patrick.net

My first question would be what kind of interest rate would you get with a BK that's only 4 years old? I have no idea, but I would think it's a lot more than the best interest rates of 4.25% for good credit, so that would factor into any decision I would make about buying right now. Maybe it would be a lot cheaper in a year or two? I don't know the answer to this, but I am sure you've asked a mortgage broker. Trying to pick tops and bottoms of any market are impossible whether it's the housing market or the stock market. If you need to move and can afford a 30 year fixed rate loan with 20% down I would do it, but you don't have the down payment, so I would wait until you have 20% down even if that is 5 or 6 years away. That would be another question to ask the mortgage broker about.......I don't know the answer to this, but I would guess that with a 4 year old BK they will want more down. You want this home purchase to be a blessing to you, not a curse. I don't know if you've ever owned a home before, but what you pay in rent doesn't translate to what you would pay as a home owner.......it's more expensive to own a home so you can't say I pay X amount every month in rent so I will just pay the same X amount for a mortgage. There are lots of extras such as taxes, insurance, A/C repairs, furnace repairs, maintenence, roofs, and everything else that goes along with home ownership as well as whatever can go wrong probably will at some time or another, especially if you don't have a huge emergency fund. A large emergency fund turns just about any situation in life from a catastrophe to a minor nuisance.

Do you have 3.5% to put down? Is there any program that can help with this? What about finding a lease to own in your price range?

I can see your need in getting into a place - but you should only buy if it makes financial sense and if it's right for you. Look around and see if there's a deal out there.

And congrats for keeping your sanity, living with 2 teenage girls. I lost mine over one lovely young woman - wouldn't trade the experience for the world, but she did drive me nuts sometimes.

at some point here, if interest rates of 4% become the norm, housing will appear affordable or 'investment' worthy when the alternative is renting, because there is so much demand for rentals. not to mention all the obfuscating done with the supply of used houses for sale/inventory. Although some on this site have suggested that you should be able to negotiate better deals on rentals, i've heard some of the opposite from people that rent apartments. make sense, as there are so many people that have foreclosed or gotten out of housedebtorship in one way or another, they are now competing for prime rentals, driving up those prices, which in turn should create some homebuying demand, especially with rates so low.

even though things are very bad in the economy when compared to the last decade, things are still ok to good for many people, maybe just not as good as they once were. plenty of people never participated in the madness, never bothered with equity extraction from their house or hyperleveraged themselves with credit vehicles. plenty of people lived with in their means while others went mad and dug their own financial graves. so while many are hurting, and many areas are still overpriced, there is another side to the story. If you pay 700 per month to be cramped, and can afford 775 and can buy for 800, i'd say go for it and maybe pick up a couple extra hours a month or cut out a couple bucks of unnecessary spending. good luck.

Jeff ... IMO, I would tuff it out. Especially considering that you believe your area will drop another 15-20%. That's a considerable chunk of future equity loss. I think interest rates are going to drop further along with prices. Those that have patience will be rewarded. As far as your BK, provided you have re-established your credit, you should be able to buy FHA. I believe the down payment requirement is now up to 3.25%. Find a reputable mortgage lender and get yourself pre-qualified (if you haven't already) to find out exactly where you stand. At least you'll know where you stand and what you'll need to do in order to get to where you want to be.

Are the girls old enough to work?
Can you shack up with someone?