I have $0 saved for a down payment. I want to buy a home in five years. What should I do? Go:

It sounds like you might make too much to qualify for some first time home buyer perks, but I'd definitely still look into it! I used the first time home buyer grant in my area and they paid my entire down payment and all my fees. I just have to live here for 10 years and not rent or sell it. If I do, it's a pro-rated amount to pay back. Ummm.. the military comment... Unless you legitimately thought about joining before, don't. If you did think about it... Your degree lets you become an officer, which gets you a better salary than enlisted. They'd pretty much pay for your housing while you're in, and you could realistically just save the down payment while you're in. The loan option I took was better than VA home loan. Honestly, most of the time there's a better option than the VA home loan if you have decent credit.

Look for a house that is four times what you make in a year to keep the payments under 25% of your monthly take home pay. If you go over 30% of take home money you will be house poor. If you need to buy a new anything it could destroy you. Keep it at or near 25%.

You can buy a house even without a credit score in case you didn't know that. It just takes more paper work than most banks want to do. A bank like Churchill Mortgage will work with you to get you approved for the loan. I know it's hard to believe that someone would actually take the time to realize that someone with no other payments has money for the mortgage.

If you get raises in the next five years then you can add that to the price of your homes value for purchase. I assume that you are trying to save for a down payment so knowing how much the house will cost means you know how much to save.

You don't want the real estate agent taking you to houses you cannot afford anyway. No need to get your hopes up of a house that is way over your price range. They will try to get you into a house that is slightly outside your range, stick to your guns about the price.

Use a resource like zillow to find the area that you want to live and see the prices of the houses there. It's not hard and is a starting point. Every sector of the country is different so too will the prices.

Hey,

Don't waste your hard earned money!!. Live way below your means and save like a maniac!! Track your expenses and beware of where each and every dollar is going...Cut the expenses..literally..! Don't eat out...Don't buy new clothes..you have already plenty. Don't go to vacation until you save enough for downpayment...Don't go to Starbucks, and etc.. Whenever you see something to buy always ask yourself "Do I really need this? and how much time this purchase will delay my dream which is buying a house?". Drive a cheap paid off car.  do not have car payments ever. Delay your current pleasure for the sake of your dream house!!!!

need help finding a home

I see some good advice, but at the end of the day there is only one inescapable truth... the less money you put down the more you will pay in interest, period. I bought my first house on a VA home loan, zero down sounds great, until you realize almost all your early payments are interest, the lender will get their money first. I imagine lenders love VA loans, not only are they guaranteed, they are interest gold mines. The more you put down, the less you pay in interest over the life of the loan, pretty basic concept that seems to escape a lot of people. Just re'fied and are going to buy our second home, having learned lessons from the first which we will turn into a rental, I will be putting down every penny possible on my next VA loan. Lenders will almost try and talk you out of it, especially with a VA. Its in their best interest, no pun intended. We live debt free, stay away from car payments! worst investments out there. Might I suggest spending some time researching money market accounts and mutual funds. Savings accounts are pretty old fashion in my opinion, and there are way easier and effective places to multiply your savings relatively safely over a 5 year term. My personal brokerage account is Fidelity, your core position is managed as a money market account, 1-2% interest, works just like a savings/bank account. This puts you in an easy position to branch out into bonds or mutual funds. Mutual funds with a return on investment horizon of 5 years could seriously multiply your savings as well, with little risk. Instead of depositing that $200 into a savings account purchase more mutual fund shares with every pay check. Dollar cost averaging investments in mutual funds are a tried a tested way to make good investment gains over time. One other thing, find a buyer agent! They can save you a lot of headaches and they will represent you and your best interests and yours only. Only buyer agents are required by law to do this, relators that are not strictly buyer agents have no obligation to you as a buyer to get you the best deal, and many times will work to get the best deal for their commission or for the sellers that they happen to be neighbors with. Good luck!

Everyone’s making it more complicated than it is... set up your direct deposit from your employer to take the first 10% and deposit it into a locked account. You can set the length of the lock but it will come with higher interest payouts and it ensures you don’t spend it. After a couple months you won’t even notice the missing money and you’ll end up with quite a chunk of change when you’re done.