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Hello,
My husband and I are interesting in purchasing a house (actually a duplex) for our first home in the near future. What we are not sure of yet is exactly how near that time may be. I have already read a few books on homebuying and checked out various forums, and before we start looking in earnest, I reallyw ant to find out if we have all of our ducks in a row to obtain a mortgage and if so, for what amount. If not, I want to know how much longer we will need to wait and what, if anything, we must do. I have reached out to one lender who works with my employer to provide private banking services for its employees, but he has not provided concrete answers for these questions. We have also not found a broker or realtor yet because we are not sure exactly what area in our city we will be looking in (in part b/c we don't know how much we will be able to get for a loan yet), and we want a realtor that is familiar with that area especially.
I don't want my credit pulled and I dont want to do something that is similar to committing to a realtor or broker or lender or anything else. I just want to know when & for how much we will be able to get a mortgage -- even with the knowledge that it can't be guaranteed at this point because I have not provided info to verify the information I would be providing the lender. What is the best way for me to approach banks/lenders and who should I be approaching at this point for this type of information? I know that we will likely need an FHA loan. I am lso including the info below in case that helps. Thank you!!
Also, on a related topic -- can anyone recommend a good book on the mortgage process? I've heard a lot about people being more successful when they made detailed inquiries showing that they knew the details of the process so I want to make sure that we are informed buyers when its time to settle on a particular loan.
Thank you!
Thanks for the helpful info.
I have used the calculators and using my income & debt alone it says that I am eligible for a loan up to the amount that we are looking into. I just wasn't sure whether they would count my entire current salary, or if they would average it with my prior year's salary, or -- as the private banking consultant said -- would require that I have the full 2 years of work history, and even then may still take the average over the past two years rather than my current salary.
Added to the mix is my husband, who has a much shorter work history and higehr debts. I was thinking of trying to get the loan on my own, but I think his debts will be counted no matter what since we are in a community property state (although the majority of the debt is before we got married, so I should not be liable for them in any case). I am not sure how they will count his income or his debts.
I think a sit-down may be necessary, but I feel slightly uncomfortable taking up someone's time if I am not willing to commit to them -- and I don't know how much they will expect me to do so -- particularly now, when all I am really looking for is to know the numbers so that we can figure exactly how we should be looking & create a timeline if necessary. If the "shopping" is a normal part of the process I will feel a bit better about it.
moneypenny: Don't forget that with FHA multifamily properties, you are allowed to include 75% of the rent from the side you do not intend to occupy as income for yourself. so your income will increase as a result of this calculation Normal monthly income you earn now + (rent from one side of the propery X 0.75)