Hi guys,

I want to buy my first house. However, I am young, don't make a lot of money, and probably don't have the best of credit history. Now, I see houses priced at 300,000$, for example. If I wanted to buy that house, what steps must be taken to go through the deal? How is the down payment determined?

I realize my post may be vague, but I don't know what questions to ask. Perhaps the more experienced amongst you will fill in where I left off, as I really would like to get a house.

Thanks in advance!

I would go and see your bank manager if they are like the ones in uk they have mortgage advisers.

or your local estate agent or the equvelent.

Estate agent=realtor
There are also agencies that specialise in finding mortgages.
For a first-time buyer , my advice would be to ask at any bank for their advice . A bank will of course try to sell you a mortgage from themselves but the benefit is that they'll give free basic advice about what lenders expect of borrowers locally.

The principles for lenders are the same all over the capitalist world. They want good credit history, though what is thought quite good or rather bad varies quite a lot between lenders. They like proof of past earnings sufficient to give them a picture showing future income and the likelihood of a good work record i.e that you'll be in work for years to come. They will not lend more than 90% of their valuation of the property. They do not like to lend more than three times the annual income of the borrower.They demand some life assurance policy to pay off the mortgage if the borrower dies prematurely.

Exceptionally they do not follow these base rules in individual cases.The two principal exceptions are 1) Where the property is in a boom area and so prices are rising quickly they may lend even more than the valuation; their enthusiasm is heightened if there is a commercial battle going on for the mortgage business (as there often is in such areas). 2)Where the borrower is young and at the start of a good career the income is ignored; a young attorney or doctor is their perfect young borrower because the current income is small fraction of what it will be but most young people with good prospects like this are given red carpet treatment.

And welcome to Answer Pool, RSB !

You'll find that you'll get answers from the British at strange hours; the time zones account for that. (It's the Aussies that faze us ).

Thank you for the replies, guys, and the welcome!

It seems I am unlikely to buy a house anytime soon, due to the ridiculous prices of houses in this area of California. An average house in a below average neighborhood should NOT cost half a mil!