pickledpossum

Hi, we have recently moved to New Jersey and are in the process of renting a place, initially for 6 months, before jumping in and buying. The house we are contemplating leasing is going to cost us $4,000 a month.

However, if we were to bite the bullet and just buy instead how much (ball park figure obviously) would we be able to borrow on a repayment of $4,000 a month??

Thanks in advance

PP

Glen Ellyn Service Crew

All depends on the type of morgage you get. Got to CNN money or yahoo money they have a load of calculators where you can type in the price of house, interst rate etc. etc. that may help you out!

$4,000 a month!!!! That's a lot for a morgage, but that is even crazier as a rent payment!!!

Elvira

Don't forget to factor in the property taxes...

paddingtongreen

And utilities if you're not paying them now, also insurance and local and county taxes.

neil

That could be a big one in NJ, and could easily reduce the amount from $4000 to $3000 (maybe even less depending on the area). There are plenty of mortgage calculators out on the web I seem to remember that should give a good idea of the amount that could be borrowed.

neil

...and the fact that if anything needs fixing you have to pay for it if you own the place rather than rent.

Dan725

On a 6% 30 year fixed mortgage, I'd say around $700,000. But thats not including mortgage insurance you'd incur if you finance more than 80%, or property taxes, repair fund, utilities........

And from Rolands recent postings about houses in NJ, you'll need a second mortgage to pay your property taxes!

tamms_1965

Talk to a local realtor and explain them situation to them. They will also be able to give you the name of a loan officer that will explain things to you.

Longy

Out of interest what are the chances of gettings 6% (or whatever is good at the moment - think it is above 6%) on a 100% mortgage with very little credit history - surely this is the sort of deal which would be considered sub-prime.

Dan725

I think you've answered your question yourself!

paddingtongreen

They won't give a 100% mortgage, but check into FHA, they have been pushed out of the picture recently because of price escalation and the limits on what they were allowed to lend. Those limits are being increased to meet today's prices.

You don't have to be a citizen.

http://www.fha.gov/index.cfm

Bob

$4K mortgage payment...that's pretty good going...won't get much in my neck of the woods, but that's not much help to you....but check your state and county website as chances are they'll have something that'll be able to say what sort of taxes you'll have to pay right down to how much tax you pay a year on your car etc.....but make sure you've got enough cash for those utility deposits if you don't have any credit history.

Longy

The question wasn't for my situation as such although I am thinking of buying a place, I am just more interested in how the banks view what is prime and sub-prime.

tonyghiggins

I would guess around 650k (Interest only).

Loan: $561K
Downpayment: 25%
Interest Rate: 5.875 %

Monthly breakdown (First 5 years interest only):

Interest: $2,744.60
Escrow (Tax and/or Insurance): $679.25
Monthly Payment Amount: $3,423.85

BrewMonkey

This should give you an idea:

Purchase Price = $550k
20% down payment
Interest Rate: 5.85%
Type: Repayment mortgage
Added bonus: ludicrous property taxes

Monthly payment breakdown:
Principal = $520
Interest = $2,400
Property taxes = $1,250 (no, really...)
Total= $4,170

If you're already in the USA it may be too late, but spend a little (think it's $400) joining the AIG International Services thing and it'll pay dividends with the mortgage (through Wells Fargo) and your car insurance. I have a better mortgage deal than most of of the people I know.

Had to pay a chunk of property taxes up front into the escrow account and the payment above is effectively in advance so there's enough in the pot when it's time to pay up.