Whats the best way to save up for a home loan??

Answer 1

ok, as both a realtor and a mortgage broker, I advise you to go to the mortgage side first...because a real estate person is going to get you excited about a property before you really look at what you budget will properly support....now a good ethical realtor can help you with that too, but the mortgage person will know exactly how much you need to verify, and what your payments would be at different levels, AND will be able to send you out shopping with a pre-approval letter, which will save you and your realtor a lot of time.

NOW...from your question, I'm guessing you are still a little ways out from actually buying.

In today's market, it's not really necessary to put money down on a home, besides closing costs...(there are exceptions to this, but as long as you're buying a decent house and you've got reasonably good credit, you can borrow up 100% of the home's value....closing costs can vary a lot, and since, as my fellow posters said, we are in a bit of a buyer's market, you may have some luck in getting the seller to pay for all or some of your closing costs. You should think of having, at a minimum in the bank:
2x your proposed monthly housing expense
2x your normal monthly life expenses
6 mo of your proposed homeowner's taxes
12 months of your homeowner's insurance
and some cushion for life...and things like light bulbs and lawn mowers and everything else you haven't had to have for yourself.

So, using me as an example
My existing mortgage on my overpriced southern california shack is 2100/mo (as an interest only loan), so I'd need 4200.

My credit cards, voice lessons, tp, groceries, et al...probably average 1500/mo...so that's another 3K

My property taxes are just over 500/mo, so that's another 3k
and my homeowners insurance is about 500/year....

So at a bare minimum...10,700 for me...maybe more or less for you depending on where you're buying....and definitely more if you want to put down a down payment.

so, where to come up with the money? Everywhere...
Are you still getting coffee at starbucks? Make it at home...will save you probably $5/day---$1500 by the end of 1 year
Bring your lunch/cook at home---conservatively will save you $5/day..another 1500
do you get cable tv?--check out reading...and the library for that.
do you have a car payment? If not, keep it that way as long as your car will allow it...my husband and I both drive paid off cars...up until this month recently mine was a 1999 corolla, and I'm a realtor...it's a clean car and it works perfectly...and since most people have car payments of 300/mo...or $3600 a year for something going DOWN in value...there's better things for your money to go to...like your house...or your savings account...
Also, do you do a lot of clothes shopping. ask yourself with every purchase if you'd rather have the thing you're buying or the house...because every dollar is one closer homeownership...


How about an extra job? A roommate? have you set a budget yet? there's a lot of places most people can find money to save, but I'd have to see your finances to know what yours would be...good luck

ADDED:
Bear in mind, it's not just "getting" the house, it's making the payments long term. You can get in for less, but you want to make sure you can keep it.

Answer 2

Cheri has a good answer.
The best advice I can give is if you work for a major corporation you can have a 401K account. Oftentimes your company will match a certain amount of this account pre-tax and you get to deposit pre-tax. The government allows you to withdraw from this account without having to pay the tax on the money if you're using this as a first time home buyer.
Also, it's good to note, that it is a buyer's market. What does this mean to you? You can buy a property, if you have good credit, for as little as a 0-3% down payment AND, generally in today's market all closing costs will be covered for you by the seller.
My tips...Get a good Realtor and think twice before spending money you don't have to.

Answer 3

Not to even bother. You can get 100% financing BUT, if you have a sub-580 score I believe you can still avoid a down payment if you get a good enough deal on the property i.e. maybe you buy a 100,000 property for 80,000 leaving you a 80% loan to value ratio. You would need a good loan officer to make this fly. Check out the free evaluation form at

www.totaldebtsolutionsllc.com

and one from their network could give you more info on this process.

Answer 4

I don't know how it is out there but here in Manitoba you can use your RRSP's to buy a house without paying taxes on it for 15 years if you repay it.
Also for first time house buyers you can get a house for 5% or less down.
Check with the Realtors in your area, they would probably be happy to help.

Answer 5

Make sure your credit is strong, and you won't have to save up much at all. Figure 3 month's worth of payment in your account, and we can make something happen.

Answer 6

OPEN A SAVINGS ACCOUNT FROM WHICH YOU CAN'T
WITHDRAW AND LET THE BANK DEDUCT THE AMOUNT
YOU CAN SAVE EVERY MONTH ON PAYDAY