American Dream?

 The American Dream?

Dilemma, what do people do that need a 10% house down payment? Let me
explain my husband's and my dilemma.

We are both adults and both of us are hard workers. That is why we're at
this crossroad. My husband was offered a

new job out of town (one that we both grew up in), a good job with good
people. Very rare in itself.

He talked it over with me and decided to take it. This man for almost
three months drove over an hour to work than

drove another twelve for his work. (Bless his heart - 12hrs is grueling
enogh.) So we rubbed our coins together, gave

notices and put our furniture in storage. (not good, found out about
mold.)

We got a high interest loan and bought a used 24-26 foot camper. Rental
units in the area are extremely high for it is

a college town.

So here we are, the two of us plus our kids, (a small mix of a dog and a
very mixed up cat) in our new home (the

camper) on a lot we have dubbed Swampville with undrinkable well water.
All our savings (what we could save) again

went into a move. But we do figure one day we will own our small home.

We've always rented. Not by choice. Our dream has always been to buy an
older home, and fix it up, and some day

retire there, maybe with a small business.

How do we do this in our economy? My last job before we moved was full
time, $5.15 an hour with no overtime pay, I

worked 50 plus hours a week and still was turned down for a loan. $200
short on earnings. Now hubby makes good

money but has poor credit / I have fair credit but can't find a decent
full time job for a loan. Every time we get some

money saved something happens. We thought of first time buyer grants, but
again they take money. We know we

have to come up with a 10 to 15% down payment, but how do we do this? It
might as well be 100%.

My parents are both gone so no loan there ( I know my Father would have
happily helped) and my husband's parents

are estranged ( another long story). So what to do? I am asking this to
the void of the Internet. I do thank those who

took time to read this very much. I am not asking for hand outs, just
information on optaining help with down payment

and closing costs.

We hope someone will help us to find the way to OUR AMERICAN DREAM!

 
It sounds like you two are first-time homebuyers.   Check out FHA loans -- a lot
less than 10% down required.  If either of you is a veteran, VA loans are also
worth checking out.

You might also want to hit the local library and read "The Millionaire Next
Door" and "The Frugal Barber".   The mortgage is only the first of many expenses
a home hits you with -- you might want to get your other financial ducks in a
row before you find  out your "dream" is more of a "500 gorilla on your back".

 
Andy.... you sound like home ownership is a bad thing.

Do you feel this way? If yes.. why?

 me@privacy.net wrote:

From a purely financial perspective, home ownership is often a bad thing.     If
you're already having to pinch pennies until Lincoln begs for mercy, I really
believe you've got other problems to solve first.    If you're renting and
decide the ol' budget can't handle your payments, it's a heck of a lot easier
(and w-a-a-a-a-y cheaper) to cut out for cheaper digs than it is to sell a
house.

 On Wed, 12 Jan 2005 13:56:26 -0600, someone wrote:


It certainly can be, if you are mortgaged to the hilt on a home that
you can't unload if you need to move, because you owe to much, and you
are strapped each month because of the high payments.

It is not good strategy to buy the most expensive car with the longest
payments that you can get the dealer to sell you.  It is not good
strategy to max out all your credit cards and then pay the minimums.
But people routinely urge others to take out the biggest loans, lowest
down, for as long as possible, on houses.

Yes yes yes real estate generally goes up in the long run.  Yeah yeah
I know what "leverege" is, for chrissakes I have been a developer.
But to be over your head in debt, no money for repairs or maintenance
or emergencies because you bought over your head - one little
temporary downturn of a couple of years and you're screwed out of
everything you owned.

Real estate is good in general.  So are stocks and bonds.  But a house
is not for everybody.  And not if you need to borrow 103% of MV.  If
you are so hard luck OR irresponsible that you can't come up with even
10%, maybe you should not buy - your hard luck OR irresponsibility is
likely to continue and you will just be in the same situation with the
house as all the other times you got in financial trouble.

(And now Rod Speed will tell us how wrong we are - along perhaps with
"Carleton Sheets"?.)

-v.


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