My fiancee and l would love to buy a starter home for $180,000. l am currently working as a teacher, bringing home $2700/mth. My fiancee will graduate from grad school in March and will then begin working in the public school system as a substitute teacher until the fall, when he will work full time. Our income will jump to about $5,000 in the spring and $5,400 in the fall. Currently, neither of us have much to speak of in savings, but my fiancee has about $30,000 in stocks that we're thinking we can liquidate for a down payment on a home. Right now, we are spending about $1900/mth., including rent and utilities. Neither of us have any credit card debt or student loans. We are planning to help my parents by spendingabout $5,000 on our wedding in July. We'd like to move to a new home in the spring, before the wedding. ANy advice you can offer would be so helpful! Thanks!

I'd strongly advise you against liquidating your stocks, especially at this current rebound in the market, I'd tell your fiancee to measure the gains/losses in this current scenario. Say his stocks, next week, could double, or they could halve. It is all about priorities, right now in the housing market, it is possible, but I'd advise you against putting on too many loans on your house.

Good luck, and have a great wedding!

You guys are perfect first time home buyers. Call a mortgage broker and get qualified for a mortgage. Then, call a realtor and go shopping. Best of luck to you. you will need to convert the stock to cash before you go shopping. Since the market is so erratic, be sure to do it on an ''up day or do it slowly.

PLEASE think long & hard about liquidating any stocks right now. When prices r low is the time to buy not sell.
Have u worked out a budget? What r ur current living expenses,i.e., utilities, food, car payments, credit cards, gas, insurance, etc.? How much r u putting aside every paycheck for an emergency fund? How much do u have left each month after these payments?
How long have u been at ur job? Does he have a contract in place for his teaching job? What r ur credit scores? What type of credit have u had in the past?
How much down payment do u have? Do u have enough for closing costs?
Call ur bank & see what mortgage rate u would qualify for based on ur credit scores & then run an amortization schedule to see what ur payments will be. Call an insurance company to see what ur homeowners & flood insurance will cost. Check with the property appraiser in ur county & see what the projected taxes would be on an $180,000 house. Divide that by 12 & add to the mortgage payment.
Your monthly mortgage payment is a combination of principal, interest, insurance & taxes. Add these figures together & then ask yourself if u can afford to buy a house.
One more thing, as a home owner, u do not call the landlord when something goes wrong, so u need to extablish a home repair/refurbish account & put some money in it every month. That way if u have a big hit for something, u r not caught offguard & unprepared.

Good luck & have fun!!

Do not buy a home! Do not sell ur stock! You must not borrow money until u have a 20% down payment. When u hear mortgage meltdown, what u r really hearing is ''bought a house they could not afford''. Here is what u need based on the information u gave me. You need to rent a place & look at future payments that r closer to rent/payment of $1,350 per month including principle, interest, taxes & insurance (P.I.T.I) If u put $36,000 (20% of $180,000) down, ur principle & interest will be $863.35 per month, 30 years fixed. If ur taxes & insurance r $486.65 per month or less, u r golden, that is $1,350 per month. l know $36,000 sounds like a lot of money, but u r looking at 3 years of saving, hardcore. That time will pass more quickly than u think. Three years of saving or three years until foreclosure. Your choice.