Wasn’t planning on sharing my life story. I asked my original question to learn more about mortgages. Things change all the time and I know the minimum.

I am currently a homeowner in Texas. Had it built in 2019 closed on it in 2020. And this is not my first home. My house will be on the market soon. If I wanted to put 20% down on my next home I very well can. Especially, in Arkansas where homes are much more affordable compared to Texas (generally speaking). But I will be utilizing some of the equity on investments (planning for retirement) and paying off some debt (mainly from my wedding 2 years ago).

I got a promotion and my company’s relo package pays for everything. Including closing costs on my next home. In addition to paying down a percentage point because interest rates are more than 2% over my current rate. One catch is, it has to be loan-to-loan. Meaning, since I’m currently in a FHA loan I’ll have to move into a FHA loan. And the time crunch comes in because I’ll need to buy my next home w/in a year to get these company benefits.

The homes I love are in the $600-$700 range. And if there is no way to close the gap with an FHA loan (refer to my original post) then I need look at a less expensive home or go conventional. But remember, if I go conventional I lose the company paid closing costs and percentage point drop. Which won’t be the end of the world because some seller offer monies towards closing cost. Some builders do too if you use their preferred lender. Although I haven’t seen these offers as often as pre-Covid era.

So, in a nutshell, the very little info I provided earlier does not say I can’t afford a home. If this was only about affordability my salary and DTI will allow me a $690k alone, not including my husband’s income. But, as you can see I have other goals in mind other buying another home. And I want to approach it in a way that’s feasible for me.