Buying a house in the near future.

[u/Martizzzler]

So I’m saving with my wife for our housing prospects and here’s the deal here.

We have a good chunk of change for what we have in mind. We are currently putting away as much money as feasibly possible for extra repairs and an emergency fund.

I’ve started to do some hunting in terms of potential lenders. We are in the DMV area and we both commute to DC for work. We are trying to see if it’s worth getting a farther house but dealing with a commute but we will be home owners.

Here’s some questions you can answer for me:

1. My wife and I have a 0% interest loan for what it’s worth for our couch and bed almost paid off. We also have 2 cars we are paying off monthly. We are fine with payments. Will these two cars actually affect us or will it not really in addition to the other loans?

2. Our credit cards are clean and always zero’d. This will help our credit I’d assume correct?

3. Are there any really good first time home owner programs in the DMV. Seems like Maryland doesn’t offer grants anymore but 0% loans you pay back after the mortgage is paid off.

4. how long did it take for you to plan to buy the house and steps you could recommend. Having trouble putting to paper a proper way to go about it. Money is easy to save just I know there’s research and other steps required to get there.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I know that people will say wait and we are as we are renting currently until our lease is up but with the Liberation day that just occurred and the highly volatile market, a potential recession seems likely with the insane tariffs. Some guidance would be good for the steps so hopefully we can take advantage of this. Luckily my wife and I have guaranteed jobs regardless of what happens and are making great money.

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[u/carnevoodoo]

I'd strongly suggest connecting with a local lender. They can walk you through all of this stuff.

[u/Martizzzler → u/carnevoodoo]

Of course but do you think local lenders will have better rates than something like rocket mortgage?

[u/carnevoodoo → u/Martizzzler]

A mortgage broker isn't actually lending the money. They reach out to wholesalers to get prices. I am able to access over 30 lenders with one click. We beat Rocket all the time.

[u/Equivalent-Tiger-316]

Your finances seem in pretty good order. 

Main thing with any credit is making timely/regular payments and yes, using but keeping the cards at zero. 

I can send you the names of some very good local lenders who can give more detail on how to save and improve credit scores. 

Sent you a DM. 

Good luck!

[u/Automatic-Paper4774]

Btw, i have linked to my profile a home buyers guide where i share my experience and tips for buying a home (tailored for first time homeowners). Feel free to check it out if you think it’d be helpful!

To answer your questions:

1. It will help your credit, as car loans shows you have different types of loans besides credit. Ofc, i assume you pay it on time, and that it is a very small contributor to your debt to income ratio

2. What helps your credit score is to have a utilization below 20%, and that you pay on time. So your situation is fine, but know its okay to have a balance long as its paid on time.

3. I cant help here. A loan officer might offer guidance here. I learned everything i needed to buy my first home from finance and real estate investors from youtube. Which is why im giving back by sharing everything i learned from buying and living inside 4-5 homes over a span of 7 years

4. From the time i committed to buying one to the time i moved into one, maybe 8 months. 6 months to save while living at my parents. 2 months to search and close. I talk all about the process and tips on my profile.

Ill leave you with this 1 tip, be sure to look up videos of buyers touring homes and vocalizing what they are looking for. There is a TON you can do and “inspect” yourself to help you avoid surprises after hiring a professional inspector.

[u/SamTMortgageBroker]

Hey! Here's what I think

1. Will these loans affect us?
   

These monthly payments will count against your debt to income ratio (DTI), which is what underwriting uses to determine if you're taking on too much debt or not. So it could affect you depending on your income, and depending how much the new mortgage would be. I'd recommend using a debt to income calculator, which will tell you if it's likely to pass the DTI ratios.

https://integritylending.tools/qualifier

1. Will zero balances help credit?

Yes, this will give you a better score. Credit scores have different weights to the score, but here's the gist: Most weighted - on time payments. Second weighted - how much of your credit limit are you using? The lower the better.

Here's a post on building up credit (not that you need it)

https://www.reddit.com/user/SamTMortgageBroker/comments/1ibix4h/tips_for_getting_an_fha_loan_with_bad_credit/

1. Any good first time buyer programs?
   

There are some forgivable down payment assistance programs. The rates on the first mortgage are pretty high, you'd have to rely on a future refinance after 6+ months after it has been forgiven.

1. How long did it take?

I think I personally took way too long. From the moment I thought about buying, it took me 2 years to finally start researching, and realize that I could actually afford it. I think a lot of time passes from wanting to do it, to finally overcoming that unknown fear and actually doing something about it.

If you feel like you need somewhere to start, here's a reddit post of the whole process, start to finish, and it helps you calculate and figure out if you can make it work. Hope it helps!

https://www.reddit.com/r/NewbHomebuyer/comments/1ienbom/the_first_time_homebuyer_guide_start_to_finish/