[pay2play]

From lurking here so long, I get the feeling some of you would be able to answer this question more honestly than a realtor.

I'm interested in buying a condo in Vegas. I'm in town about 15 nights a month. My wife and I currently rent in Southern CA.

Here are the complications:

I've been playing poker for a living for 20 years, so I have no verifiable income source, although I report about 20k winnings a year, and my wife works and reports about 28k.

I have about 30k in credit card debt (none in my wife's name), and 3 years of $460 car payments ahead of me (that one is held by us jointly).

I have about 80k more or less liquid assets, but need to hold most of it for bankroll, because, of course, without a bankroll I can't earn.

I have such large credit card debt because for years I've considered CCs my backup bankroll, and when I saw the tightening coming, I started borrowing ahead of having them cutback. I'm at good interest rates on all of them, and am starting to pay them off, but I'd still rather have the money and not need it than need it and not be able to get it.

My FICO was 800 two years ago when I bought the car, and my wife's was 800 as well, but I'm probably down some now because of the CC debt (which is maybe 40% of my total line of credit; none of my CC's have had limits cut or rates raised yet, knock on wood).

I'm willing to put about 10k into downpayment and closing costs. Maybe more. I'm also willing to put some work into doing modest refurbishing.

This would be my first home purchase.

My questions are, would anyone finance me? How about if I stayed off the mortgage and just had my wife apply (at least she's employed)? Could we possibly get FHA financing? And, the biggie, what price range would I be restricted to, most likely? At what monthly cost, EVERYTHING included?

I understand this is a lot of question, but some of you really know this stuff, and hopefully it won't be an effort to answer.

Thanks in advance.

[airics]

first, pull your fico scores.. second i would check the limits of your credit cards, most companies are reducing limits drastically which will crush your debt ratio.. i would try to pay off the cards before considering a house because i think you will have a problem unless you put 20-25% down. if you were at 800 before with no debt, with the car and cc's i would guess you were around 600 now....
another good board is creditboards.com

[BobKovacs]

Two years ago you probably would have qualified for a $500k loan. Today, no banker in his right mind would touch you with a 10' pole. Based on your wife's $28k income, she'd probably only qualify for a $60-70k loan, and then they'd question how she's going to buy a house in LV while working in CA. I'd say you've got some cleaning up to do, and I'd also start reporting more income for a few years- maybe by then the markets will have improved a bit and you'll stand a better chance of being approved.

[jfkIII]

My understanding is that home mortgage lenders are scrutinizing applications now that they have been blamed for causing the credit crisis and that the US government's microscope is on them. You've got to be squeaky clean to get a mortgage these days. Daddys (another poster here) works in that line of business...and I think he'd be most qualified to answer your concerns.

[Daddys///M3]

Originally Posted by pay2play

From lurking here so long, I get the feeling some of you would be able to answer this question more honestly than a realtor.

I'm interested in buying a condo in Vegas. I'm in town about 15 nights a month. My wife and I currently rent in Southern CA.

Here are the complications:

I've been playing poker for a living for 20 years, so I have no verifiable income source, although I report about 20k winnings a year, and my wife works and reports about 28k.

I have about 30k in credit card debt (none in my wife's name), and 3 years of $460 car payments ahead of me (that one is held by us jointly).

I have about 80k more or less liquid assets, but need to hold most of it for bankroll, because, of course, without a bankroll I can't earn.

I have such large credit card debt because for years I've considered CCs my backup bankroll, and when I saw the tightening coming, I started borrowing ahead of having them cutback. I'm at good interest rates on all of them, and am starting to pay them off, but I'd still rather have the money and not need it than need it and not be able to get it.

My FICO was 800 two years ago when I bought the car, and my wife's was 800 as well, but I'm probably down some now because of the CC debt (which is maybe 40% of my total line of credit; none of my CC's have had limits cut or rates raised yet, knock on wood).

I'm willing to put about 10k into downpayment and closing costs. Maybe more. I'm also willing to put some work into doing modest refurbishing.

This would be my first home purchase.

My questions are, would anyone finance me? How about if I stayed off the mortgage and just had my wife apply (at least she's employed)? Could we possibly get FHA financing? And, the biggie, what price range would I be restricted to, most likely? At what monthly cost, EVERYTHING included?

I understand this is a lot of question, but some of you really know this stuff, and hopefully it won't be an effort to answer.

Thanks in advance.

This would have to be structured as a second home, so FHA financing is out. If you bought a Fannie Mae owned home you might qualify for Homepath financing, but that limits your property choices. If you claim $20K in earnings (winnings) on your taxes it can be used. I think if anything keeps you from buying it would be your debt to income ratio. I couldn't say for sure without knowing what your minimum monthly payments are on the credit cards and what the rent is. Plan on 10% down, but get the seller to cover closing costs in this market.

That being said (and again I can't be sure about the total debt to income ratio as I don't know what your total monthly outlay is on existing long term debt and housing obligations is) using the standard 31% housing ratio and based on the $48,000 you say that you and your wife make on paper, you are looking at a max payment of around $1200 a month, which including taxes, hazard insurance, HOA, and mortgage insurance will buy you about $150,000, with a loan amount of $135,000. I'm guessing on the taxes, insurance, and HOA but guessing on the high side (I figured $200 a month for the condo association).

[nwlv]

As others on this board know, I bought a 1 br condo in Summerlin for 35K. My last two homes, I have paid cash, and man does that increase your negotiating power and make the process a lot simpler.

[007 license to sell]

Originally Posted by pay2play

From lurking here so long, I get the feeling some of you would be able to answer this question more honestly than a realtor.

I'm interested in buying a condo in Vegas. I'm in town about 15 nights a month. My wife and I currently rent in Southern CA.

Here are the complications:

I've been playing poker for a living for 20 years, so I have no verifiable income source, although I report about 20k winnings a year, and my wife works and reports about 28k.

I have about 30k in credit card debt (none in my wife's name), and 3 years of $460 car payments ahead of me (that one is held by us jointly).

I have about 80k more or less liquid assets, but need to hold most of it for bankroll, because, of course, without a bankroll I can't earn.

I have such large credit card debt because for years I've considered CCs my backup bankroll, and when I saw the tightening coming, I started borrowing ahead of having them cutback. I'm at good interest rates on all of them, and am starting to pay them off, but I'd still rather have the money and not need it than need it and not be able to get it.

My FICO was 800 two years ago when I bought the car, and my wife's was 800 as well, but I'm probably down some now because of the CC debt (which is maybe 40% of my total line of credit; none of my CC's have had limits cut or rates raised yet, knock on wood).

I'm willing to put about 10k into downpayment and closing costs. Maybe more. I'm also willing to put some work into doing modest refurbishing.

This would be my first home purchase.

My questions are, would anyone finance me? How about if I stayed off the mortgage and just had my wife apply (at least she's employed)? Could we possibly get FHA financing? And, the biggie, what price range would I be restricted to, most likely? At what monthly cost, EVERYTHING included?

I understand this is a lot of question, but some of you really know this stuff, and hopefully it won't be an effort to answer.

Thanks in advance.

Instead of asking on a blog site if you qualify for a loan you should be talking to a bank and preferably one that is in the city your going to purchase in.

Mortgage guide lines change constantly so you need to speak to a loan officer. Even though you have a large credit score isn't enough, the banks look at your debt to income and two years of taxes and a bank account that can show what you have had in your account for the last 6 months. Realtors are not loan officers either so you need to speak with a bank directly. Hope this helps

[jfkIII]

Easy there James Bond...maybe the OP was just feeling things out.

[RedRockAAAA]

Wow. For $150,000, assuming thats accurate and I think it is, you can come up with some sweet deals, and some for less.

You can also rent it out during WSOP's big event. If you call WSOP directly, they are great about answering questions. They'll probably tell you who they refer players to for rentals. I realize its not being purchased as a full time rental unit, rather as a second home. But, if you can pick up a few bucks during tourey time, great.

Why would you be here only 15 nights per year when you're doing ok as a Pro PP? You live so close, I thought you'd be here more. Good luck on the felt.

[jfkIII]

Not sure R2A4...but I get the impression that many are on-line pros...due to the sheer exposure to more hands/pots.