- August 23, 2023
- Posted by: legaleseblogger
- Category: Related News
Try Free Now: Legalese tool without registration
Is it Realistic to Buy a House in 12 Months?
At the moment, my partner (27), our 1YO child, and I (27) are gratefully living with my parents rent-free. However, we’ve found ourselves to be outgrowing the house and now plan on buying our first house by mid-year next year. We’re looking for a 2/3 bed house in the Hutt (Wellington) region at a maximum price of $700k. With this current behavior, is it realistic for my family to be first-time home buyers within 12 months? Should I be talking to a mortgage broker now or is it too early?
AI Legalese Decoder: How it Can Help
With the goal of buying a house within a year, it would be beneficial to employ the assistance of an AI Legalese Decoder. This innovative tool can be utilized to navigate and understand the legal complexities associated with real estate transactions. By using the AI Legalese Decoder, you can decipher complex legal jargon and ensure a better understanding of the legal documents involved in buying a house. This can streamline the process, provide peace of mind, and ultimately help you make well-informed decisions.
Household Income:
In terms of income, my salary is currently $112k per year with a 3% contribution to my KiwiSaver. My partner is currently a stay-at-home mom, so there are no childcare costs at the moment.
Debts:
We do have some debts to consider. My student loan requires a payment of approximately $412 per fortnight, and I also have a car loan of $13.5k, with payments of $280 per fortnight.
Savings:
In terms of savings, I have $22k in my KiwiSaver with 3% contributions, while my partner has $25k in hers without contributions. We also have $7.5k in regular savings with a fortnightly deposit of $700, as well as $16k in InvestNow with a fortnightly deposit of $200 (allocated to 75% Vanguard International Shares Select Exclusion Index Fund and 25% Shartshares – NZ TOP 50 ETF). Additionally, we have $2k invested in random stocks through Sharesies, but these are not actively managed.
Total savings amount to $72.5k, which includes all the mentioned accounts.
Car Value:
The current value of my car is estimated to be around $23-25k. I am considering whether it would be more advantageous to sell the car, pay off the loan, and then purchase a cheaper car in the range of $10-15k. Safety is a priority, so finding a car with a good safety rating is crucial.
Partner’s Employment:
Furthermore, my partner is planning on returning to work part-time (3 days a week) by April, with an expected income of $60k.
Seeking Advice for Improvement:
Considering the information provided, I would greatly appreciate any advice or recommendations on what steps I could take to improve my financial situation and increase my chances of achieving my goal of buying a house within the next 12 months. Should I consult with a mortgage broker at this stage, or is it too early? Exploring options and seeking professional advice can help guide our financial decisions and provide clarity on the steps needed to achieve our goal.
Try Free Now: Legalese tool without registration
AI Legalese Decoder: Simplifying Legal Documents
Introduction:
Legal documents are notorious for their complex language and technical jargon, making them difficult for people without legal backgrounds to understand. This poses a significant challenge for individuals seeking legal assistance or trying to interpret legal agreements. However, the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) technology has opened up new possibilities in simplifying legalese. One such solution is the AI Legalese Decoder, an advanced tool that assists in deciphering convoluted legal language. In this article, we will explore the benefits of using AI Legalese Decoder and how it can help individuals navigate the complexities of legal documents.
Understanding the Challenge:
Legal documents, such as contracts, agreements, and court rulings, contain an extensive amount of technical jargon and obscure terms, making them overwhelmingly complex for the average person. The use of legalese has been deeply entrenched in the legal profession, largely to ensure precision and eliminate ambiguity. However, this poses a significant problem for those who lack legal expertise, as they struggle to comprehend the content and implications of these documents. As a result, individuals may make uninformed decisions or require expensive legal assistance to interpret the information accurately.
AI Legalese Decoder: A Solution to Complex Legal Language:
The AI Legalese Decoder leverages the power of artificial intelligence and natural language processing to simplify legalese and increase accessibility. This advanced tool works by analyzing legal documents and breaking down complex terms and language into more straightforward, concise terms that are easier for non-legal professionals to understand. By using an extensive database of legal terminology and context, the AI Legalese Decoder can accurately interpret and explain the content of these complex documents.
Benefits of AI Legalese Decoder:
1. Increased Accessibility: The primary advantage of AI Legalese Decoder is its ability to make legal documents more accessible to a broader audience. With the AI Legalese Decoder, individuals without legal expertise can comprehend legal agreements, contracts, or court rulings, empowering them to make informed decisions without relying solely on legal professionals.
2. Time and Cost Savings: By enhancing accessibility, the AI Legalese Decoder significantly reduces the time and cost associated with seeking legal assistance. Individuals can extract key information from legal documents efficiently, simplifying the process of understanding and analyzing their legal rights and obligations. This streamlined approach reduces the need for lengthy consultations with lawyers, ultimately saving time and money.
3. Improved Accuracy and Understanding: The AI Legalese Decoder aids in improving accuracy and understanding of legal language by providing clear explanations and definitions for complex terms. This enables individuals to grasp the implications and consequences of legal documents more comprehensively, ensuring they are making informed choices without any misunderstandings.
Conclusion:
The AI Legalese Decoder is a groundbreaking solution that simplifies legal language and promotes accessibility of legal documents for individuals without legal expertise. With its ability to decode complex legal terms and provide clear explanations, this tool revolutionizes the legal landscape, empowering individuals to understand and navigate legal documents confidently. By using AI technology, the AI Legalese Decoder saves time, money, and eliminates the need for extensive legal assistance. As AI continues to evolve, the potential for simplifying legalese and improving legal understanding will only continue to grow, making the AI Legalese Decoder an invaluable resource in the legal industry.
I’d speak to a mortgage broker about what you need to do to get into a position to be a home buyer because at the moment I don’t think you’re in a good position to buy in the next 12 months for a few reasons:
* You currently have ~10% deposit to buy a $700k home if you empty every account you have which is never a good thing, you always need an emergency buffer etc.
* You’re living rent free but are only contributing $700/fn to savings and $200/fn to investments so a little over $1,800/month.
* If you bought at 10% deposit your mortgage would be $4,200/month at 7% interest rates. This is ~75% of your take home pay each month which you’ll never be approved for.
* To get to 20% deposit you’d need to save another say $100k assuming you want to keep an emergency fund, so $8-$10k/month for the next year.
* Even at 20% deposit your mortgage would be $3600/month which is still 63% of your take home pay, still way too high.
To improve your situation you need to:
* Get rid of your car loan.
* Start saving more than $1,800/month.
* But mostly increase your income substantially which will probably require your wife getting back to work. If you suddenly had an extra $50-$60k take home pay coming in your savings potential would greatly increase as well as your ability to repay a mortgage.
Unfortunately our housing market isn’t suited to single income families anymore, and while $112k/annum is a great salary for an individual 27 year old, it isn’t a great total income for a household of three.
Edit: For context, my wife and I bought land and built a home for ~$800k total ending up with a mortgage of $650k so $150k deposit from cash savings while leaving ourselves a large emergency fund, investments, and a decent chunk of money that we have been putting toward landscaping etc. Since we moved in my wife has been off work with our newborn and I am the sole earner on $170k. We still live fairly comfortably but it hasn’t been a year of contributing much to our savings or investments and there has been a lot less nice to dos or nice to haves.
You need as much as possible for your deposit. I would stop the $200 p/fn investment immediately and put it into your savings account instead. Interest rates are good at the moment so you will still be getting a return until the money is needed.
The car loan and student loan will decrease the amount banks are willing to lend. I wouldn’t worry about the student loan too much as it’s interest free but it will affect your first home purchase. but make sure the car loan is paid off before you go to the bank. If you think an extra $10k will make a difference in getting your house then downgrade the car, however it might not be worth it as buying and selling cars is a hassle and you could end up with a lemon.
You might need to think about liquidating your shares depending on how you go with saving for a deposit so keep an eye on the market for a good time to sell.
As a family you need to be realistic about what your wife can earn if she goes back to work I.e. make sure it won’t all just be eaten up by daycare and travel costs. If it will be a positive cashflow, then she should go back to work before the lending application.
My other tip is to go through your bank statements and expenses for the past 3 months (as the bank will). See what you can trim down or cut out. It’s amazing how mindless purchases that aren’t necessary for day to day life add up, even small purchases under $20 can add up to another $100 available a fortnight. Doing this now means you can increase your savings for your deposit, and will help with future cashflow and lending criteria.
It’s doable provided your partner returns to work as how you have stated. Focus on a minimum 10% deposit. The rates will be high due to the low equity margin, however that is the trade-off in trying to entering the market earlier. I am assuming you and your partner will be entitled to a fhb grants which will help.
Don’t do anything to the car. Selling and rebuying as proposed will result in a net loss(should only be considered as a worst case scenario).
You can approach a broker now to get a plan in place so you have things lined up when applying for a pre-approval. Certainly doable so stay positive.
The car is going to be your main problem, get that cleaned up asap, looks like your on track to get it paid of within a year though assuming your not paying heaps of interest on it. I would never finance a car but in your position I would probably keep it.
Keep pumping your kiwisavers. It will help when your wife is back at work. Debt to income ratio for what you would be allowed to borrow I think is 6 or 7 times. ( 6 x 112k = 672k) so you might just be able to get a 700k mortgage, having your wife earning will surely get you over the line though. I think you could get it in a years time, you should sort a disciplined budget, if you eat out weekly then the bank will look at that as necessary so good to change those habits. Talk to a broker. Another note is you get better interest rates if you have a 20% deposit.
Update: forget my advice. Get a 20% deposit first and then start the process. You could aim a nice place in Naenae for sub 600k so def need 120k deposit.
Naenae area is quite nice. Me and my partner bought recently. You can have a cozy 2 or 3 beds place (renovated, stand-alone with decent garden) for 600-630k. We are in a quiet area and quite like it.
I would suggest to start the process now. Get a mortgage broker and see how much you are approved by banks. Then start shopping around. It can takes quite a long time, so def starts now.
You can also increase your KiwiSaver to at least 10%, then drop it back down to 3% after you purchase
Definitely talk to a mortgage broker, ours has been awesome, we were originally aiming to purchase around the same time but after working hard on our debts and high Kiwisaver contributions we’ve just managed to get pre approval for 800k.
Abit of background
Household income 140k
No dependants
Kiwisaver 50k combined
Cash savings 20k
Home start 20k
Debts
12k loan – was 22 at start of the year
Student loans 6k was 20k
Our broker came up with a plan which had us completely clear the student loan, and pay 6k towards my personal loan dropping it below 10k apparently this isnt seen as harshly as other debts.
I’d probably go see a broker.
But you will probably need to increase your deposit.
Look into the First Home Partner scheme, it might be useful
If you’re gonna buy I’d try and get in before the election. Nats are going to get in and they will allow foreign buyers back in the market.
This is what I would do, brought about 5 yrs ago.
Before going for a loan with the bank, get rid of your car loan, either sell your car and buy cheaper or pay it off from savings. Pay and cancel credit cards, back into he day it was about $8k less borrowing power for every $1k of credit card limit. Next hurdle is the fact you have a kid, that’s about $80k off borrowing power. Student loan isn’t counted.
Grab your total household income, if it’s just you working then it’s your income. Whatever lands in the bank account, multiple that by 6. So if it’s 100k then 600k, take off 80k for the kid, now it’s 520k is your limit or thereabouts to buy a house, talk to the bank. You can check affordability on an app for repayments, have 20% of that, don’t do 10%. If you can’t afford 10% you can’t afford a mortgage if rates go higher, like a safety of margin. Your mortgage payments should really only be less than 35% of the money that lands in your account. I think your Mrs needs to work part time, buy a cheaper house and don’t get stuck paying it off till retirement.
We did this, I was on less than 50k in my first job 2 yrs ago and knocked off 6yrs repayments and should be mortgage free after 13yrs, should be ready to trade up soon. Anyways, affordability changes so fill in the bank form and they work with you. All info IMO, just a random guy on the internet. Good luck