Newcomer from Boston, MA seeking brutal advice on buying 1st house

**Mr. Bright5ide** · 04-20-2011, 08:53 AM

Hello there,

Being a huge fan of online forums in general I only thought it only right that I join this one as I have recently become interested in exploring my possibilities of buying my very first house. I am a complete newcomer to this so I need all of the advice & suggestions I can get. I have heard of all sorts of speak lately of government assistance currently being offered to help first-time buyers both in purchasing & renovating which I am all to willing to exploit as much as I legally can! What I have in mind is buying a house, living in one of the rooms and/or splitting the home up & then renting it out to generate income. So here's my situation:

I am 21 years old, live in Jamaica Plain (Boston), Massachusetts, currently working a full-time job. I currently earn $11.00 p/hr which equates to apprx. $680 every 2 weeks after taxes so about $1,360 p/month which would apprx. be $16,320 p/year (extremely low I know but probably average for a college student like myself still working on getting a degree). However, my monthly expenses are also extremely low -- minus rent which obviously would not be an issue if I bought a house -- my total monthly expenses (school loans, transportation, food, etc.) come in at apprx. $300 p/month which means I would have about $1000 to pay on the house a month. Additionally, I have about $6000 saved up which I could use towards a deposit. My plan then is to buy a modest place with as many rooms as possible that I could rent out in order to start earning some income -- this isn't about "buying a dream home" or anything like that -- it's about making some money! I have some experience in construction & have helped renovate homes in the past so fortunately for me I would probably be able to do a good amount of work on the house myself as needed.

Now here's the question: IS ANY OF THE ABOVE MENTIONED PLAN FEASIBLE IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER? Be as brutally honest as you wish. Advice, suggestions, advice, & suggestions! Also, if you could refer me to where I could get more information I would greatly appreciate it. I thank anyone to reply to this post in advance.

Best,
Mr. Bright5ide

**Greg** · 04-22-2011, 07:02 AM

You need to talk to a couple of local lenders. Get face to face with them. Without you spending any money or filling out any forms they should be able to help you see if you qualify for a loan. The rent from the rooms will not help you get a loan. You will have to qualify for the loan on your own abilities. We can not tell you how much you qualify for because we don't know your credit history. Be bery honest when you are talking to these lenders. If you have a tarnish on your credit they will find out about it later in the process after you have spent money so be very honest.

Once you know how much loan you qualify for then you can start to look around for houses in that price range.

**Mr. Bright5ide** · 04-23-2011, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by Greg

You need to talk to a couple of local lenders. Get face to face with them. Without you spending any money or filling out any forms they should be able to help you see if you qualify for a loan. The rent from the rooms will not help you get a loan. You will have to qualify for the loan on your own abilities. We can not tell you how much you qualify for because we don't know your credit history. Be bery honest when you are talking to these lenders. If you have a tarnish on your credit they will find out about it later in the process after you have spent money so be very honest.

Once you know how much loan you qualify for then you can start to look around for houses in that price range.

Thanks for the advice! Very much appreciated. To tell you truth though I think I'm starting to realize that I already need to be generating much higher income before trying take on this venture.

**clemy** · 04-23-2011, 12:41 PM

Another thing to consider is how many people can you rent rooms to. The number of unrelated persons living in one house is often limited by zoning regulations or city ordinances. You may not be able to rent to as many people as you may need to in order to pay for the house.

**MikeAustin** · 04-26-2011, 06:43 PM

Aside from knowing your credit score and getting covered by zoning regulations, you should also consider if you are ready to face the responsibilities and challenges that goes along with landlordship.