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May 10, 2017 3:41 AM Subscribe
Are homebuying assistance programs in DC and VA worth looking into with my salary?
Hi all - it's time for me to look into my buying my own place. The question now is affordability. I have about 10k to put down and I make 66k a year with a credit score of 757. I currently work in DC and live in NoVa. Are the homebuyer's assistance programs in DC and VA worth looking into? Or do I make too much to qualify for any of them? This would be my first home and I would be buying by myself. I would really like to own a place in DC but would I fall in the not so sweet spot of making too much to qualify and too little to buy anything reasonable/decent?
Any advice related to the DC/NoVa area would be greatly appreciated. I've met with a realtor and lender already but wanted to get advice from the green as well.
Hi all - it's time for me to look into my buying my own place. The question now is affordability. I have about 10k to put down and I make 66k a year with a credit score of 757. I currently work in DC and live in NoVa. Are the homebuyer's assistance programs in DC and VA worth looking into? Or do I make too much to qualify for any of them? This would be my first home and I would be buying by myself. I would really like to own a place in DC but would I fall in the not so sweet spot of making too much to qualify and too little to buy anything reasonable/decent?
Any advice related to the DC/NoVa area would be greatly appreciated. I've met with a realtor and lender already but wanted to get advice from the green as well.
It appears you qualify for down payment assistance grant in our area. Here's the PDF linked to from this page. As a first-time home buyer, you may also be eligible to take money out of retirement without penalty, but of course you'll have to weigh the pros/cons of that on your own.
I'd do some serious "rent vs. buy" research for this area to see if it's worth going through all the hassle of buying a place just so you can foot the bill on that mortgage as well as all the wonderful fixes and maintenance you have to do as the home owner that nobody ever thinks about, much less budgets for.
Your $10k down is 20% of $50k. You can still buy a place if you don't have a full 20% to put down, but it requires either some creativity, or eating percentage points monthly for the mortgage insurance. I only had 5% to put down, but then secured 2 loans to cover 15% and 80% of the price of the townhouse.
If you already have a lender in mind, I would call to talk with one of their reps about assistance programs. They should be well-versed enough in the subject to tell you if it's worth pursuing. Best of luck!
posted by xiix at 7:18 AM on May 10, 2017
I'd do some serious "rent vs. buy" research for this area to see if it's worth going through all the hassle of buying a place just so you can foot the bill on that mortgage as well as all the wonderful fixes and maintenance you have to do as the home owner that nobody ever thinks about, much less budgets for.
Your $10k down is 20% of $50k. You can still buy a place if you don't have a full 20% to put down, but it requires either some creativity, or eating percentage points monthly for the mortgage insurance. I only had 5% to put down, but then secured 2 loans to cover 15% and 80% of the price of the townhouse.
If you already have a lender in mind, I would call to talk with one of their reps about assistance programs. They should be well-versed enough in the subject to tell you if it's worth pursuing. Best of luck!
posted by xiix at 7:18 AM on May 10, 2017
Also, think very carefully about whether your current income is actually sufficient to cope with the occasional medium-to-large expenditures demanded by house ownership. You mention that you have $10K for a downpayment. Is that your entire savings? Unless I was committed to living in squalor if necessary, I wouldn't dream of buying a house without at least another $10K in emergency reserves.
Here in the city co-ops will often require that you have two years' worth of mortgage payments plus maintenance (so, taxes plus predictable recurring costs) in liquid assets in addition to the down payment to buy. That's probably excessively conservative (you are to some degree financially vulnerable to your co-op fellow-shareholders so you have an incentive to be extra-fussy), but it gives you some idea of what people think is a necessary reserve to avoid falling into ruin if you have problems with your house, or with your job.
posted by praemunire at 9:48 AM on May 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
Here in the city co-ops will often require that you have two years' worth of mortgage payments plus maintenance (so, taxes plus predictable recurring costs) in liquid assets in addition to the down payment to buy. That's probably excessively conservative (you are to some degree financially vulnerable to your co-op fellow-shareholders so you have an incentive to be extra-fussy), but it gives you some idea of what people think is a necessary reserve to avoid falling into ruin if you have problems with your house, or with your job.
posted by praemunire at 9:48 AM on May 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
I had a great lender that I used for my condo purchase, refi, and when I started the process of buying a house in one of the only affordable suburbs left. PM if you want contact info.
I bought my condo with an FHA loan and worked my butt off to get the PMI off. FHA and PMI are not usually recommended but it worked well for me (as opposed to not doing it). As others have said, make sure it's what you truly want to do, and then do it. Otherwise, rent. The DC market is not for the single-income faint-of-heart.
posted by perrouno at 11:50 AM on May 10, 2017
I bought my condo with an FHA loan and worked my butt off to get the PMI off. FHA and PMI are not usually recommended but it worked well for me (as opposed to not doing it). As others have said, make sure it's what you truly want to do, and then do it. Otherwise, rent. The DC market is not for the single-income faint-of-heart.
posted by perrouno at 11:50 AM on May 10, 2017
As others suggest, and I'm sure you're already aware, this is a tough market, and $10k is not much of a down payment.
There's some help, and a potential homesteader's credit, in your range. But I would actually suggest it might not be worth buying something in the district right now.
Partner and I together make in the low 6 figures, put down 18%, and bought something priced way under market value in 2013, when credit was cheap and the market was uncertain to rebound. On the current market we could maaaaybe just afford to buy our house as valued at the last assessment; in four years it's appreciated almost $70k.
To me it seems unlikely the market can stay like this, especially with the current uncertainties in government. Anecdotally I already know several people who have left the area or are moving that direction. If you plan on staying in DC I would suggest saving for another year; to me it seems inevitable that this boom is nearly over and that supply will eclipse demand soon.
posted by aspersioncast at 1:27 PM on May 10, 2017
There's some help, and a potential homesteader's credit, in your range. But I would actually suggest it might not be worth buying something in the district right now.
Partner and I together make in the low 6 figures, put down 18%, and bought something priced way under market value in 2013, when credit was cheap and the market was uncertain to rebound. On the current market we could maaaaybe just afford to buy our house as valued at the last assessment; in four years it's appreciated almost $70k.
To me it seems unlikely the market can stay like this, especially with the current uncertainties in government. Anecdotally I already know several people who have left the area or are moving that direction. If you plan on staying in DC I would suggest saving for another year; to me it seems inevitable that this boom is nearly over and that supply will eclipse demand soon.
posted by aspersioncast at 1:27 PM on May 10, 2017
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posted by une_heure_pleine at 5:45 AM on May 10, 2017