Can I Buy A House on This Low Income (30k)?

Question

I'm not seriously considering it, but just wondering.

I make roughly 30K a year (i'm single, no kids). I do have college loan debt of 16K. My credit is "fair"

I figure with the plethora of foreclosures and homes on the market, that I might qualify for a low-income, first-time buyer program (if such exists). I heard that first-time buyers are really needed to shake this housing market rut.

I don't know how much I can put down on a house, maybe about 5K?

Or has the practices really tightened up that they stay away from people like me?

Of course, I mean a real small house (in the 100K's or less) or even one of those manufactuared homes.

Answer 1

Nearly five years ago I managed to buy a house with no job (no income) and poor credit.  What I did have was 25% of the value of the house in cash.  

That was when lenders would give a mortgage to anybody, now they are much harder.  I think that you will have a hard time getting a house with 30K/ year right now.  That is unless you have a solid downpayment.

http://www.buyforecIosure.com may have some useful info too if you are open to foreclosures.

Answer 2

A general rule of thumb is that in order to be able to "afford" to buy a house, you need a mortgage payment that will be affordable, but you should also be able to put down 20%

So if you want a 100k house, you should save up 20k for a down payment. This also helps avoid the extra cost of mortgage insurance, and will enable you to take out a smaller loan of only 80k.

You should talk to a fee only financial planner about this. Especially in today's economic climate, you need to consult and independent expert (hence the fee only part) who will be able to tell you honestly what you can afford (some banks use a different method, and as we have seen some lenders are downright unscrupulous).

Good Luck!

Good luck!