Me and my fiance are researching to buy our first home next summer and are trying to find the best route to take.

We will be making a combined income of about $63,000 for the first year and our income should jump to about $85,000 the year after that.

We are interested in houses in the price ranges of $190,000 to $220,000.

We will just be graduating from college so when we go to get the loan we will probably only have been working in our careers for about a month or so. How will this factor into our loan qualifications?

I know that the interest is way less and that the house will be payed off twice as fast with a 15 year mortgage but how much harder is it to qualify for a 15 year mortgage over a 30 year? We would only be interested in fixed rate mortgages.

What types of tax deductions would we be able use for each type of loan?

I have heard about the $8,000 stimulus for first time home-buyers. What are the qualifications for this and when does this stimulus offer expire?

These are the questions we have on our mind now but we need help wherever we can get it. So, any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I really need some help and advice quick regarding benefit entitlement.
Background info:
Since June 08 I have suffered with pains in my right dominant hand and it has got worse over time. The pains started by doing a repetitive job in my employment at The Great Western Hospital. It was ignored by my employer and I was made to continue with the painful task through lack of staff so no job rotation. My GP then signed me of from work because they kept putting on that job. The pains were so bad by then everything I did at work or home causes me severe pain.
I was dismissed from work because of this in July 09 and the specialist I have been seeing has told me not to use my arm. I see him again in Nov 09 for pain management as current medication does nothing to relieve pain (30mg codeine twice 4 times a day). I was taken off diclofenic 50mg for ab-do pains.
I have started a full time university course as I was studying as part of my job but loosing my job i lost my place on the course and without a direction in life my depression gets worse (i self harm when very depressed) that’s why i took up another course-i will get disabled student allowance to help me with note taker and extra time in exams.
I have suffered from depression for 14yrs and this has made it worse again. I was hoping to come of my anti-depressants this year but instead my medication has been increased!
I am claiming ESA and have just passed the assessment phase. Can I claim Housing benefit? I am currently waiting on DLA review after first application was rejected can I claim HB whilst waiting for this?
I can not work at the moment but after pain management I hope to be in at least P/T work by June 2010.
I am confused on wot to do-I cant work so Im on ESA but does this mean im not allowed to study?
If i cant get housing benefit I will become homeless within a month this is making me extremely anxious.
Please please can someone help me.
I have tried to go to CAB but all the people in there makes me nervous & anxious & I run away!
Thank you
As far as i know I can claim ESA because I have been signed of work for more than 28 wks. Im very confused because of the income support/ESA swap. I feel I cant work, Im not allowed benefits & im not allowed education! What is then the point of my life!
I will cry long into the night.
Thank you for your reply.
As far as i know I can claim ESA because I have been signed of work for more than 28 wks. Im very confused because of the income support/ESA swap. I feel I cant work, Im not allowed benefits & im not allowed education! What is then the point of my life!
I have lost everything because of my arm incl the much needed company of my pets.
I will cry long into the night.
Thank you for your reply.
As far as i know I can claim ESA because I have been signed of work for more than 28 wks. Im very confused because of the income support/ESA swap. I feel I cant work, Im not allowed benefits & im not allowed education! What is then the point of my life!
I have lost everything because of my arm incl the much needed company of my pets.
I will cry long into the night.
Thank you for your reply.

My husband and I just signed a contract to purchase a 1600 square foot ranch style home on 1 acre of land in the hills north of Huntsville, AL for $105,000. The house is very well kept and only needs minor cosmetic repairs that mainly consist of new carpet and paint in the bedrooms and formal living room. Other than some outdated kitchen appliances the house is in great shape. The seller is a landscaper so the property also has a beautiful front and back yard. The sellers also have done significant cosmetic work to the kitchen, family room and dining room. I’m talking new laminate floors, ceramic tile, paint, lighting fixtures, counter tops and more. The house also has a fantastic view of the mountains in the distance. We live out in the sticks so we only have one neighbor next to us.

My husband is nervous because his parents (mainly his mom) keep telling him that we “over paid” for the house. They live in Delaware (where we just moved from) and their excuse is that a few years before the housing boom they managed to buy 21 acres of old logging land for $50,000 at a tax auction; where they built a 2000 square foot 2 story home for an additional $125,000. The truth is, the old logging land was expensive to grade and required a variance from the local authorities to put in the septic tank. They inadvertently hired one of those mass-production type contractors who slaps up houses with the cheapest of materials so at 6 years old their house is basically falling apart around them.

The home we’re buying was built sometime in the mid-eighties and feels very sturdy. My dad worked in the residential construction industry for over 30 years (mainly doing high end remodels on older homes) and thinks this house is a good buy for the price. He taught me how to spot potential trouble areas in homes when I was a teenager so its not like I’m a total moron when it comes to home buying. I’m having the home inspected tomorrow anyway so if there is anything major we won’t get stuck with it, per our contract.

My mother-in-law convinced my husband that we were also getting a bad deal because the house is selling for $105,000 but is estimated to be appraised at $115,000 to $120,000 (it was originally listed for $130,000, last year). She says “its not enough of a discount in this market”. What she fails to realize is that there really wasn’t much of a boom or even a bust in the area we’re in. Home prices only increased slightly faster than the normal rate for the area and haven’t taken much of a dive since the bust.

All she’s doing is making my husband upset about our first home purchase. She also has this crazy idea that we “need” a lot 5 acres or bigger for our first purchase. Honestly, we would not be able to afford a house as nice as the one we’re buying with a lot that size. I’m not comfortable taking on a $900+ a month mortgage at 22 years old. We’re going through a several state sponsored first time home buyer programs (USDA Rural Development Mortgage, Step-Up and Mortgage Credit Certificate program) in our state that will keep our mortgage at around $650 a month. Which is only $30 more than our current rent.

How do I get my mother-in-law to understand that our situation is totally different than hers. My father-in-law had just retired from the Air Force after 20 years when they bought their first house. I’m 22 and my husband is 25 and we’re buying for the first time, a totally different ball game.

How i can vacate the home ? later i find that police search the house and damge the front door.and now renters brother and sister live in the property without my permission. what should i do? how i can collect the damage ? what is my Rights in california state.

Is the personal secretary to the conveyancing solicitor, permitted to assess criminal files, belonging to another solicitors department, just because the file is about her daughters partner? Is it not also wrong to read criminal files and publicly discuss your thoughts with civilians outside the firm, before the case goes to trial? If I am not wrong who can help me stop this? I find closed doors where ever I look, this woman is also a Justice of the Peace.

I have recently moved to Chennai. I am planning on renting initially, at least for the first year. I was wondering if there is a recommendation as to what should one’s house rent be, as a percentage of one’s salary (whether it is the basic salary or the CTC).

Hi, among many difficulties I’m having with a house purchase, my solicitor is telling me that the sellers lawyer is not following “transaction procedure” which means he’s had to send them a list of questions for them to answer, which is taking ages to complete.

The sellers lawyer is getting pretty angry about this, and the seller is telling me that my lawyer has a reputation for being a nusiance for detail.

I don’t know who to believe and am very stressed. Can anyone tell me about this transaction procedure and if it is standard practice??

I am very grateful for any advice !!

I found this on fact check

The Federal Reserve, which slashed interest rates after the dot-com bubble burst, making credit cheap.

Home buyers, who took advantage of easy credit to bid up the prices of homes excessively.

Congress, which continues to support a mortgage tax deduction that gives consumers a tax incentive to buy more expensive houses.

Real estate agents, most of whom work for the sellers rather than the buyers and who earned higher commissions from selling more expensive homes.

The Clinton administration, which pushed for less stringent credit and downpayment requirements for working- and middle-class families.

Mortgage brokers, who offered less-credit-worthy home buyers subprime, adjustable rate loans with low initial payments, but exploding interest rates.

Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, who in 2004, near the peak of the housing bubble, encouraged Americans to take out adjustable rate mortgages.

Wall Street firms, who paid too little attention to the quality of the risky loans that they bundled into Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS), and issued bonds using those securities as collateral.

The Bush administration, which failed to provide needed government oversight of the increasingly dicey mortgage-backed securities market.

An obscure accounting rule called mark-to-market, which can have the paradoxical result of making assets be worth less on paper than they are in reality during times of panic.

Collective delusion, or a belief on the part of all parties that home prices would keep rising forever, no matter how high or how fast they had already gone up.

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/who_caused_the_economic_crisis.html

I live in South Africa and in October 2007 I bought a house “Subject to Survey” The surveyor passed the structure – but since then the defects have gradually become extreme – main support wall resting on 1 gum pole – plaster is falling off, sever damp, water coming in, and on and on. The previous owners are both in property industry – the wife actually working for the estate agent i bought the house through (but not the actual agent person – but her husband was the conveyancer !) In SA, we have a “Voetstoots clause” basically “As is”. The house is almost un-livable due to the chronic damp and cold (average indoor temp is 13 degrees C) – I believe the previous owners hid the defects and the surveyor was negligent – he was appointed by the agent. This is a real mess and the law is confusing and not defined. Can anyone give me any help or advise – do I have a claim – Delictual or other – seller or surveyor ?? Desperate now – it’s winter and raining hard. Thanks.
NB – I’m needing legal info specifically for SOUTH AFRICA as laws here are different. Thanks.

According to what I just read on Yahoo “First-time homebuyers could get a tax credit of up to $8,000 if they buy homes between Jan. 1 and Dec. 1.” What does this mean for first time home buyers? Also, how do I know if this has been approved? I was unsure by how they article was worded.

Thanks:)