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how to buy with one income?

post #1 of 5
2/2/13 at 10:34am
Thread Starter 

We are a homeschooling family, hoping to buy land/home in the next couple of years. 

 

WIll having only one income present a problem to get a home mortgage? 

 

anyone have any info for us on getting started? We are first time buyers with no real clue (except what we google...) 

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post #2 of 5
2/3/13 at 12:36pm

We qualified and shopped with only my husband's income considered.  At that time, I was working full-time and planned to continue doing so after starting a family.  No one ever asked us why my income and credit wasn't considered.  It was our personal choice.   In the USA, your mortgage is based on your income and expected ability to repay the loan.  We applied for a mortgage using only my husband's income, however we did list me as an owner of the home.  If your family's income is deemed sufficient and stable to repay the loan requested, there really shouldn't be a problem.

post #3 of 5
2/5/13 at 9:47am

It is not necessarily that you can't qualify.  It is simply that you might have to pick a cheaper home.

post #4 of 5
2/8/13 at 8:36am

We've bought 2 houses as a one income family, it's just the amount of income that's factored in, and the "how much can I afford" calculators can give you an idea what you'd qualify for. Try to shop a ways below that number if possible because the max can really strain the budget. Our houses were both the max allowed *without* my husband's commission, only counting his salary which is 2/3 of the income.

post #5 of 5
2/8/13 at 10:29am

You can buy a home with one income, no problem!  We used a mortgage broker and he was able to find us the best possible mortgage when we had a small income.  (This was in 2006.)  Now that my husband has a new job we want to move, so we were able to call the same mortgage broker and update our info and he told us the loan amount we could be approved for in about five minutes.  Then we had to make sure the monthly mortgage (including escrow and everything) fit into our budget.  

 

Unfortunately for us we can't get another mortgage until we sell our house, and it's hard to sell a tiny house full of kids and pets.  Very frustrating!  We're hoping to move to the country too.