All Forum Posts by: Erik Gonzalez

@Jim Cummings Thank you for your response. You're right I won't have 3x the amount of income. I also will probably have enough money in the case that the house needs a major repair on it. I do however have a job lined up for January right after I graduate that will make much more than 3x the mortgage payment. Can that be taken into consideration for the loan?

Hello my name is Erik and I am a new member to BiggerPockets. I was introduced to the BiggerPockets podcast by my brother and I love it! I've been an active listener for the past few months. I'm currently a student at the University of Texas at Dallas majoring in Mechanical Engineering and am graduating this upcoming December. I plan on investing in Real Estate some time in the near future

I've been wondering on whether buying a house and paying for a mortgage will be a smarter investment instead of continuing to pay rent at the apartment I'm living in. I am currently throwing money down the drain by paying $850 in rent at the moment, and noticed that I can be paying for a mortgage for almost the same price. With my brother, a student paying rent as well, we both have about 14k to put up for a down payment on a home. If we buy a 120k home, I calculated that our monthly mortgage will  be about $870, assuming a 4.605% interest rate.

The only problem will be getting approved for the loan since we are both unemployed without a steady source of income. Our only income comes from our scholarships. Will we able to get approved if we can get a co-sign?

Would this be possible to do? If so, will it be a smart thing to do? Also, is there anything that I need to consider that I'm possibly missing? I am completely inexperienced as I have never bought a home before. My Real Estate education comes from reading and listening to podcasts only.