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My friend bought a nice 4 bedroom home for 197K and taxes 6500 a year. Built in late 90's early
2000's in a decent neighborhood and their income is 40K and have 3 kids. It's an ok income for 1 person in a small condo but an entire family on 40K a year? How did they get the loan? I know they didn't have savings and could only afford to go out once a month before they bought a house. I don't want to ask them how they can afford it....just curious since we make over 100K together, no kids and struggled to find a 2 bedroom home we could afford and also have a bit of extra money on the side. Also they only lived their 6 months and are already trying to rent or sell it since they don't like the neighborhood (too snobby is kind of what they said).
We make $44k a year. We could afford to buy this house on less than that ( less than $26k a year). We used small savings and taxes. The house was only $50k though and is 3bdrm.
We got a loan the same way you do- credit and money. Its not different because you make less.
Are you jealous because they could do it and you cant? Maybe ask them so you can start on their path.
I make 60k single and bought one for 120k... No idea how they can afford that unless they are not married and taking advantage of government cheese.
Single people pay a higher tax rate.
His income is low enough to qualify for assistance for some things.
Married people with kids and that income get perks in income taxes, because of the kids. (Trump may take this away, though.
You only have to put down 5% for an FHA loan. That makes his payment <$900/mo., not incl. taxes and ins.....if he has excellent credit.
If he's a vet, he gets a better deal...no down payment and maybe lower rate.
It's very doable, if he doesn't have credit card debt and other loans.
The country's tax system benefits families...married couples with kids. It's not the same at all as it is for single people. He probably gets a lot of his taxes refunded every year.
My friend bought a nice 4 bedroom home for 197K and taxes 6500 a year. Built in late 90's early 2000's in a decent neighborhood and their income is 40K and have 3 kids. It's an ok income for 1 person in a small condo but an entire family on 40K a year?
Hmmm...yeah that doesn't add up. They must have some other source of income unless they had a huge down payment.
I have a friend you has a 4br 2500 sf house (probably a $200k house) in an upper middle class neighborhood yet he's just a manager at a Verizon store. I later found out that his dad has been a long time professor at the University of Missouri and gave him a huge down payment.
Cost saving but your appearance has taken a hit and thats a big part of one's happiness
OTT but just for clarification... I would say I'm less polished than I was when I was working, but I don't think I've let myself go. My appearance is just different now. I color my own hair at home, paint my own nails and toes, and although I'm not buying myself a new outfit for every weekend or new work attire all the time, I've kept to my 1950s clothing aesthetic (personal preference)- so I always look presentable whenever I leave the house
While I do miss the pampering at times, as well as being able to afford to travel and decent vacations, I'm far, far happier on the whole with my life as a stay at home mom. I feel like the rewards are bigger, rather than just short term spurts of happiness.
How do you know they are broke? Maybe they are frugal. We have friends who invite us to things and we say no we can't afford that at the moment, but it's not because we are broke, it's because we are choosing to not do expensive things. No more movies at theaters with spending money on food there, Redbox move is $2 and microwave popcorn from the store 50 cents, $1 if we want to pop two bags. That movie just went from $40 to $3.
My husband and I started following Dave Ramsey about 3 years ago. We started it before my son was born. In 7 months we paid of $10k in cc debt. We did it by cutting out a lot of extras like eating out and the little things we'd buy here and there. No more grabbing a soda or snack while pumping gas or buying a bunch of random things at the dollar section in Target. We also looked around our house and sold things we didn't use/need anymore.
It's so nice to have zero CC debt, have money in savings for rainy days and unexpected issues, and to know that we currently have enough to finally purchase a home with a decent down payment.
I mean sure there are people struggling, my BIL just bought a home with nothing down and works overtime to make ends meet, we expect sooner or later for him to sell or ask us for help (the answer will be no).
Check out Dave Ramsey, go back to your last three months of bank statements and see where your money is going, I bet there is a lot you can cut out.
And it don't have to add up or make sense to the op or the rest of us. Buying a home can be a long stressful process, with long meetings with the realtor and banker. You are pretty much giving these people your life story, and so much of your personal information. They will crunch the numbers to see how much house you can afford with the info you gave them. Perhaps a parent or grandparents or other relative are backing them financially, maybe they co-signed for the loan, or gave them a lump sum to put down on it. The lenders were satisfied on them being able to make the payments, that's all that really matter.
OP. since your real issue is trying to buy yourself a home, rather than trying to figure out how your friend bought one, sty focused on yourself.
Contact mortgage companies, compare costs, find a good realtor, get pre-qualified and start your search.
It might even be helpful to start a diary type thread here and share your whole process from start to finish. It will help the next person who is having difficulty finding their first home.
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