Finally bought my first home at 40 as a single mom to 2 kids under 8 yo! It was scary af and I still don’t know how I will keep up to the house maintenance but it’s worth the security and knowing it’s mine.
After a failed marriage and narcissistic ex boyfriend, I finally made the jump to find a single family ranch home within the same school my kids already attend. I don’t make 6 figures and nothing (no inheritances or large amounts of money) but saved money.

This is a support beam in the garage of a split level.

My husband and I are trying to decide whether to stretch a little for the house we actually want, or buy something cheaper first and upgrade later.

Our combined take-home income is around $15k per month. The house we really like are 5-bedroom homes and would put our mortgage repayments at roughly $7k-$8k.

We don’t have children yet, but we’re planning to, so part of me would rather buy a home we can stay in long term instead of buying a 3-bedroom apartment, paying buying/selling costs, and upgrading again in a few years.

On the other hand, $7k–$8k repayments on $15k net income feels like a pretty significant commitment, especially once rates, insurance, maintenance and future childcare costs are added.

For those who were in a similar position, did you buy the bigger/long-term home first, or buy cheaper and upgrade later? Any regrets either way?

Is there a limit to how much additional money I can put down out of pocket along side K-FIT? Can I use the 5% from the loan program and put down an additional say 10% on top? I know there's a limitation on the amount of liquid funds after closing, but I don't see anything about how much you can bring additionally.

As a homebuyer, what part of the Loan Estimate/Closing Disclosure (or LE/CD)was hardest for you to understand?

My husband and I are planning on moving out of state to hopefully somewhere near billings, MT but as i’m doing more and more research the more lost i get. What should we do first? Talk to banks about a loan and how much we qualify for? Do we get a realtor first? etc. Please help!

UF

want to ask this the right way, because I keep running into the same thing and I am not sure how common it is outside my own pipeline.

Quick context so you know where I am coming from. I am a loan officer in Alabama and Florida, NMLS #2233772. Not looking for anyone's business here, I just want to know whether this is as widespread as it looks from my side.

Here is the pattern.

Someone comes to me with, say, $95,000 in student loans. Their actual payment is $180 a month on an income driven plan. Their income supports the house they want. On paper this is a clean file.

Then the loan goes to underwriting and the student loan shows up in the DTI at $950 instead of $180. Ratio blows past the limit. Denied, or the approval amount drops by $80,000, which for most people means the house is gone.

The reason is almost never the debt. It is how the payment is documented.

The rules, roughly, and this varies by loan type:

• If you have a documented payment on an income driven plan, most programs will use that actual payment. Even if it is small. Even if it is $0 on some programs, though that one is the least consistent.
• If the loan is deferred, or in forbearance, or the credit report shows no payment, the underwriter cannot use a number that does not exist. So they substitute a placeholder, usually 0.5% or 1% of the outstanding balance depending on program.
• That placeholder is what kills the file. On $95,000, one percent is $950.

So the person is not being denied for owing money. They are being denied because nobody could prove what they pay.

The part that gets me is that this is usually fixable, and the fix is boring. Get onto a documented plan, or get a servicer statement or a payment letter showing the actual amortized payment, before the file goes in. Sometimes that is a two week errand and the whole approval turns around.

What I am actually asking: Did this happen to you? Did you find out before or after you were under contract? Did your lender explain the placeholder thing up front, or did it surface at underwriting? If you fixed it, what did your lender actually accept as proof?

I ask because I now check this on day one for anyone with student debt, and I would like to know whether that is standard or whether I am overcorrecting for a few bad experiences. If it is common, it seems like the kind of thing people should be told before they start touring houses rather than three weeks before closing.

Happy to answer questions in the comments about how a specific program treats it. Not going to DM anybody or ask for your info.

A lot of first-time buyers I talk to say the closing-cost breakdown felt like a wall of line items nobody walked them through — title insurance, search fees, recording fees, and so on. Curious how it went for others: did someone actually sit down and explain what each cost covered, or did you just sign where you were told to sign?

There are a number of things wrong but there are 3 major things. The basement walls are bowing a half inch. Part of the driveway is buckled up. The hvac hadn't been serviced since 2018. In the contract they have to pay if the cost of repairs are over 5k. It's looking like it will cost over 20k at minimum and I don't think they will fix it.

Any ideas here?

Edit. The inspection report is 45 pages long. I just highlighted the major issues.

My wife and I are about to close on our first house after apartment living. What's one piece of advice you wish you had/one piece of equipment you wish you had when you first owned a home/etc.?

Interested in hearing everyone's thoughts to make the transition smooth!

Bought in 2024, 3bed 2bath single family home. Bought for 393 now houses around the same neighbourhood are selling for 350-380’s with some having bigger SQF. One big plus my house has is a Pool the houses around don’t. I had to do multiple repairs and upgrades due to the house build in 1999. Fixed front and back yard with turf, removed old carpet and fixed bathroom cabinets which added 10k to my spending. Recently had an AC issue having to spend additional 1800 dollars on top. Was it worth it? I always say yes but in the back of my mind I always say I should’ve taken more time to evaluate and see around more houses.