Many renters do not own a home because they think they will not qualify, do not have the money to put down on a home, are worried that something big will break on or in the home and they will not have the money to fix it or do not make enough make enough money to pay for a home.
Qualifying for a loan does depend on your debt to income ratio (meaning the amount of money you have going out to the amount of money you have coming in), your credit score, the lenders own qualifications (Northeast is not a lender we are a brokerage firm with many lenders so the qualification options we can offer you are much wider than a bank or mortgage lender), the loan product (type of loan), and maybe a few other small factors.
Having money to put down on a home is a great start but you do not have to have a large amount of money set aside to purchase a home. Some mortgage products do not require any money down such as; Home Ready, Home Possible, and USDA just to name a few. Other products do require money down such as FHA @ 3.5% and Conforming @ 20%. When purchasing a home there will be out of pocket expenses like home owners insurance, inspection fees, appraisal fee and maybe a few other minor fees.
When buying a home there will be an inspection done. Most of the homes that have major things to be replaced can be negotiated by your realtor with the sellers realtor for them to either be fixed before the home is purchased, as a closing credit, or reduce the purchase amount. When buying a home of course over time things will need to be replaced, but keep in mind that when you buy a home most times your monthly payment could be less then what you are paying in rent and as you pay your mortgage you build your credit score up (which will allow you to have a lot more financial options) and you are gaining equity in your home. When you rent you are not only paying someone else mortgage and helping them gain their own equity you are also paying them more than their monthly mortgage payment. So essentially the apartment or home that you are renting you are paying the mortgage and then some. If you can afford to pay rent of $1,300 then you can afford to pay that for a home of your own.
Still concerned about buying a home? You could also buy a 2-4 family home, live in one apartment, and collect rent from the other apartment(s) possibly paying the whole monthly mortgage payment and more.
You could also test the waters so to speak by renting a home to own as one example housinglist.com/rent-to-own/Ct has a list of homes for sale usually by owner who are willing to do a rent to own option. You can put in the zip code of the area that you would like to live in and it will show you a list of those homes.
Connecticut has the 8th highest rent in the country, owning a home may seem out of reach but you truly never know until you have filled out an application, had your credit report pulled (pulling your credit for a mortgage is a “soft” pull and has a minimal effect if any on your credit score), and go through the loan lenders and products that will best fit you and your personal situation.
Not everyone has an amazing credit score but there are lots of options to either work with the credit score you have or we can help you get your credit score rating to where it needs to be in order for you to be able to purchase a home.
Elizabeth Summers
Office: 844.788.7237 x7866
Cell: 401.396.6959
elizabeth@northeast-mortgage.com
NMLS: 1544840
