As a single nurse were you able to buy a home?

VANurse2010 · May 4, 2015

I choose not to, but I could if I wanted to.

pixiestudent2 · May 4, 2015

Thanks everyone, your post have been pretty insightful.

brandy1017, ASN, RN · May 4, 2015

Yes I own a home, but I didn't buy one as a new grad. I was working for ten years before I bought mine so make more than base wages, but still it is expensive with mortage, property taxes, PMI, and maintenance. I would advise to rent till you are ready to settle down. Save some money for emergencies and ideally 20% downpayment to avoid PMI. Yes you can get a home with as little as 3% with some loans like FHA or some state loans for low to moderate income people. My state's loan program was originally about 3/4 less interest rate when I bought the house, but now is actually higher than market rate due to problems in the downturn. I was disqualified in the end because I worked too much overtime and then made too much money. Found out later I could have still got the loan if I had jumped thru hoops to prove this wasn't my real wage, but I didn't want to involve my boss in writing a letter to that effect. Would feel uncomfortable re privacy concerns.

Also you should really do research on the home buying process. Elyse Glink has some good books about this. Do lots of research first. Some free education is thru Nehemiah Corporation they even have down payment assistance if you qualify. Check out ncf-wep.org

Stick to a credit union if you can, they may have higher lending requirements but usually have better rates, many also have free seminars. My employer had a relationship with a nonprofit agency that lead me thru the process from checking credit, making a plan, and thru to the end. I'm so glad I took advantage of this free service. She guided me thru everything, made sure I got a fair, fixed rate loan, even discovered that my insurance company had lied about replacement cost coverage. My family had been using them for decades and they tried to sell me a more expensive, inferior product until she caught it and exposed them! Other friends either skipped the agency or didn't listen to advice in their hurry to buy a house and ended up in terrible, very expensive subprime variable rate mortgages. It didn't help that they also had bad credit. You really need to fix your credit and have a great credit score to get the best interest rate! Also brokers are not your friends, yes they have access to many different loans but many add a interest rate charge up giving them a free bonus at your expense! Buyer beware! Most people are better off sticking to fixed rate mortgages, especially given how low rates are, even if you think you will only be in a house 5-7 years you never know if you'll change your mind or not be able to sell the house. Frankly if you aren't planning to spend a long time in a house you will probably be better off renting. There are lots of extra costs in both buying and selling a house. Some people plan to sell and buy up to a bigger and better house next time, but you are taking a risk as homes don't always appreciate, sometimes they even depreciate as the national housing crisis has shown leaving millions stranded with homes worth less than their mortgages!

caliotter3 · May 4, 2015

When I have bought homes, it has never been because of a career in nursing.

PauperRN · May 4, 2015

If you do not have a masters degree, and do bedside nursing,please do not buy that house. Call me naive or whatever but a BSN, single or not, too much risk.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · May 4, 2015

If you do not have a masters degree, and do bedside nursing,please do not buy that house. Call me naive or whatever but a BSN, single or not, too much risk.

I'd rather not risk dealing with exposure to rising rents. I suppose the poor play the financial game to avoid losing what little they have in life.

I'm 34 years old and have been a homeowner since age 22. Some of my coworkers pay $1,200+ to rent apartments, whereas my total cash outlay for a nice 3-bedroom house is about $700 per month. In 12 years and three different houses, I have not been close to foreclosure. My house is one of my biggest assets.

Signed,

The person who purchased her first house as a $15/hr factory worker

P.S. If my employment were terminated today, I could live on my savings for several years. It is called financial responsibility.

Jules A, MSN · May 4, 2015

If you do not have a masters degree, and do bedside nursing,please do not buy that house. Call me naive or whatever but a BSN, single or not, too much risk.

I also bought my first home in my late 20s when I was making about $30,000 a year. It was not fancy but reasonably priced and it tripled value in the 10 years I lived it. I have owned more than one home ever since and would recommend considering home ownership to anyone who is sensible about their purchase and the amount they can afford to spend. I'm not endorsing buying a McMansion that you can't afford with an adjustable rate mortgage when rates are at historic lows but in today's market depending on where someone lives it is likely a decent time to at least consider it.

BlueLightRN · May 4, 2015

Where I live the apartment market rent is about as high as the mortgage on my husband and I's house. I could afford a house alone but it wouldn't be as nice or in as good a neighborhood, or I could live in a cheaper (aka more in a bad neighborhood) apartment alone too. Together we have a decent income for this area so we have a nice house.

guestng82 · May 4, 2015

I make considerably less than $24 an hour (I think my salary actually comes to about $15-$16 per hour when you divide it up), and I was able to buy a decent sized home in a good neighborhood for $105,000 (three bedrooms, 1 1/2 bath). I used rural development (you don't have to have a down payment if the property is within qualifying locations). By going further out from where I work (about two towns over in a very rural area), I got more land and house for less money (it only takes me 20-24 minutes to get to work every morning if the traffic is bad). You can check if properties are eligible at: Disclaimer 1

I'm actually paying only $25 more than what I paid for my apartment monthly, but my apartment rent was going up every year so I'm better off. I just bought my house last June in Louisiana, and I got a 4.38% interest rate. Because my credit was high, my mortgage company kept giving me all kinds of credits where I did not have to come to the table with any money in closing costs.

The only things I wished I'd done were finish paying off my student loans and credit cards so that I could have had more money each to go towards a mortgage. That would have taken about 3-4 more years, and I wanted to stop wasting money on an apartment. Also, I did not make sure to have a savings for things that will go wrong in my house. I actually ended up calling a plumber at 10:30 p.m. this past Saturday night for water pouring out of my toilet. He wanted $200 an hour to come out that late and because I don't have that savings, I could not afford that at all and ended up crying on the phone about it! He took pity on me and helped me fix it over the phone for free though! :)

Also, if you do not pay utilities (water, trash, etc.) where you live, make sure you include those in your monthly budget before buying a house! I did not consider them at all, and they add about $75 a month on top of everything else.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · May 4, 2015

My daughter bought a HUD property, three-story, for $50,000 in a city when she was a grad student on a $17,500/year stipend (this was in 2004). She rented out the first floor apartment and she and her husband (unemployed) lived on the top two floors. Even with the repairs and maintenance, they made money when they sold it three years later.

Ruby Vee, BSN · May 4, 2015

I was able to buy a home in Seattle as a single nurse, and Seattle isn't cheap! I saved my money for a long time, and looked for the perfect home in the perfect neighborhood, but I was able to own my own home by myself. It felt great!

KelRN215, BSN, RN · May 4, 2015

If you do not have a masters degree, and do bedside nursing,please do not buy that house. Call me naive or whatever but a BSN, single or not, too much risk.

What does a master's degree have to do with being able to own a home?

My mortgage for a 3 bedroom house is less than rent for the average 1 bedroom apartment in my city. That's why I bought. I've owned for 4 years. I was 27 when I bought, working as a floor nurse.