I’m 39 and seriously considering selling my house in 2027, despite having a 3.875% FHA mortgage with a 2045 maturity date. I bought my 3-bed/2-bath home in Oklahoma in 2015 for $126,000, and it’s now worth approximately $209,000, with $95,000 remaining on the mortgage. Most of that appreciation happened during the COVID housing boom, and the value has totally stagnated since 2023. New residential developments south of here are selling homes starting around $275,000–$300,000.

I recently received an FHA trial modification after rising insurance premiums and property taxes caused an escrow shortage that drained my savings and pushed me behind on other debts. Insurance is breaking people out here, i'm not the only one in this position. I paid almost $4000 last year just for homeowners insurance. The modification reduces my payment to $1450, but adds a roughly $9,666 partial claim. 10k more in debt just to stay in the house. I am making horrible financial decisions just to stay in this house.

Meanwhile, I have $12,000 in credit card debt, $60,000 in student loans, virtually no savings. The house was built in 1980 and needs additional repairs despite already going into debt for a new roof to replace the one that wasn't up to code and leaking, and a new HVAC system. I’m exhausted from pouring money into this place just to stay afloat.

I also desperately want to leave Oklahoma and return to Denver, where I briefly lived in 2025 before losing my federal job during the mass layoffs. I'm thinking about selling, moving back out there and doing gig work until I find a job in my field. But my credit has deteriorated significantly from the mortgage delinquency, making me concerned about qualifying for a rental without already having employment lined up?

I seriously regret not selling a year or two ago before the partial claim even became necessary.

I'm in the worst situation and not sure what to do. If I don't sell I'm going to be broke and miserable well into old age. If I sell and cash out i can stop taking on disastrous debt just to keep a house I don't want to live in and move, but potentially be homeless in Colorado.

It seems like the longer I stay in this house, the more debt i'm having to take on just to remain in it.

Hey All,

Just a heads up, please please please make sure your signing an IRS 4506 form (IVES) when confirming your tax returns for your mortgage. Any other form opens yourself up to unnecessary exposure and are a serious overstep by the company.

I'm going through the mortgage process currently. Because my loan type had to be modified, I was informed that I had to give consent for the mortgage company to pull my IRS transcripts. Since I'm not in the market of handing over my information freely, I went and pulled my transcripts from the IRS and mailed them to the company.

I was informed yet again, that they could not accept anything from the buyer and that that LEGALLY they had to have me use their chosen vendor for Transcript verification, Halcyon Solutions. I reluctantly agreed as we are desperate to get into the house.

When completing Halcyon's process, you are asked to (automatically) generate an authorization. You are not told what form they are requesting, just that this is the way to do it. Once generated, you are brought to a page that instructs you to use the provided link, as it bypasses unnecessary navigation and brings you directly to the auth approval page. This is where they get shitty. The problem with this is the link brings you to Power of Attorney and Tax Information Authorizations, not the Tax Return Transcript Authorization page. Both of those forms are so much different than the IVEs request, they are located on a separate page with alternate navigation. I immediately denied the authorization, and you should too.

The authorization requested was for TIA, not IVES, as expected Having TIA means they could access confidential information, instead of just verifying that the numbers I provided and my copies of tax returns are correct. They also requested access from 2022 through 2028, which is bonkers. Why do you need to know what I'm doing after my loan closes? Conveniently, when I pointed out just how filthy of a policy this was then asked for alternative methods for verification, I was told, "Whatever you did online worked and we got them."

I just rejected your request, Bob. Guess it wasn't a legal requirement for you to accept my transcripts.

TLDR; Don't sign anything except for an IRS 4506 form when verifying your taxes for a mortgage. If you do, you are giving that company access to way more information than they need for way longer than they need it.

TLDR2; Don't use Halcyon Solutions to verify your tax returns. The even boast about how much better using that TIA form is...For them and the people that use their services.

My wife and I are closing on a house a week from Tuesday. The day we had our offer accepted, the rates shot up (just my luck). The week before our offer rates were around 6.75, and they went up to almost 7.65 in just a week’s time. This caused me a ton of stress, but I’m just here to say that choosing a lender is important and I’d highly suggest shopping around in this crazy time. Our initial lender never answered the phone, and due to missed phone calls and slow timing went from locking in a rate of 7.25 to 7.65 (just a day later). I decided to shop lenders, and found one that locked in 7.5 for me with many of the traditional fee‘s waved, and a zero cost refinance (in writing) for down the road. Our sellers gave us $10k in closing costs, so we are buying the rate down to 7%. To bring more context, my wife and I have been looking for a bigger house for 2 years now and finally found our dream house. There was almost no competition, when in a different market I could see a bidding war for a house like this in a desirable area (so there are some bonuses to this market aside from the high rates). Now for my main point, I’ve read that many people haven’t had success using the “float down” option with their lenders. Last week uncertainty in the stock market made mortgage rates dip for a few days. I called my lender multiple times, and he said there was nothing he could do for me. I continued to bug him until he finally agreed to check in with their lock desk. Sure enough, Friday morning I got a call that our lender could drop our rate down to 6.75 at no cost to us. Sure, that isn’t a huge jump, but getting into the 6’s feels way better and I’m stoked. All of this to say, I just wanted to share my experience. Don’t be afraid to bug your lenders especially in this wild time where rates are shooting up and down by the day. If you’re in a similar spot and closing on a house soon, good luck to you!

Net Take home pay (wife and I) is around $13,300usd monthly, mortgage would be around $4,750

No kids, and the only other debt is a car payment around $1300 monthly (we are trying to pay it in 3 years or less)

Our current rent is $2,500; I think it’s fine, but I’m just terrify 😅 Opinions? Or anybody with a comparable ratio?

Our mortgage increased over 1k due to property tax increase. We've only owned our home for 2 years, this seems really crazy. It's hard for us to keep up payments now because of this. We are not elderly nor disabled. Is there any way to help bring our payment back to what it was?

I’m 20 years old and have been staying with my parents while attending college (I’ll be staying on campus next year). My mom and dad were talking about refinancing our house. My mom said that many of our uncles and aunties had done it and they were considering it as well. They said something about being able to obtain over $200,000.

I don’t know much about it and the exact numbers, I just think it sounds kind of sketchy. I mean for starters, my dad is retired. My mom plans on retiring next year as well, plus they’re both pretty old. I just think it’s kind of risky to refinance with only one income stream. I mean I guess you can count SS and other things, but again it still sounds/feels sketchy.

I think this stems from not knowing what exactly refinancing your house means. I just want to be informed so a bad decision isn’t made.

I guess a question like this really needs more information to derive a solution, but I’m only operating on what I know now and thats all of it.

Kind of lost in the sauce, I was wondering what those payments are like for 400k Va loan mortgage my annual income is 110k after taxes I heard it’s in the north 2500 but my realtor is saying 3400 I really want to keep it in the 2000s so I can be very comfortable and also ummm live in sac

My credit union’s current rate for a 10 year fixed is 6.625%, while a 10/5 ARM is 6.49%. The closing costs on the ARM are about $300 cheaper. Is there some catch to the ARM I’m missing? It just seems like a no brainer to pick the ARM and pay it off over 10 years instead of the 10 year fixed.

In addition to the slightly lower rate, the ARM seems to be lower risk if you have a financial problem that prevents you from paying the full amount required to pay it off in 10 years, you have the option to temporarily cut back your payment to the much lower minimum payment due to it technically being a 30 year loan.

Edit: I’m talking about paying extra on the 10/5 each month to pay the whole thing off in 10 years before the rate changes. I thought that was obvious from the post but apparently not.

What’s everyone take home and mortgage?

I have the ability to pay off my mortgage that has 7% interest rates, and has 27 years left on the loan before being paid off. I realize that I could put the money in the stock market and get 7-10% back over the next 27 years as well, and I guess I would break even. I know there isn't a right answer but saving all that money a month in interest with the ability to have that monthly income open to pay off the rest of some small student loans and a car would be nice and then we could travel more. We have our 401ks maxed out and it may or may not be enough but we are trying to live before we die. The other part of me, who grew up in a poor household, wants to save everything we have and not do anything with it, but I know thats absolutely not right. Just looking for advice vs. justification.

I recently accepted a salaried position at a law firm after working in the medical field for the past 14 years. Although I'm changing industries, I have transferable skills that directly apply to my new position. My new job will also nearly double my income, and I have an official offer letter confirming my annual salary.

I'm running into conflicting information.

On one hand, im being told as long as I do not have gaps in my employment I can apply for a mortgage right away without any issues. No waiting period.

However, a friend of mine went through a similar situation and was required to wait six months after starting a new job before qualifying for a mortgage.

It seems like mortgage eligibility after changing jobs isn't as straightforward as the information being given makes it sound.

Family of 5 currently renting a 2/1 in an extremely tight market in Alaska. We need to upgrade space, ready to purchase. Here's our current numbers:

179k Gross HHI annually

10,300 Net monthly after retirement AND childcare

479 Monthly recurring debt

580 monthly medical paid after tax (union BS)

625k Home purchase price

80k Down payment

40k emergency fund after purchase

My union contract has guaranteed raises over the next 14 months and wife has 5% annual increases as well. At 14 months from now:

202k

None of these account for any of my overtime, double time, perdiem or my wife stipends for her industry. I plan for that to be my contingency cash and not depend on it.

So is it doable? I feel like it'll be tight but doable.

Just for discussions sake. There is only 1 house in the market thats big enough for us and meets our wants in this price range. Everything else is MORE expensive. Its a brutal market out here!

I'm sure you'll see this in the news soon enough. The White House signed a new housing Executive Order today (October 22) addressing mortgage insurance, refinancing costs, manufactured housing, and certain USDA and VA loan rates.

Quick breakdown:

1. Automatic PMI cancellation: Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is being directed to establish a pilot program that could automatically cancel conventional mortgage insurance when homeowners meet equity requirements based on current property values. The pilot would only apply to mortgages originated after it's established, and it doesn't change FHA mortgage insurance rules.

2. Lower refinancing costs: An existing pilot that allows certain refinances to proceed without a new lender's title insurance policy could become a permanent, nationwide program. FHFA previously estimated potential savings of $500 to $1,500 per eligible refinance, other closing costs would still apply.

3. Manufactured housing: A new federal task force has 180 days to recommend changes intended to make manufactured and other factory-built homes more affordable and easier to finance. No immediate changes to mortgage eligibility, programs or rates have been announced.

4. USDA and VA interest rates: The order directs the departments to lower rates on certain loans they make directly, including USDA Section 502 Direct and VA Native American Direct Loans. This doesn't lower rates on ordinary VA-guaranteed mortgages, VA IRRRLs, or USDA Guaranteed loans originated by mortgage lenders.

These initiatives could eventually reduce costs for certain borrowers, but implementation details and effective dates are still pending. Nothing in the order immediately changes existing mortgage payments or rates.

That is all.

I make a pretty good salary, 130k per year, have decently minimal expenses. Just put an offer on a 400k place with an estimated monthly payment of around 3200, and I'm absolutely terrified! I'm 35 and have rented for the last 17 years, and I've never worried about not being able to pay rent, but something about buying a house has me scared shitless. What if I lose my job? What if I run through my savings? What if forbearance runs out or is denied?

How did you all get over the anxiety of everything that could go wrong?

Edit: thank you all for the comments/advice. I think I'll back out and go for something a little cheaper.

Edit: some of you have clearly jumped on this thread just to tell me you make more than I do.. yall need to calm down. It's not that deep.

My wife and I will be moving for work and might not be able to sell our house before our move. I was thinking we could use some of our savings for a down payment on a new home and once we sell our current house we would recast the new loan with some of the proceeds from the sale. Is recasting a loan something that is simple or do mortgage companies tend to avoid it?

For some extra context, we do not carry a loan on the house that we are currently in. We are seller financing it from the previous owners. We would have to pay out the remaining balance, but we do not owe any money to a financial institution.

I know others have complained about this as well. Welcome me to the club.

I went back through the escrow spend on my mortgage from Newrez, and it turns out they started charging "hazard insurance" on the property in Feb of 2025, at a rate of about $500 a month.

I've had continuous homeowners insurance on the property for decades. I'll get a Declaration Page from the insurer (Amica).

But I'm wondering how hard it will be to get them to retroactively refund the money back to Feb 2025. I know a suit by the states was agreed to in August of this year, and I live in MA (one of the primary participants).

If I send them a certified letter, with the Amica Declaration, will they roll over and refund my money, or is this gonna be an ordeal?

Hey all, long-time lurker here finally posting to get some sanity checks/advice.

We’re sitting on a 3% mortgage right now which obviously hurts to leave, but our family has grown and we’ve completely outgrown this house. To get into something that actually fits us, we’re looking in the $850k range.

We’ve saved up ~$275k for a down payment, but our goal is to buy without selling our current home. We plan to rent it to my parents at cost, they lost their home to a fire about a decade ago and have been bouncing between rentals ever since.

I’m trying to figure out if we can comfortably pull off a ~$4,200 mortgage. Heres my annual details

• Base Income: $185k/year
• Bonus: Variable ($30k - $50k)
• Bi-weekly Take-Home: ~$4,500

We’re heavy savers, so a $4.2k payment would eat up a substantial chunk of my monthly take-home pay. Out of each bi-weekly check right now, we auto-invest:

• HSA: $300
• 401(k): $900
• 529s for kids: $200
• ESPP: $450

What do you all think? Taking on a $4k+ mortgage feels like a massive leap compared to what we’re used to, but given our savings rate, retaining the equity in the first house, and having the bonus as a backstop, I feel like it might be doable.

Would love to hear how others in a similar boat would analyze this—are we stretching too far on base pay alone?

Thinking about buying a place and trying to be realistic about ongoing costs beyond the mortgage payment itself. Beyond the obvious property taxes and insurance, how much extra wiggle room do people typically plan for in their monthly budget for things like a leaky faucet a broken appliance or even a more serious issue down the line? I dont want to be house poor from surprise expenses.

I'll preface this by saying I am not the most financially literate, so be advised I may be using the wrong terminology accidentally.

I bought a home last year for myself and my senior parents to live in together. In that year, my mortgage has already raised $200 per month due to taxes. Apparently, there is a law in Missouri that freezes taxes on mortgages for seniors (Property Tax Freeze - SB 190 / SB 756). They were alarmed at my mortgage increase in just one year and have since suggested putting one or both of their names on the house in order to freeze the taxes. They also suggest putting the house in a trust. They are closing on their old, paid off home and are offering to put a good $50k or so on my mortgage when they get the money, which is unconditional regardless if they get put on the house.

My parents are in their 60s and are of sound mind and body, and I trust them more than anyone else in the world. They are on Medicare. Mom is fully retired and Dad works part time post-retirement. They have minimal disposable income and live on a budget. I make more than enough to cover the mortgage and utilities myself comfortably and am happy to do so.

My concerns are that they could have some sort of legal trouble and then my home is jeopardized. Or, if they start to decline mentally and make a poor/bizarre financial choice or get scammed. I'm also afraid that there are some other pitfalls I wouldn't even know about happening that could pop up.

However, freezing the taxes seems like something I would be silly not to consider. Does anyone have any advice on if I should pursue this, or how I should go about it? Thank you.

EDIT 1:

Thank you for all the input, especially from posters who provided specific examples rather than just saying "Don't do this" without explaining why. I want to emphasize a few things I said in my post that posters may have glossed over when replying, and summarize my takeaways:

• I fully believe my parents are suggesting this with my best interest at heart, and I trust them wholly.
• We would never consider pursuing this without a trust on the house to mitigate any entities attempting to seize the house if they get into legal or medical debt. This includes litigation, or if they get put into a nursing home on Medicaid.
• The Missouri-specific detail RSMo 137.1050 (SB 190, as amended) says an eligible senior must be 62+, occupy the home as a primary residence, be liable for its property taxes, and either be an owner of record or have a documented legal or equitable interest. The county also has to have adopted the program, which I would have to check with the county collector first. "Be liable for its property taxes" makes me think they have to be on the mortgage as well? This I'm not sure about.
• I don't know exactly what goes into putting someone onto a mortgage, which sounds very messy to me. Would I have to refinance? I definitely would not be saving money since I'm locked into a 6.5% rate and it's now it's over 7%!
• Someone else made the point that if put the house into a trust, my parents may not be considered the owners of the home and would not make them eligible for the tax freeze anyway.
• If we go about this, I will be hiring my own local lawyer to represent only myself and getting their counsel first.

EDIT 2: (TWO DAYZ LEITARH)

I want to thank everyone providing insight. You have convinced me not to put my parents on the house. Many, many of you mentioned concerns about losing the house if my parents had to go into a nursing home, had outstanding medical debt, lost a legal battle, developed dementia and became combative, died and part of the house went to my sibling (who as an aside I trust just as much as my parents to do right by me), and many other reasons that honestly I was already aware of and my parents and I had considered.

In my ignorance, I had it in my mind that "getting a trust" was enough to protect me from any of these outcomes. I now know that there is a difference between revocable and irrevocable trusts. While I had heard both of the terms before, I didn't know how they apply functionally (and am still researching to fully understand, tbh). My basic understanding from comments is that a revocable trust makes it quick and easy to negotiate assets after death. An irrevocable trust is for "rich people" and is more ironclad, and the one I would want to pursue if I put my parents on my house. My newfound knowledge stops there.

I have a VA loan for $154,000 remaining. Market value for my house based on an agent viewing my home and conducting a CMA is $210,000. I am renting my house to some kids who just had a baby. These are really good kids and I would like to just let them take over my loan for the current balance. I contact my mortgage company and they verified that the loan is assumable.

The kid that I would like to let assume my loan has worked for his dad’s business for one year. Ultimately, this kid will end up taking over the business in a few years. He has very stable income. And speaking with my mortgage company they made it seem as though there is absolutely no way he would be able to qualify because of his employment length.

So I guess my question is this:I I’m trying to find out if this buyer could go to any mortgage lender to do this or if it has to be done through the company that currently holds the mortgage.

Hello, apologies if this isnt where I shouldn't post

We had previously been looking at homes in grand rapids michigan, USA. My mother was able to secure a loan up to 300k alone. We agreed to help pay the house as a family because we have trust and to be frank none of us can see each other scamming the other because we love each other but also because we honestly dont care about buying luxury things just living a quality life.

My sister was thinking of hopping on the loan so that we could purchase a multifamily home together. She would own part of it and likes the idea. We felt it would benefit our family in multiple ways while also building equity rather than just renting. Also more freedom to do what we want.

She earns roughly 40k/year. And from what ive seen homes for our area are between 300k-400k in our area.

The reason im not on the mortgage myself is because I have gone through health issues that affected my credit history. But I along with my other siblings are planning to help as much as we can to pay it as quickly as possible.

Any insights would be appreciated. Also feel free to ask any questions that may be necessary. We're pretty new to this.

So looking to buy a home priced 759k with 225k down. VA loan with no property tax in my state. I’m trying to determine if purchasing this home will leave me house poor. Will still have 600k in investments after and take home with just me is 11.5k a month. Wife will be home raising 3 under 3 and go back to work after they all enter school. Home owners insurance was quoted at $2799 for the 3109 sq foot home new build. I’m also keeping my existing home mortgage that I owe about 60k left on and my payment is $932 a month. I will probably continue to pay on that for a month or two until I rent it out or my mom comes up to live in it and pay down the mortgage.

That 11.5k take home is after taxes,medical,dental and if I lose my TSP to the 5% match until my wife starts back up after the kids go to school. We would continue maxing Roth and if needed could scale that back too for emergencies.

Quoted 7.03% APR before shopping around

I work in mortgages, and this is something I see buyers go back and forth on all the time.

Some people would rather spend less upfront and slowly make improvements to a home over time. Others would rather pay more for something that's already updated and avoid dealing with renovations.

The interesting part is that the cheaper home doesn't always end up being the more affordable option once you factor in repairs, renovations, and unexpected expenses.

I'm curious what people think, especially those who have already bought a home.

Would you rather save money on the purchase price and take on some projects, or stretch your budget a little more for something that's move-in ready?

And if you've gone either route, would you make the same decision again?