I guess I should lease 1yr, 15K down drain! Will this significantly increase FICA 4 better interest & lending?
480345
No, leasing or paying rent does not benefit your credit or Fico score in anyway.  Only if you do not pay does it get reported & then negatively impact your credit.  If you do not have a score or have a low score, there are many loan programs out there for this.  I would recommend you contact a mortgage co./brokerage (not a bank) since they have access to several hundred programs & can keep trying to help you.  If you want to imprve your scores you should paydown debt.  Or establish new good accounts.  For example you can go into your bank & open a secured credit card.
1004855
I'd put 15% of your monthly income into the retirement fund monthly, and if you have any extra left over, then apply it to your mortgage to pay it off faster.
857497
You may minus mortgage interest and any other expense (except for cost for major improvement) form your total rental income and report it as either gain/loss. Unless you have a tax program it is rather time consuming to calculate. Also to take advantage of tax deduction, you may depreciate your house, which takes another form. I have my HR block tax professional do the form and it saves time and definitely worth it. The loss from my rental house offset my adjusted gross income by thousands of dollars every year.
594827
It won't mean much for me, except maybe lower property taxes.  As long as you're not planning on selling, it's kind of like a drop in the stock market.  The price doesn't matter until you sell.\n\nTami T - I would be concerned about a 15% drop, unless you had a big down payment.  You could end up upside-down on your mortgage and if you HAD to sell (lay-off, relocation), you would end up still owing the bank for a house you don't own anymore.  And I'm sure they'll want that at closing.
1013583
your debt to income and debt to asset ratios are going to be quite high and as such, the pricing you would get on a loan would be higher than you would like to pay. best thing is to pay off the 20% and build equity in your house that you can either leverage or use to buy into another property. also, your LTV on an investment prop would be about 75%, which means that you need to come to the table with at least 25% of the purchase price plus CC.
1094773
$750,000 with 0 down at 6% on a 30-yr fixed will leave you with a $4,500/month payment (on your ~$6,000/month take-home).  After a year you'll have paid off (essentially) 0 principle. That leaves you with $1,500 for utilities, maintenance, insurance, etc. on the house.  Plus food, car, etc. for yourself.\n\nTypically, mortgage brokers won't (or shouldn't) give you a loan with a monthly payment that's > 25% of your monthly income.  \n\nWhy risk it? What's the incentive for having this huge albtross around your neck for a year?
985220
Its totally up to the both of you mike,renting a place IS dead money,you are correct,its a fact--a mortgage though is a millstone around the neck--another fact,so really,you're fecked if you do,you're fecked if you dont,fecked if i know the answer to that one!!Then you have the patter of tiny feet to consider in the future,and everyone knows how costly those little feckers are...very!! Wish you all the best in whatever you decide mike,i know its not easy-decisions,decisions,decisions:-/
742345
If you're planning to sell it in the next few months, no, since the costs to refinance would probably more than eat up any savings.  If you're planning to sell in a year, maybe.  Longer out than that, probably yes.
571572
Buying real property is not like purchasing stock.  Purchase it with the intention it is your home for 4-5 years.  Your return will be on your taxes -  You will gain equity and you can right off  the interest on the loan, & the taxes on the property and get a refund from the Federal Government and possibly State taxes. Waiting has thus far proven that interest rates rise and houses may come down a little, not enough to cover the interest rate hikes.  Speak with a loan officer to find out how much you can actually afford.  Renting is just throwing your money out the door with no return. I am a homeowner and have now been rewarded with a return of equity of over 275% and I still won't sell.  My investment was overpriced in 1971 and I now have an unbelievable return on my investment.  Don't think short term, think long-term and when the price is right sell it and move on.
26015
That depends on the amount of the gain, your overall tax bracket, the amount of tax already paid for the year, etc., etc. The best strategy is to use a tax planning tool and put all the information in for the year including your filing status (single, married joint, married separate, etc), wages, tax withheld, whether or not you have mortgage interest or property taxes, interest and dividends as well as the capital gains. IF you come up short, you should pay Federal and state estimated taxes. If not, no reason to do so. You could be hit with a small estimated tax penalty which is basically equal to the amount of interest due on the amount of the underpayment if you come up significantly short.
579198
i would have to say no, rates are going to rise for some time, i would fix a good rate then when rates come down refinace at the lower rate and lock it in. only good time for an arm is when rates are really high so you catch the downward trend.
746921
look for a lender who will underwrite a loan package called \nstated income.  even if you have a renter, get a one year lease agreement signed.  don't know if that will help you.  alot of this depends on what your down payment is- the more you put down will offset the monthly mortgage amount.
913295
Easy, as much as you can afford!, \n\nAt the minimum I would suggest no less than 25% but the more you put on, the less interest you will pay in the long run and you will be mortgage free years ahead of schedule!\n\nWhen we brought our first house we put every cent of savings we had on to the deposit (dont be fooled going for the minimum payment, it adds thousands to the interest!)\nwe also went for the shorter term (25 years instead of 30) to help force us to pay it off quicker (you can always re-mortgage if you get in the poo).\nAnd then we proceeded to put 50% of our income on it for the first 3 years, we have now lowered our payments as we are traveling and renting the house out, but once we return we will put the payments back up.
949086
The interest rate is horrible, but keep building the score so if and when you borrow in the future the rate is more reasonable, like in the single digits. You have to repair the score somehow so its a good start.
858461
I am not sure why you are doing "repairs" on a new home, but I would steer clear of adding additional financing to your home.  If it is only 6 months old, and you purchased new from a builder, then you are probably upside down anyhow, and you won't get a loan.\n\nFinally, what did you do with the HELOC you already have?  if you didn't use it for home improvements, just an fyi, the interest may not be fully tax-deductible, if deductible at all.  Hope this helps.
997727
Probably.  It depends how you look at it.\n\nOver the long term, stocks & real estate will probably give you the same return on the dollar (learned this in Finance at University of Chicago nobel prize winner).  However, that may vary in the short run/shorter time horizons (e.g. over 10 yrs or less).  Recognize you usually own a home for longer & usu get a 30 yr loan.  Lately, obviously real estate has been doing better than the stock market.  But, with interest rate hikes, the real estate market seems to be cooling off.  And, real estate can differ greatly pending on the house you buy & its location.  I do not claim to be an expert and you may want to speak w/ an objective real estate agent (if you can find one).\n\nThat being said, in general buying is almost always preferable to renting as your monthly payments will be lower, esp as time goes on.  This, in turn, will allow you to save more so you can invest it whereever you want to.  Usually rent increases year after year; but, your mortgage payments will be the same as they are today for 30 yrs.  I say this as someone who has rented the last 10 yrs & wish I had bought sooner.  My apartment just went condo & I bought it 2 months ago.  In retrospect, I wish I had done it sooner.\n\nI read an excellent book on the subject that was very educational for first time buyers.  It's called "The automatic Millionaire Homeowner" by David Bach.  It explains all the basics & how to think abt mortgage options and what might be right for you.  It was really helpful.   A few months ago, I was a complete moron on the subject...now, I understand what others are talking about.
839845
Bad Idea. I find it hard to believe you'd get a better rate on a student load by using the mortgage (unless she didn't go through the gov't but only through a bank or used credit cards otherwise, the rates are extremely low and you can take lots of time to pay back). \nTrying to build a little equity? You must already have some equity otherwise you couldn't do this. They are not going to consolidate it into a loan for more than the property is worth.\nWhy waste that equity you have now already on something low interest, that you can take a lot of time to pay back.