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Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
I was turned down on the loan because of a late student loan payment on a nice condo. That was nearly 9 years ago, and I am still a renter
: ( Now home ownership hasn't been one of my main priorities over the past several years out of lack of stable income, a divorce...etc., otherwise I would have had this under control by now.
My boyfriend and I would most likely be doing this together, and he has had steady full time employment over the last few years, though we don't have enough an available downpayment to commit to a purchase now, with what I've learned over the last 18 months about real estate and mortgages is that we'd need a handsome downpayment to make this happen with my boyfriend's income taken into consideration...say $20,000-$40,000 plus it would be handy to have another $5,000-$8,000 for legal costs with the transaction, inspections, appliances, other closing costs and a maybe even the first few months of mortgage payments "just in case".
While I am on my way there and we are both debt free, it feels like such a daunting task, slaving away in the club to hit a goal shift after shift, though it would obviously take less time and slavery to achieve through dancing than *most other positions I would currently be qualified for. I just don't want to burn out too fast and then be held back from this even longer. AND, it would mean sooo much to me to be able to do this and have my home paid off long before most. I imagine that the first step would be to step my game up by committing to working 3-4 shifts /week increasing from my current 1/week shift schedule. I just need to have a reasonable, measurable plan to follow to keep me going.
If you've saved and bought a house or saved a large sum of money through stripping/camming/otherwise please let me know your stories and words of encouragement that helped you overcome your objectives and stay motivated to reach your target through the good and bad nights, personal life, family, men and everything else going on
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Re: Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
I have zero experience with attempting home ownership but that's an amazing goal. Good luck to you!
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Re: Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
how much is the house you are looking to buy? here a standard down payment is 20% but it is really hard to qualify sincs 2008.
I havent bought a house but I did pay my way thru school. most semesters I paid all tuition and rent upfront, roughly $15k. I paid for a new car in cash($20k), my boobs, my nose, ($8k each), I just paid for 6 months rent upfront ($12k), and by xmas ill trade in my car for one that is worth $40k. im hoping to buy a 200k home in a year or so but it is very daunting. saving was hard at first but once you get in the habit it becomes easy. I work 6 days a week 3 weeks/month and the last week only 3 days. the smaller goals are definitely easier but I quickly realized that I much prefer saving chunks to regular monthly bills which is why I choose to pay rent upfront and car outright. I have a safe I keep stacks in like a bank. it gets fun to watch the stacks multiply!
the other thing is to reward yourself. when I saved $12k for 6 months rent upfront recently I actually saved $17k because my bedroom furniture needed to be replaced and I wanted to splurge. for me, its actually easy to save up 1.5 of my goal if I get to go on a crazy shopping spree after than just saving up for the thing and not treating myself at all.
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Re: Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
I bought two homes with my dancer income both with 20% down payments. Saving money is extremely easy for me because I work four - five days a week and my expenses are extremely low. I was also averaging a lot of money doing it. I don't go shopping and I spend very little money on going out with friends.
I got extremely stressed out after purchasing my second home which in turn greatly effected my money. I'm making about half of what I use to. I think a condo would have been better for me or at least something with very little maintenance. If I could redo it, I'd never become a homeowner.
You're going to have a harder time being approved for a loan on self employment income. My two years tax returns, business license, and letter from the club helped secure mine because I've worked in the same city as my houses for over four years. I also wouldn't have been approved if I didn't put down 20%.
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Re: Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
I feel like, in this kind of market, it would be almost impossible to buy a home unless you had 3-5 years of meticulous bank statements showing a high income in the name of an (your) LLC. Even better if you formed a corporation and made yourself an employee for the last 3-5 years. Also, you will need more than 20% down. However, I am talking more about the California market (high priced homes 300k+ for something shitty), and I am not a home owner.
Otherwise, you may need to pay cash, which isn't that bad of an idea.
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Re: Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
GlamourRouge
I feel like, in this kind of market, it would be almost impossible to buy a home unless you had 3-5 years of meticulous bank statements showing a high income in the name of an (your) LLC. Even better if you formed a corporation and made yourself an employee for the last 3-5 years. Also, you will need more than 20% down. However, I am talking more about the California market (high priced homes 300k+ for something shitty), and I am not a home owner.
Otherwise, you may need to pay cash, which isn't that bad of an idea.
It's really not as complicated as everyone thinks.
Contrary to this, you don't need three - five years of bank statements. If your down payment is coming from your own funds, you'll need bank statements for the last two months as the money used for your down payment and closing costs will need to be seasoned for this duration. If you don't want to use your own funds, you can have someone gift you the entire amount which would only need to be seasoned in their bank account for a month. They'll need to provide only a current and last months bank statements and no further investigation (as to where the money came from, what employment they have) is necessary.
The only record of income you need is two years of tax return. They want to see that your mortgage will be 1/3 or less of your monthly income.
You don't need more than 20% unless you want to put down that much. You may qualify for an FHA loan which is something like 5% down. I have friends that own property in California and they put as little as 10% down and didn't have extensive income history.
Getting preapproved will allow you to see what you can and cannot afford (or rather, what the bank will lend you).
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Re: Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
Do not buy a house with your boyfriend. Get in in your name only and with your money only.
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Re: Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
yeah, i heard up here you can't just show tax forms and say that you made a certain amount, even if you paid taxes on it..you need great credit, at LEAST ten percent down, and proof of income ( paystubs, etc). unfortunately i have no proof of income no matter how meticulous my credit it..since the housing crash they are real picky about who they give out loans to. im planning on investing, saving, and then paying cash for a small fixer-upper and some land
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Re: Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
Shit, I am DYING to get my own tiny house! I hate room mates, & I hate friggin' apartments!}:D
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Re: Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
charlotte.
how much is the house you are looking to buy? here a standard down payment is 20% but it is really hard to qualify sincs 2008.
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I'm in Canada. I'm sure it would be preferrable to put down 20%, but I don't think that there is a "minimum requirement." There are ways to increase the buyer profile in addition to a deposit however. Obviously the larger the deposit, the better the chances of having the offer accepted, but promising future dividends, using cash value life insurance or a co signer can be helpful. We don't have any of those currently, nor access to it lol. Although, good credit and proof of stable income count too.
To my knowledge, institutional lenders determine eligibility based on a Debt Service Ratio of .37. There are private lenders who will approve almost anyone, but private lending isn't regulated, so terms can include crazy interest rates and conditions. Yikes! I figure that setting terms to pay weekly installments will save on the semi annually compounded interest and try to get a mortgage that allows for addional payments- again to reduce the applicable interest.
I would ideally like to purchase a home from $180K-$230K. I don't even mind starting off with a 2 bedroom condo, provided I know I'd be able to get rid of it when I am ready to upgrade. My earns $5000 too little to qualify for a mortgage on a $208K home (without $42,000 deposit) . I am however starting an office job within 6 months or so, so declaring that $5000 or more for this year will bring us up to the right amount, though I would have to declare my earnings that would be going toward the house and pay tax on them - I wouldn't want to get charged with ....is it called tax evasion?
Currently we are in a buyer's market, there is a higher demand for buyers than sellers. This can give the possible buyer a little more negotiating power when it comes to an offer for purchase and sale, maybe even to offer us a seller take back mortgage? (not providing all the funds at closing) I am just so sick of paying rent that costs more than a mortgage. Yes, there are repairs and maintenance and upkeep that I as an owner would have to assume, but I'd at least be working my way toward having assets
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Re: Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
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Originally Posted by
simone87
yeah, i heard up here you can't just show tax forms and say that you made a certain amount, even if you paid taxes on it..you need great credit, at LEAST ten percent down, and proof of income ( paystubs, etc). unfortunately i have no proof of income no matter how meticulous my credit it..since the housing crash they are real picky about who they give out loans to. im planning on investing, saving, and then paying cash for a small fixer-upper and some land
That sounds great! Ideally I'd like to get into the buying and fixing up business. But again, it feels like such a huge undertaking to stay motivated to save for such a purchase. I mean, when you buy, you have to worry about property taxes when the place doesn't move as fast as you like if you've already bought and moved on to the next place.
I actually found out recently that some investors(may be obvious to some) do research into future year's city planning and learn where utility easements(utility companies need to use part of the land) will have to take place, and buy that land with intention of selling it over to the utility companies when the time comes.
For how much money is involved, it feels like I would do really well spending time with someone who does this for a living, I'm just not sure how to find/establish a situation for this kind of relationship.
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Re: Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
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Originally Posted by
lighthouse
It's really not as complicated as everyone thinks.
Contrary to this, you don't need three - five years of bank statements. If your down payment is coming from your own funds, you'll need bank statements for the last two months as the money used for your down payment and closing costs will need to be seasoned for this duration. If you don't want to use your own funds, you can have someone gift you the entire amount which would only need to be seasoned in their bank account for a month. They'll need to provide only a current and last months bank statements and no further investigation (as to where the money came from, what employment they have) is necessary.
The only record of income you need is two years of tax return. They want to see that your mortgage will be 1/3 or less of your monthly income.
You don't need more than 20% unless you want to put down that much. You may qualify for an FHA loan which is something like 5% down. I have friends that own property in California and they put as little as 10% down and didn't have extensive income history.
Getting preapproved will allow you to see what you can and cannot afford (or rather, what the bank will lend you).
Why would a bank give you a massive loan with just 2 months of bank statements though? I mean maybe if you had a credit score in the upper 700s with like 10-20 years of solid credit history + a massive downpayment or something, but even then I really doubt it. I mean, isn't that what CAUSED the housing market crash of 2008 in the first place? It used to be easy to get a mortgage, but now its not (post-recession).
They don't hand out credit and loans like they used to. Things changed once 2008-2009 hit and the housing market crashed.
And if you don't put at least 20% down you will pay an additional private mortgage insurance (PMI) tax. Most banks won't even give you a mortgage unless you put 20% down now (post-2008 ). And you won't have any equity in your home without 20% either.
Maybe in an inexpensive market with tons of vacant houses (think Vegas), the above wouldn't be true, but in competitive California, I know the above is definitely true.
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Re: Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
It's really hard to buy here at the moment. (UK).The media has made the property market so difficult-destroyed it with warnings and bad press-even for the well off. My parents were refused a mortgage because of their age (my Mother being over retirement age) despite the fact their income turnover was WELL above what was required. Any little bit of not-quite-right and you're turned down. I tried to buy through my bank and was turned down despite proof of income for over three years (well over, I've banked with them for 6 years), and the house I was trying to buy half of,not all of-was only mortgaged at £27K! They actually said to me, we know you can afford it but we cannot give it to you because you're self employed'. Er what?My boyfriend is already paying the mortgage by himself-so they've next to no risk compared to someone with a bona-fide job.
Rant over.
My advice on saving though-turn it into a hobby, not a chore. And I really do believe that if you look after the pennies, the pounds look after themselves (in dollars I'm not sure how that would translate lol ).
You're in a good position because you have no debt. Headstart!
Figure what you spend your money on-and cut it right down. I began to do this quite recently (last few years and now its habit/hobby).
If your largest expense is on rent, consider moving. If not an option, save on bills-insulate your bath with loft insulation. Don't fill up your kettle.Get energy saving lightbulbs. Watch stuff online and make the TV redundant.Make sure your mobile phone is the most efficient contract for you. Don't keep electric appliances on standby, TURN THEM OFF!Only use your dishwasher/washing machine when full and try to only do it once a week-wash your small items by hand on the stove (pant soup,anyone?!) Consider other fuel methods (an energy saver heater can cut bills down from using central heating)-don't heat up the parts of the house you don't need. Ask your landlord to insulate your loft or install double glazing. Sell some stuff you don't need.Make food from scratch. Switch to non-brands. Find cheaper places to shop for everything (e.g I found a girl to do my spray tan for £7.50 instead of £17.00). She's great too-there are options everywhere. Make friends with a hairdresser if you spend money on that (delete trade/skill as appropriate)! Swap skills with f riends to save money on things they can do and you can return the favour. Reconsider travel methods. If you drive, find people you can give lifts to to help cover fuel costs. Walk instead of spending money on gas/parking/car maintainence. Customise clothes instead of buying new. Everytime you go to buy something, think 'Do I REALLY need this'?
Sorry for overkill I just have a mega thing about saving money lol
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Re: Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
sugarmouse0707
It's really hard to buy here at the moment. (UK).The media has made the property market so difficult-destroyed it with warnings and bad press-even for the well off. My parents were refused a mortgage because of their age (my Mother being over retirement age) despite the fact their income turnover was WELL above what was required. Any little bit of not-quite-right and you're turned down. I tried to buy through my bank and was turned down despite proof of income for over three years (well over, I've banked with them for 6 years), and the house I was trying to buy half of,not all of-was only mortgaged at £27K! They actually said to me, we know you can afford it but we cannot give it to you because you're self employed'. Er what?My boyfriend is already paying the mortgage by himself-so they've next to no risk compared to someone with a bona-fide job.
Rant over.
My advice on saving though-turn it into a hobby, not a chore. And I really do believe that if you look after the pennies, the pounds look after themselves (in dollars I'm not sure how that would translate lol ).
You're in a good position because you have no debt. Headstart!
Figure what you spend your money on-and cut it right down. I began to do this quite recently (last few years and now its habit/hobby).
If your largest expense is on rent, consider moving. If not an option, save on bills-insulate your bath with loft insulation. Don't fill up your kettle.Get energy saving lightbulbs. Watch stuff online and make the TV redundant.Make sure your mobile phone is the most efficient contract for you. Don't keep electric appliances on standby, TURN THEM OFF!Only use your dishwasher/washing machine when full and try to only do it once a week-wash your small items by hand on the stove (pant soup,anyone?!) Consider other fuel methods (an energy saver heater can cut bills down from using central heating)-don't heat up the parts of the house you don't need. Ask your landlord to insulate your loft or install double glazing. Sell some stuff you don't need.Make food from scratch. Switch to non-brands. Find cheaper places to shop for everything (e.g I found a girl to do my spray tan for £7.50 instead of £17.00). She's great too-there are options everywhere. Make friends with a hairdresser if you spend money on that (delete trade/skill as appropriate)! Swap skills with f riends to save money on things they can do and you can return the favour. Reconsider travel methods. If you drive, find people you can give lifts to to help cover fuel costs. Walk instead of spending money on gas/parking/car maintainence. Customise clothes instead of buying new. Everytime you go to buy something, think 'Do I REALLY need this'?
Sorry for overkill I just have a mega thing about saving money lol
That's excellent- I love learning more ways to save money! You see the cost of rent here is One of the reasons why I want to own. Our current rent is a deal next to compared homes in my city. We pay 1200/month for a 3 bedroom, where the cost of owning a similar model would be about 1100/month IF we only put down $10k and if our combined income reflected $48K. However a downpayment of $40K would make the monthly mortgage only 940.
I've read a few books on overcoming bad credit and saving and next to more less cost efficient home alterationa(insulating blanket for water heatEr and pipes, newer windows...) weve also experienced some insulation problems as the front 2 basements face the north and were under insulated during construction, so our heating costs this last winter were 10-15% higher than what it should be. The landlord said he'll have it dealt with this summer, though I won't count on it.
Another big cost at the moment is a small loan my bf arranged with a used car dealership when he bought my car. It's not much, but still a couple hundred dollars a month.
I'm really anxious about public transportation since I was attacked the last time I was on one with my baby(don't ask: P) when my bf and i were having problems i found myself increasingly more attracted to my boss. my boss turned out the opposite of what i was looking for when i got to know him better but it raised some red flags about my relationship. you don't soun.so I'll bite the bullet and keep driving the car to work instead of saving $5-10 on every trip by reducing my ride to a bus.
We have children to feed and care for, that is an ongoing cost though we don't spoil them or have any expensive activities currently. I'm just not sure what else we could save on to help accumulate the savings faster?
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Re: Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
I used to work with a nice dancer when I first started. When we became good buddies, she told me that her and her boyfriend just bought a house. I believe she said they saved a downpayment and it was so hard, she had to avoid eating out and shopping and any other luxury for a full year.
This girl told me she targets between $250-340 every time she works(considered a lot for the shift at the time, club had no stage tipping and dances were $10)4-5 days a week. I was pretty amazed, I was a newb and I considered $250/shift to be absolutely amazing at the time, and I was 18, this girl was probably 19- pretty young to be doing this.
I visited her place too, it was a beautiful detached 3 bedroom house in the burbs and her boyfriend was a contractor, he was staining walls and plotting landscaping, it was really admirable.
I'd love to say that stripping paid down a big chunk of my house; )
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Re: Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
charlotte.
I work 6 days a week 3 weeks/month and the last week only 3 days.
Daaaayummm guuuurl. Where do you get the energy to do that??? I once knew a girl who danced that much, and when she hit her two-year mark, she burned out hard. And that was at a chill li'l dive club in the Midwest!
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Re: Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
I'm so glad to see a thread like this. I'm really hoping to buy a condo next year if I still plan on being here. Rent is soooo expensive here. If I buy even with taxes and condo fees I'd save, but I could also pay it off sooner. If I decide to move I can rent it and still make a small profit while still paying my mortgage. I know the area, the building I want, lol even what part of the building. There's a good chance the value will increase also. My club has us on w-2s so I'm hoping that helps. I've always paid taxes and put money in the bank. My concern is that lenders will not view stripping as a steady job.. The common thought is that we do it to get out of a rough spot or until something better comes along. Or that its dependent on our looks and good health. When I got my car the dealer told me he was gonna submit it as me being a manager.. I dunno, I'm hoping someone will want to work with me.. I feel like I'm treading water paying outrages rent prices.
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Re: Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
Just don't forget the things you have to give up once you own a home. You have homeowners' costs (mortgages don't reflect these expenses, so sometimes they look deceptively lower than rent costs, yet you end up paying more because you have to repair broken shit) and can't move to different parts of your city/country every year.
There are lots of benefits; just make sure you research the negatives as well.
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Re: Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MissSassyPickles
Do not buy a house with your boyfriend. Get in in your name only and with your money only.
Thank you! ! I can be a bit blind sometimes. I think I will do that :)
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Re: Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
i bought not 1 but 2 houses while stripping and invested a lot of cash ..( if you get men to tip you they can also pay for your partying too) . be smart your stripping buy your house in your name and invest your cash . don't suport the boy freind they cum and go.... if your smart your money will be around longer than they will...
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Re: Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
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Originally Posted by
wendylove
i bought not 1 but 2 houses while stripping and invested a lot of cash ..( if you get men to tip you they can also pay for your partying too) . be smart your stripping buy your house in your name...
How did you do it the first time? Did you work like a maniac 6 days a week for months? Did you have a Feinstein or family member experienced in home buying to walk you through the process the first time?
How long have you been dancing for and is this your only source of income?
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Re: Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Misskatia
How did you do it the first time? Did you work like a maniac 6 days a week for months? Did you have a Feinstein or family member experienced in home buying to walk you through the process the first time?
How long have you been dancing for and is this your only source of income?
Keep in mind that you are likely getting advice from people who bought PRE-recession when anyone with a pulse could get a mortgage and a low downpayment was standard. So I feel like you won't get accurate information unless the person you talked to bought in 2009 or after.
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Re: Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
Im tryin to do the same. My whole focus of dancing right now is to save for a house...once i get there ill probly quit (im 28, want to have kids,already run a small side business) i just applied for credit for the first time & got turned down. (Probably because i let my account sit empty a bit & then deposited a bunch of checks...) anyhow, im reasearching like a speed freak & you can get a house w/ out a credit rating if you have a # of bills in your name (phone, utilities, car etc) and are prepared for alot of hoop jumping.
Im going to apply for credit again & use it soley to build a good score.
What helps me is breaking down the process as much as possible into chunks. I record my nightly income, and watch that add up into weekly/monthly. I have a weekly goal, typically work 2 nights a week, if i hit my goal early on im cool, if not i work an extra night.
grocery shopping saves me a ton & showed me i actually like cooking. Just find a system that is the right workload for you to handle. When i first started saving i planned to work 4-5 shifts a week. This made me really misantgropic. The amount im working now is manageable, keeps me feelin sane.
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Re: Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
GlamourRouge
Why would a bank give you a massive loan with just 2 months of bank statements though? I mean maybe if you had a credit score in the upper 700s with like 10-20 years of solid credit history + a massive downpayment or something, but even then I really doubt it. I mean, isn't that what CAUSED the housing market crash of 2008 in the first place? It used to be easy to get a mortgage, but now its not (post-recession).
They don't hand out credit and loans like they used to. Things changed once 2008-2009 hit and the housing market crashed.
And if you don't put at least 20% down you will pay an additional private mortgage insurance (PMI) tax. Most banks won't even give you a mortgage unless you put 20% down now (post-2008 ). And you won't have any equity in your home without 20% either.
Maybe in an inexpensive market with tons of vacant houses (think Vegas), the above wouldn't be true, but in competitive California, I know the above is definitely true.
They base your ability to pay back your loan on your tax returns. They may require different pieces of paper for those with pay stubs but for self employed, you don't need much. In the worst case scenario you'd need to submit a profit and loss worksheet which you can write up in less than a day based on your tax return.
Everyone says credit is tight but it's really not and I bought both homes after 2011. I have a high credit score (800+) and I've never missed a payment EVER on ANYTHING. I also put down 20% so I have a good chance at being approved for most credit lines. The hardest part for me was proving income, which is difficult for all self employed home buyers. If you've danced for several years and are good on paying taxes then it shouldn't be a problem.
The location you are approved for your home does not matter; it's the cost of the home that determines your eligibility. Both my homes were 200k-250k which is a reasonable amount to be approved for with a 20% down payment.
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Re: Stripping your way to home ownership- Have you done it?
I bought my first house before I started dancing. My second I built new 6 months after dancing and my third I found a lot and built what I thought was my dream home, not so much. Being a landlord is a bitch! My tenants destroyed my property and it cost me 15,000 and since I travel and contractors don't so what their supposed to I went through 3 that ripped me off and it's still vacant! So I've been paying the water, electric and mortgage for over a year. I just need to finish the flooring and in a few days that will be done and hopefully it'll be rented out in 2 weeks. It's never taken longer, so cant wait!