iamjoesmamma asked:


My husband and I are in need of a bigger house. The sooner we can get it, the better. We refinanced our mortgage on our current home almost 2 years ago, but that was before our 4th child was born. The house is in both of our names, but originally it was just in my husband’s name until we refinanced. Our credit was bad, but has improved. 5 months ago, mine was 620, and my husbands was just below 600. We haven’t had any late payments since the refinance and my husband and I both have a decent income. We live in central IL and the cost for a house that would be big enough for us would be between $75,000 and $180,000, depending on the condition of the house. Together, my husband and I make about $42,000 a year. Our current home will be worth about $85,000 to $90,000 when we are finished remodeling. Could I apply for a home loan within the next few months or would it be wise to wait another year to 18 months before applying?
I forgot to add that the income amount that I listed is what we bring home after taxes and such are taken out.
We would have to sell the house we are in. we only owe about $52,000 on it. We don’t want to put in on the market until we know that we would be able to buy another house. We are in a great location but we have outgrown our house. We are right across the street from the elementary school in our town.

Daniel

John L asked:


A significant number of people that don’t qualify for traditional home loans accept subprime loans to get into a home of their own, often without understanding that their mortgage will jump dramatically.

Lenders, on the otherhand, are making loans to people that can barley make the starting mortgage and will find it almost impossible to make the payment once the mortgage increases.

Many people got into these loans with the expectation that the value of their home would increase and they could refinance, but in the current cool market it’s nearly impossible to refinance.

Again, who’s to blame? A person for taking the loan they can’t afford or the lender that knows that the family will probably lose the house?

Sylvia

Jozogo asked:


We are currently considering building an addition on our home but go back and forth with whether it would be better to just move. We are looking at converting an existing attached 2 car garage into a large rec room and building a new 2-car garage in front of the old one. We have the available space to do this. We’re also thinking about remodeling the kitchen at the same time and building a full bathroom (we currently have a half bath that would then become a walk-in pantry and/or coat closet? We don’t have a basement.

The next step up in homes in the area that might have a basement and are about 15-20 years newer than our current home are about $100k-$250k more in price.

It might also be noteworthy that we currently have a 5% 30-year mortgage with equity available for a home equity loan.

GILBERTO