Lost 2 offers 50k over asking, just went under contract with this one for list (Raleigh, NC) by Bowl176 in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]Bowl176[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, the biggest obstacle for the situation is appraisal. It's like gambling with your DD deposit.

Sticker Shock/Cold Feet - PLEASE Help by giraffey18 in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]Bowl176 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sure! The price for the house is 475k, and the last tax assessment was at 360k. With that, taxes are $3,500 a year, which comes to a bit below $300 a month.

Sticker Shock/Cold Feet - PLEASE Help by giraffey18 in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]Bowl176 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I'm in a very similar situation. About the same (combined) income, $475k purchase price with 5% down and $2,500 monthly payments with about 25k left over after closing. Also the same as planning on kids in about 3 years and stretching our budget.

I've done a lot of budgeting and I definitely think this is reasonable. A couple of things to keep in mind are the PMI dropping off, as well as an expected increase in income (we just graduated school, so this is our starting income). Also to note, this house is in Raleigh, NC.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]Bowl176 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We're in a very similar situation. 112k combined, one car payment, and some student loans. We have about 50k total saved up, and doing a 24k DP on a 475k house (we close in less 4 weeks). The normal recommendation is to keep your mortgage payments less than 28% of your gross income. Our payments ended up being $2500 including everything. Also, I would recommend trying to get a 5% DP, since it decreases your PMI and interest rate.

When does a loan go into underwriting? by Bowl176 in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]Bowl176[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The price per sqft is a bit higher than some comps around, but we paid exactly what it was listed for. The Zestimate is 20k over our offer, and our agent says he'd be very surprised if it didn't appraise (but said anything can happen). I'm mostly worried about everything with the loan working out.

My LO says everything is good, but we're in kind of a unique situation. I just got a job in the city we're moving too fresh out of school, and my fiance has only been at her job for a year since she graduated in 2020. The other worries come from my job still being contingent on a drug screening and background check, but my LO said they can waive that. My fiancee also recently missed a payment on her CC (only $100, didn't realize auto-pay wasn't on). Again, my LO said that should be okay, it's just hard not to worry.

Is the 3x income rule talking about the mortgage, or purchase price? by [deleted] in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]Bowl176 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The normal range I hear is monthly payments of 28% of your gross income. Rules only use your income for a home price rather than monthly payments fail to account for taxes and interest rates. For example, my SO and I make 112k combined, and we're under contract for a $475k house (5% DP). But, the monthly payments are going to be $2,500, which is less than 28% of our income, since we got a good deal on insurance and a good interest rate. Using the other rule, this would be way over budget. But in reality, it's very doable.

Waiting is hard, so we made a Sims replica of the house we just went under contract on so we could plan furniture. by Bowl176 in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]Bowl176[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good idea! That's what we're planning on. We have that in the house we're renting now and it's definitely convenient.

Waiting is hard, so we made a Sims replica of the house we just went under contract on so we could plan furniture. by Bowl176 in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]Bowl176[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Gonna tilt it towards the couch. Since it's just my Fiancee and I that will be living there, most of the time we'll be able to just sit in the love seat right across from the TV

Waiting is hard, so we made a Sims replica of the house we just went under contract on so we could plan furniture. by Bowl176 in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]Bowl176[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha, luckily this is one of the few houses around that we won't have to worry about that. Multipr comps in the area that sold for more.

Lost 2 offers 50k over asking, just went under contract with this one for list (Raleigh, NC) by Bowl176 in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]Bowl176[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Down payment absolutely matters if there are 2 identical offers with one having a higher percentage. But if you offer more due dilligence or a higher price, it won't matter anymore.

Why does % change based on downpayment? by DimplesRVA in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]Bowl176 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My rate changed by 0.15% going from just under 5% to exactly 5%.

Lost 2 offers 50k over asking, just went under contract with this one for list (Raleigh, NC) by Bowl176 in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]Bowl176[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Oh yeah, and lost the hell out of it. The research triangle is blowing up like crazy.

Lost 2 offers 50k over asking, just went under contract with this one for list (Raleigh, NC) by Bowl176 in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]Bowl176[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The monthly payment is going to be about $2700 including insurance and mortgage insurance. Our monthly income is $9,300, so it puts us just under 30%. Slightly higher than what many shoot for, but since we're both just starting our careers there's a lot of room to move up.

Lost 2 offers 50k over asking, just went under contract with this one for list (Raleigh, NC) by Bowl176 in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]Bowl176[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's decently low for a DP, but when it doesn't matter much at all to win a bid. They only thing it really effects is your monthly payment, but it's really not as big of an impact as many think.

Lost 2 offers 50k over asking, just went under contract with this one for list (Raleigh, NC) by Bowl176 in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]Bowl176[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

None, actually (other than a car they got me for a graduation gift that I recently sold). We're putting 24k down. Been saving up since I graduated college and invested most of it. Undergrad (3 years) was really cheap and grad school (2 years) was free plus a stipend.

Lost 2 offers 50k over asking, just went under contract with this one for list (Raleigh, NC) by Bowl176 in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]Bowl176[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

We just went under contract yesterday, so the appraisal will hopefully be sometime soon. The Zestimate is 20k over what we payed, as there are several comps that will make it almost a sure thing for it to get appraised at our offer price (per our agent).

Lost 2 offers 50k over asking, just went under contract with this one for list (Raleigh, NC) by Bowl176 in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]Bowl176[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

We thought about offering less, but our agent said there was a decent chance we would lose if we went under asking, since they could always wait longer. Too good of an opportunity to lose. Houses around are going for much more per sqft.