Credit Budget Morgage Opninions ...

Jamie,

You have to learn to live below your means. Credit card companies don't do you any favors. Study after study confirms that people who use credit ards for daily purchases spend on average 15% more than people who use cash. The way to accumulate wealth is through investing and saving not, through consumption. Have the mindset that if you can't pay cash for it, you can't afford it. You'll be surprised at how much money you can find in your budget and still have a comfortable lifestyle.

I use credit cards to float items that I absolutely would buy if I didn't have a card. Ex. I pay my ISP provider annually for a discount. Same with my cable company. I pay for the weekend newspaper delivery on an annual basis. Oil changes, vet bills, prescrptions, Christmas gifts, etc. I never run a balance. i pay in full when I get the bill. In other words, I take impulse shopping right out of the equation.

But, I'm a reformed fiscal sinner. I'm 18 moths into my debt elimenation plan and hope to be done by early 04.

 

Commonsense is probably the best approach as far as credit usage is concerned. Create yourself/hubby a budget that you can comfortably live with(otherwise you probably will not stick to it). As far as dealing with the mortgage, understand that conventional lenders have guidelines that they follow. The PITI should be less than 29% of your gross pay each month and your total debt should be under 38%. These numbers are not cast in concrete
but they are the standard. With scores over 620, there are some programs that will allow you to get up to 100% mortgage.

Hope this helps.

fla-tan

 

Actually, she used the magic term... VA eligible. If you are over 620, you can qualify for a 0 down VA loan (roll in the closing costs). The great thing about the VA loan is that you don't have to pay PMI. In addition, there is relaxed qualifying criteria *and* they cannot jack your rate high either.
I say talk to a mortgage broker now. You may qualify for a home with a mortgage less than your rent, but that depends upon where you live. $1395 monthly rent gets you a 3500 sq ft 2 story home on a 1/3 acre plot here. When I buy this place next year, I will have payments less than rent. What a deal!

 

Seems hopeless we will ever be able to buy a house yet we are paying 1350 a mo. for a crappy Apt.
sbdmom
======================
It's only hopeless because folks fail to turn to Factory Housing to solve the problem.
My advice is go with a Manufactured Home and take the resulting savings on the down payment and monthly installments and put them in a side fund so it will pay for the home in full and leave you $200,000.oo or $300,00.oo in the account for your trouble.

PS
Once you accumulate enough in the fund you can use it to fund monthly payments on insurance policies & loans or other need or expenses.

 

<Quote>$1395 monthly rent gets you a 3500 sq ft 2 story home on a 1/3 acre plot here.<Quote>

Wow, where do you live? I want that kind of house.

As far as manuf homes, I would say hold out for a house if you can...they can be h*** to sell. I have heard so many people can't sell them when they want to move up.

The VA mortgage thing is great. I agree hop on that right now!

Hockeymom

 

As far as manuf homes, I would say hold out for a house if you can...they can be h*** to sell. I have heard so many people can't sell them when they want to move up.
hockeymom
=================
This is just one of the myths about them-You can't throw a new one on me. In the last 30 years I've heard them all and had plenty of time to dig out the facts.

If you buy a house you could very well have the same problem - market slump - tight money-poor economy- joblessness -Etc.

Which way are you better off?
1*With a house that you can't unload that you owe on and not a dime in savings
If you need to sell the house to move you're stuck from doing it till it's sold.

2* With the factory home that you owe thousands and thousands less on and have tens of thousands of dollars in the side fund.
To move up you don't have to sell the home first if at all because the money you need to do so could be available in the fund!

In the other reply I just described the best housing deal there is bar none.

You can compare it to all other alternatives and it will come out on top every time.

I should know as I've done it enough!

 

The home could be resold easier than a house by using the plan i stated.Which gives you a great advantage over home sellers.
Just try it with a house -it won't work.

 

1*If you have a house and want to move up where is the money you need to move up?
In this deal you have to wait till the home is sold to get your hands on the money and you have to give up the home.
Here you loose the home when you sell it.


If you have a factory home and tens of thousands of Dollars in a side fund and want to move up where is the money you need to move up?

In this plan You don't have wait on a sale to get the money And you don't have to forfeit the home either because basically the home has already been sold.The only difference is you get to keep it.


2*Sure it is but use it wisely on a factory home as doing so could set you up financally for the rest of your life.

--------------------------------------------

 

Rember this :
It is always better to get a home and a bank roll than it is to just get only the home!

 

lbrown, you know that a factory home is a REAL home and I know that a factory home is a REAL home, unfortunately most people don't accept this as a fact, thus hockeymom is correct. they can be hard to sell. I know because I am trying to sell right now. the home is beautiful, large, lots of land, mature trees, oversized 2car garage, pool ect priced Below market value. If I had bought a home for the same price that I bought this one for ie 1bath 9x9br ect i would be pocketing 40k equity. as it is now, its going to cost me all my equity to get out of this home ((

beck

 

A manufactured home,no matter how nice, is subject in many areas to zoning restrictions. Insurance is rated differently,and unless you are in a completely rural area, you will be surrounded by other mfg. homes in a seperately zoned community. PLUS,in those States subject to hurricanes, there is mandatory evacuation of mfg. homes.

 

My comment was certainly not a "slam" of manuf homes only the reality that I see in my area. I have family/ friends that have beautiful manuf homes. I think that they are a great answer for retirees who are planning on staying put and/or are snowbirds.

Hockeymom

 

If you would have bought the home like I'm talking about you could have hundreds of thousands in the side fund by the time the loan is paid off.
What's better hundreds of thousands in cash or 40,0000 of equity?

 

O I C : The lives of people living in stick built homes, are not worth saving.

 

?????????????????

<edit>

never-mind

 

Well, the market is HOT here in Virginia! Total Seller's market. HOWEVER, there are two manufactored homes that have not sold in like 9 months near our current home. Whereas regular homes in this same area are selling in hours or days at most. They look like nice homes but for some reason people just won't bite. Maybe they have them overpriced?? I'm not sure.......

 

uninformed and or missinformed home shoppers.