Getting custody of my brother, should we buy a house now?

Question

Long story short, I'm 21 and will be getting custody of my younger brother come December. My fiancee and i currently rent a 2Br apartment for $500/month. We use the 2nd bedroom as an office since i have about a year left of school, so we will need to sell our office furniture to buy bedroom furniture for him

We're considering buying a home instead of looking for a 3Br place to rent. Our apartment is OK size, but we feel we'll be too crowded when he moves in. Three Bedrooms run for around $900-1400/month where we live.

My fiancee has been at his job a little over a year (we only moved to the area 2 years ago) and i started a job about 3 months ago making excellent money at a behvaioral health clinic. Our credit scores are in the lower to mid 700's.

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Answer 1

You will need about 3% plus closing costs to put down on a house to get an FHA loan.  Here's that you do if you don't have that.  First, go to a mortgage broker (you can find them in the yellow pages) and figure out the high number of what you can buy for the amount of money you and you fiance can pay monthly.  Do this based on 3 percent down.  Get him to give you a good faith estimate based on your known credit scores and that way you know how much you will need at closing.

After you do that, start looking at houses in your price range.  Get a good realtor that's willing to make a deal for you.  You will need an aggresive realtor.  When you find a nice house, do an offer where the seller will pay you the amount you need for closing upon doing the deal.

So basically the seller is going to discount his house by paying your closing.  Your payment will be slightly higher then if he just came down in his listing price but it's a good way to do it when you don't have the money for a down payment.

Just be careful not to go over your budget.  Find a good mortgage broker and a good realtor.

Good Luck!!

Answer 2

You could talk to a few realtors in your area but, I am guessing that if you have that much debt, you don't have anything for a down payment on a place.  With the way things are now, it seems highly unlikely you could get approved for a mortgage but a real estate agent is the right place to start.  A good one should be able to advise you regarding any first time home buyer programs in your area.  I honestly feel that's the best place to start for information.  Both you and your fiancee can ask co-workers if they know any good agents.

Don't forget to take into consideration what it is going to cost to take care of your brother.  

Good luck to you all.

Answer 3

maybe you could find a cottage or something like that with a yard for about 8 or 9 hundred and buy a 20 foot motor home or trailer  for the younger brother you would be close but with a little distance in the yard=== Or don't move, save money and make do as moneys tight right now= good luck=