Bidding war on houses

[CoGirl303]

Believe it or not, they are out there. Since I was using VA, many of the homes in the price range you listed didn't qualify for VA without some work first. I saw a few nice homes in the Thornton/Northglenn area that were listed for $275K. The problem you run into with those homes is the POS investors who come in with a cash offer and scoop it away before you can even put a bid on it. If you using an FHA loan you will have a lot more leniency.

I too am using a VA Home loan guaranty, 1st time buyer. Credit score is on the rise now the credit cards are paid off and that student loan is out of the way. I've started doubling down on my car payment to get it paid off faster. Should be paid off by X-mas.

No idea what an FHA loan is, but regardless its now or never for me to buy a home here in Colorado, unless some miracle happens and the bubble bursts and I'm not gonna hold my breath on that right now. Property values are continuing to rise.


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[Sawin]

I too am using a VA Home loan guaranty, 1st time buyer. Credit score is on the rise now the credit cards are paid off and that student loan is out of the way. I've started doubling down on my car payment to get it paid off faster. Should be paid off by X-mas.

No idea what an FHA loan is, but regardless its now or never for me to buy a home here in Colorado, unless some miracle happens and the bubble bursts and I'm not gonna hold my breath on that right now. Property values are continuing to rise.


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You might want to consider saving the extra car payments and keep it toward the down payment or related costs.

That is, unless your car loan is a high interest rate.

[CoGirl303]

You might want to consider saving the extra car payments and keep it toward the down payment or related costs.

That is, unless your car loan is a high interest rate.

I'm still putting money in savings every paycheck. Have quite a bit of liquid cash after the bils are paid each pay period.

As a first time buyer w/ VA loan a down payment wont be required.

I am however saving for my earnest money when I get to the point where I go under contract.


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[Vitesse304]

I'm still putting money in savings every paycheck. Have quite a bit of liquid cash after the bils are paid each pay period.

As a first time buyer w/ VA loan a down payment wont be required.

I am however saving for my earnest money when I get to the point where I go under contract.


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If your car loan is around 3-5%, stop paying extra and put that money aside for your down payment. Even though you don't need to have a down payment for your VA loan, anything you put towards it will help in lowering your monthly payment. Just keep in mind that 4% of $275K is going to be more than 4% of a $15K car note. So you're going to want to lower the loan which will accrue the most interest.

If a home is what you are betting on within the next couple of months, then focus on getting more money for that since you are already able to put money into your saving and more towards your car payment.

As for earnest money and closing, don't bet on the owner paying or even splitting it with you. It's a sellers market right now.

In all honesty, I would wait...keep socking money away and wait. Anything in the sub $300K range will be over valued and overpaid for. Don't get caught in the trap of wanting a home now. A home is an investment and you need to buy right with your investments otherwise you'll be upside down or paying for a pit.

Keep saving, build up a good down payment or pay down the car and wait. Home ownership ain't all it's cracked up to be...your rent might be $1K a month, but once you own your home, the mortgage, home maintenance, taxes, utilities, etc will add up and could cost you more in the long term.

[Jer]

If your car loan is around 3-5%, stop paying extra and put that money aside for your down payment. Even though you don't need to have a down payment for your VA loan, anything you put towards it will help in lowering your monthly payment. Just keep in mind that 4% of $275K is going to be more than 4% of a $15K car note. So you're going to want to lower the loan which will accrue the most interest.

If a home is what you are betting on within the next couple of months, then focus on getting more money for that since you are already able to put money into your saving and more towards your car payment.

As for earnest money and closing, don't bet on the owner paying or even splitting it with you. It's a sellers market right now.

In all honesty, I would wait...keep socking money away and wait. Anything in the sub $300K range will be over valued and overpaid for. Don't get caught in the trap of wanting a home now. A home is an investment and you need to buy right with your investments otherwise you'll be upside down or paying for a pit.

Keep saving, build up a good down payment or pay down the car and wait. Home ownership ain't all it's cracked up to be...your rent might be $1K a month, but once you own your home, the mortgage, home maintenance, taxes, utilities, etc will add up and could cost you more in the long term.

Pretty solid advice. I would add that that extra time will allow you position yourself better financially (pay off other debt, save more money to put down, etc.) in the long run. Don't make the mistake most make which is financing WAY more home than you should and also financing as much of it as you can. If you can buy a less expensive house and put half down the pay more aggressively you'll be set for life before long. Most people can't do the half down part but all can do the buying less house than they can "afford" monthly part. Somewhere between those is the house you should be buying rather than just going off of what a realtor/mortgage broker says you can afford.

[Squeeze]

I'm still putting money in savings every paycheck. Have quite a bit of liquid cash after the bils are paid each pay period.

As a first time buyer w/ VA loan a down payment wont be required.

I am however saving for my earnest money when I get to the point where I go under contract.


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I came to the table with $2,500 earnest money and that was the absolute bare minimum up here in Denver. The closer you can get to the $5K mark, the better.

[CoGirl303]

I came to the table with $2,500 earnest money and that was the absolute bare minimum up here in Denver. The closer you can get to the $5K mark, the better.

I have $1,400 of that now in savings. Next paycheck will easily put me there.


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[Squeeze]

I have $1,400 of that now in savings. Next paycheck will easily put me there.


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Well shoot! You are on the right track! Keep it up! Let me know when you close and if you need help moving.

[CoGirl303]

Well shoot! You are on the right track! Keep it up! Let me know when you close and if you need help moving.

One of my friends has a realtor who helped her find her house and is gonna help me find one.

Another friend works preparing titles and mortgage paperwork and knows several realtors and she said I may end up around Johnstown area or further north but they can find me what I'm looking for or reasonably close to it. Plus she said they been having a run on people getting transferred to other cities for their jobs and literally have less than 30 days to pack up, sell the house and move and they don't wanna spend a bunch of time and effort trying to sell or haggling, so that's what I'm hoping for. 🤞🏻

Thanks! I appreciate that!


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