I would definitely ask. There are quite a few people here that have paid off debts by rolling it into the mortgage loan at closing. I would also ask your loan officer how much wiggle room you have in your current DTI to see if tacking on an installment loan won't be a problem. If you have already filed 2011/2012's taxes, I would bet the IRS will send you a bill by the end of February, and if you call them to start a payment plan, you would be able to qualify in September after 6 payments. But you need to be sure you ask for a low monthly payment so you don't exceed the DTI ratio required for approval. If you go with an installment for your taxes, you will also need a low monthly payment as well. If you pay off your car loan, your monthly payment for taxes can be a bit higher and still qualify.
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Your monthly payment on a $115,000 home with taxes and annual insurance will be around $875 a month. You still have to add in mortgage insurance, interest, and homeowner's insurance which will make the total monthly payment around $1000-$1200. Is that affordable to you given $2400 per month gross income (not including taxes)? Is your mother going to be helping with the payments? Because if it is just you alone, your discretionary income is about $1115-$915 a month for gas, groceries, and utilities. Is that affordable to you given that this is before taxes? Taxes could deduct another $100 from your remaining income.
There will be other houses and they may be better than the current one. :-)
I would seriously consider looking for downpayment assistance programs. I am only coming out of pocket for $2000 in earnest money & about another $600-$700 for interest for the remaining days in Feb after closing on my mortgage. The builder is paying all my closing costs, which is $8000 and my downpayment is rolled into a second mortgage. There was one lady here that got a $10,000 grant to go towards her downpayment. That way, you can use the funds saved to pay off your income taxes as much as you can comfortably (don't completely deplete your savings) and the remaining taxes can be rolled into a installment loan that will still meet DTI requirements as you put money down on the home. If you get a grant that is 10% of the purchase price, you won't have to pay PMI.
I would seriously consider looking for downpayment assistance programs. I am only coming out of pocket for $2000 in earnest money & about another $600-$700 for interest for the remaining days in Feb after closing on my mortgage. The builder is paying all my closing costs, which is $8000 and my downpayment is rolled into a second mortgage. There was one lady here that got a $10,000 grant to go towards her downpayment. That way, you can use the funds saved to pay off your income taxes as much as you can comfortably (don't completely deplete your savings) and the remaining taxes can be rolled into a installment loan that will still meet DTI requirements as you put money down on the home. If you get a grant that is 10% of the purchase price, you won't have to pay PMI.
Have you considered moving to Florida first before starting the home buying process? Have you even seen the house you want to buy in person yet? I highly recommend that you are present for the inspection as the inspector will give you an overview on how your house works so that you can keep it maintained and functioning properly.
I had the option of taking the class in person or online so I took it online. It would best for you to attend the class in person or online (if they have it) as I think they do ID as you will need to bring many personal financial documents with you to class for review and use in calculations. I think it would be very beneficial for you to attend the class and not your brother, as I think you will learn a lot from the class to be a successful homeowner. Plus your certificate of completion becomes a formal document attached to your file and if the lender finds out you didn't take the class, I could imagine your loan app could be denied as the lender wants to know that you successfully completed the class so that he is confident that you will stay current on your loan as you will know how to apply the tools you learned in class to maintain financial stability after closing on your mortgage.
You are going to have an expensive cross country move from Oregon to Florida. Have you received any quotes yet from movers?
I had the option of taking the class in person or online so I took it online. It would best for you to attend the class in person or online (if they have it) as I think they do ID as you will need to bring many personal financial documents with you to class for review and use in calculations. I think it would be very beneficial for you to attend the class and not your brother, as I think you will learn a lot from the class to be a successful homeowner. Plus your certificate of completion becomes a formal document attached to your file and if the lender finds out you didn't take the class, I could imagine your loan app could be denied as the lender wants to know that you successfully completed the class so that he is confident that you will stay current on your loan as you will know how to apply the tools you learned in class to maintain financial stability after closing on your mortgage.
You are going to have an expensive cross country move from Oregon to Florida. Have you received any quotes yet from movers?
Yes you have to use one of their approved lenders. I started off with a Mortgage Broker that did CHFA loans but I found a new construction home that I really liked and I put an offer and earnest money down. The builder then said, if I went through their lender, I would get $15,000 in incentives. Luckily the builder's lender does CHFA loans so I was still able to stick with the loan program offered by our housing authority after switching lenders. You may have to switch lenders to secure the funding you need to be able to buy by Mar 26th. You are negative in reserves right now with your current lender after downpayment, closing costs, moving costs, installment loan for taxes, and required reserves (if stated is needed) at closing. If you don't know if your lender requires reserves at closing, I would find out right away. So you are in the hole with your current lender unless you can save an additional $2,000-$4,000 and get approved for an installment loan by Mar 26th. Is that doable? What is your mid fico score?
Did you try calling him (not email)? I guess you could just wait until your loan officer calls you back but it doesn't hurt to get information from one of the approved brokers in FL. That way when your loan officer calls, you can explain the downpayment assistance program to him and ask if there is any way to get your out of pocket costs down if you stayed with him.
I noticed the home you are looking to buy is a foreclosure. Did the bank accept your offer yet? Foreclosures and short sales can take 3-6 months to close. Not sure if you knew that are not. Foreclosures are a little quicker than short sales but the process is still longer than typical. Typically it takes 45 days from preapproval/offer acceptance to closing on regularly priced homes. So to have a chance of closing by Mar 26th, you need the bank of the foreclosed property, to accept your offer by Feb 15th (give or take).
I noticed the home you are looking to buy is a foreclosure. Did the bank accept your offer yet? Foreclosures and short sales can take 3-6 months to close. Not sure if you knew that are not. Foreclosures are a little quicker than short sales but the process is still longer than typical. Typically it takes 45 days from preapproval/offer acceptance to closing on regularly priced homes. So to have a chance of closing by Mar 26th, you need the bank of the foreclosed property, to accept your offer by Feb 15th (give or take).