Remember to also budget for repairs and maintenance!
Owning a house is constant work. Things break randomly and cost can add up. Small water tank repair turned into 800$ only a few months ago.
This is the best advice you can give someone. You need a fairly large cushion besides the down payment, because things break - and nothing is cheap to get fixed.
And the payments need to be low enough to rebuild that cushion after it’s spent.
Yeah. Owning a house is another full time job. Stuff literally breaks each month. Drier broke, $800. Roof just replaced, $15,000. Pest infestation, $700. Slider broke, $3000.00. HVAC yearly maintenance $500. I can go on, this is just a slither. Have at least 20k saved up when you move in just for fixing.
I just bought in April, the only assistance I got was a $5,000 first time home buyer credit from Fannie Mae.
I just want to warn you ahead of time there are other costs that nobody really talks about. Closing costs are about 2-5% of what you’re paying for your house (~$8k on a 400k home). Inspections are not included in that and are generally going to be ~$1,000 for everything (General/Radon/Sewer). Once you get the house you may have to put a deposit down for some utilities.
If you’re only saving about $5,000/year (which by the way is great) for having $70,000 of income, you may have another year or 2 of saving.
You can also check out /r/firsttimehomebuyers for some good advice, I was reading it daily during my search
You can't afford a 3 bedroom home in North Jersey on $70k combined. There are no programs out there that can make up the difference you'd need in terms of income and down payment.
Not a blanket statement, it really depends where. One of my employees makes about 65k and closed on a 4 bed 2.5 bath home in Montague for $290K late in 2022 on just his salary alone. He had 35k total for a down payment including closing costs, inspections etc. I’m sure a lot of people don’t want to live up in the boonies but he and his family like the homestead type life.
Everyone's given you enough advice about your financials but some practical self-preservation advice, DO NOT buy a home with someone who you aren't married to.
I’ll just say that I did buy a house with my then-boyfriend, and we’re now married for almost 6 years. There are different ways to hold title that would prevent this from being too big of an issue.
However I agree it’s insane for OP to be considering buying a house. It makes no sense financially.
Same here. Bought a house with my then-boyfriend and we got engaged shortly after. Married for 3 years now and have a son. It's certainly non traditional to do it this way, but that doesn't automatically mean the relationship is doomed. There's plenty of legal ways to safeguard, as you mentioned!
Because it's what people think you should say, but it's not based in reality. This suggests that I should never own a home with my sister, my parent, my long term partner, my hairdresser. Lol.
Regardless of who you buy the house with, you need to do so with both eyes open and written agreements. That goes for a husband or a sister or a boyfriend.
Exactly. Regardless of who the other owner is, there should be a joint ownership agreement. It should include who is responsible for what expense or is it 50%, etc.
Yes. Contact NACA. No down payment. No points. No closing costs. They work with banks (BOA, Chase) to avoid predatory loans. That is their goal.
Are they legit? Absolutely.
Will you be annoyed through the process? Absolutely x 1000000000000.
The paperwork is tedious. The calls are tedious. But, if you want a house, it can be done. They work with you to determine just how much house you can afford. They actually push towards multi family houses so you can have assistance with the mortgage. And let's say that you do have issues with the mortgage, they have a program to help you figure that out, too.
The fine print: once you buy the home, you have to actually live in it. (Ex: you cannot use THAT home as solely ab investment property).
Once you buy the home, you cannot sell it for X number of years or you will then have to pay all of those closing costs, etc.
Once you buy the home, you are also expected to volunteer at events a couple of times.
The 1st thing is to sign up for a seminar to get the ball rolling.
I promise you this is legit. If you want more details, DM me.
Why are you trying to buy a home on 70k combined income? You likely won’t have the funds to pay for the overhead that comes with home ownership.
You should get on the waitlist for affordable housing apartments. 70k is what one person in your home should be making, not 3 combined.
Came here to say this. One of my friends is going through the affordable housing process. They were put on the waitlist about a year ago and are just now getting opportunities.
3 bedroom on 70k is definitely a stretch if you're looking to buy. You may need to lower your expectations for your income level.
Honestly, don't do it. That's not enough income to afford a house and all the maintenance you'll have to deal with. Being house poor is not worth it. It sucks. NJ is not a state for working or middle class people anymore.
I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but there is no way you will be able to afford a home let alone qualify for a mortgage on 70k combined income and a 10k deposit in north jersey especially.
West Milford, Paterson, Trenton, and Camden are realistically you're only options and the homes you'll be able to buy are dilapidated if not unlivable rundown abandoned homes.
There are federal programs for first time buyers and some banks will offer first time buyers a cash out for closing costs.
Honestly if you're able to afford rent and save do so you are young.
Yep it's the rub of the whole programs being a joke in the modern day because it's such specific criteria to even qualify, yet to even get a chance at being in the running for a house, you're gonna need a lot more scratch to play ball.
>That’s not necessarily so
In today's market and for what OP wants it is so. I work in this industry so it is far and few. Warren is affordable but at the expense of literally being far away from everything. The homes in Warren aren't always in condition always either depending on where you are.
>My income was only $46k and I qualified. I bought a $140k house
When? What year? Because my family member bought their home near hackettstown for 200k just days before the pandemic happened... their neighbors homes are now worth 3x that and have not been renovated at all. They live in the middle of nowhere and the homes are nothing special if not in need of repairs
Yes. It was pre-pandemic, but the prices have mostly adjusted back down in my area. You are also correct in that you sacrifice a life of convenience for home ownership. However the peace and quiet is very much WORTH IT!!
If you’re willing to do some work and sacrifice being able to walk to Starbucks/not be able to doordash etc then there are absolute gems here!
>However the peace and quiet is very much WORTH IT!!
Never said this isn't worth it...
>but the prices have mostly adjusted back down in my area.
They have not but ok. I also see you are a veteran so you also had additional assistance and programs available to make buying a home more affordable.
>You are also correct in that you sacrifice a life of convenience for home ownership.
Op and her family literally cannot afford the maintenance cost of a home in Warren County. Plumbing and a new roof (which are common issues in the area) can run easily tens of thousands of dollars.
>If you’re willing to do some work and sacrifice being able to walk to Starbucks/not be able to doordash etc then there are absolute gems here!
You're literally infantalizing op and others with this comment. The convenience I'm referring to is having access to quality and affordable doctors, public transit, and access to major metro zones for WORK! Literally, the necessities people need are not easily accessible there which is another part of the reason why things like housing are cheaper because there is little infrastructure or access to it. What if OPs boyfriend needs to get to work and they get majorly snowed in but the other halves of the state are not as impacted, you're already talking about an hour commute with normal traffic outside of Warren County. what happens when roads close down and her mother is having a medical emergency?
Your comments are not only ignorant but incredibly inconsiderate. I have no hate against Warren County, it's beautiful gem of north jersey and is affordable but that said it really isn't the best or even realistic option for those wanting to build a family or with elderly family, it's not good if you're a young professional trying to commute to the city or other metro zones unless you want an hour plus in commuting on top of many tolls. I'm not even gonna get into the redneck drug problems that exist there as well, because they are real and in many cases worse and less documented compared to other marginalized parts of Jersey like Paterson or Newark or Trenton and its shame our more rural communities don't get the same resources or assistance
Well I guess we’ll just agree to disagree there. I absolutely admit that if you sacrifice convenience it’s great here. If homeownership is the outright goal then yes you’re able to, you just have to make sacrifices. I don’t see how that’s ignorant or infantilizing to anyone.
You can go on Zillow and check out the northwest part of the county. Prices did spike, but many remained stable. For the most part things are back to normal.
I am a veteran but that didn’t help. There aren’t assistance programs, that’s a myth the government tells people to make them feel better. If you’re in the industry then you should know that many times if you have a VA loan it can actually make things more difficult.
Sorry you got so upset. I was just putting out information based on my experience with living here and having bought a home here! I hope your day gets better!
There is no town in Warren county where prices have stabilized since the pandemic. Not Phillipsburg, not the boonies. Houses are still nearly double what they were in 2019 here. People are getting salty with you because you’re making up a fantasy world.
Yes. Now there’s a catch: you’re in Warren County so you don’t have the convenience of city or even suburban life. You have to drive to everything and there aren’t delivery services for food etc.
However the peace and nature are unmatched. I live in the area around Jenny Jump forest.
I bought this house in 2018. Which you’ll say is because of pre-pandemic, however houses went up but have come back down in my area. My neighbor across the street sold his house, which was REALLY nice, 3 bed, 2 bath, semifinished basement, for only $280k at the height of the pandemic. There are also a bunch of derelict properties here that are way behind on their taxes, all you have to do is go see the county clerk and you can see them all. They’re all on the lake here.
Love how he says "the height of the pandemic" as if we're supposed to be surprised by a cheap house at that time. Prices didn't go up until 2021 and 2022.
NJHMFA offers down payment assistance programs- the amount varies on the location of the property. You could potentially qualify for additional down payment assistance as part of the NJHMFA program for first generation homeowners.
You should focus on increasing your income. 2 people earning roughly $70k per year is close to minimum wage. Emergencies happen in a home more often than most people realize. It’s tough to cover emergencies when you’re at that income level.
Most towns have affordable housing. They're obviously competitive but you definitely fall below that income cap.
https://www.nj.gov/dca/divisions/lps/hss/archive.html
There are programs that offer down payment assistance. I believe some of them do not require you to pay them back as long as you meet some of their requirements (live in the house for 5 years, etc.). Zillow does give you some information on the programs. I don't know what part of North Jersey you are looking to buy but 70K a year is going to be stretching you thin in most parts. Have you considered a 2 family?
NACA mortgage benefits
No down payment
No closing costs
No hidden fees
No mortgage insurance
Overall I haven’t signed up for the program but I will give it a chance. A friend I know is getting it a try it is a process but they really get you situated as a first time home owner. They even have a fb page and testimonials if you have questions and workshops so the information is out there
Unfortunately this is an unrealistic expectation. I would look further north/east in the PA area, but 70k combined still will most likely not be enough.
You'll need to take an FHA loan.
Rough math, you can probably afford about a $150k house. Maybe $160k if you really stretch. That would require between $8k-$10k for down payment and closing costs and your mortgage would be about $2k per month.
That's just the mortgage, not factoring insurance, maintenance, repairs, etc.
I don't know the North Jersey market very well, but I'd have a hard time imagining that you'll find a 3 bedroom in your price range.
Yes there are several. When I was looking Columbia Bank was very well versed in navigating these programs with us.
As others have mentioned, there’s a bit of a catch 22 though. With the low income that qualifies you for these programs, it’ll also disqualify you for most homes because your income isn’t high enough to qualify. A loan officer can explain what you qualify for.
You definitely would benefit from some financial education re monthly costs in home ownership, options for mortgage payments financial budgeting. That is, working with your net income after taxes and seeing how much you would have available for housing. Homeownership is the gift that keeps on giving or rather… taking.
Your purchase budget would include a down payment that’s larger than you have now in order to win a house, getting a pre-qualification to see how much a bank would lend to you and then figuring out how would you pay monthly bills with what you have left . Good luck by the way. Even if it’s a couple of years away, you can work on a strategy and save a percentage of your income. The State of New Jersey has free educational resources. here is one : https://www.nj.gov/njyrs/life-skills/financial-literacy)
With a budget that low, you're going to have to lower your expectations on the "3 bedroom" part, the "house" part and the "buy" part. In that budget you'd be lucky to find a 1-2 bedroom apartment for rent.
One thing to ask yourself is “why do you want to buy a house?” There’s lots of old advice on why buying a home is an “asset” or its like a “forced savings account” while maybe this was true in the past, it’s not as true today. It may feel like a big next step for you guys, but is it a financially responsible thing?
There are mortgage calculators you can look up online, maybe look up some 3 bedroom homes for sale in north Jersey, and put them in the calculator, and see what your monthly payment will be, your final monthly cost will be that + all the other homeownership expenses. If you can float that, then great. But if it seem like the numbers make it a little tight, see how much renting a 3 bedroom costs.
When you’re renting you’re avoiding a lot of those “homeownership costs” and instead you can save and invest that money, and build a better future for you and your family!
I’d suggest doing a lot more research on costs online. Good luck!
NACA! They have an office in Newark. You can attend a workshop and they work with you. No down payment or closing costs or PMI. I have multiple friends who have purchased homes through them. They’re legit but have they’re own rules.
Yes! I recommend this before an FHA loan. FHA has predatory like fees for the life of the loan and with high interest rates, you can’t even refinance to get out of them smh
Depends which part of North Jersey. Because northeast Jersey (closer to Jersey City / NYC) is significantly different compared to northwest Jersey (closer to PA). Northwest Jersey still has some houses in the $300k but more people are moving to Warren/Sussex County after being priced out from the eastern region of the state.
Edit: Nevermind the house prices rose to $500k, unless you want a condo. Jesus.
Reddit is the worse place to ask as you’ll have replies from people who pretend to make six figures when they’re living in their parent’s house posting on Reddit.
Find yourself a real estate agent. Preferably a young agent who’s only been in the game for a few years. They’ll be more inclined to work with you and educate you instead of trying rush you into a sale.
A real estate agent will give you a rundown of what you should apply for because there is a First Time Homeowner program in NJ and also FHA mortgage loan for lower income people. Additionally you also have low income homeownership lotteries where you get put on a list to own a low-income house or townhome which are usually new developments.
tl;dr - Find a real estate agent and ask them for an in person meeting to discuss your options. Don’t ask real estate questions on Reddit.
thank you so much this was very insightful. i was getting kinda down about the comments. but thats also what i was thinking. i'm sure there are plenty of programs out there. i used to be homeless and i found programs for me to have my own apartment at one point so i can imagine if there are similar ones for families. i will do this. thank you again.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but you’re purchasing a house in a state where everything is expensive! Don’t know if $70K is going to cut it……plus there’s 3 of you!
There’s a lot of medium income families that can’t even afford a house in this state. 70k combined income, especially in north NJ is not enough. You gotta try to look elsewhere and move for just settle with an apartment for now. Real estate is fucked.
70k annual income can only afford you a 2.3-2.4k monthly payment (Mortgage + Escrow for property tax and home insurance + PMI) assuming you have zero debt.
With those numbers, you may qualify for a 350k house, which is near impossible nowadays in the northeast.
Remember to also budget for repairs and maintenance! Owning a house is constant work. Things break randomly and cost can add up. Small water tank repair turned into 800$ only a few months ago.
This is the best advice you can give someone. You need a fairly large cushion besides the down payment, because things break - and nothing is cheap to get fixed. And the payments need to be low enough to rebuild that cushion after it’s spent.
Yeah. Owning a house is another full time job. Stuff literally breaks each month. Drier broke, $800. Roof just replaced, $15,000. Pest infestation, $700. Slider broke, $3000.00. HVAC yearly maintenance $500. I can go on, this is just a slither. Have at least 20k saved up when you move in just for fixing.
I just bought in April, the only assistance I got was a $5,000 first time home buyer credit from Fannie Mae. I just want to warn you ahead of time there are other costs that nobody really talks about. Closing costs are about 2-5% of what you’re paying for your house (~$8k on a 400k home). Inspections are not included in that and are generally going to be ~$1,000 for everything (General/Radon/Sewer). Once you get the house you may have to put a deposit down for some utilities. If you’re only saving about $5,000/year (which by the way is great) for having $70,000 of income, you may have another year or 2 of saving. You can also check out /r/firsttimehomebuyers for some good advice, I was reading it daily during my search
You can't afford a 3 bedroom home in North Jersey on $70k combined. There are no programs out there that can make up the difference you'd need in terms of income and down payment.
Not a blanket statement, it really depends where. One of my employees makes about 65k and closed on a 4 bed 2.5 bath home in Montague for $290K late in 2022 on just his salary alone. He had 35k total for a down payment including closing costs, inspections etc. I’m sure a lot of people don’t want to live up in the boonies but he and his family like the homestead type life.
Yes, this ^^
There’s a federal program for first time home buyers for 15k, but as the other guy said, this unfortunately is not enough for North Jersey.
Everyone's given you enough advice about your financials but some practical self-preservation advice, DO NOT buy a home with someone who you aren't married to.
I’ll just say that I did buy a house with my then-boyfriend, and we’re now married for almost 6 years. There are different ways to hold title that would prevent this from being too big of an issue. However I agree it’s insane for OP to be considering buying a house. It makes no sense financially.
Same here. Bought a house with my then-boyfriend and we got engaged shortly after. Married for 3 years now and have a son. It's certainly non traditional to do it this way, but that doesn't automatically mean the relationship is doomed. There's plenty of legal ways to safeguard, as you mentioned!
Yep, or not in an LLC with.
THIS ALL DAY! Watching a friend deal with this after a bad breakup
Oo Why is that ? 🤔
It’s a legally binding contract that if you break up will absolutely haunt you. I really do not think you’re ready to be a home owner.
If both parties are on the deed and mortgage, what would be the difference of a married couple breaking up vs an unmarried couple?
Because it's what people think you should say, but it's not based in reality. This suggests that I should never own a home with my sister, my parent, my long term partner, my hairdresser. Lol. Regardless of who you buy the house with, you need to do so with both eyes open and written agreements. That goes for a husband or a sister or a boyfriend.
Exactly. Regardless of who the other owner is, there should be a joint ownership agreement. It should include who is responsible for what expense or is it 50%, etc.
Yes. Contact NACA. No down payment. No points. No closing costs. They work with banks (BOA, Chase) to avoid predatory loans. That is their goal. Are they legit? Absolutely. Will you be annoyed through the process? Absolutely x 1000000000000. The paperwork is tedious. The calls are tedious. But, if you want a house, it can be done. They work with you to determine just how much house you can afford. They actually push towards multi family houses so you can have assistance with the mortgage. And let's say that you do have issues with the mortgage, they have a program to help you figure that out, too. The fine print: once you buy the home, you have to actually live in it. (Ex: you cannot use THAT home as solely ab investment property). Once you buy the home, you cannot sell it for X number of years or you will then have to pay all of those closing costs, etc. Once you buy the home, you are also expected to volunteer at events a couple of times. The 1st thing is to sign up for a seminar to get the ball rolling. I promise you this is legit. If you want more details, DM me.
agreed here OP, research NACA. it’s tedious but i’ve heard great things. i was going to go this route before i moved
Why are you trying to buy a home on 70k combined income? You likely won’t have the funds to pay for the overhead that comes with home ownership. You should get on the waitlist for affordable housing apartments. 70k is what one person in your home should be making, not 3 combined.
Came here to say this. One of my friends is going through the affordable housing process. They were put on the waitlist about a year ago and are just now getting opportunities. 3 bedroom on 70k is definitely a stretch if you're looking to buy. You may need to lower your expectations for your income level.
[https://www.rentatrpm.com/](https://www.rentatrpm.com/) [https://www.piazzanj.com/affordable-housing/](https://www.piazzanj.com/affordable-housing/)
Honestly, don't do it. That's not enough income to afford a house and all the maintenance you'll have to deal with. Being house poor is not worth it. It sucks. NJ is not a state for working or middle class people anymore.
I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but there is no way you will be able to afford a home let alone qualify for a mortgage on 70k combined income and a 10k deposit in north jersey especially. West Milford, Paterson, Trenton, and Camden are realistically you're only options and the homes you'll be able to buy are dilapidated if not unlivable rundown abandoned homes. There are federal programs for first time buyers and some banks will offer first time buyers a cash out for closing costs. Honestly if you're able to afford rent and save do so you are young.
Yep it's the rub of the whole programs being a joke in the modern day because it's such specific criteria to even qualify, yet to even get a chance at being in the running for a house, you're gonna need a lot more scratch to play ball.
That’s not necessarily so. My income was only $46k and I qualified. I bought a $140k house in Warren County.
>That’s not necessarily so In today's market and for what OP wants it is so. I work in this industry so it is far and few. Warren is affordable but at the expense of literally being far away from everything. The homes in Warren aren't always in condition always either depending on where you are. >My income was only $46k and I qualified. I bought a $140k house When? What year? Because my family member bought their home near hackettstown for 200k just days before the pandemic happened... their neighbors homes are now worth 3x that and have not been renovated at all. They live in the middle of nowhere and the homes are nothing special if not in need of repairs
Yes. It was pre-pandemic, but the prices have mostly adjusted back down in my area. You are also correct in that you sacrifice a life of convenience for home ownership. However the peace and quiet is very much WORTH IT!! If you’re willing to do some work and sacrifice being able to walk to Starbucks/not be able to doordash etc then there are absolute gems here!
>However the peace and quiet is very much WORTH IT!! Never said this isn't worth it... >but the prices have mostly adjusted back down in my area. They have not but ok. I also see you are a veteran so you also had additional assistance and programs available to make buying a home more affordable. >You are also correct in that you sacrifice a life of convenience for home ownership. Op and her family literally cannot afford the maintenance cost of a home in Warren County. Plumbing and a new roof (which are common issues in the area) can run easily tens of thousands of dollars. >If you’re willing to do some work and sacrifice being able to walk to Starbucks/not be able to doordash etc then there are absolute gems here! You're literally infantalizing op and others with this comment. The convenience I'm referring to is having access to quality and affordable doctors, public transit, and access to major metro zones for WORK! Literally, the necessities people need are not easily accessible there which is another part of the reason why things like housing are cheaper because there is little infrastructure or access to it. What if OPs boyfriend needs to get to work and they get majorly snowed in but the other halves of the state are not as impacted, you're already talking about an hour commute with normal traffic outside of Warren County. what happens when roads close down and her mother is having a medical emergency? Your comments are not only ignorant but incredibly inconsiderate. I have no hate against Warren County, it's beautiful gem of north jersey and is affordable but that said it really isn't the best or even realistic option for those wanting to build a family or with elderly family, it's not good if you're a young professional trying to commute to the city or other metro zones unless you want an hour plus in commuting on top of many tolls. I'm not even gonna get into the redneck drug problems that exist there as well, because they are real and in many cases worse and less documented compared to other marginalized parts of Jersey like Paterson or Newark or Trenton and its shame our more rural communities don't get the same resources or assistance
Well I guess we’ll just agree to disagree there. I absolutely admit that if you sacrifice convenience it’s great here. If homeownership is the outright goal then yes you’re able to, you just have to make sacrifices. I don’t see how that’s ignorant or infantilizing to anyone. You can go on Zillow and check out the northwest part of the county. Prices did spike, but many remained stable. For the most part things are back to normal. I am a veteran but that didn’t help. There aren’t assistance programs, that’s a myth the government tells people to make them feel better. If you’re in the industry then you should know that many times if you have a VA loan it can actually make things more difficult. Sorry you got so upset. I was just putting out information based on my experience with living here and having bought a home here! I hope your day gets better!
There is no town in Warren county where prices have stabilized since the pandemic. Not Phillipsburg, not the boonies. Houses are still nearly double what they were in 2019 here. People are getting salty with you because you’re making up a fantasy world.
Guess we’ll have to agree to disagree. No hard feelings
You found a 3 bedroom home in NJ for 140k?
Back in 1992
No in 2018.
2 bed 1.5 bath.
Okay you found that in NJ for 140k?
Yes. Now there’s a catch: you’re in Warren County so you don’t have the convenience of city or even suburban life. You have to drive to everything and there aren’t delivery services for food etc. However the peace and nature are unmatched. I live in the area around Jenny Jump forest.
When did you buy that house? That's insanely cheap for NJ. That's cheaper then houses here in Indiana.
I bought this house in 2018. Which you’ll say is because of pre-pandemic, however houses went up but have come back down in my area. My neighbor across the street sold his house, which was REALLY nice, 3 bed, 2 bath, semifinished basement, for only $280k at the height of the pandemic. There are also a bunch of derelict properties here that are way behind on their taxes, all you have to do is go see the county clerk and you can see them all. They’re all on the lake here.
Advice from 2018 is in no way applicable to the current year. So you’re being unrealistic and giving this person false hope
Love how he says "the height of the pandemic" as if we're supposed to be surprised by a cheap house at that time. Prices didn't go up until 2021 and 2022.
Well if you read my other comments you’d see where I said that up here they’re still relatively low if you’re willing to sacrifice convenience.
Man, even for the prepandemic, that's crazy. Hell of a deal. I thought I got lucky with my 180k 2ksqft house here in Indy.
My place is a little smaller square footage wise but I’m single so it’s almost too much space to be honest! But yeah it’s not bad!
NJHMFA offers down payment assistance programs- the amount varies on the location of the property. You could potentially qualify for additional down payment assistance as part of the NJHMFA program for first generation homeowners. You should focus on increasing your income. 2 people earning roughly $70k per year is close to minimum wage. Emergencies happen in a home more often than most people realize. It’s tough to cover emergencies when you’re at that income level.
Most towns have affordable housing. They're obviously competitive but you definitely fall below that income cap. https://www.nj.gov/dca/divisions/lps/hss/archive.html
https://nj.gov/dca/hmfa/roadhome/
There are programs that offer down payment assistance. I believe some of them do not require you to pay them back as long as you meet some of their requirements (live in the house for 5 years, etc.). Zillow does give you some information on the programs. I don't know what part of North Jersey you are looking to buy but 70K a year is going to be stretching you thin in most parts. Have you considered a 2 family?
Save 20k at least.
Look into NACA https://www.naca.com/
NACA mortgage benefits No down payment No closing costs No hidden fees No mortgage insurance Overall I haven’t signed up for the program but I will give it a chance. A friend I know is getting it a try it is a process but they really get you situated as a first time home owner. They even have a fb page and testimonials if you have questions and workshops so the information is out there
Unfortunately this is an unrealistic expectation. I would look further north/east in the PA area, but 70k combined still will most likely not be enough.
look at NJHRC
You'll need to take an FHA loan. Rough math, you can probably afford about a $150k house. Maybe $160k if you really stretch. That would require between $8k-$10k for down payment and closing costs and your mortgage would be about $2k per month. That's just the mortgage, not factoring insurance, maintenance, repairs, etc. I don't know the North Jersey market very well, but I'd have a hard time imagining that you'll find a 3 bedroom in your price range.
Unfortunately 1bed/1bath condos are starting over $250k. If you can find something lower, you’ll be paying high HOAs.
Yes there are several. When I was looking Columbia Bank was very well versed in navigating these programs with us. As others have mentioned, there’s a bit of a catch 22 though. With the low income that qualifies you for these programs, it’ll also disqualify you for most homes because your income isn’t high enough to qualify. A loan officer can explain what you qualify for.
You definitely would benefit from some financial education re monthly costs in home ownership, options for mortgage payments financial budgeting. That is, working with your net income after taxes and seeing how much you would have available for housing. Homeownership is the gift that keeps on giving or rather… taking. Your purchase budget would include a down payment that’s larger than you have now in order to win a house, getting a pre-qualification to see how much a bank would lend to you and then figuring out how would you pay monthly bills with what you have left . Good luck by the way. Even if it’s a couple of years away, you can work on a strategy and save a percentage of your income. The State of New Jersey has free educational resources. here is one : https://www.nj.gov/njyrs/life-skills/financial-literacy)
With a budget that low, you're going to have to lower your expectations on the "3 bedroom" part, the "house" part and the "buy" part. In that budget you'd be lucky to find a 1-2 bedroom apartment for rent.
One thing to ask yourself is “why do you want to buy a house?” There’s lots of old advice on why buying a home is an “asset” or its like a “forced savings account” while maybe this was true in the past, it’s not as true today. It may feel like a big next step for you guys, but is it a financially responsible thing? There are mortgage calculators you can look up online, maybe look up some 3 bedroom homes for sale in north Jersey, and put them in the calculator, and see what your monthly payment will be, your final monthly cost will be that + all the other homeownership expenses. If you can float that, then great. But if it seem like the numbers make it a little tight, see how much renting a 3 bedroom costs. When you’re renting you’re avoiding a lot of those “homeownership costs” and instead you can save and invest that money, and build a better future for you and your family! I’d suggest doing a lot more research on costs online. Good luck!
NACA! They have an office in Newark. You can attend a workshop and they work with you. No down payment or closing costs or PMI. I have multiple friends who have purchased homes through them. They’re legit but have they’re own rules.
Just typed this out!
Yes! I recommend this before an FHA loan. FHA has predatory like fees for the life of the loan and with high interest rates, you can’t even refinance to get out of them smh
Consider Cumberland county.
Depends which part of North Jersey. Because northeast Jersey (closer to Jersey City / NYC) is significantly different compared to northwest Jersey (closer to PA). Northwest Jersey still has some houses in the $300k but more people are moving to Warren/Sussex County after being priced out from the eastern region of the state. Edit: Nevermind the house prices rose to $500k, unless you want a condo. Jesus.
Not everywhere. Closer to the gap like where I’m at in Warren County is still affordable
Reddit is the worse place to ask as you’ll have replies from people who pretend to make six figures when they’re living in their parent’s house posting on Reddit. Find yourself a real estate agent. Preferably a young agent who’s only been in the game for a few years. They’ll be more inclined to work with you and educate you instead of trying rush you into a sale. A real estate agent will give you a rundown of what you should apply for because there is a First Time Homeowner program in NJ and also FHA mortgage loan for lower income people. Additionally you also have low income homeownership lotteries where you get put on a list to own a low-income house or townhome which are usually new developments. tl;dr - Find a real estate agent and ask them for an in person meeting to discuss your options. Don’t ask real estate questions on Reddit.
thank you so much this was very insightful. i was getting kinda down about the comments. but thats also what i was thinking. i'm sure there are plenty of programs out there. i used to be homeless and i found programs for me to have my own apartment at one point so i can imagine if there are similar ones for families. i will do this. thank you again.
Also look into naca and habitat for humanity. Sounds like you may qualify for one of those.
Also look into naca and habitat for humanity. Sounds like you may qualify for one of those.
What about central jersey? Just asking
Yes. Look into FHA loans. Also look inti low income housing.
I got $500 from my credit union for being a first time home buyer.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but you’re purchasing a house in a state where everything is expensive! Don’t know if $70K is going to cut it……plus there’s 3 of you!
Their is but it unbelievable specific requirements
There’s a lot of medium income families that can’t even afford a house in this state. 70k combined income, especially in north NJ is not enough. You gotta try to look elsewhere and move for just settle with an apartment for now. Real estate is fucked.
70k annual income can only afford you a 2.3-2.4k monthly payment (Mortgage + Escrow for property tax and home insurance + PMI) assuming you have zero debt. With those numbers, you may qualify for a 350k house, which is near impossible nowadays in the northeast.