Digital Federal Credit Union offers 6% interest on your first $1,000!

[redpoint5]

I wish I could get a VA loan.

The key to profiting is to buy a bigger house than you need, and then rent out those rooms. Owning (a mortgage) is cheaper than paying rent.

[Xist]

The only time that I thought I could afford a house was when I came home from Germany, the owner wanted $94,500 the VA would only pay $79,000, and I looked elsewhere. I put in one or two more offers unsuccessfully and gave up because the house market became too rich for my blood.

They sold a month or two later for $91,000. However, it is supposedly worth $175,000 now, or at least was recently.

Now that you mention it, I remember seeing many listings specify cash or conventional It was dififcult to find something that might potentially qualify.

[redpoint5]

According to Zillow, the house I bought 10 years ago for $217k has nearly doubled in value.

It would need new south facing windows, siding, flooring, fences all around, and yard work to sell it.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Xist

I
They are currently asking $189,000, but things weren't selling well before TPgate.

Are you ready for some numbers?

There are probably dozens of banks that issue VA loans, but I doubt this one would qualify. Navy Federal says "Interest rate as low as 2.875%."

First, that is for a 15-year loan. It is a whopping 3% for a 30-year loan. They say that monthly payments would be $796.83 with a 3% morgtage.
.

There is a lot more difference between the cost of the loans than the extra 0.125% APR would make it seem.

A $189,000 home financed for 15 years at 2.875% will cost you $232,934. ($189,000 purchase price + $43,934 in interest)

A $189,000 home financed for 30 years at 3.00 will cost you $287,044 ($189,000 purchase price + $98,044 in interest)

15 year loans save a bunch of money but they can be hard for lots of people to fit into their budgets.

We bought our 1st house on a 30 year FHA loan with 3% down. Sold it 6 years later without much of the principal paid off. 2nd house was 15% down on a 30 year loan. We paid on schedule for 18 months while we paid off the rest of our debt and then starting making payments to pay it off 20 years early. Sold that house and bought our current house with 25% down on a 15 year loan. We haven't decided if we should pay off our house or invest in a rental. Right now we are just sitting on the cash we saved for the rental down-payment because - COVID depression.

[redpoint5]

The 4 unit rental property in OK was $60k and everything was split 50/50 with my partner. It had something like a 6% interest rate initially.

First house I bought was 20% down and 30 year fixed. Got the first time homebuyer credit too ($8k) at nearly the bottom of the market.

Second house I put 5% down on a 30 year fixed as I've re-evaluated my position on avoiding PMI. Investments on cash can exceed the expense of PMI, and it pushes more risk onto the lender. It also presents a good position for refinancing should an opportunity arise. We could have put 20% down, but I like keeping my investing options open, so that means I've got cash.

I can put the money into the stock market since it's at a discount now, or I expect the housing market to take a beating in the next couple years. My wife's employer is 70 years old and probably looking to retire soon, so there is an opportunity to buy a medical practice at a discount.