I know what you mean. But same with a landlord. My current savings plan has me able to buy a house in 3 years. So instead of savings towards a down payment I'm paying back.

Cash > Credit, find a cheap place to live and sock away cash. Not to mention with a landlord you can say, "You want rent? Fix X, Y, and Z." You aren't responsible for fixing anything as a tenant. And there are lots of laws that protect tenants from shitty landlords. Just most of America is too stupid to look them up and understand them.

I know you'll likely ignore me because you don't me, and it seems like you have your mind made up.

I just want to help others not make the same cash/credit mistakes I made in my twenties, that I'm just now finishing cleaning up at 33. You know how much further I'd be ahead right now?

As a loan officer, I have to disagree with this. That being said, I understand where you are coming from.

Buying a house is the largest single purchase you will ever make in your life. Any intelligent human is going to put their guard up and be worried about getting screwed over or taken advantage of.

Here is why you SHOULD get a referral from your agent for a loan officer.

1. No agent in their right mind will ever refer you to a loan officer they don't have the utmost confidence in, and has delivered a consistently positive experience to their clients. They have a lot riding on each transaction as well, and will want to connect with you with someone proven.

2. Mortgage professionals are under intense scrutiny these days. Kick backs and "steering" do occur, but most of the crooks in the business have either left because its too hard, or have been ejected with their licenses revoked for doing something wrong and getting caught.

3. Compensation for loan officers has changed - Predatory lending used to occur when the loan officers were paid commission off interest rates and points. Loan officers were directly comped based on how bad they could could rip you off and still close the deal. Since the meltdown, loan officers are paid a % on total volume of funded loans monthly. To stay competitive and earn the most, you need to offer the best deal or you are out of business.

This is spoken like a mortgage broker. A broker sells loans to many different banks, all with different guidelines, and has no direct contact with the underwriters. The communicate through a liason at the bank. They will sell you "flexibility". In all honesty mortgage brokers usually have higher rates, perform slower, and have much less control in any transactions.

I would recommend a "direct" lender. They can offer the best rates, quickest turn times, and most loan officers will know the guidelines front to back.

The guidelines for all lenders are based off of the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac selling guides which are available online.

I can tell you that at the bank I work for gift funds are always allowed if the following is true.

• The money is from a relative
• The money can be sourced from the donors bank account
• The donors have signed a letter with their account # present
• The buyer has a minimum of 10% of their own funds involved in the transaction.

Getting a mortgage is like getting a financial colonoscopy. It all gets checked out. Occasionally things get overlooked, but not often.

Believe it or not the Patriot Act is why you loan officer needed the receipt for your AR-15 sale. It's to combat money laundering for terrorist organizations. Any deposit totaling greater than 25% of your average net monthly income needs to be sourced and documented. This is a huge problem for people who think that socking cash away under the mattress can be used for down payment. It cant.

<p>All good info guys. Keep it coming.</p><p>z31, I am genuinely taking your advice into consideration. And I am still looking for rentals. But after getting screwed over last time, and the rental market here its just not very fun. This is all still up in the air. I have a few week period where if the right house pops up at the right time then we will make a move. But if the right rental house pops up then I have no issue renting again.</p>

I know I'm being harsh, just know even if everything works out perfect it will take you 5+ years to get the closing costs back.

What could you do with the difference in 5 years?

<p>Throw it away on rent?</p>

I'm (kinda) buying a house. Discuss
 

Renting is not throwing away money, just to be clear. It does not always make financial sense to purchase instead of rent. There are online calculators for this.

<p>Link to said calculator?</p>

If you're absolutely positive your going to stay in Portland, it could make sense.

One of the nice things about renting you can pack up and go to another part of the country for a better opp.

<p>That also need to be discussed. Although the way the rental market is I don't see any issues with renting it out. Find a non-shitty property management company and hit the easy button if I have to move far away.</p>

Don't your parents rent places? I'm sure they'd be reasonable property managers.

<p>That too. Especially if they are going to retire soon like they keep saying they will.</p><p>But property management company is the easy button. Parents is the semi-easy button.</p>

I honestly, truly, seriously, hate to keep being the asshole.........but you're being naive.

That's all I can say. Good luck brochacho, I hope it all works out.

<p>Thanks, an asshole is always helpful. And hearing both sides is helpful.</p><p>Besides the divorce, why would you suggest against buying? You bought at 27, and what else do you regret about it.</p><p>I know your opinion on owing people, but its been different with my parents. We keep track of all money that I have ever been given, and were always in communication about how I am paying it back, or why it is needed.</p>

Honestly? My only thing against owning at this point is mobility.

Well not all of it, I hate to make the landlords more money, but if you work out the long term math, the ONLY way owning makes sense is to be able to put down a big chunk and do a 15 year mortgage. But what happens when you have to replace a $10k AC unit, or the foundation needs jacking (common problem in OK), or need a new roof, etc. Renting allows you to pack up and peace out.

30 year is for suckers and people buying more than they can realistically afford. Well I guess outside of the Top 5 markets in the country, which you are.

I think back to when I lived in Cincinnati. Took the job there in mid 2000, rented for a few years, finally decided this was a good place to settle down. Built a new house in a nice, white-picket-fence neighborhood, and got to live there for a little over a year before I got transferred to San Diego.

Sold the house for exactly what I paid originally, as I wanted it to move fast. The only thing which saved me from regretting the hell out of the whole process was that my employer, being quite generous at the time with its relocation package, paid the realtor commission.

I've never even considered buying a house again.

Well, I am sort of very vaguely rolling around the idea of maybe buying something in Manhattan, but the idea there would be to convert it into a rental property when I leave.

<br />
<br /><br />
<br />My idea too.

Fannie Mae HomePath program. Opinions?
<br />Seems like it could be helpful for me. Low down payment, would let me save cash too. That's all I know about it right now.

you should just consider all the things and then do all the things all the times

<p>Small update.</p><p>Took lots of your guy's advice into account. Some of my own. Backed down a bit from the buying idea.</p><p>If the perfect house does pop up then it will probably happen but that is doubtful.</p><p>Here's what mostly changed my mind.</p><p>Found a house that me and my gf fell in love with. Huge yard, big gate into the yard. Already had a concrete pad. Extra garage/shop in the back, and a garage in front. Basically exactly what I wanted.</p><p>But my parents didn't like it. They have a different style. Thought the neighborhood was bad. Etc. That's when I realized that they weren't just loaning me the money, they wanted a say in where I lived and whatnot. And I realized I didn't want that. When I thought it was just a 0% interest loan that I had to pay off I was happier, when I realized they wanted a say in where I lived it made me shy away. My mom has always done her best to control my life and in the beginning of college it turned into a couple ugly fights.</p><p>So I think I'm going to end up renting, putting the money I was going to be paying to my parents for the downpayment in savings and trying this again in 2 or 3 years when I have my own downpayment.</p><p>Thanks for all the advice and insights guys, it was all really helpful.</p>