Buying house - pay of CC or save for down payment

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Question for those in the mortgage/real estate industry.  Is it better to save money for a down payment, or use the cash to lower current debt?  I have a few thousand dollars saved up that I was planning to put toward a down payment on a house.  However, that same few thousand dollars would also pay all my debt off completely, but leave very little for a down payment.  Any thought/suggestions on what to do.  With my current debt, my DTI is in the upper 30% range. 

Thanks!

Jeff

[Anonymous]

Hey Jeffy,

If you plan on buying a home soon, I would suggest holding onto your cash.  It comes in really handy for all the things you need after buying the home.  I say hold on to the money because I think you can qualify without putting it down or paying your credit debt down.  Based on a DTI in the high 30's you should be ok there.

The down payment can be a little trickier.  There are 100% programs still out there but are harder to qualify for.  FHA is a great way to go still at 97%.  And I'm not sure where you are but I'm guessing it is a buyers market.  That means you can probably get the seller to pay your closing costs and maybe also contribute to the down payment.  Talk to a loan officer and a real estate agent to verify you can make all that happen.  Otherwise maybe you have to use it for down payment.

Keep working on those cc's though.  You'll feel really good when they are done....