I have $0 saved for a down payment. I want to buy a home in five years. What should I do? Go:

[Grateful55]

Just stay calm, first if you look at the markets and the bubble we are in you pry don’t want to buy a house just yet. If your able to be patient then I think you’ll find houses a bit cheaper then they are at the moment. Instead of starving yourself and depriving yourself of all life’s luxuries why not figure out a good investment plan like gold or silver? If you invest in yourself and your wisdom of the markets and investing you’ll be better off then you would be with just a house because a house is a liability not an asset no matter what they say. You should read Richest Man in Babylon and then look up Mike Maloney on YouTube and listen to the points he’s making about our current economic situation

Good Luck and enjoy the ride ; ) 

[matthewbaby_26]

need help finding a home

[skidooseadoo83]

I see some good advice, but at the end of the day there is only one inescapable truth... the less money you put down the more you will pay in interest, period. I bought my first house on a VA home loan, zero down sounds great, until you realize almost all your early payments are interest, the lender will get their money first. I imagine lenders love VA loans, not only are they guaranteed, they are interest gold mines. The more you put down, the less you pay in interest over the life of the loan, pretty basic concept that seems to escape a lot of people. Just re'fied and are going to buy our second home, having learned lessons from the first which we will turn into a rental, I will be putting down every penny possible on my next VA loan. Lenders will almost try and talk you out of it, especially with a VA. Its in their best interest, no pun intended. We live debt free, stay away from car payments! worst investments out there. Might I suggest spending some time researching money market accounts and mutual funds. Savings accounts are pretty old fashion in my opinion, and there are way easier and effective places to multiply your savings relatively safely over a 5 year term. My personal brokerage account is Fidelity, your core position is managed as a money market account, 1-2% interest, works just like a savings/bank account. This puts you in an easy position to branch out into bonds or mutual funds. Mutual funds with a return on investment horizon of 5 years could seriously multiply your savings as well, with little risk. Instead of depositing that $200 into a savings account purchase more mutual fund shares with every pay check. Dollar cost averaging investments in mutual funds are a tried a tested way to make good investment gains over time. One other thing, find a buyer agent! They can save you a lot of headaches and they will represent you and your best interests and yours only. Only buyer agents are required by law to do this, relators that are not strictly buyer agents have no obligation to you as a buyer to get you the best deal, and many times will work to get the best deal for their commission or for the sellers that they happen to be neighbors with. Good luck!

[Carl]

VA loan is the easiest loan you can have.

While a VA loan is without question the simplest and easiest way to go, it's also the most costly way to borrow money in the long run. Most require no down payment. But that Private Mortgage Insurance will eat up on average, 3 full mortgage payments a year. I'd rather save up, put the 20% down and not have to deal with those atrociously high PMI fees. In my opinion, what banks charge for the PMI insurance should be considered and treated as first degree statutory financial rape. One can go out and buy a 10-year term life insurance policy for 80% cheaper (or more!) than the PMI insurance, and just make the lender to primary beneficiary of any payout, should the borrower die. But lender's won't let you do that since that means they get less money from you.

[RbentZ]

Everyone’s making it more complicated than it is... set up your direct deposit from your employer to take the first 10% and deposit it into a locked account. You can set the length of the lock but it will come with higher interest payouts and it ensures you don’t spend it. After a couple months you won’t even notice the missing money and you’ll end up with quite a chunk of change when you’re done. 

[Lynx_TWO]

“the wife doesn’t care about the costs either.”  Best way to afford a house?  Don’t have a wife 😉

[Jack36]

Thank you! Extremely helpful

[Csa88]

What program and through who is with?

[maakichut3baar]

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