Hi! I’m slowly looking into buying a house— however, some of the posts I’ve seen in here are stressing me out 😂 Can you please describe the process, especially all expenses involved in buying a house, what each rate means, what’s a good rate, down payment size, etc, like I’m 5 years old?

I’m also wondering what a good payment would be for my situation. We’ve been approved for 450k, however, I want to stay around $300k or less, with our monthly payment no more than $2300/month, we’re working on credit building, and have a small amount of debt. I’m a 26 year old first time homebuyer (tips please), and combined income is 200k a year, 4 kids, one with many, many medical complexities and disabilities. Is $2300/mo really doable without struggling? I grew up super frugal so like to save as much as I can lol.

My partner and I are looking to purchase a home. Our combined base salary wages are right around $220k. I also get between $30-50k in annual bonuses which are reliable, however, I’m looking to exclude my bonus payments from my mortgage calculation. We are speaking with a builder today and looking at building a home that costs between $500-550k (we are trying hard to keep it closer to $500K). Our goal for total monthly payment would be hovering around the $4,000 mark. We are putting down roughly 10% and the taxes are low in the area, the HOA is very low ($400 annually). Home Insurance in my area typically isn’t too expensive either, I’m budgeted that at $150 per month. PMI is a bit of an unknown to me, I’ve been guessing that would be around $1,200 annually.

Do you think this plan is affordable on our combined household income?

Annual gross income 245k, considering new home with a 750k mortgage (that’s after a 180k down payment). Interest rates are so right RN, would do a 3-2-1 rate buydown. Taxes are high - appx $1,000/month, but no HOA. Childcare=$700/month, otherwise no huge monthly fixed costs/debt. doable?

7% down, salary guaranteed increase yearly (3k increase), no other debts. Is this possible to afford? Monthly payment would be ~2600$ (w/ PMI, HOA, insurance, tax) take home closer to 5k/mo. No other debts. Will I be stretched too thin? Appreciate any advice

I’m about to make the biggest purchase of my life—a $600K home—and I’m feeling a bit apprehensive. My income is around 350K, and I’ll be putting $100K down, leaving me with a $500K mortgage.

One major factor on my mind is my $320K in student loans, which are currently in forbearance until August. Once payments resume, I’ll need to factor them into my budget, and I want to make sure I’m not overextending myself. Given my situation, does this seem like a reasonable purchase, or should I be more conservative?

Thanks in advance!

My husband and I make a combined $200K per year. After taxes and 401K, we have about $10K. We are looking to buy a new construction home for $717K. The interest rate is 6.7%. We are putting down $350K.

We were very fortunate to get a 2.875% interest rate on our current home that has a $350K mortgage. We are looking to move out of state and can’t find anything better interest wise, other than 6.7%

I believe our monthly payments would go up by $1,500 a month. Our current payment is $1,900 but I believe our new payment would be $3,400.

This new home would be almost double what our current home is worth, so property taxes will be much higher. We are also moving from a state that doesn’t have state taxes to a state that does.

What are your thoughts? What do you feel is reasonable?

I currently own a property in Kentucky (where I live). Paid cash for it in 2018. No mortgage. Not worth much more than I paid on it (even in this market).

I want to buy a house and move closer to family in New Mexico.

How do I buy a “second house” while still living in Kentucky?

I am trying to find a job in NM first so I’m able to buy easier but in this job market… it’s not going well.

I have enough cash on hand now for a 18-20% down payment on a home in NM. My current employer won’t allow us to work remotely (albeit we are working from home - as we must stay local … even if I have been in office twice in five years).

I have asked to go fully remote and was threatened with termination. This is why I would like to buy the property while I still live here, have my elderly mother move in, and then mitigate moving to NM after the sale goes through.

Is this possible? Is this legal?

***Edit for context: I am taking care of my elderly mother who has two dogs and a cat. I have two large dogs. Therefore, it would be nearly impossible to find a rental home that would allow five pets. This is why I am looking to purchase vs. renting.

We are looking to purchase an apartment in HCOL metro. I understand many might think this is a stupid question if purely looking at numbers but we are first time home buyers in a high interest environment so need to make sure we aren't in over our head. We are younger (under 30), have no kids and are currently debt free and have been fortunate with equity we have saved, however, our lifestyle will definitely have to change given our monthly spend is currently much less.

- 25% down on the purchase

- Additional equity being invested in renovating the place

- Projected monthlies (mortgage payment + HOA + electric + etc) is ~$7250

- Take home post max out of 401k/HSA for both of us and taxes is ~$15,000/mo; an additional ~$8,200/mo if including year end bonuses

- Figure the savings from deduction of mortgage interest could be another $750-850/mo

- Post purchase/reno equity; we would still have ~2-2.5 years of run rate god forbid we couldn't cover expenses

Signing a contract for my first big boy job and looking to move to a medium cost of living city. I’ve owned two homes before (one $216k, sold, and one $250k, currently residing with about $230k left in principal), which were taken on a salary of about $80k per year + SO making $95k per year. My new contract will be a significant raise to about ~$700k gross per year which should be safe for the remainder of my career and ideally will be over $1MM total comp in mid career.

I have a large amount of student loan debt and will be shooting to pay it down as fast as possible, with a minimum payment of $5500 per month but probably will go over that.

No particularly expensive hobbies or other debt (figure half a mil in student loan debt is enough…). Car is paid off but will need a new one soon, planning to pay mostly cash. Credit score low 800s. We will be renting for a year or so after moving to see how things shake out in the housing market locally, and I don’t necessarily want to jump into a new house right away.

All the “how much can you afford” calculators give me outrageous numbers of $2MM+ with the ~$200k I’d be planning to put down, and until my student loans are paid off, I don’t feel like I’d be comfortable taking on a $10,000+ mortgage payment.

My questions are 1.) What range should I typically be looking in given my debt? I do NOT want to be house poor. 2.) Should I be saving more for a down payment and really targeting that 20% mark while delaying purchasing? 3.) Am I just being a giant wuss and dragging my feet because of sticker shock?

I have friends in similar salary ranges that have purchased anywhere from $600k up to several million + vacation homes, and I just don’t even know what I need to be looking at. My conservative side says I’m fully capable of living in a 3 bedroom house that I could pay cash for, but my “you’re in your 30s and finally have a real job” side says to push it a little bit.

Appreciate y’all.

Bought a house this past year. The town re calculated property taxes and given we bought the house for a good amount more than when it was last sold 50 years ago the house was assessed at a higher value and our property taxes went up significantly raising out PITI by nearly 1k.

Since buying the house the (finished) basement flooded. We had to rip up the flooring and side panels to dry everything out. Taking care of the remediation cost thousands and we put off re-finishing the basement. We didn’t go through our home insurance for any of the damages.

If the reevaluation took into account the house house having a finished basement would it be worthwhile to have it reappraised? The appraisal done in the eval did not include a visualization of the inside of the home. I’m thinking this would potential lead to a lower assessment and decrease our monthly payment some. In the other hand are there any negatives to doing this and I should just eat it?

I know nothing about home buying. I’ve rented my whole life. I feel like I’ll never be able to buy a house. $275k income in a high cost of living market. $800k-$1.5m. Median income but expenses are also high so there are no savings…is there any way to buy a house with no down payment? I think the answer is NO, so I’ll just continue to rent the rest of my life…thx

Hey all, thank you in advance.

I know you are able to ask for PMi to be removed if you have made substantial improvements, or if you’ve made 24 months of on time payments.

My question is - If i closed on the house in April 1 2023, would my 24 months be April 1, or would it actually be June 1 (the first time I initiated a mortgage payment as both the April/May payment were part of closing)?

I don’t mind waiting until June, but just wanted to check. I’m going to try to use the on time payments + value of house increasing (compatible in neighborhood have sold for $100K more than ours); and we have done the following to the house, but not sure if it would qualify for “substantial improvements”

• cleared out 0.5 acre of land - $15K
• installed fence - $7.5K
• Added cabinets and storage in the kitchen - $7.5K
• Upgraded electrical circuit (modernized), including adding 6 outside outlets (zero before) - $7.5K
• Playground installed - $1.5K
• Outdoor sauna - $20K

Thoughts on if I should include the above or any of the above?

For the past couple years I’ve been self employed 60000$ clean income Now I moved to another city and I got a good job starting salary 180000$ w2 been working for 3 months already

I have money saved for a down payment 50000$ will I be able to buy a house for 490000$ Will the bank approve me I have good credit score

I’m just not sure how they will look at my income for the past couple years

Please don’t judge but 34 and looking to buy my first home. Last 4 years I’ve been riddled with medical issues which have taken a toll on my savings and ability to buy a home. I’m now in a spot in life where everything seems to be behind me and all debts paid etc. I’m kind of alone in this process and just looking for advice/information and what I can afford etc.

Basic information:

State: TN Income: W2 for last year was 104k Single income Car recently paid off Zero debt besides credit cards which are paid off monthly (just used for spending and the cash back rewards but never carry a balance) Those minimum payments would total like $250 on DTI I assume but like stated they never carry a balance and usually pay them off as soon as I make a purchase My credit did take a hit 4 years ago due to unforeseen circumstances but I’ve worked hard on rebuilding it and now my FICO is around 690 according to MyFICO app

Just curious on the what I need to have saved in general What needs to be saved for down payment How much home could I in theory afford

I’m months away from being able to do anything but working hard to get my ducks in a row to be able to make this happen.

Any insight or advice is greatly appreciated.

Looking at the posts in this thread, specifically about rates, has me wondering. We refinanced from a 30yr @ 3.5% to a 15yr @ 1.9% five years ago? Anyone else get in on those low numbers about five years ago before everything went up?

I currently have a 7.25 interest on a 342k loan for a home, mortgage payments are 3,153 looking to refinance broker game me a 5.6 interest rate with mortgage dropping down to 2,814 with a 339 monthly savings, It will cost me 7k out of pocket to refinance, want to know if this is a good deal or will it be worth to wait and see if it interest rates will continue to drop ?

I’m curious—when you’re under contract and get a Loan Estimate (LE), then find another lender who offers better terms, do you typically go back to your original loan officer to see if they can match or beat it? Or do you just move forward with the new lender?

I’ve seen cases where clients switch without even checking back, even though their original LO might have been able to improve the offer. Just wondering how common this is and what your thought process is in these situations. Would love to hear your experiences!

I have two bank accounts. One is for my car I opened it to make payments from my main account easier. The other is my main bank account my paycheck goes into and I send money to the other account every month to pay it.

I was talking to an underwriter who recommended putting my entire down payment into the checking account I don’t use and letting it sit for 2-3 months. They said during underwriting I would make the process easier as there would be no real transactions other than a sitting balance.

Is that true? Seems strange wouldn’t they question income or is that just sourced from w2 and paystubs. My main bank accounts regularly shows a bunch of transactions and I don’t want to have to explain a bunch of random debits.

So tldr: does seasoning basically a blank account actually work and is it worth the effort

Hey all. My wife and I are moving and have a signed PA. All is ready to close. Currently I want to wait to list our place to enjoy the convenience of not offering tours and such with two young boys.

I ask for wisdom on the best way to close. We can get a bridge loan from family to cover the purchase price until we get our home’s equity after selling it. Then we would talk to the bank, take out a mortgage, and even up. Would that result in two sets of closing fees? (I understand the realtors wouldn’t get paid twice, but the title company and such) Or, do we only ask for the estimated amount of equity from family and take our down payment to loan up right away? Which would result in one close, but double mortgages.

Hello Hoping some here may have some insight.

My wife and I are looking at purchasing a home. Recently I sold a fair number of rsu and transferred that to my bank. We’re maybe 3 months out from starting to look.

I currently make 210k per year and an additional 130k in stock. The problem is we didn’t have a ton in savings due to paying off stupid youth stuff. My fear is the lender being like dude you get all these stock how tf you spend it. We really just paid off debts.

Is this likely to be problematic during underwriting? Bank accounts regularly shows > 17k per month in deposits and we’ve started to build a healthy savings account as well.

Our only debt is for a car @ 895/month. No other debt at this point.

Bought for 930k with 13% down, AZ. No points, 6.49%, 1000$ in lender credit taking the loan fee down to hundred bucks.

The other rate quotes I got were atrocious, like 7%, or 6.875% with no points, only getting close to mid 6s with thousands of dollars in points… hard pass.

From what I’ve seen I got a great rate but it’s so hard to ever get a good pulse on it. Is anyone else locking under 6.5% and what’d you do to get it?

Getting ready to buy. Wife and I together make around 220k a year. Would be putting about 55k down. First time home buyers. Is this a bad idea? Rough mortgage estimate?

I only have a vehicle payments of 1280 another installment of 380 and a house payment of 2580 no credit cards or anything else but i think i still have about 49 debt to income ratio. Are there banks that go higher than 36%. My monthly income is 9850

Looking for some advice on whether a $700K mortgage is a smart move for me. From a DTI perspective, I’m already pre-approved with a bank but I want to make sure it’s actually manageable long-term.

Financial Breakdown: • Household income: $320K/year ($23k net, including rental income) • Rental property: Bought during COVID, currently generating $2,300/month with about 200k in equity. • Will be selling my current home. Net 20-25k after fees. • HELOC: $50K that’s already existing and available (it was used previously but has been paid in full) • Savings: $20K in 401(k) + $10K in HYSA • Debts: Only auto loans—two leased cars with combined payments of $1,600/month

My career trajectory looks pretty good. My company just got bought out and I’ve been granted a 5% raise and eligible for 10% bonus mid year.

The Plan:

I’d be using some equity from my rental to help with the home purchase, but I want to make sure I’m not overextending myself. I’d still like to have some flexibility to save and invest.

Would this mortgage be reasonable, or should I rethink my approach? Anyone in a similar situation who can share their experience?

No one knows exactly how new tariffs will affect markets yet, but traders are reacting anyway. This week, tariffs overshadowed the Fed’s rate decision, with markets treating them just like rate hikes—bad for stocks and bonds. As a result, stocks dropped while bond yields (aka rates) rose.

The big question: Are tariffs good or bad? Markets generally see them as bad, at least in the short term, due to potential inflationary pressure. However, history shows they can also slow economic growth, which could push rates lower in the long run.

In 2019, the U.S.-China trade war initially drove rates higher, but the economic slowdown that followed caused them to drop. This time could be different, but we won’t know for months—maybe years.

For now, it’s the same waiting game: watching inflation data to see if rates can move lower. The latest PCE Price Index report didn’t offer much clarity, and inflation progress has stalled. The Fed needs a stronger downtrend before committing to rate cuts. Until then, the market remains on edge.

I recently bought a home and my loan lender (a local washington state lender) said that I could waive my appraisal since the comps for the homes around it were much higher

Could this have hurt me in any way? I may have saved $900 on closing costs since i didn't have to pay the appraisal fee, but could this have a negative impact somehow?

I backed out of buying a house 20 days before closing, by that time appraisal was already performed. I paid $850 for appraisal that was ordered by lender. Am i entitled to get the appraisal deposit back since I didn't close on the loan ?

I’ve been looking at condos in HCOL nyc area. Last summer I was able to accommodate the monthly payment (with some support) but I still was able to qualify on my own. I no longer qualify for similar condos. Actually this one I’m looking at has less features. So I get much less for a higher price. Anyone else priced out? I feel so lost

My wife and I are set to close on our new house on the 17th of February, I made a mistake and thought I wouldn’t receive my student loans this semester. I didn’t think I would receive my student loans because I am not consider a full time student I am only taking 6 credit hours. What should I do or will this effect the possibility of us closing on our house?

So my partner and I are trying purchasing a home. Our financial story is that the one debt we currently have is my partners car which is 470 a month, other than that we are debt free. Our combined salary is 165k salary. We got approved for 735k loan at 6.5%. Mortgage payment would be 5800. This doesn’t seem like something we can afford considering our take home is around 9k. Let me know what you think. It’s a dream home but I don’t wanna be house poor.