I’m just wondering if my meandering ideas even seem feasible.
I’m considering buying a house of my own. Plain and simple, I live with the parents and it’s about time (late 20s in age, so even though we get along fine, it’s probably beyond time). No specific properties picked, I’m just thinking up a plan. The low property values (in my rural area) and low interest rates have me thinking I need to hop to action.
I have a steady job, 5+ years. It’s basically unskilled factory work, which sucks, but it is a relatively steady job with decent pay. The idea of working here 15-30 years (or a job like it) is a downer to say the least. I’ve considered and tried college, which is hard, but in a fun way. But despite years of classes in piecemeal bits I still don’t know what I’d like to pursue, which is why I never went full time in the first place.
I have no idea what my credit score is. I’ve only had one loan in my life, for a moderately priced used vehicle, which was a loan through my small local bank, and paid on time every time, for a year or so, until I just paid it off outright to save interest.
I have no credit cards (which I’ve avoided like the plague), nor debt. I’m single, so no partners to help (I’ll admit another detail that’s put me “off” of this idea for years).
Right now, I have 10K set aside (in a CD) that I would like to consider as potential “emergency money”, in place of a credit card. I also have a 401K (been put into with a matching percentage as soon as I could). It’s there, but I don’t think it’s necessary for anything and would rather not have to.
At this point I probably have enough saved (besides the emergency) for roughly 20% down on a home loan (depends on the size of course).
I certainly think I’m in a reasonable situation (and much better than most) for buying a home. But I wonder if my lack of credit score will hinder me (since they no longer give out loans like candy!) or will the down payment annul that problem?
I also wonder if my “emergency fund” would be better suited as more down payment to knock down the loan amount? To be honest, that idea makes me really leery, but I don’t know the pros/cons of it.
Any opinions on this mess I just typed, good or bad, are appreciated. Or thoughts of anything else I might need to think about.
Thanks.