, having $70k in student loans and car payments as well, should anything bad happen like you lose your job, things are going to go from tight to awful in no time. And when you say you have $20k saved for a down-payment, is that all you have saved? If you have at least 3 or 4 months expenses saved on top of that, would provide a little breathing room. I would at the very least try to pay off your cars before I jumped into buying a house, I would imagine that $500/month is around the difference of your monthly rent to what your house payment would be.

As far as getting approved for a mortgage, again assuming your household income is around the $100k range, you would probably get approved, but just because you are approved doesn't necessarily mean it's wise!

End of the day, I would take the next year or two and use most of that $1200 margin you have per month, get rid of the car payments and then start knocking down your student loan and see where you are then. While the rates aren't going to stay this low forever, I don't see them escalating through the roof or anything in the next 12-18 months. The housing market is not going to be red hot like it was a few years ago anytime soon, it's going to be a very, very slow recovery IMO.
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Old 02-24-2010, 08:21 AM
 
2 posts, read 7,409 times
Reputation: 10
Thanks for the replies!

Our combined income sits right around 80k. Knowing that we can expect our monthly payment to be 1400-1450 is really helpful, as I couldn't nail down how to calculate that portion of the monthly budget very well. Currently our rent is $670/month for a really nice two bedroom apt overlooking the woods. I could happily stay here another year or so and save up/pay off more debt.

The thing that really kills me is that I came out of college with zero student loan debt, then went to medical school for two years before figuring out it wasn't for me. That was a painful $75k lesson, which I will be paying off for years to come. For now, I'm just thankful that both of us managed to move from Houston to Columbus and find jobs in such a tough economy.

Thanks for the help!
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Old 03-08-2010, 01:50 PM
 
10 posts, read 23,723 times
Reputation: 15
You can get a nice "starter home" in Hilliard for your price point. We just listed our 3br/2ba home in Hilliard Schools/ Columbus City taxes for $164, and there are plenty more in the area. Good luck!
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Old 03-09-2010, 07:18 AM
 
66 posts, read 204,075 times
Reputation: 26
Hilliard is a nice area, I also have ads for a friends house (It's listed with another realtor) but it would be a great starter home. Nice Starter Home available in Hilliard « Central Ohio Real Estate « Homes for sale in Delaware, Powell, Dublin, Lewis Center, Hilliard, Mad River Mountain, Sunbury Ohio, payments on that would run you about 1100.00 a month. If you have a credit score of at least 620, you may qualify as a first time home buyer under the OHFA program which gives down payment assistance grants. You can find more info at Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA)
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Old 03-09-2010, 07:05 PM
 
240 posts, read 953,377 times
Reputation: 91
Quote:
Originally Posted by cmhunny View Post
You can get a nice "starter home" in Hilliard for your price point. We just listed our 3br/2ba home in Hilliard Schools/ Columbus City taxes for $164, and there are plenty more in the area. Good luck!
Agreed. There are many homes available in the Hilliard area for between $175K and $200K. Hilliard, Pickerington, Westerville and Gahanna are all pretty comparable. You might find what you're looking for in those other three communities, too. There are even some nice homes in that price range in Worthington City School District, probably mostly in the Columbus portion of the district. Prices in the Worthington area will tend to be a tad higher overall than the other 4 aforementioned communities.

Last edited by bgfalcons86; 03-09-2010 at 07:14 PM..
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