hud homes for GNND

[corrinec]

If you know a teacher, law enforcement officer, firefighter or emergency medical technician they are eligible for 50% off list price for a HUD home. Here is the link: Good neighbor Next Door
Note: I do not qualify for this, know little about it, and found it while searching endlessly for help fixing my non-hud home.

Comments

[damnitcarl]

I may be wrong, but I think you have to qualify financially first for the program. My parents are both teachers, but I guarantee you if they tried to apply for the program, they'd be laughed out of there.

[corrinec]

I qualified for a home loan for 100k with an income less than 30k and less than average credit. most of the hud homes are under 250k, so they should be able to qualify, especially if it is half the price.

please don't take offense, but I hope you turned them down.

[jinxlover]

Wow, I can't believe that in this recession and credit upheaval that you were able to qualify for so much! I'd never spend 3x+ our yearly income to buy a home, but maybe I'm just really cautious. When we bought our house 3 yrs ago, we were approved for over 250k (my credit score is in the upper 700s) on our combined income of $50,000; we instead bought a house for $60,000 and took out a $50,000 loan. There's just no way that I would put that stress on myself; isn't people overbuying one of the major reasons for the housing collapse? granted, where we live $100,000 would get you a very nice place, but regardless of cost of living I don't think it'd be wise to take out that much debt with that low of an income.

Re: please don't take offense, but I hope you turned them down.

[corrinec]

The housing market in Denver was insanely high when I bought my house. A small basement apartment or fixer upper runs at least 80k, but those are hard to find. So, when I found a normal house for 100k it was a good deal. My only other option was finding a hud home, which I should have done. There were no "nice places" for 100k in Denver or the general area.

Re: please don't take offense, but I hope you turned them down.

[jinxlover]

wow. I guess I'm just used to living in areas where cost of living and pay roughly balance out. I couldn't imagine trying to find a house in your situation! There's a new post on the main page with someone trying to find a $100k house on a 30k salary, so apparently its a common thing. y'all make me scared to ever leave the area :)

Re: please don't take offense, but I hope you turned them down.

[minimumwager]

3x or 4x your annual income is actually a pretty sound amount to invest in a home, though it's certainly wise spend less if you can.

The general rule of thumb I've heard is 20% downpayment and mortgage payments shouldn't be more than 1/4 of your monthly income for a 15 year fixed. If you can swing a higher downpayment and pay off the loan early, all the better.

I notice our OP said she had roomates, which helps a lot because it increases her actual income, but she doesn't have to pay tax on money her roommates give her since she lives in the house too.

The trouble comes when people max out their avaible loan, make poor choices about payment plans, and don't build up any savings outside of the home to deal with emergencies. Putting all your eggs in one basket is never a good idea.