All Forum Posts by: Isabel Anness

No cc or car debt. 
2 months living expenses as a reserve/emergency fund. Your lender may require more. 
5% above your down payment and pre-paids/ closing costs.    Generic ballpark. 

@Isabel Anness

check out some personal finance podcasts to get ideas on emergency fund, savings, etc.  and look into house hacking.  you can get an estimate of closing costs when you apply for a loan so you know how much you'll need to have without committing to anything or paying any fees.   

I got my first property with only 2k deposit, I got approved for hard money and did a JV with my Barber of all people to give me the gap funding I needed, Tell everyone what you do, you never know who might have money and wants to get into investing!

Lender, shmender! Most people know in general it's 0% down for VA, 3.5% down for FHA and 20% down for conventional. As you've already stated in your question, the rest of the money you want to save up for is entirely dependent upon your personal situation and which house you buy. You will likely need as much as 2% of the purchase price for closing costs (bearing in mind this could also include up front expenses like a house inspection and appraisal). That's my bare minimum "benchmark": down payment + closing costs. You will also likely have moving expenses and incidental house upgrades and repairs as well. I didn't feel like I had enough at the time of my first investment, but the opportunity presented itself and I took the risk anyway. You're in for a wild ride, but it's worth it. Good luck!

@Isabel Anness your best bet is to sit down with a bank loan officer and see how you are as far as qualifying for financing. This is a good starting point to learn about financing. Many factors come into play which a loan officer can educate you on. 

Start the process with talking to a lender and they will tell you your loan options and what you need as a down payment to close on a property. You also need to be thinking about what kind of monthly payment you can afford. 

It really depends on how much you need for a down payment and how much you can borrow.  I'd want the down payment, closing costs and at least a few months of rent in the bank (assuming you have no renos).

I have enough for 15 percent but talking to the good members over on the financing forum I'm thinking I need at least 20 to 25 percent or my financing is going to cost too much. So, I would look at the type of homes you want to buy and the area, and look at the average price. You should get 20 to 25 percent of that saved. Or, you could look into "house hacking", which there are topics about here. 

 Do you plan to stay in Columbus, Ohio when you graduated from OSU?