Trying to buy my first home and wanted to know what people are getting for interest rates right now. I was quoted 7.75% with points. The house is 165k and I’m doing a FHA loan. I’m also thinking about doing no points just so I can put down less during closing.
So I’ve been house hunting for two weeks with an agent and also received some preapprovals. I paid off all my credit cards, a personal loan, and a collection so my DTI would be better. So far I’m at $230k with NAF and it’s a FHA loan. He said I could also switch to conventional if I needed to. I was also going to do the Chenoa fund as well. I’m in Chicago and a lot of nice houses in my city are flippers that have no permits and they are needed here. Is it worth the risk to get a house like this? Also, some houses I’ve seen are nice but the neighborhood is not that great, is that worth the risk too? Lastly, my goal is to use this house to buy my next house in 3-4 years.
I’m going to be buying my first house soon and came across one that said it had a major remodel in 2024 but there are no permits for this house when I looked it up. Wanted to know if it really is a big risk to get a house with no permits ever? If it passes an inspection I think that means I’ll be safe structurally. Also my city does say you have to have permits. I’m also using an FHA loan if that makes a difference.
I’m buying my first house that needs a few renovations and I’m skipping out on getting a renovation loan to keep my monthly down. I’m thinking I will be able to paint, change titles and replace the kitchen countertop. Nothing too serious like electrical. Do you think it’s possible for someone with no experience and a small budget to do this?
Last week: Ok, so I literally woke up and and thought "I should get a house." But not too much on me until you read the process I've been through in the last two weeks. It started with an idea, then I started looking on Zillow, Zenlist, Redfin, etc... I started saving houses, condos, townhouses, and even apartments.
So then I was really motivated and thought this would be great if I can earn extra income (Airbnb a room) and have a house because I need more space and my rents going up when my lease ends in 6 months. So I reached out to see some listings and didnt hear back but one finally did and now I have a realtor. We are still like 3 days in now to my hyperfixation.
Last weekend: Went to a few showings and nothing stuck and I realized how much sellers manipulate photos for the house to look good. Because some of these in person vs the photos is just wow...catfished. So I started getting more confidence at looking at house as the weekend hit, I already got a pre approval letter, researching down payment assistance programs and how I can stack them. Also the best thing I did was look up permits/violations on the city site and that eliminated so many of my saved house that it brought me from over 50 to 4. So many flipped houses in my city had no permits and open violations, and even some court cases and I didnt want to deal.
I did however go to an open house over the weekend and saw a nice little house I thought had potential to be turned into a home. Their city record were clean but its only one bathroom, and the seller's agent told me there were things that needed to be fixed like the garage is a "tear down" but the "seller is motivated and theres wiggle room in the price."
This week: I'm working on my DTI and paid off all my credit cards, a personal loan, and a collections. I went through different loans with a lender from NAF that gave me the highest approval amount. Which is the FHA loan, Chenoa fund for 230K. Its not alot for a house but I can work with it. I thought about doing the standard FHA 203K renovation loan for the full 230K amount but after crunching numbers I realized I didnt want to be house poor.
This weekend: I'm taking my agent to see the house and get a professional opinion. If everything looks good I will put in an offer. Its for 180k but I was going to start with 145k with a 155k ceiling. I also was gonna ask for a 4% sellers credit but that ok if its a no. However my agents commission (2.5%) is less than the sellers credit so I would like both to be paid by the seller or at least the sellers credit. Does my offer make sense or is too aggressive? Also does anyone know if I can stack the Chenoa Fund and IHDA access deferred?