Last person I know who bought a car at a dealership (my brother) walked in with financing secured through the credit union we both use. He walked out of the dealership with financing from the same credit union at a half percent discount.
Starting Score: EQ 583 TU04 619 EX 592 (lender pull) 2010
@Anonymous wrote:Wow. That makes it pretty easy to relate to. We have pretty much the same situation. I am in the 32 - 33k income area. I am divorced, so no wife's income to rely on. I just bought a $12k vehicle with $1k down and payments a little over $300.mth. My interest rate is high due to credit issues, but I will never pay that amount of interest because I will retire the loan early. The one thing that sticks out is the $300 in child support. That goes into the DTI and I know for conventional and FHA mortgage loans this could cause you not to qualify at the best rate, or even at all. Your calculation is probably similar to mine. I have about 400 in payments per month with the car payment and 4 small credit card obtained to build credit. Adding a $500 - 600 mortgage and the DTI was within guidelines but still close. I can't add anymore payments or I may be over. So with the $300 child support and no car payment yet, you want to be extemely careful. Run the calculators to see where you stand. I don't think you should put the 5k down on the vehicle. Remember the salesman can work the numbers to make sure you still pay more than what you want and a good bit of that 5k is going to fund his paycheck. Go for $1k max down and keep the other$4k on reserve (for emergencies) if you must finance the car. Or look around for a good used car that you can get for 5k and avoid adding to the DTI altogether. Also with FHA, you would need 3.5% down which you already have if you finance $100k or less. Make that $4k your downpayment for the home, and see if the seller will help with the closing costs. Since you drive for a living, you may opt for the vehicle with the payment because it may come with a warranty, etc. You can weigh that all out, but don't let it prevent you from getting an appreciating asset (homes do go up in value - just not recently
because a car is just the opposite. Also, how long have you worked the 2nd job? In order for that income to count in underwriting for the mortgage, I think you have to show it on your taxes for at least two years.
Hi there.
May I make a gentle request? When you have a long post could you break it up into several or more paragraphs? A solid block of words is very hard to read and some folks will just pass it by and won't even attempt to read it and therefore might miss something important.
It is possible to edit your own post. To edit your post, go to the post. To the right you'll see "Options." Click on "Options" and select "Edit Message" from the drop-down menu.
I hope you don't think I'm singling you out or picking on you because I'm not.
