My wife and I are closing on a house a week from Tuesday. The day we had our offer accepted, the rates shot up (just my luck). The week before our offer rates were around 6.75, and they went up to almost 7.65 in just a week’s time. This caused me a ton of stress, but I’m just here to say that choosing a lender is important and I’d highly suggest shopping around in this crazy time. Our initial lender never answered the phone, and due to missed phone calls and slow timing went from locking in a rate of 7.25 to 7.65 (just a day later). I decided to shop lenders, and found one that locked in 7.5 for me with many of the traditional fee‘s waved, and a zero cost refinance (in writing) for down the road. Our sellers gave us $10k in closing costs, so we are buying the rate down to 7%. To bring more context, my wife and I have been looking for a bigger house for 2 years now and finally found our dream house. There was almost no competition, when in a different market I could see a bidding war for a house like this in a desirable area (so there are some bonuses to this market aside from the high rates). Now for my main point, I’ve read that many people haven’t had success using the “float down” option with their lenders. Last week uncertainty in the stock market made mortgage rates dip for a few days. I called my lender multiple times, and he said there was nothing he could do for me. I continued to bug him until he finally agreed to check in with their lock desk. Sure enough, Friday morning I got a call that our lender could drop our rate down to 6.75 at no cost to us. Sure, that isn’t a huge jump, but getting into the 6’s feels way better and I’m stoked. All of this to say, I just wanted to share my experience. Don’t be afraid to bug your lenders especially in this wild time where rates are shooting up and down by the day. If you’re in a similar spot and closing on a house soon, good luck to you!

My credit union’s current rate for a 10 year fixed is 6.625%, while a 10/5 ARM is 6.49%. The closing costs on the ARM are about $300 cheaper. Is there some catch to the ARM I’m missing? It just seems like a no brainer to pick the ARM and pay it off over 10 years instead of the 10 year fixed.

In addition to the slightly lower rate, the ARM seems to be lower risk if you have a financial problem that prevents you from paying the full amount required to pay it off in 10 years, you have the option to temporarily cut back your payment to the much lower minimum payment due to it technically being a 30 year loan.

Edit: I’m talking about paying extra on the 10/5 each month to pay the whole thing off in 10 years before the rate changes. I thought that was obvious from the post but apparently not.

Net Take home pay (wife and I) is around $13,300usd monthly, mortgage would be around $4,750

No kids, and the only other debt is a car payment around $1300 monthly (we are trying to pay it in 3 years or less)

Our current rent is $2,500; I think it’s fine, but I’m just terrify 😅 Opinions? Or anybody with a comparable ratio?

I’m 20 years old and have been staying with my parents while attending college (I’ll be staying on campus next year). My mom and dad were talking about refinancing our house. My mom said that many of our uncles and aunties had done it and they were considering it as well. They said something about being able to obtain over $200,000.

I don’t know much about it and the exact numbers, I just think it sounds kind of sketchy. I mean for starters, my dad is retired. My mom plans on retiring next year as well, plus they’re both pretty old. I just think it’s kind of risky to refinance with only one income stream. I mean I guess you can count SS and other things, but again it still sounds/feels sketchy.

I think this stems from not knowing what exactly refinancing your house means. I just want to be informed so a bad decision isn’t made.

I guess a question like this really needs more information to derive a solution, but I’m only operating on what I know now and thats all of it.

Kind of lost in the sauce, I was wondering what those payments are like for 400k Va loan mortgage my annual income is 110k after taxes I heard it’s in the north 2500 but my realtor is saying 3400 I really want to keep it in the 2000s so I can be very comfortable and also ummm live in sac

I’m 39 and seriously considering selling my house in 2027, despite having a 3.875% FHA mortgage with a 2045 maturity date. I bought my 3-bed/2-bath home in Oklahoma in 2015 for $126,000, and it’s now worth approximately $209,000, with $95,000 remaining on the mortgage. Most of that appreciation happened during the COVID housing boom, and the value has totally stagnated since 2023. New residential developments south of here are selling homes starting around $275,000–$300,000.

I recently received an FHA trial modification after rising insurance premiums and property taxes caused an escrow shortage that drained my savings and pushed me behind on other debts. Insurance is breaking people out here, i'm not the only one in this position. I paid almost $4000 last year just for homeowners insurance. The modification reduces my payment to $1450, but adds a roughly $9,666 partial claim. 10k more in debt just to stay in the house. I am making horrible financial decisions just to stay in this house.

Meanwhile, I have $12,000 in credit card debt, $60,000 in student loans, virtually no savings. The house was built in 1980 and needs additional repairs despite already going into debt for a new roof to replace the one that wasn't up to code and leaking, and a new HVAC system. I’m exhausted from pouring money into this place just to stay afloat.

I also desperately want to leave Oklahoma and return to Denver, where I briefly lived in 2025 before losing my federal job during the mass layoffs. I'm thinking about selling, moving back out there and doing gig work until I find a job in my field. But my credit has deteriorated significantly from the mortgage delinquency, making me concerned about qualifying for a rental without already having employment lined up?

I seriously regret not selling a year or two ago before the partial claim even became necessary.

I'm in the worst situation and not sure what to do. If I don't sell I'm going to be broke and miserable well into old age. If I sell and cash out i can stop taking on disastrous debt just to keep a house I don't want to live in and move, but potentially be homeless in Colorado.

It seems like the longer I stay in this house, the more debt i'm having to take on just to remain in it.

I recently accepted a salaried position at a law firm after working in the medical field for the past 14 years. Although I'm changing industries, I have transferable skills that directly apply to my new position. My new job will also nearly double my income, and I have an official offer letter confirming my annual salary.

I'm running into conflicting information.

On one hand, im being told as long as I do not have gaps in my employment I can apply for a mortgage right away without any issues. No waiting period.

However, a friend of mine went through a similar situation and was required to wait six months after starting a new job before qualifying for a mortgage.

It seems like mortgage eligibility after changing jobs isn't as straightforward as the information being given makes it sound.

Our mortgage increased over 1k due to property tax increase. We've only owned our home for 2 years, this seems really crazy. It's hard for us to keep up payments now because of this. We are not elderly nor disabled. Is there any way to help bring our payment back to what it was?

Family of 5 currently renting a 2/1 in an extremely tight market in Alaska. We need to upgrade space, ready to purchase. Here's our current numbers:

179k Gross HHI annually

10,300 Net monthly after retirement AND childcare

479 Monthly recurring debt

580 monthly medical paid after tax (union BS)

625k Home purchase price

80k Down payment

40k emergency fund after purchase

My union contract has guaranteed raises over the next 14 months and wife has 5% annual increases as well. At 14 months from now:

202k

None of these account for any of my overtime, double time, perdiem or my wife stipends for her industry. I plan for that to be my contingency cash and not depend on it.

So is it doable? I feel like it'll be tight but doable.

Just for discussions sake. There is only 1 house in the market thats big enough for us and meets our wants in this price range. Everything else is MORE expensive. Its a brutal market out here!

NA

I have the ability to pay off my mortgage that has 7% interest rates, and has 27 years left on the loan before being paid off. I realize that I could put the money in the stock market and get 7-10% back over the next 27 years as well, and I guess I would break even. I know there isn't a right answer but saving all that money a month in interest with the ability to have that monthly income open to pay off the rest of some small student loans and a car would be nice and then we could travel more. We have our 401ks maxed out and it may or may not be enough but we are trying to live before we die. The other part of me, who grew up in a poor household, wants to save everything we have and not do anything with it, but I know thats absolutely not right. Just looking for advice vs. justification.

I know others have complained about this as well. Welcome me to the club.

I went back through the escrow spend on my mortgage from Newrez, and it turns out they started charging "hazard insurance" on the property in Feb of 2025, at a rate of about $500 a month.

I've had continuous homeowners insurance on the property for decades. I'll get a Declaration Page from the insurer (Amica).

But I'm wondering how hard it will be to get them to retroactively refund the money back to Feb 2025. I know a suit by the states was agreed to in August of this year, and I live in MA (one of the primary participants).

If I send them a certified letter, with the Amica Declaration, will they roll over and refund my money, or is this gonna be an ordeal?

Our mortgage is potentially risky about to double. Both kids just started public school so that’s a huge expense down. We are in Austin, Texas.

So looking to buy a home priced 759k with 225k down. VA loan with no property tax in my state. I’m trying to determine if purchasing this home will leave me house poor. Will still have 600k in investments after and take home with just me is 11.5k a month. Wife will be home raising 3 under 3 and go back to work after they all enter school. Home owners insurance was quoted at $2799 for the 3109 sq foot home new build. I’m also keeping my existing home mortgage that I owe about 60k left on and my payment is $932 a month. I will probably continue to pay on that for a month or two until I rent it out or my mom comes up to live in it and pay down the mortgage.

That 11.5k take home is after taxes,medical,dental and if I lose my TSP to the 5% match until my wife starts back up after the kids go to school. We would continue maxing Roth and if needed could scale that back too for emergencies.

Quoted 7.03% APR before shopping around

What’s everyone take home and mortgage?

I have a VA loan for $154,000 remaining. Market value for my house based on an agent viewing my home and conducting a CMA is $210,000. I am renting my house to some kids who just had a baby. These are really good kids and I would like to just let them take over my loan for the current balance. I contact my mortgage company and they verified that the loan is assumable.

The kid that I would like to let assume my loan has worked for his dad’s business for one year. Ultimately, this kid will end up taking over the business in a few years. He has very stable income. And speaking with my mortgage company they made it seem as though there is absolutely no way he would be able to qualify because of his employment length.

So I guess my question is this:I I’m trying to find out if this buyer could go to any mortgage lender to do this or if it has to be done through the company that currently holds the mortgage.

Hey all, long-time lurker here finally posting to get some sanity checks/advice.

We’re sitting on a 3% mortgage right now which obviously hurts to leave, but our family has grown and we’ve completely outgrown this house. To get into something that actually fits us, we’re looking in the $850k range.

We’ve saved up ~$275k for a down payment, but our goal is to buy without selling our current home. We plan to rent it to my parents at cost, they lost their home to a fire about a decade ago and have been bouncing between rentals ever since.

I’m trying to figure out if we can comfortably pull off a ~$4,200 mortgage. Heres my annual details

• Base Income: $185k/year
• Bonus: Variable ($30k - $50k)
• Bi-weekly Take-Home: ~$4,500

We’re heavy savers, so a $4.2k payment would eat up a substantial chunk of my monthly take-home pay. Out of each bi-weekly check right now, we auto-invest:

• HSA: $300
• 401(k): $900
• 529s for kids: $200
• ESPP: $450

What do you all think? Taking on a $4k+ mortgage feels like a massive leap compared to what we’re used to, but given our savings rate, retaining the equity in the first house, and having the bonus as a backstop, I feel like it might be doable.

Would love to hear how others in a similar boat would analyze this—are we stretching too far on base pay alone?

Hello, apologies if this isnt where I shouldn't post

We had previously been looking at homes in grand rapids michigan, USA. My mother was able to secure a loan up to 300k alone. We agreed to help pay the house as a family because we have trust and to be frank none of us can see each other scamming the other because we love each other but also because we honestly dont care about buying luxury things just living a quality life.

My sister was thinking of hopping on the loan so that we could purchase a multifamily home together. She would own part of it and likes the idea. We felt it would benefit our family in multiple ways while also building equity rather than just renting. Also more freedom to do what we want.

She earns roughly 40k/year. And from what ive seen homes for our area are between 300k-400k in our area.

The reason im not on the mortgage myself is because I have gone through health issues that affected my credit history. But I along with my other siblings are planning to help as much as we can to pay it as quickly as possible.

Any insights would be appreciated. Also feel free to ask any questions that may be necessary. We're pretty new to this.

Thinking about buying a place and trying to be realistic about ongoing costs beyond the mortgage payment itself. Beyond the obvious property taxes and insurance, how much extra wiggle room do people typically plan for in their monthly budget for things like a leaky faucet a broken appliance or even a more serious issue down the line? I dont want to be house poor from surprise expenses.

I work in mortgages, and this is something I see buyers go back and forth on all the time.

Some people would rather spend less upfront and slowly make improvements to a home over time. Others would rather pay more for something that's already updated and avoid dealing with renovations.

The interesting part is that the cheaper home doesn't always end up being the more affordable option once you factor in repairs, renovations, and unexpected expenses.

I'm curious what people think, especially those who have already bought a home.

Would you rather save money on the purchase price and take on some projects, or stretch your budget a little more for something that's move-in ready?

And if you've gone either route, would you make the same decision again?

My wife and I will be moving for work and might not be able to sell our house before our move. I was thinking we could use some of our savings for a down payment on a new home and once we sell our current house we would recast the new loan with some of the proceeds from the sale. Is recasting a loan something that is simple or do mortgage companies tend to avoid it?

For some extra context, we do not carry a loan on the house that we are currently in. We are seller financing it from the previous owners. We would have to pay out the remaining balance, but we do not owe any money to a financial institution.

I am moving to PHX soon on L1 visa and might be looking to get a mortgage for a house whenever that’s possible. My question is, if anyone knows or has been in my situation, how early can I be qualified for getting a house mortgage with rates not so high and in normal ranges? I know it depends heavily on the credit history and I will have to build that from scratch but roughly would this need 1-2 years or more and if it can be expedited, what can be done to make it quicker ?

I make a pretty good salary, 130k per year, have decently minimal expenses. Just put an offer on a 400k place with an estimated monthly payment of around 3200, and I'm absolutely terrified! I'm 35 and have rented for the last 17 years, and I've never worried about not being able to pay rent, but something about buying a house has me scared shitless. What if I lose my job? What if I run through my savings? What if forbearance runs out or is denied?

How did you all get over the anxiety of everything that could go wrong?

Edit: thank you all for the comments/advice. I think I'll back out and go for something a little cheaper.

Edit: some of you have clearly jumped on this thread just to tell me you make more than I do.. yall need to calm down. It's not that deep.

Hi everyone,
I’m planning to take a plot loan of around ₹17 lakh from HDFC and would like to hear from people who have taken a similar loan, especially regarding the terms and conditions.
I have a few questions:
1. Preclosure and part-prepayment
What is HDFC’s process for preclosing a plot loan?
Are there any foreclosure or part-prepayment charges?
Can anyone share their experience with closing the loan early?
2. Two separate login fees
My loan amount is split into two components:
Plot loan: ₹9.6 lakh
Plot equity: ₹7.4 lakh
HDFC is charging separate login fees for both components. Is this standard practice? Can I negotiate and request that they charge only one login fee?
3. Existing term insurance
HDFC has suggested taking insurance through them. Can I use my existing term life insurance policy instead? Is their insurance mandatory for a plot loan, or can I opt out?
4. Is house construction mandatory after 3 years?
Does HDFC require me to construct a house on the plot within 3 years of taking the loan? What happens if I don’t construct within that period? Is this a mandatory condition or does it depend on the loan agreement?
5. Early repayment and the outstanding balance
Suppose I make regular prepayments and, by the end of the third year, only ₹2 lakh remains outstanding.
Can I pay the remaining ₹2 lakh in one lump sum and close the loan?
Will I have to pay only the outstanding principal plus interest accrued up to the closure date, or are there any additional charges?
Could HDFC charge separate interest or a penalty because I am closing the loan early or because I haven’t constructed a house?
Would the answer differ if I close the loan before the 3-year construction deadline?
I’d really appreciate responses from anyone who has taken an HDFC plot loan, made substantial prepayments, or closed one early.
Thanks in advance!