Solo Mother

More thoughts on owning your own home…

by christina on November 7th, 2007

Navi rocks. She always knows so much more than whatever I’m writing about! Amazing.

Here’s her two cents on owning your own home:

check what programs your area has.
MI has MSHDA which has down payment assistance programs as well, but you need pretty good credit.

There are also federal FHA loans where your credit doesn’t have to be quite as pretty.

I got one of these. I didn’t know they existed until I called on a rental, changed my mind because of the price, and the landlady ended up being a Realtor and got me in touch with an FHA lender so I could buy a house.

I also picked up a HUD home, which gave me up to 60 days to make the low down payment - it was about 3kish, including home insurance (the house just needed some cosmetic work, and when you have kids cosmetics aren’t exactly a huge deal)

That said, depending on how much you’re paying in rent in reference to the area, it may or may not be worth buying. You don’t always get a return on your investment, especially if you aren’t able to keep the house up, and if you break even, you’re in the same place you were if you rented.

I have 3 kids, and well, to stay in the district (MI has schools of choice, but it’s not so smooth for children receiving special education - like my son) it was more economically feasible to buy. I didn’t really want to go for the commitment, but it looked like the most viable option. Turns out, my area’s being developed, so it just may have turned out a better option than I thought.

There are other programs besides HUD… I know that in my area, there’s a great program called, “Workforce Housing” that offers incentives to middle income participants to buy a home and remain in the area. If you have some cash floating around, you might want to look into foreclosure auctions, as well. Someone’s misfortune is, unfortunately, someone else’s gain.

My best friend and I love to dream about buying a home together and combining families, and it would be lovely… but I can’t imagine that I’ll stay just the way I am forever, and then what would happen to our lovely home? Plus, it’s no fair. She has an amazing husband and two plus one on the way kids. Part of me would be wistfully looking at all they have and feeling as though the King and I are missing something. It’s hard enough to watch fathers playing with their kids as they walk the dog and do yard work in front of the house. But that’s my heartache to bear.

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