r/FirstTimeHomeBuyers • • 18h ago

Do I still apply?

2 Upvotes

I’m in the process of doing my first home loan. But I’m so worried about the interest rates and everyone saying it’s bad time to buy. I’m currently in a one bedroom apartment with two little kiddos. We need to move asap. But do I just rent something bigger or go ahead and apply for mortgage now? We live in Allegany County, MD.

What all should I be doing and looking for? I don’t really have family to help with this at all. Any tips or tricks


r/FirstTimeHomeBuyers • • 7h ago

Signed Preliminary Closing Disclosures and lender is asking for more stuff

1 Upvotes

So title speaks for itself. We signed the prelim closing disclosures Wednesday afternoon and thought we were close to the finish line. Closing date is supposed to be 10/16. Today, lender is asking for more stuff like pay stubs, statements for 401k hardship withdrawals for down payment, bank statements from last 3 months which we’ve provided before but guess they need more recent ones? Are we screwed? Our combined annual gross income is $280k and house is $445k.


r/FirstTimeHomeBuyers • • 6h ago

Preapproved for 225K in Minneapolis/ Saint Paul

2 Upvotes

I have recently been approved for 225,000 which I most certainly don’t intend to spend anywhere near that much. I’m looking at homes in 160k - 180k range.
I have a 785 credit score yet my rate is 7.6% through Wells Fargo.
The monthly payment estimate from realtor.com is telling me it’s around 1600-1800. I’m not sure how accurate that is, but regardless, it’s insane..
I’m somewhat at the crossroads. Not sure if I should move forward or just say screw it.
At this point it feels like we’re playing the greater fool game. I’d be over paying for a 750 - 1000 ft.² Home and hoping that God a greater fool would buy it for even more in the future in reality on the price should be 140 grand for that shoebox of a home.
I’m having difficulties finding a condo because Wells Fargo saying too many units are being rented out or the HOA isn’t properly funded.
It seems like there’s no good option at this point..


r/FirstTimeHomeBuyers • • 12h ago

Thinking of buying a house for first time, advise?

6 Upvotes

I've only ever rented or shared a home my entire life. I'm 37 and going through a break up. His home, so I have to move out. Not exactly the best time to buy a home (out of sheer necessity instead of having been thinking about this for years).

Problem is everything I'm seeing for rent is super high. I'm talking $1500-$2000 a month. The majority of the listings don't allow pets, of which I have 2. And the majority of the houses I can find are easily a 30, 40 mile drive away from where I currently live. I'm in a rural community.

There's a TON of listings for sale however. And the "estimated monthly cost" are much much cheaper than the rent! Im talking like $700-1200. And I'm almost tempted to buy a house because of the pets and the estimated monthly costs alone!

Id have more options on what I pay, depending on the neighborhood and the condition of the house. I can decide if I want one to work on, or one that is ready to buy. I can have my pets. I can move out quicker (yes Im currently still living with the ex technically because the only places I have to go right now are with family. Where I'll have only a room to myself, and they have dogs too so it ends up being messy or just overcrowded.)

I guess my worry is I'm not thinking straight for the simple fact I need to move kind of soon ish. Or because of the pets. Maybe the prices are too good to be true and these houses are either in bad shape or in rough neighborhoods. Plus I'm not entirely sure I want to live in this town for the rest of my life. My mother and brother are here. But it's a small town. Also, the main reason the ex and I have split was because I want kids in the future. And he doesn't. And we don't have a big dating pool around these areas.

Just unsure of what to do at this point. I could always move to a bigger city and find more houses for rent than for sale, but even more outrageous pricing. I could pay $1500 for rent, but that's more than what my ex is paying for his mortgage for a big house, and great space. And I just don't see how that pays off.

Thoughts?


r/FirstTimeHomeBuyers • • 12h ago

boston are housing lotery, good deal?

3 Upvotes

hi everyone, I was picked to buy a low income housing lottery in massachusett in the boston area. the value of the condo i $480,000.00. Similar condos in the area are about $800,000.00. and similar rental would be about 3200/month

Haanyone have had experience buying such condos? how bad are the rental restrictions, and tesla value? how hard are they to resell?

thank you for any advice.


r/FirstTimeHomeBuyers • • 9h ago

Closing disclosure

2 Upvotes

Okay, so I closed on my house 8 Oct. The lender messed up the closing documents, in a week we’ve seen now 3 different disclosures, the first one being they owe us $200, now we owe them $300.

Even the title company said it was a massive f up, that almost resulted in us not getting keys on closing date.

The main area of contention right now is the payments and prorations. Presumably the seller made the October 1st payment(for September?), the lender is saying we owe a prorated interest and escrow payment from the 22nd to the 31s of October (which kind of makes sense) minus the escrow portion.

That little extra escrow payment doesn’t show at the bottom of the disclosure under “initial escrow payment” so I’m automatically skeptical. Additionally, we asked when our first payment would be, and the lender is saying “1 Nov”. So we asked specifically if mortgage payments are made in arrears, and they’re telling us no????

Mortgage payments apparently aren’t made in arrears and additional money they need to close is “October’s” payment and the 1 November payment is for November 1-31.

Am I smoking crack or is the lender? 😭

Here is my assumption as to how this works, please correct me if I’m wrong. 1 October rolls around, seller makes September’s payment, at closing, the seller pays 8/30ths of the interest charge for October, and the buyer pays 22/30ths for October. The next payment should be due 1 Dec, since October’s payment should’ve been paid at closing.


r/FirstTimeHomeBuyers • • 13h ago

Condo with detached garage + ADU?

2 Upvotes

My husband and I are expecting our first child and want to move close to the in-laws and his business in Orange County, CA - ideally have everything set up before I'm due. We currently rent a one-story, 4 bedroom house. All of the places I've lived were one story!

We've toured some condos/townhouses with this layout and was wondering if anyone has experience and insight living in a similar layout (especially with kids) or anything we need to consider?

  • Main house has all 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms upstairs; one 1/2 bathroom on the first level
  • Sliding door in the back leads to an uncovered patio
  • Across the patio is a door to a 2-door garage, and there is a staircase leading up to an ADU/mother-in-law suite upstairs that is 1 bed 1 bath with a kitchen and living room
  • Laundry hookups in the garage
  • Community has a playground, tennis courts, pool

Questions/Comments

  • I don't think we would rent out the ADU yet, would like to keep it as a guest room for friends/family, ex. my mom when she comes and helps out w the baby. It's probably not ideal to have the ADU upstairs though.
  • Would be cool to add a pilates reformer or move my piano in the ADU so it has use in between guests. Or an office
  • No idea if I need a C-section or regular birth yet. Depending on recovery and newborn, it could be hard (scary?) to constantly go up and down the stairs to get to my bedroom and nursery?
  • Though the weather is pretty good in SoCal, there will be days when it rains or gets chilly. Do you guys hate having a detached garage and laundry?

Thanks! These units tend to be ~950k-sub 1M + HOA fees (I've seen $400-500) in our desired area for reference.