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Originally Posted by George  hey guys i just need some advice and help. my fiancee and i are looking to buy a house and we are first time buyers. what we are wondering is if we can ask for more on a loan than what the house is valued. what we are looking to do is consolidate some balances and to have some money to buy some appliances. we have figured out our spendings and if possible this would be better for us. we know that we would be paying more interest in the long run but we plan to make more on the house pymt than what will be asked. and i know we wont have trouble making pymts.
we went to her fcu and they only approve for the amount the house is worth. do you guys know if its possible to ask for more? and if so which banks or lenders would help us out?
since its late right now and banks are closed i figured to see if my fellow spurs/cantina buddies can help me out with some info or advice. the house may be in the market for a while longer and im trying to get this deal done asap. thanks guys for your help  |
Anything's possible in today's market with the creative financing going around. How much more are you looking to finance above cost? Putting nothing down? I would say that buying a house, furnishing it, and consolidating debt on top of it is a little risky. It makes debt that once was unsecured now secured by the one place you need -- your home! Not to mention you'll be upside-down on your home (owing more than it's worth), which means you're stuck in it until you pay down some stuff. It really can reduce some of your options should financial problems strike.
There's so much additional costs involved with buying a home that you may wanna wait a little while so you can save up for some of the costs associated with it -- just based on my experiences the past 2 1/2 years, my wife & i rushed into buying right after getting married, when renting might've been better for the situation at hand. In your situation, it would give you time to clear some consumer debt, save up some cash to buy some furniture and stuff, and maybe even part of your down payment.
Also don't forget to figure property taxes into your payment scenario -- many banks and salespeople will conveniently forget to include that in their financing estimates, only for your true payment to be hundreds of dollars/month higher. Yearly property tax runs nearly 3% of your home's value per year. In our $170k home, that's over $400/month.
Also, if it's a brand new home, you might be able to get the builder to give you money towards furniture and stuff as incentives to buy. There's so much inventory out there right now, they're throwing in tons of freebies as incentives.
Also, try asking TBNL -- i think he's in the real estate business. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions - i'd be curious to see how it all works out for you two. Congrats on the engagement.
I've learned a lot in the past 3 years with my first home purchase. I'm totally with ya on wanting to own a house, you just don't want that house to own you.