What Do I Need To Do?

[anderl]

K-I too want to purchase my first home and here is where I am currently: income-$3300 monthly(NET) -@42% DEBTt(incurred mainly because of my moving for my job) on a total of 72K in credit/charge cards and LOC(my monthly payments total $429-I save $500 mnthly as well and currently have 10K  IN SAVINGS-and I currently pay $1400 IN RENT- Am in MIAMI and have seen quite a few Condos/Homes listed as SHORTSALES that I'm interested in as my first home- would like to know: 1)which lenders are best, 2)what can I currently afford comfortably, 3)are my scores good enough, 4)are my utlities fine or should i get them down to a certain percentage-thanks-any info is helpful-am brand new to the homebuying thing-have been Growing and Gardening my Credit over the past 2 yrs

[StartinOver]

You asked if your scores are good enough - you forgot to share them

[anderl]

OOPS! LOL-Yes I indeed forgot to list my scores-duh My scores are: EQ-680FICO, EX-700FAKO, TU-702FICO. ALSO my parents offered to add me as an AU to their AARP Chase Visa w/ a 35CL, 0 BALANCE,perfect payment history that I think will bring down my debt percentage to around 26% or so.

[mauve]

http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/houseafford/houseafford.html

Are you saying your debt is 42% of your net salary?  Put your numbers into that calculator using your gross salary.  Also, since you're looking for a condo, you should consider how much HOAs are going to be. 

[Anonymous]

basicly your scores look OK.  Issue is going to be DTI.  Right now it appears you will have about 1K left over each month for mortgage if you are making 3300 per month.  3300 per month leaves you about 1450 for total debts and you have about 450 in debts already before you are over standard DTI guidelines.  I am not sure of the condo price you are talking about, but I believe taxes, insurance, and HOA's are probably pretty hefty down there (at least HOA and Insurance- with any type of hurricane/flood protection)  SO for example if you found a 100K condo you would be looking at about 550 payment and interest.  Now I do not know the particualr condo and such, but I have seen places in S florida where the insurance alone is a ocuple hundred per month due to hurricane issues and the HOA's are similiar.  Add in taxes and you are over budget.  That said, since you have a history of paying 1400 per month, that gives you a compensating factor for a slightly higher DTI.  SO, to be of any real use, you need to let us know (or do the math yourself) what you expect taxes, insurance, and HOA's to run.  Also, I forgot to add PMI in depending ont he situation.  Credit looks like it will be fine.  If you are looking for an FHA loan, you need to find one that is FHA approved and that  may be tough in South Florida as they have alot of restrictions about residency (not too many rentals or uninhabited units) as well as insurances and other things I believe.