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I'm pretty sure that I know that the answer to my question is probably no, but I am interested in getting some feedback.
My husband's brother and his new wife will have been married 1 year in May. They are expecting their first child in September and are planning on buying a house before then. They live in Nebraska where they have what's called "NIFA" home loans. These are loans that are given to people willing to buy a fixer upper in a low income part of the town at a reduced interest rate of 2-3%. They are also qualified to recieve a 2nd mortgage of $20,000 for repairs or towards the cost of the home, that is at a higher, interest rate but forgivable after 10 years. In addition, a certain percentage is forgiven every year, so say they try to sell the house after 5 years they only need to pay back $10,000 of the second mortgage.
This sounds like a great idea, but my concern is that they have a very low income, are expecting their first child with no savings to pay for hospital costs (although they do have insurance), have no emergency fund, and are only planning on putting $1000 into the costs of buying the home. They are depending on my brother-in-law's raise in order to be able to afford the mortgage payment, but it doesn't sound like they've figured in PMI, property taxes, repair costs, utilities etc.
Do we keep our mouths shut for the sake of family peace? Or is this one of those situations where it might be a good idea to present some of these issues to them as kindly as possible and possibly cause some tension in order to try to prevent them from making a huge mistake? I know that a lot of people buy houses before they really should and things turn out fine, so maybe I shouldn't worry about it. Also, my husband and I have never owned a home because we aren't financially ready and prefer to live on an Army base, so I've never been through the process of buying a home myself.
I know that the decision is ultimately up to them, but I can't help but think that if someone helped them see reality they might change their minds. We considered doing the same thing by buying a NIFA home when we were first married. But when I asked our realtor, who was also a close family friend, what she thought she advised us against buying a home. I am so grateful that she did. I guess the difference there was that I asked for her advise and we would be giving my brother-in-law unsolicated advice.
Any advice from you all would be greatly appreciated!
MSAW
My husband's brother and his new wife will have been married 1 year in May. They are expecting their first child in September and are planning on buying a house before then. They live in Nebraska where they have what's called "NIFA" home loans. These are loans that are given to people willing to buy a fixer upper in a low income part of the town at a reduced interest rate of 2-3%. They are also qualified to recieve a 2nd mortgage of $20,000 for repairs or towards the cost of the home, that is at a higher, interest rate but forgivable after 10 years. In addition, a certain percentage is forgiven every year, so say they try to sell the house after 5 years they only need to pay back $10,000 of the second mortgage.
This sounds like a great idea, but my concern is that they have a very low income, are expecting their first child with no savings to pay for hospital costs (although they do have insurance), have no emergency fund, and are only planning on putting $1000 into the costs of buying the home. They are depending on my brother-in-law's raise in order to be able to afford the mortgage payment, but it doesn't sound like they've figured in PMI, property taxes, repair costs, utilities etc.
Do we keep our mouths shut for the sake of family peace? Or is this one of those situations where it might be a good idea to present some of these issues to them as kindly as possible and possibly cause some tension in order to try to prevent them from making a huge mistake? I know that a lot of people buy houses before they really should and things turn out fine, so maybe I shouldn't worry about it. Also, my husband and I have never owned a home because we aren't financially ready and prefer to live on an Army base, so I've never been through the process of buying a home myself.
I know that the decision is ultimately up to them, but I can't help but think that if someone helped them see reality they might change their minds. We considered doing the same thing by buying a NIFA home when we were first married. But when I asked our realtor, who was also a close family friend, what she thought she advised us against buying a home. I am so grateful that she did. I guess the difference there was that I asked for her advise and we would be giving my brother-in-law unsolicated advice.
Any advice from you all would be greatly appreciated!
MSAW
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