fico is 717 but only make 29k. will i ever be able to buy?

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 05:21:00 GMT

i'm single, 28&have good credit but am low income. I make 29k (14 an hour full time full year) as a child care teacher. I have a BA in human development which I earned a year ago but have been unable to get a job with it. I finally had to rely on my AA in Child Development to find work. 29k is pretty much the top of the field for a child care teacher & I also do program supervisor work for part of the day to earn that salary. I interviewed a ton with my BA but none of the jobs I am qualified for with my current level of experience and my BA make more than 15 an hour. Of course my counselors all insisted you could make 20 an hour with the degree but I've only interviewed for two positions that even paid that and those would have been if I had a masters & was applying.

I have a savings account that I put at least 100 dollars a month in but I moved recently to a new rental and don't have much saved now. Even so it'll take years to save for a big down payment that would make a house in today's market affordable to me and by the time I have 10k or 20k saved up it won't be enough.

I did apply for pre-approval through my bank to see what I could afford but probably not much since I have nothing for a down payment right now. Like I said I am saving but things come up like car repairs and I would rather using savings than a credit card for that.

I really don't want to buy a 1 bedroom condo either. Not sure it's worth it. If I'm going to invest I want the land as well as the house. I looked at a 2 bedroom foreclosure house in south king that was well under 100k but those are few and far between.

I just dont want to be 60 and renting but I don't think I am ever going to be rich. I have a boyfriend but even if he was ready to move in together he works 20 hours a week for minimum wage so not really counting on him.

9 replies

Should a 1st time buyer be looking at short sales?

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 00:55:00 GMT

We are looking to buy our first home. We already have a loan ready to go. We have been looking since December, and many of the properties we find are short sales. We understand the process somewhat, but our agent seems to feel that looking at any more short sale homes is a waste of time. We aren't sure what to do...any feedback is much appreciated. We are now even wondering if there is such thing as a buyer's agent who specializes in short sales?

4 replies

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fico is 717 but only make 29k. will i ever be able to buy?

Should a 1st time buyer be looking at short sales?