More on Housing

Thanks for everyone's advice.

I've decided to wait it out a bit. I think I'm going to shoot for winter/spring 2008 time-frame. It allows me more time to raise my credit score, build a down payment (probably 5%), and keep an eye on what the market is doing.

I talked to another lender today, and he was a LOT better than the lender I talked to previously. On his own, he warned me against Interest Only loans, ARM loans, tax myths, told me the reality of the market right now, etc. So I was much more impressed with his honesty. Once it comes to buying a house, I will probably work with him. He was referred to by someone from work.

One thing he did mention that would help credit is this OptOutPreScreen site. Basically, it allows you to opt out of all those annoying credit card and insurance offers. It can raise your credit score 10-20 points according to what he said. Plus, a lot less junk mail. I've been getting an overdrive of these things ever since I opened up a credit card in August of last year. If you are interested, it's very simple to opt out:

https://www.optoutprescreen.com.

In any case, I'll keep doing lots of research. I know it isn't your best investment tool (especially with the unknowns of where the housing market is going)... but it's more than just an investment for me. Plus, there's risk in every direction I could possibly go. I do think owning a house is a good thing overall. Getting a smaller house now will help me to get a better house later on.

Plus, in all honesty, if my plan works, I won't be paying much more than I do now on rent (as I will have roommates to help pay my mortgage). So it just seems silly for me to keep paying rent and utilities when I could own a house for roughly the same amount. The one thing I need to do before I make any big decisions is go see a personal finance adviser. They can hopefully help me not just with my house portion, but my overall investment picture. And supposedly Intel has advisers for either free or at a discount or something... which I need to look into.

So much to think about.