Mortgage Loans

[lunamoon]

I submitted my USDA direct loan application this week. I am fairly sure that I will be approved. However, low priced houses in my area are hard to find so I really want to start looking NOW. The problem is that I have no idea how much money I will be approved for. I earn $25,000 a year and my credit score is 800. I live in upstate NY. Any ideas? What did you get approved for?

Also, smaller plots of land are rare around here. Most homes have a few acres. However, I was told to only find houses on less then two acres of land. Were you told this as well?

Thanks!

Luna

[MeeMeesStar]

Hi Lunamoon,

My partner applied for a USDA Direct loan and was approved for $183,000 based on his income of approx. $35,000.    We live in NH and were told that 5 acres is the max amount of land we can have with a house.

 It's tough finding a place  though,  that meets all the USDA criteria.  Pay close attention to the property tax amount stated on the Certificate of Eligibility.   We lost out on a nice property with five acres because the taxes were too high and only by $900 over what they stated on the certificate.   Despite showing proof that my partner qualifies for a Veteran property tax discount and also an elderly discount they wouldn't budge.   We were told they had to go by the numbers available now.....not what will happen next year.   Made me sad.

We've been at this since late January and still haven't found a house.   We're hanging in there, though, because it really is a wonderful program as long as we don't go loony in the meantime.   

Best of luck to you!!!

[lunamoon]

Thanks for the info MeeMee. It's great to hear other peoples experiences. Do you have a lot of debt? We're just going to have to wait and see what we get approved for and then hope something comes on the market that would work. It's just hard because there are very few houses for sale in our town and almost none of them meet the requirements (too much land, not in good shape, too expensive etc.).

[MeeMeesStar]

We have very little debt....well I should say my partner has very little which is what is being counted.   In the meantime we are in desperate need of a new used car but we don't dare even consider applying for credit until we have keys in hand, are in the house and having a hot cup of coffee.

And yes, I understand about not enough houses for sale that will satisfy the USDA people.     Our fear was having the certificate expire which it did.   We got an extension and that expired so had to go through the entire process again minus filling out the application.   All documents, pay stubs, etc were passed in and so we're good for another round.  I really want this over and done with.  

I thought this part of the process...house hunting, etc.... would be the most fun but it hasn't been fun at all.      We have hope lurking in  the background and we might be signing a purchase and sales agreement on Sunday.     

Start looking around for sure and save your favorite houses.    I have a daily email of  MLS properties sent to me and it really does help keep me informed as to what's available out there every day.   Now that May is here I've seen more properties popping up so that's a good sign.

Take care.

Annette  

[goodygoody]

MeeMee, do you  happen to know how much of the amount your partner was offered was the subsidy?  I've had an awful time trying to figure out what we might be approved for (not sure if we'll end up with low enough income for the subsidy).  Our income last year was $49,000, but we expect it to be less this year (maybe $38,000).  I think we'd still be under the income limit, but I think I might get a small ($15,000) inheritance that will put us over (though I wanted to use that as a down payment when it comes).  At any rate, the online mortgage calculators are giving me different amounts we'd qualify for - $100,000, $119,000 - which isn't really workable for our area (we have 3 kids and need more space).  I wonder if the calculators are wrong, though, because we don't even have a huge amount of debt.

I'm assuming, also, that the USDA Guaranteed just uses a regular calculation and doesn't give a subsidy or allow a higher DTI??  Anyone?

Any input would be appreciated!