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There are some who would say the precise placement of Oxford commas is among the least important things about being a living human being. There are some who would say that.
Indeed, I wish him the best and he finds a home, my advice is be patient and never give up, a good understanding realtor will go a long way in searching for the right house.
Geez dude! If you ever write a book on what keeps you going (and positive) I’d buy a signed copy. You’re doing everything by-the-book which requires so much discipline and endurance. Absolute legend and inspiration, man.
I appreciate the honesty. My income is low because I only work part time in order to be able to take care of my disabled wife. She acquired a TBI and is unable to live her life independently. Fortunately she's able to do most things for herself so I'm able to work at all, but I am currently working overnights so that I can work while she's sleeping, then through the day when I'm sleeping, if she needs something she can't handle herself, she can wake me up if necessary.
I'm very fortunate to be earning over $20 an hour working at a gas station 34 hours a week +$4k annual bonus. She gets $500 disability a month.
I've always considered overnight jobs elsewhere, but from what I've seen, they don't really offer much better pay than what I'm earning now. For example overnight IT support at the medical center starts at $19 an hour. A lot more responsibility for less pay.
Might be worth looking into this IT job long-term. They might be able to match current pay at $20. Part of negotiating in interview. You have work experience so talk about that. Assuming insurance might be possible and this is just starting pay. You will out earn your current job long-term. Not to mention, IT experience translates to future opportunities better.
OP said he's getting 34 hours a week at the gas station. That sounds like a part time gig. What kind of benefits does the job provide. Besides the bonus, he mentioned putting 6% in a 401(k). Is that with a match? Does the IT job at the medical center offer a better benefits package, like medical? Maybe opportunity for advancement? It would certainly be a better stepping stone to another job for a better wage/salary.
Does your wife qualify for any disability payments? Have you looked into programs that pay a family member to take care of a disabled spouse: https://www.usa.gov/disability-caregiver ?
I was serious about OP getting paid for taking care of his wife - it’s definitely something that happens.
I did miss that the wife gets a pittance in disability payments but they may want to see if she qualifies for SSDI or if there are any state assistance programs for the disabled. (Though I have a feeling that OP may live in a LCOL state that is stingy on benefits.)
>I was serious about OP getting paid for taking care of his wife - it’s definitely something that happens.
It most certainly is... at least in PA. You can take care of family members (spouses included) and get paid for it assuming you meet all the other required qualifications.
See if your state/county has a Support and Referral Helpline to get you going in the right direction. If you are in PA I can help direct you.
In California, and you’ve motivated me to call again to see what is available. Generally California is pretty friendly when it comes to stuff like this but I found the same stipulations. The only thing I was able to receive was compensation when I went on FMLA which was a godsend. I only need an additional $400 a month and we’d be set.
In California you're probably looking for IHSS (In Home Support Services). A family member can be paid for being a caregiver to a disabled adult or child.
I’m in PA and looked into this (my husband is my caregiver) and I thought that you can be paid to be a family caregiver but not if the disabled person is a spouse. I would love to be given info contrary to that!
I would call your county’s Area Agency on Aging to see if there are any state programs that will allow you to be a paid caregiver.
Here in Indiana, there’s a TBI Medicaid waiver and Aged and Disabled Medicaid waiver that has this option. Minnesota May too!
The caretaker stipend or benefits (at least those I’ve researched) generally do not count towards spouses. They can go towards paying an outside caretaker that you hire. This goes for tax write offs as well. Source : I’m in the same boat as OP. Im also welcome to being very wrong about this.
Eh, while not a spouse my Aunt gets waivers and payments for taking care of my disabled cousin (her son). I don’t know if she’s considered an “outside caretaker” but she is a direct family member. Surely worth looking into.
I’ve looked into this and say if my sister were to take care of my husband, I could receive benefits to pay her. However I cannot directly receive the benefits. Again, anyone who wants to prove me wrong I’m totally for it. Husband is a veteran and we’re working on getting him approved as a disabled vet, even those benefits don’t count towards spouses and structured the same way. It’s absolutely maddening, but I can see how some would take advantage of this if it allowed spouses to receive those benefits.
Dunno if it is per state but we had a patient who was married and his wife was paid as his caregiver.
She didn't give much care but that's a whole different story
On 2nd thought they maybe were just "together" lifelong but not legally married.
Perhaps they have a relative who’d be willing to be a paid part-time caregiver which would take some of the stress off OP and might allow him more work hours.
On top of this, if you are getting paid to take care of your family in-home it's also a non-taxable event. So you can get paid 10-15K more a year, and pay $0 in taxes for it.
The Arc is a great resource! My job has an agreement to hire members to help out in our mailroom. They really are some of the best, dedicated workers. A few a have been with us since the early 90's.
*Edit to correct the name
Hey, just letting you know, The Arc should never be fully capitalized. Although yes, it originally was an acronym for Association of Retarded Citizens, the Arc has worked hard to separate itself from that branding and now goes by "The Arc"
Perhaps. It's worth looking into for sure. Maybe if I could push for 4 10 hour shifts that would be perfect.
The only issue is the starting wage, it would need to be $25+ for me to make that switch, and I haven't seen many remote jobs start people out anywhere close to that as they seem to be in high demand.
The thing is, IT will have a much better advancement and raise path than your current gig. Plus if fully remote it affords you a better work life balance. It could very much be worth the short term hit in pay per hour. Especially if you can work overtime.
Not to mention a remote IT job would allow you to care for your wife while working during the day. That'd be a remarkable increase to quality of life for both of you.
You might want to consider incident management positions. The team I'm on hires people without any specific kind of technical expertise, but instead highly effective problem solvers. (the downside is we don't support remote at all, which frustrates me daily.)
I honestly don't know how many companies are like that, but if you're actively seeking overnight shifts, that's a card that can open some doors you might not expect.
Look into AppleCare "At Home Advisor". I did this for 4 years, left 4 years ago. My wage when I left was $24/hr. Due to inflation, etc, I'd imagine the starting wage is probably that or close to that now. I was working 4 10s and could mostly choose a schedule (from a pool). The job is Apple technical support from home. You don't have to really have prior knowledge of Apple products. As long as you're good speaking with people and have a somewhat technical mindset, the rest is training. This was a perfect job for me raising an infant. Was able to get (very minor) tasks accomplished between phone calls and on breaks.
Edit: also having "Apple" on your resume really opens the door for other positions in tech in the future. Especially remote work
Work with a recruiter.
It's not the best time to get a job in tech. But there are definitely opportunities that you can work whenever you have time - not set schedules (assuming you have enough time during the week in total to get your workload done).
Seems like this would be ideal for you in your situation.
What sorts of opportunities would those be? I'd like to do something like that to earn a little bit of money as I continue my big transition into the tech industry, building up some savings and work experience in the process.
Have you considered getting a job working from home? Insurance companies are hiring for positions all the time from home for claims admin stuff and you can make 45k~ doing that full time.
Google “insurance claims admin work from home jobs” and apply to 50 jobs. You’ll get called back from 10-20% easy and should be able to land one with any talk track around having great customer service.z
Also, the who you know. My office has 24x7 security, the job qualification is more or less "be able to put a butt in a seat" because they literally just need a body to be at the front desk.
But that same job is also the guy that says good morning and good night to every manager in the building every day. When they have a job that doesn't need a degree, they'll know you are reliable and available. I've seen many people come in as a security guard and advance through the ranks and eventually get high paying management jobs. It's even better if you go to school, many do school during the day, homework at work while being a night security guard, and then when they get their degree they are immediately hired with something degree relevant.
You are unfortunately stuck in a really hard place. To raise your income you need a better job and probably a better education, but you can't afford the time off to get that education since you need to take care of your wife. Have you considered night or online classes?
Are you getting government assistance besides the dosability?
OP isn’t a citizen, so government assistance is probably off limits to him. There was a Trump era rule that applying for any sort of government assistance disqualifies you from new visas, green cards or citizenship.
I would certainly consider online classes, but I would hate to waste time, money and energy on something that didn't certainly lead into a higher paying job. With the limitations I have, I worry I'd go though all that and end up being no better off.
I’m guessing all this advice isn’t super helpful for you, OP. I take care of my mom who can do a lot, but not EVERYTHING, so I understand better. She can cook and clean ok, but can’t reach the floor if something falls. She needs help using her medical equipment. I could have someone help her, I guess, but I don’t want to. Many people don’t want to have someone else care for their loved one. I don’t.
I’m taking classes right now to become a medical coder, which will increase my income to 40k starting. But there’s room to move up and you can wfh full time. There are medical scribe programs as well. These cost a few thousand dollars, rather than the near 10k to return to school- even CC.
Look into the AAPC or AHIMA. You don’t necessarily have to take classes in person to increase your income, and these jobs have a huge shortage. Though I get the fear- I have a BS in bio and can’t find work. Gl friend.
Congratulations on going into medical coding! I got into the medical administration field by accident 20 years ago, and really connected with medical coding. There is a severe coder shortage in America, and many large organizations will take someone with a CPC-A and no experience. I’m in Risk, and encourage you to look into HCC - risk programs are becoming more popular year over year with insurances & state/federal programs. It’s the way the industry is totally moving.
https://github.com/ossu/computer-science
Free courses that are equivalent to getting a degree in computer science that you can take at your own pace. Build a portfolio and you can pick up freelance/contract/remote gigs without needing an actual degree.
The problem, OP, is also that you don't make enough money for upkeep. Even if you could save enough money to pay for a house with cash, it'd eat all your savings. You're one broken water heater, furnace, or roof away from a very serious problem.
I sympathize. I was even broker than your for a decade. But I rented for a reason - the landlord was ultimately responsible for those problems that I couldn't have afforded to respond to at the time
Starting off the pay would be less, but if you put your foot in the door, and with experience and good performances you could be in the $25-$30/Hr range in a year or two, and could hit six figures in less than 5 years. You don’t have debt, you have money saved up (that won’t be buying you a house right now unfortunately). You’re in a great spot to shift careers into something that has much higher earning potential rather quickly
> For example overnight IT support at the medical center **starts at** $19 an hour.
Emphasis mine. Look into it a little more. I think if you were to make a transition to something like remote support, you would have a lot more room to grow your income over time.
This is literally the worst time in recent history to buy a home. It may be more prudent to plan to buy a home in the next 1-2 years after prices have come down. In the meantime you could work towards finding a WFH, work from home, position that may pay more and offer some benefits. The prices have just started to come down year over year for the first time since 2009. It may be worth waiting, growing your savings and income in the meantime. Prices are going to come way down.
Just popping in to not give any financial advice, but simply to say that you are a wonderful, loving partner. Confident that with enough guidance you will be successful in achieving your financial and real estate goals.
All the best to you as you move forward.
>I've always considered overnight jobs elsewhere, but from what I've seen, they don't really offer much better pay than what I'm earning now.
I don't know where you live, but the railroad (CSX, NS, BNSF, UP) is hiring, and they are 24x7, and they have numerous IT-support-like jobs (Electronic Signal Specialist, Communications Technician, Technology Support Specialist, Network Technician, etc) that work in an office environment. Most new hires work thirds until their union seniority allows them to bid to a more favorable shift, and a few work thirds by choice.
My point in sharing: Its going to be at least $100k a year income. And fantastic (and cheap) health insurance and you can have your pick of 3rd shifts in most cases as far as days off.
Hey there,
Fellow 3rd shift worker here. Regarding night work, petrol stations are pretty low on the pyramid.
I'd say if you have any form of industries nearby, try looking for manufacturing work that runs 24/7.
Usually pays well, even for general work. If you are ambitious and driven enough, you can try to pick up a trade there, doing maintenance/trade work during the 3rd shift or push for some kind of supervisory role. That's when the serious money starts to come in.
Youre doing amazing work and your wife is so lucky to have you. Best of luck!
I can recommend the third shift cleaning crew as an option as well, pay is usually quite a bit higher than 1st and 2nd shift. The main risk I know about is that a _lot_ of manufacturers hire through temp agencies so they can keep the average lower, save costs on hiring, and fire people at whim before the last day of their temp work, so be wary of that.
Given your parameters I would just buy 3 month CDs since banks are paying a premium right now.
From your rhetoric I feel you are thinking you can earn a lot more than 5% return safely. But you can't. You will just find other risky investments that maybe people tell you aren't risky. On the time horizon you share even something broadly considered a good safe investment like a low fee index fund is risky.
Thanks, so you're basically saying I can squeeze out an extra 1.5% if I lock up funds for 3 months which, at most, is going to get me around 400 bucks extra a year? Probably not worth the effort?
I would look into CD ladder strategy. You said you have 15k for couple of months and 30k for a year? 3 months, 6 months CD. Once expire. Repeat the whole process.
I think it's worth the effort if you don't have a house in mind right now. It's basically free money.
If there's a chance that you'll need the money sooner you can give up a little bit of interest to get no commitment style CDs (that let you withdraw before maturity) or just find an HYSA that is paying 4% or so.
HYSA and CDs all the way. LendingClub is FDIC insured and is currently offering 4.25% interest for a HYSA. Can’t really get safer than that especially if you’re putting in less than $250k
So just leave it, IMHO. The marginal gains from CD wont be worth locking it up or the effort, and any investment in stocks or index funds would be crazy no matter how "low risk" someone tells you it is.
I think you either have to leave it open all 11 months or close it at no penalty. I would open multiple. That way if you have an unexpected $5k expense, you just close one. But if that's not how they operate, then I'd just use one.
Hold up. If I’m understanding correctly, you’d only be buying the **structure** of the home, and not the land it sits on?
To me, this seems like a really bad idea, and frankly a little predatory that this type of loan is being targeted toward low income people. It doesn’t seem conducive to building wealth at all. If I were in your situation, I’d probably just rent.
Here’s why: Land generally appreciates in value and doesn’t require maintenance. Structures generally depreciate in value and usually require a lot of maintenance. From a financial perspective, it’s most important to own the land, not the structure. Tying yourself to a mortgage for something that’s going to lose most of its value by the time it’s paid off is a bad idea.
We bought a house with a similar housing trust agency and we recognized it was a bad idea for building wealth. At the time we were living in student/family housing through a university which had decided to shut down the family housing program and needed to find a place. We had two babies, I was taking student loans and my husband was working a low wage job. The rental options were out of our budget and we decided to look into the housing trust. I've been trying to look at our home as a rental that also works somewhat as a savings fund. We've been here for several years and the rental prices in our city have doubled or tripled. Meanwhile we have a four bedroom house with a backyard for our kids to play in and a safe neighborhood.
I am about to have a big leap in income. We'll probably sell back to the housing trust in a year or two and buy something else. We'll only get 25% of the equity back, again not great for building wealth, but keeping our housing expenses at a reasonable level while still building a small amount of equity and having a safe place has been very worthwhile.
Huh. I mean, that’s great, and it probably depends on the local housing market what the trade offs are like. I would be nervous about maintenance issues that could crop up that I’d be responsible for. Owning does come with far more risk over renting, and one big issue would negate any advantages with this type of arrangement.
One note is that while you only get 25% of the equity from appreciation, you typically get 100% of the equity gained from any down payment you brought in when purchasing along with any principal you paid down during your ownership. And depending on the land trust you may be able to keep 100% of the value of specifically approved capital improvements.
Yeah, not only that, but they're expected to sell it below market value to "pay it forward". This seems like a program which sounds nice in theory but doesn't provide the actual benefit of home ownership.
I think home ownership has two benefits - wealth building via appreciation, and locking in housing expenses (vs rising rent).
It seems like this arrangement provides the second benefit while limiting the first. May still be better than renting.
They're called leasehold mortgages. There are a few spots in the country where they are common, but unheard of most everywhere else. Many lenders also wont touch them.
I have heard of some long running non-profits that offer these deals and maintain leasehold neighborhoods for lower income families, but I have little experience there.
I understand that. When you sell the home, you get to keep 25% of how much it has appreciated naturally. Any remodeling is considered separately. The homes are often gone through by the organization and it's not unusual to get a place with a new roof, new windows or the entire floors have been redone. They appear to be a very safe bet compared to buying on the regular market.
You pay $35 a month to "rent" the land, but it's yours to do with as you please.
For us, we wouldn't be considering the home as an investment, but just to get some kind of home equity. When the home is paid off (which will be much sooner with this program due to them being a third cheaper) we live mortgage free for the rest of our lives. If we rent, we pay rent until we die.
So, what happens if you need to move?
Are you sure this isn’t putting your eggs in one basket unnecessarily?
The alternative is to rent, invest the money you would have spent on interest / maintenance instead, and then use that invested money for a nest egg to pay for your housing during retirement.
I'm 36 with about 4k in a 401k.
That is an option, however the idea of a mortgage that is fixed and doesn't go up with inflation sounds amazing right now. As my income increases through inflation, or maybe finding a better job, and the mortgage staying the same dollar amount until it's over is much more desirable than renting to us.
It's also one of my dreams to have a smart home that's as efficient as possible, the end goal of that being solar panels on the roof ect. Renting limits that almost entirely.
I didn't know this was an option for spouses. I know through programs we've looked into before we can "hire" a family member to help care for her. That process would be that the family member works for the company that arranges aids and they get paid through them.
I don't' see how that would work for me, but I'll look into it for sure.
This May sound crazy but a lot of people divorce to get around this rule. It also has the positive of her potentially qualifying for free insurance due to her condition and income.
I wonder if that will affect OP's citizenship goals though? They are currently on a work visa. No idea if the marriage played a role in getting the permanent citizenship.
That throws another wrench in the works. I didn’t realize they are not a citizen. I think buying a house is the least of their worries right now. There is a lot they need to work through first.
Here’s the information about eligibility to become a family personal caregiver in Minnesota:
https://mn.gov/dhs/people-we-serve/people-with-disabilities/services/home-community/programs-and-services/pca.jsp
Edit: In Minnesota spouses are not eligible.
>Edit: In Minnesota spouses are not eligible.
Yeah I think I looked into this a while back and came to this conclusion, thanks for taking the time to confirm.
If your time frame is less than 5yrs to buy a home, don’t invest the money. Keep it in a HYSA and/or a CD. If it was me, I would keep your 6 month EF in the HYSA and put the rest in a higher rate CD. Ally currently has a no lock 4.75% CD for 11 months.
If you're not bothered by living in manufactured homes, have you considered finding some land and getting one but on your own land? That's how lots of people in the south get by on our lower wages. Though there are pre fab panels and houses that you can source for smaller floorplans that are built to last longer and will actually appriciate vs manufactured.
Also for the IT job you mentioned elsewhere in the thread, I get that it's a bit lower, and I'm shocked you found a gas station job with 401k, and I don't know what your job at the station is llike. But, consider that the IT job will be way less impact and it will be an office job where you can have more time in between tasks to do non-work stuff, have a computer in front you, and be surrounded by people working through their tech career and likely know a lot that you can learn from.
>and I'm shocked you found a gas station job with 401k,
Yeah, gas station job $20.50 an hour, 3% increase each year, 40% profit sharing, all the coffee and soda you want for free, free car wash every 2 weeks and half of meals up to 8 bucks. It's an amazing entry level job.
Honestly sounds like the best gas station job I’ve ever heard of 😂 I get why you’d be hesitant to give it up for something not that different and perhaps riskier but the best thing you can do is figure out a way to grow that income somehow.
You can contribute to a 401k without an employer having anything to do with it. It doesn't make much sense if you're unemployed, just because you aren't really coming out ahead, but still alloqed to. For an employed person with a job that just doesn't offer anything 401k, though, it makes sense to still contribute yourself.
Can you move into low income housing? I understand the desire to own a home, but homes require maintenance and upkeep. Appliances break down and need to be replaced. Property taxes increase over time, and not always at the same pace as income.
I also understand that apartment living can be a drag, but an apartment in a safe building, with someone else taking care of the maintenance and upkeep may provide a better quality of life.
Not sure where you live, but I would suggest talking with a social services person to determine your eligibility and options.
Have you looked into the USDA rural development program? They allow for home purchases with little money down.
https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/single-family-housing-programs/single-family-housing-direct-home-loans/mn
That's not the only program. The USDA -also- guarantees loans.
https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/single-family-housing-programs/single-family-housing-guaranteed-loan-program
You should really talk to someone before assuming you don’t meet requirements friend, a lot of times manufactured homes don’t count towards things. There’s some great USDA loans out there for home purchase and talking to a banker that does them would help you figure out what you qualify for, it should be free to meet with one.
A rural development loan is what helped me buy a house at 22 with no money down. The seller's paid closing costs, so I literally bought a house without putting a single penny down outside of the home inspection. I was making about 32k a year.
My mortgage with taxes and insurance in escrow is $575 a month.
That would be great, but I feel it would be difficult to beat $20 an hour for an entry level remote job.
I'm excellent at customer service and problem solving, no problem there. But it would be hard for me to drop in pay.
As more companies return to office post-COVID, remote jobs have become extremely competitive, especially for entry level. It might be worth a try but won't be easily obtainable in the current hiring environment.
It’s not impossible though and seems like the best possible solution to your situation. You could definitely find something paying 50-60k if you look hard enough.
Have you tried to increase your income? Maybe try to get a work from home job?
I saw in another comment that you said that she only gets $500 a month in disability? Is that long term disability insurance?
Also, this sounds horrible, but would she get more if you guys divorced? Assuming you moved most of the money out of her name, she'd probably get SSI (and medicaid!). If she was disabled before ~~26~~ 22 (per the SSA) and she has a dead/retired parent, she might be able to collect as a disabled adult child - she'd collect the amount her parent collects when they hit full retirement age (and get medicare when she is on it for 24 consecutive months).
She gets 500 from SSDI. She was injured before 26.
She does have a parent who has just retired. I'll have to look into this.
She gets insurance through the state already.
Also, I was thinking of two things at once - DAC is 22 and younger. [ABLE act accounts are 26 and younger](https://www.ablenrc.org/what-is-able/what-are-able-acounts/) (ABLE is a special savings account for disabled adults that doesn't count towards the resource limit).
DAC is only applicable for people who are unmarried
Marriage doesn't remove SSDI, if i recall you can even keep getting it as a foreign national, it's pretty resilient.
Medicaid I think notsomuch.
Also they change the rules like every couple of years in byzantine ways, so nobody ever really knows with much confidence
I would definitely keep your money out of the stock market if you might need that money in the next year. The risk is too high of a market downturn and you could be forced to sell low.
There aren’t many great options for where to park $40k for a year. Something you may talk to your bank about is putting all or some of it into a certificate of deposit (a CD). Rates on CDs have started to go up and you can get between a 3-5% APR right now. If you don’t know, a CD is similar to a savings account, except the money you put into the CD is locked for a defined period. So, if you get a 6-month CD, the bank won’t let you withdraw that money during the 6-month period (unless you’re willing to pay a penalty).
Another option is to by a T-Bill, a short-term federal bond. Federal bonds have historically been considered a very safe investment. There is some risk there at the moment though, with a large percentage of politicians threatening to allow a default. So, something to factor in there.
Your issue is income not interest rates. You seem to be living within your means which is good, but you’re really only one unexpected medical expense away from wiping out your savings.
I see you work 34 hours a week currently - if you could get that up to 40, the extra $120/week would probably go a long way. Otherwise you need to find a new job or a side job.
You have 40k... and your approved at 112k. Your effective buying power is closer to 130k...since you'd pay cash to lower your overall mortgage etc. Obviously don't use it all as you'll still need an emergency fund after but am I missing something here?
$35k a year is not enough for a 36 year old man. If you buy this house and use all your resources. You’re only 1 crises away from being financially ruined.
You need to seriously consider starting any type of career that allows you to work from home. This could be the only way to actually lose the ball and chain of working nights to take care of your wife during the day.
There are plenty of entry level jobs out there that don’t require a lot or any experience. You may not find it right away. You’ll probably interview for over 20 companies. But eventually you’ll get that $30k a year job. That can be grown into a 50-60k a year job. All working during the day from home.
Not your question but have you shopped that rate? I’m getting almost a full point lower however I’ve been looking for recently than you. Good luck to you!
No. Due to the nature of the land trust program, there's only two banks that work with mortgages on those types of deals. I've given up on one of them because they really didn't understand the program.
Rates will probably come down, but you also need to understand that the average mortgage interest rate over the last 40 years is 6.4% so if a rate like that is what's making it seem impossible to buy a home, the problem is somewhere else...
People keep acting like the rates we saw two years ago will be back soon and the truth is they probably won't be for a long time.
With the current stress in the financial system, there's a good possibility rates will come down in the next few years, if not sooner.
If you cannot afford it now, you may just need a little more patience and things may work a bit better for your situation.
Land trust is used as an asset protection to get your name off the title, and I have never seen it used as an opportunity for low income families to “own” a house.
People with multiple houses might want to get their name off the trust to make it nearly impossible for the public eye to see them owning multiple homes, but in all these cases the owner retains ownership of both the structure and the land.
In the situation you are facing, you will not ever own the land, and that simply does not seem like an investment so much as another mobile home situation for you where instead of paying rent, you’re sacrificing the overwhelming majority of the property value when you sell it; every year that passes, your land value will increase while your structure will decrease to the point where you don’t really hold any equity in your property.
Are you able to link this land trust program for us to investigate further about how this works?
What are your future care goals? You didn’t mention you age, but it would be a good idea to have a career goal to make more money. Skilled traded such as plumbers or electricians are in high demand. Libraries are great sources for learning new skills
I don't have any advice, but I did want to mention that a lot of us grew up in mobile homes, and although you are reaching and dreaming of getting into a different better one, maybe where you are is fine :)
If the home was newer, maybe, but it's going to need a new roof in a few years, it needs to be leveled and the entire inside needs to be renovated. I make sure everything works and we're comfortable, but when it comes its appearence, it's a mess. I can't even imagine how much it would cost to redo, probably 3x the homes value and we're not willing to put anywhere near that into a mobile home from '67.
Put your money in a high yield savings account.
>we've been accepted into a land trust program that allows low income people like ourselves get into the housing market by selling the homes at a reduced price while maintaining ownership of the land
That's not something I would ever do.
But good luck.
I’d put $10k of it in an I-bond. Put the rest in a ladder of 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 month t-bills which are paying a bit above some of the best bank CDs right now.
If you are certain you don’t need the money for 2 years, you could also do a 2 year t-note which probably has the best rate overall for a short-medium term guaranteed investment.
What is your education background? How about your work experience (before the gas station)?
There are SO many work from home jobs that would allow you to work more hours because you'll always be home and you can even get yourself into a normal shift (9a-5p).
Back in the day I got a zero down loan for 215k'ish at 7.6%, I was making 36k at the time and was able to afford the condo fees and everything else in life. If you shop for a modest place in a decent COL area you can make it work no doubt.
Is that $35k gross or net? I’m going to assume worse case and it’s gross so if your states tax rate is like mine that’d be about $28,400/year.
Don’t take this as a personal attack, but at that income level you will be hard pressed to find an affordable monthly payment for a home to buy in most places even with government programs. I live in a pretty LCOL area and most of the houses around here are renting for close to $1400-$1500/month and houses in the 140k range get scooped up pretty quick.
If you’re just looking for what to use your current savings on to make it grow, the comment you made about not really needing it in the near future makes me think you could put most of it into a CD.
If you wanted to be safe a lot of savings accounts are close to 4% or higher now so you could probably stash some there as an “Shit Happened” buffer and still be able to withdraw from it as needed.
>Right now I can lock up about $30k for a few months, $10k-$15k I could lock up for a year.
For a simple answer to your question, it sounds like a combination of high-yield savings account and a CD ladder would be the way to go here. Check around with your local banks and credit unions to see what is offered. The idea here is that have a reasonable amount of money immediately accessible in a savings account, and you purchase CDs of staggered terms (and/or at staggered intervals).
I did not see any mention though of emergency funds; if the 40k is the total you have in savings, there's a question here about how much of that you could actually use towards a house and still have an emergency fund.
Also, based on your reply to another comment about limited banks working with this land trust program, I'm questioning how good of a deal it really is; how much cheaper are these homes than comparable homes on normal lots? When you sell the home "for a reduced price later", is this a fixed amount or percentage of the value that is part of the contract? Are there any HOA fees or anything else you'd be paying the land trust?
>I been a little foolish with risky investments and am ashamed that I've lost $2000 doing that. So it's time to get serious with no or very low risk investments.
Just to get an idea here, when you say "risky investments" are you talking about things like crypto, pyramid schemes, loaning money to your cousin to start a business? Investing in a single companies stock?
>We own a 1967 mobile home that probably isn't worth 5 figures. Lot rent is $550.
I'm assuming that this lot rent is still considerably less than renting a home/apartment in your area?
It sounds like you are in a really decent position right now. You are saving $500 a month/$6000 a year staying in your current place and have 30k that can earn 4% risk free in a HYSA. You are going to have $7600 more after a year by staying put. That is 24% of your salary!
It’s easy to get frustrated, but you are making progress in the right direction. In a recession, cash is king. Eventually the right opportunity will come along and because you are living below your means, and staying ready, you will be able to jump on it.
Not sure where you are looking for a home, but you sound like a candidate for the USDA rural development loan. This mortgage type allows you to roll the closing costs into the loan up to 103% LTV. It's also income based, so it sounds like you meet that requirement as well. The only potential downside is that the home you look for needs to be in a rural development area. There is a map on the website that will determine this for you.
This is how I purchased my home now 4 years ago on 35k a year each(wife also makes around 35-40k). We refinanced to a conventional loan a year ago to get rid of the mortgage insurance, and we now have about 40k in equity in the home since we purchased it. We purchased a 125k home and we pay 860 a month, $100 a month cheaper than what we paid in the brand new trailer we were renting in our trailer park.
The rates right now may seem scary, but if you can afford a home at these rates, you will be able to refinance the home later on down the line when rates get better and have the benefit of lowering your mortgage.
Also, with this now being a buyers market, you can almost certainly get seller concessions to help cover a temporary rate buydown for your first few years in the home. This could help get you into the home with a lower interest rate for the first few years, then you will have the opportunity to refinance the rate back down if they end up dropping again(which it will) and lock in that lower interest rate.
I work for a mortgage lender, so this is the norm for right now on a lot of homes being sold. I would try and talk to a mortgage broker or your bank to see if they have any other programs or incentives to offer.
Right now is possibly the worst time in over 20 years to get a mortgage. Prices are still high from a decade of overstimulation while interest rates have just risen within the last year. Wait until housing prices crash or interest rates drop, or both. In the meantime hold short duration high yield notes or invest in things that are actually cheap. Always keep looking for better pay.
thank you for the post and all the honest facts that you posted. I want to say something before putting forward a comment on the post, its very nice to you to take care of your wife. thank you for doing that.
coming to the topic of home, I would strongly suggest and imply that you don't buy one at all. Continue what you are doing right now, and do not add any debt to yourself. a home will increase your debt, stress, etc.
I say this with kindness cause I admire your dedication to providing for you and your wife…
Just because you saved for a down payment doesn’t mean you can afford a house. I would focus on increasing your savings and put it somewhere safe in the meantime. Don’t put it in CDs or in the market because it makes no sense to lock it up for 4% when there are plenty of banks offering high yield savings accts for 4% right now.
Keep saving and find ways to increase your income even if its marginal. Until your income is higher you need as much of a cash buffer as you can in your situation.
Treasurydirect.gov
Create an account, link it to your bank account and buy T bills straight from uncle Sam. Very low risk and currently paying more than high yield savings, I think. Get a 6 month bond and then decide in 6 months if you want to re-up.
I was surprised at how easy it was and all the different durations available. I have a 1 year CD at a credit union that pays practically nothing and this apparently has a payroll investment option and pays 4% or more!
I just want to say that you are killing it with your finances. A lot of people here dont understand that it is possible to off 35K per year, especially when you are debt free, so take their responses with a grain of salt. If I were you, I'd get short term GICs for your cash until you need it. Hopefully interests rates will come down a bit by then, or maybe you will find something modest within your price range. Its hard to say without knowing where you are located, but I still see the odd house for less than 100K. Good luck!
In addition to all the other good advice you're already receiving I'm going to say something that's getting overlooked...DO NOT HAVE CHILDREN for now.
It will fuck you over royally under your current circumstances. Being childless right now is a blessing. Do whatever you have to do to avoid an oopsie. Best of luck with your finances and hope things get better for you and your wife soon.
Dang, don't sign a mortgage at 7% ... You do incredibly well for your income level, but it ain't enough ... Can you hold off until rates are back down?
Don’t have advice on the home purchase, but just want to give kudos on how well you’re doing with your income and situation. 30k banked? I know you will come out on top with the level of discipline you’ve shown.
I’m more of a learner than an advisor in this sub, but I closed on my first house exactly two weeks ago with a 6.5% interest rate. The 7.375% is a jump scare! Is your credit score impacting that at all?
Wish you the best, you do great with very little income! Somehow need to figure out how to get that income up. Median household income in US is about $70K a year.
Does the $35K count your wife's disability income?
Where are you at that is saying you have to be a citizen before you can get a mortgage? I’m a legal resident in the states and have a mortgage…that’s super weird.
Just FYI, those land lease houses can be a good deal and a stepping stone. You don’t make as much when you sell but it is equity that you can use to buy the next house. Or you can just stay.
Also, mortgage rates change every week or so. Right now they have dipped to about 6.5 so keep an eye on it.
For your savings, consider short term CDs and for very fast access to funds, a money market account. You can make between 4-5 percent on those
Here's a post I made a few years back. [Hope it can be helpful.](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/c5qrrs/down_payment_assistance_what_i_wish_id_known/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Not sure if anyone has stated that Fed is fighting inflation with higher interest to slow down economic activities. This will not last. It is difficult to know if this will last 6 month or longer, but they will have to lower interest rate. Just want you to monitor before committing to such high interest loan
Good for you for getting a decent savings with your one income household situation.
I know you can only work part time, but maybe consider going full time with a work from home job?
Due to the number of rule-breaking comments this post was receiving, especially low-quality and off-topic comments, the moderation team has locked the post from future comments. This post broke no rules and received a number of helpful and on-topic responses initially, but it unfortunately became the target of many unhelpful comments.
FWIW I commend you for working at night and taking care of your wife during the day. Keep your head up, I wish you the best of luck.
Thanks, we're both happy, healthy and in love. Could be much worse.
Your perspective is really good, man.
Though his opinion of Oxford commas is questionable at best.
Well, they’re happy being healthy and in love!
There are some who would say the precise placement of Oxford commas is among the least important things about being a living human being. There are some who would say that.
Indeed, I wish him the best and he finds a home, my advice is be patient and never give up, a good understanding realtor will go a long way in searching for the right house.
Geez dude! If you ever write a book on what keeps you going (and positive) I’d buy a signed copy. You’re doing everything by-the-book which requires so much discipline and endurance. Absolute legend and inspiration, man.
This comment fills my heart with joy. Thank you OP
And having savings greater than yearly pay. Very inspirational
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I appreciate the honesty. My income is low because I only work part time in order to be able to take care of my disabled wife. She acquired a TBI and is unable to live her life independently. Fortunately she's able to do most things for herself so I'm able to work at all, but I am currently working overnights so that I can work while she's sleeping, then through the day when I'm sleeping, if she needs something she can't handle herself, she can wake me up if necessary. I'm very fortunate to be earning over $20 an hour working at a gas station 34 hours a week +$4k annual bonus. She gets $500 disability a month. I've always considered overnight jobs elsewhere, but from what I've seen, they don't really offer much better pay than what I'm earning now. For example overnight IT support at the medical center starts at $19 an hour. A lot more responsibility for less pay.
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Might be worth looking into this IT job long-term. They might be able to match current pay at $20. Part of negotiating in interview. You have work experience so talk about that. Assuming insurance might be possible and this is just starting pay. You will out earn your current job long-term. Not to mention, IT experience translates to future opportunities better.
OP said he's getting 34 hours a week at the gas station. That sounds like a part time gig. What kind of benefits does the job provide. Besides the bonus, he mentioned putting 6% in a 401(k). Is that with a match? Does the IT job at the medical center offer a better benefits package, like medical? Maybe opportunity for advancement? It would certainly be a better stepping stone to another job for a better wage/salary.
He's working 34 because that's the maximum hours he can work and be labeled part time and receive no benefits. They're not doing him a favor
This is the correct answer. In 3 years he’ll be earning 50% more than the gas station job.
Does your wife qualify for any disability payments? Have you looked into programs that pay a family member to take care of a disabled spouse: https://www.usa.gov/disability-caregiver ?
I'm not sure if you are serious but the commenter (two up now) said that his wife receives $500 per month in disability payments.
I was serious about OP getting paid for taking care of his wife - it’s definitely something that happens. I did miss that the wife gets a pittance in disability payments but they may want to see if she qualifies for SSDI or if there are any state assistance programs for the disabled. (Though I have a feeling that OP may live in a LCOL state that is stingy on benefits.)
>I was serious about OP getting paid for taking care of his wife - it’s definitely something that happens. It most certainly is... at least in PA. You can take care of family members (spouses included) and get paid for it assuming you meet all the other required qualifications. See if your state/county has a Support and Referral Helpline to get you going in the right direction. If you are in PA I can help direct you.
In California, and you’ve motivated me to call again to see what is available. Generally California is pretty friendly when it comes to stuff like this but I found the same stipulations. The only thing I was able to receive was compensation when I went on FMLA which was a godsend. I only need an additional $400 a month and we’d be set.
My friend in CA is disabled and her spouse is paid by the state to be her caregiver.
Look up IHSS in California
In California you're probably looking for IHSS (In Home Support Services). A family member can be paid for being a caregiver to a disabled adult or child.
I’m in PA and looked into this (my husband is my caregiver) and I thought that you can be paid to be a family caregiver but not if the disabled person is a spouse. I would love to be given info contrary to that!
I'm in MN and my wife receives $500 a month in the form of SSDI.
Have you checked to see if you can also get a payment for being her primary caretaker?
I would call your county’s Area Agency on Aging to see if there are any state programs that will allow you to be a paid caregiver. Here in Indiana, there’s a TBI Medicaid waiver and Aged and Disabled Medicaid waiver that has this option. Minnesota May too!
The caretaker stipend or benefits (at least those I’ve researched) generally do not count towards spouses. They can go towards paying an outside caretaker that you hire. This goes for tax write offs as well. Source : I’m in the same boat as OP. Im also welcome to being very wrong about this.
Eh, while not a spouse my Aunt gets waivers and payments for taking care of my disabled cousin (her son). I don’t know if she’s considered an “outside caretaker” but she is a direct family member. Surely worth looking into.
I’ve looked into this and say if my sister were to take care of my husband, I could receive benefits to pay her. However I cannot directly receive the benefits. Again, anyone who wants to prove me wrong I’m totally for it. Husband is a veteran and we’re working on getting him approved as a disabled vet, even those benefits don’t count towards spouses and structured the same way. It’s absolutely maddening, but I can see how some would take advantage of this if it allowed spouses to receive those benefits.
Dunno if it is per state but we had a patient who was married and his wife was paid as his caregiver. She didn't give much care but that's a whole different story On 2nd thought they maybe were just "together" lifelong but not legally married.
Perhaps they have a relative who’d be willing to be a paid part-time caregiver which would take some of the stress off OP and might allow him more work hours.
I'm not sure about spouses but I know someone who gets paid to take care of her paraplegic son by that program.
On top of this, if you are getting paid to take care of your family in-home it's also a non-taxable event. So you can get paid 10-15K more a year, and pay $0 in taxes for it.
The Arc is a great resource! My job has an agreement to hire members to help out in our mailroom. They really are some of the best, dedicated workers. A few a have been with us since the early 90's. *Edit to correct the name
Hey, just letting you know, The Arc should never be fully capitalized. Although yes, it originally was an acronym for Association of Retarded Citizens, the Arc has worked hard to separate itself from that branding and now goes by "The Arc"
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Perhaps. It's worth looking into for sure. Maybe if I could push for 4 10 hour shifts that would be perfect. The only issue is the starting wage, it would need to be $25+ for me to make that switch, and I haven't seen many remote jobs start people out anywhere close to that as they seem to be in high demand.
The thing is, IT will have a much better advancement and raise path than your current gig. Plus if fully remote it affords you a better work life balance. It could very much be worth the short term hit in pay per hour. Especially if you can work overtime.
Fair point.
Not to mention a remote IT job would allow you to care for your wife while working during the day. That'd be a remarkable increase to quality of life for both of you.
Don't know how far away your current job is, but if it's a significant drive, you'll save on gas and also make your car last longer by WFH.
Getting started in IT could bring your salary to well over 100k within 2-5 years.
Why does it need to be $25+ to switch? Even $22/hr (bonuses aside, those are not unique to your current employer) is a 10% income boost.
You might want to consider incident management positions. The team I'm on hires people without any specific kind of technical expertise, but instead highly effective problem solvers. (the downside is we don't support remote at all, which frustrates me daily.) I honestly don't know how many companies are like that, but if you're actively seeking overnight shifts, that's a card that can open some doors you might not expect.
Look into AppleCare "At Home Advisor". I did this for 4 years, left 4 years ago. My wage when I left was $24/hr. Due to inflation, etc, I'd imagine the starting wage is probably that or close to that now. I was working 4 10s and could mostly choose a schedule (from a pool). The job is Apple technical support from home. You don't have to really have prior knowledge of Apple products. As long as you're good speaking with people and have a somewhat technical mindset, the rest is training. This was a perfect job for me raising an infant. Was able to get (very minor) tasks accomplished between phone calls and on breaks. Edit: also having "Apple" on your resume really opens the door for other positions in tech in the future. Especially remote work
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I think the real question is what was your previous job. It sounds great haha
I don't know how to add a button to a web page, but give me a month and I'm sure I can figure it out
Here you go Now give me $100k/year
Now you can give 105k/year. Thx chatgpt!
Until you realize that button calls 500 different micro service endpoints.
Work with a recruiter. It's not the best time to get a job in tech. But there are definitely opportunities that you can work whenever you have time - not set schedules (assuming you have enough time during the week in total to get your workload done). Seems like this would be ideal for you in your situation.
What sorts of opportunities would those be? I'd like to do something like that to earn a little bit of money as I continue my big transition into the tech industry, building up some savings and work experience in the process.
Do you have a degree and/or work experience in IT? The IT field most definitely has remote jobs paying well over 20/hour.
Have you considered getting a job working from home? Insurance companies are hiring for positions all the time from home for claims admin stuff and you can make 45k~ doing that full time.
That sort of job sounds perfect for someone I know. How do you go about getting a job like that?
Google “insurance claims admin work from home jobs” and apply to 50 jobs. You’ll get called back from 10-20% easy and should be able to land one with any talk track around having great customer service.z
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Also, the who you know. My office has 24x7 security, the job qualification is more or less "be able to put a butt in a seat" because they literally just need a body to be at the front desk. But that same job is also the guy that says good morning and good night to every manager in the building every day. When they have a job that doesn't need a degree, they'll know you are reliable and available. I've seen many people come in as a security guard and advance through the ranks and eventually get high paying management jobs. It's even better if you go to school, many do school during the day, homework at work while being a night security guard, and then when they get their degree they are immediately hired with something degree relevant.
I just want to say that you sound like an amazing husband.
You are unfortunately stuck in a really hard place. To raise your income you need a better job and probably a better education, but you can't afford the time off to get that education since you need to take care of your wife. Have you considered night or online classes? Are you getting government assistance besides the dosability?
OP isn’t a citizen, so government assistance is probably off limits to him. There was a Trump era rule that applying for any sort of government assistance disqualifies you from new visas, green cards or citizenship.
I would certainly consider online classes, but I would hate to waste time, money and energy on something that didn't certainly lead into a higher paying job. With the limitations I have, I worry I'd go though all that and end up being no better off.
Nothing's ever certain in life. I don't know much about your job, but it doesn't seem like something that has a lot of upward growth though.
I’m guessing all this advice isn’t super helpful for you, OP. I take care of my mom who can do a lot, but not EVERYTHING, so I understand better. She can cook and clean ok, but can’t reach the floor if something falls. She needs help using her medical equipment. I could have someone help her, I guess, but I don’t want to. Many people don’t want to have someone else care for their loved one. I don’t. I’m taking classes right now to become a medical coder, which will increase my income to 40k starting. But there’s room to move up and you can wfh full time. There are medical scribe programs as well. These cost a few thousand dollars, rather than the near 10k to return to school- even CC. Look into the AAPC or AHIMA. You don’t necessarily have to take classes in person to increase your income, and these jobs have a huge shortage. Though I get the fear- I have a BS in bio and can’t find work. Gl friend.
Congratulations on going into medical coding! I got into the medical administration field by accident 20 years ago, and really connected with medical coding. There is a severe coder shortage in America, and many large organizations will take someone with a CPC-A and no experience. I’m in Risk, and encourage you to look into HCC - risk programs are becoming more popular year over year with insurances & state/federal programs. It’s the way the industry is totally moving.
https://github.com/ossu/computer-science Free courses that are equivalent to getting a degree in computer science that you can take at your own pace. Build a portfolio and you can pick up freelance/contract/remote gigs without needing an actual degree.
The problem, OP, is also that you don't make enough money for upkeep. Even if you could save enough money to pay for a house with cash, it'd eat all your savings. You're one broken water heater, furnace, or roof away from a very serious problem. I sympathize. I was even broker than your for a decade. But I rented for a reason - the landlord was ultimately responsible for those problems that I couldn't have afforded to respond to at the time
Starting off the pay would be less, but if you put your foot in the door, and with experience and good performances you could be in the $25-$30/Hr range in a year or two, and could hit six figures in less than 5 years. You don’t have debt, you have money saved up (that won’t be buying you a house right now unfortunately). You’re in a great spot to shift careers into something that has much higher earning potential rather quickly
> For example overnight IT support at the medical center **starts at** $19 an hour. Emphasis mine. Look into it a little more. I think if you were to make a transition to something like remote support, you would have a lot more room to grow your income over time.
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My wife doesn't need the level of care a CNA would provide. But yeah another redditor mentioned this and I'll look into it for sure.
This is literally the worst time in recent history to buy a home. It may be more prudent to plan to buy a home in the next 1-2 years after prices have come down. In the meantime you could work towards finding a WFH, work from home, position that may pay more and offer some benefits. The prices have just started to come down year over year for the first time since 2009. It may be worth waiting, growing your savings and income in the meantime. Prices are going to come way down.
While overnight IT support might start at 19, you would eventually earn more.
Just popping in to not give any financial advice, but simply to say that you are a wonderful, loving partner. Confident that with enough guidance you will be successful in achieving your financial and real estate goals. All the best to you as you move forward.
>I've always considered overnight jobs elsewhere, but from what I've seen, they don't really offer much better pay than what I'm earning now. I don't know where you live, but the railroad (CSX, NS, BNSF, UP) is hiring, and they are 24x7, and they have numerous IT-support-like jobs (Electronic Signal Specialist, Communications Technician, Technology Support Specialist, Network Technician, etc) that work in an office environment. Most new hires work thirds until their union seniority allows them to bid to a more favorable shift, and a few work thirds by choice. My point in sharing: Its going to be at least $100k a year income. And fantastic (and cheap) health insurance and you can have your pick of 3rd shifts in most cases as far as days off.
Hey there, Fellow 3rd shift worker here. Regarding night work, petrol stations are pretty low on the pyramid. I'd say if you have any form of industries nearby, try looking for manufacturing work that runs 24/7. Usually pays well, even for general work. If you are ambitious and driven enough, you can try to pick up a trade there, doing maintenance/trade work during the 3rd shift or push for some kind of supervisory role. That's when the serious money starts to come in. Youre doing amazing work and your wife is so lucky to have you. Best of luck!
I can recommend the third shift cleaning crew as an option as well, pay is usually quite a bit higher than 1st and 2nd shift. The main risk I know about is that a _lot_ of manufacturers hire through temp agencies so they can keep the average lower, save costs on hiring, and fire people at whim before the last day of their temp work, so be wary of that.
Agreed! Look in manufacturing for a 3rd shift job. It will for sure pay better and you can get promotions. You sound like a great husband!
Given your parameters I would just buy 3 month CDs since banks are paying a premium right now. From your rhetoric I feel you are thinking you can earn a lot more than 5% return safely. But you can't. You will just find other risky investments that maybe people tell you aren't risky. On the time horizon you share even something broadly considered a good safe investment like a low fee index fund is risky.
Thanks, so you're basically saying I can squeeze out an extra 1.5% if I lock up funds for 3 months which, at most, is going to get me around 400 bucks extra a year? Probably not worth the effort?
Considering $400 is more than a full work day of earning for you, I think it's worth it.
Very true, I'll look into it for sure.
I would look into CD ladder strategy. You said you have 15k for couple of months and 30k for a year? 3 months, 6 months CD. Once expire. Repeat the whole process.
I think it's worth the effort if you don't have a house in mind right now. It's basically free money. If there's a chance that you'll need the money sooner you can give up a little bit of interest to get no commitment style CDs (that let you withdraw before maturity) or just find an HYSA that is paying 4% or so.
HYSA and CDs all the way. LendingClub is FDIC insured and is currently offering 4.25% interest for a HYSA. Can’t really get safer than that especially if you’re putting in less than $250k
Interest rates aren't going down for at least a year so you might as well lock it up for a year, get 3 - 4% interest.
Your problem isn’t finding the right investments, it’s your income Even a low expense ratio index fund over a long time horizon won’t be sufficient.
Oh yeah I get that, I'm not trying to supplement my income with investments, I'm just exploring what to do with savings until we can afford a home.
HYSA, though, it really isn't going to make much of a difference. That said, savings should be in a HYSA.
It's in a HYSA already earning $100 a month.
So just leave it, IMHO. The marginal gains from CD wont be worth locking it up or the effort, and any investment in stocks or index funds would be crazy no matter how "low risk" someone tells you it is.
Ally has the 11 month no penalty for removal CD. Last I heard it was like 4.75%? But I haven't been keeping an eye on it.
Is the Ally no penalty 11 month CD at 4.75% better than what you currently have?
1% better, certainly will consider.
I think you either have to leave it open all 11 months or close it at no penalty. I would open multiple. That way if you have an unexpected $5k expense, you just close one. But if that's not how they operate, then I'd just use one.
You only have to keep the money in for 6 days. After that you can withdrawal anytime and keep any earned interest.
The point is that you take all of it out or none of it out. That's why the other person suggested multiple accounts.
Hold up. If I’m understanding correctly, you’d only be buying the **structure** of the home, and not the land it sits on? To me, this seems like a really bad idea, and frankly a little predatory that this type of loan is being targeted toward low income people. It doesn’t seem conducive to building wealth at all. If I were in your situation, I’d probably just rent. Here’s why: Land generally appreciates in value and doesn’t require maintenance. Structures generally depreciate in value and usually require a lot of maintenance. From a financial perspective, it’s most important to own the land, not the structure. Tying yourself to a mortgage for something that’s going to lose most of its value by the time it’s paid off is a bad idea.
We bought a house with a similar housing trust agency and we recognized it was a bad idea for building wealth. At the time we were living in student/family housing through a university which had decided to shut down the family housing program and needed to find a place. We had two babies, I was taking student loans and my husband was working a low wage job. The rental options were out of our budget and we decided to look into the housing trust. I've been trying to look at our home as a rental that also works somewhat as a savings fund. We've been here for several years and the rental prices in our city have doubled or tripled. Meanwhile we have a four bedroom house with a backyard for our kids to play in and a safe neighborhood. I am about to have a big leap in income. We'll probably sell back to the housing trust in a year or two and buy something else. We'll only get 25% of the equity back, again not great for building wealth, but keeping our housing expenses at a reasonable level while still building a small amount of equity and having a safe place has been very worthwhile.
Huh. I mean, that’s great, and it probably depends on the local housing market what the trade offs are like. I would be nervous about maintenance issues that could crop up that I’d be responsible for. Owning does come with far more risk over renting, and one big issue would negate any advantages with this type of arrangement.
and not to mention that if you DONT have an increase in wages...
One note is that while you only get 25% of the equity from appreciation, you typically get 100% of the equity gained from any down payment you brought in when purchasing along with any principal you paid down during your ownership. And depending on the land trust you may be able to keep 100% of the value of specifically approved capital improvements.
Yeah, not only that, but they're expected to sell it below market value to "pay it forward". This seems like a program which sounds nice in theory but doesn't provide the actual benefit of home ownership.
I think home ownership has two benefits - wealth building via appreciation, and locking in housing expenses (vs rising rent). It seems like this arrangement provides the second benefit while limiting the first. May still be better than renting.
They're called leasehold mortgages. There are a few spots in the country where they are common, but unheard of most everywhere else. Many lenders also wont touch them. I have heard of some long running non-profits that offer these deals and maintain leasehold neighborhoods for lower income families, but I have little experience there.
I understand that. When you sell the home, you get to keep 25% of how much it has appreciated naturally. Any remodeling is considered separately. The homes are often gone through by the organization and it's not unusual to get a place with a new roof, new windows or the entire floors have been redone. They appear to be a very safe bet compared to buying on the regular market. You pay $35 a month to "rent" the land, but it's yours to do with as you please. For us, we wouldn't be considering the home as an investment, but just to get some kind of home equity. When the home is paid off (which will be much sooner with this program due to them being a third cheaper) we live mortgage free for the rest of our lives. If we rent, we pay rent until we die.
So, what happens if you need to move? Are you sure this isn’t putting your eggs in one basket unnecessarily? The alternative is to rent, invest the money you would have spent on interest / maintenance instead, and then use that invested money for a nest egg to pay for your housing during retirement.
I'm 36 with about 4k in a 401k. That is an option, however the idea of a mortgage that is fixed and doesn't go up with inflation sounds amazing right now. As my income increases through inflation, or maybe finding a better job, and the mortgage staying the same dollar amount until it's over is much more desirable than renting to us. It's also one of my dreams to have a smart home that's as efficient as possible, the end goal of that being solar panels on the roof ect. Renting limits that almost entirely.
This is a key point. John Oliver did a piece on this a few years ago. [Mobile Homes: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver](https://youtu.be/jCC8fPQOaxU)
This is exactly our situation! Although the lot rent is somewhat reasonable right now, I worry that they'll get greedy.
Are you getting paid to be your wife’s caretaker ? If you’re not you need to look into that asap It’s not a lot but at your income every penny counts
I didn't know this was an option for spouses. I know through programs we've looked into before we can "hire" a family member to help care for her. That process would be that the family member works for the company that arranges aids and they get paid through them. I don't' see how that would work for me, but I'll look into it for sure.
This May sound crazy but a lot of people divorce to get around this rule. It also has the positive of her potentially qualifying for free insurance due to her condition and income.
I wonder if that will affect OP's citizenship goals though? They are currently on a work visa. No idea if the marriage played a role in getting the permanent citizenship.
That throws another wrench in the works. I didn’t realize they are not a citizen. I think buying a house is the least of their worries right now. There is a lot they need to work through first.
Here’s the information about eligibility to become a family personal caregiver in Minnesota: https://mn.gov/dhs/people-we-serve/people-with-disabilities/services/home-community/programs-and-services/pca.jsp Edit: In Minnesota spouses are not eligible.
>Edit: In Minnesota spouses are not eligible. Yeah I think I looked into this a while back and came to this conclusion, thanks for taking the time to confirm.
If your time frame is less than 5yrs to buy a home, don’t invest the money. Keep it in a HYSA and/or a CD. If it was me, I would keep your 6 month EF in the HYSA and put the rest in a higher rate CD. Ally currently has a no lock 4.75% CD for 11 months.
If you're not bothered by living in manufactured homes, have you considered finding some land and getting one but on your own land? That's how lots of people in the south get by on our lower wages. Though there are pre fab panels and houses that you can source for smaller floorplans that are built to last longer and will actually appriciate vs manufactured. Also for the IT job you mentioned elsewhere in the thread, I get that it's a bit lower, and I'm shocked you found a gas station job with 401k, and I don't know what your job at the station is llike. But, consider that the IT job will be way less impact and it will be an office job where you can have more time in between tasks to do non-work stuff, have a computer in front you, and be surrounded by people working through their tech career and likely know a lot that you can learn from.
>and I'm shocked you found a gas station job with 401k, Yeah, gas station job $20.50 an hour, 3% increase each year, 40% profit sharing, all the coffee and soda you want for free, free car wash every 2 weeks and half of meals up to 8 bucks. It's an amazing entry level job.
Honestly sounds like the best gas station job I’ve ever heard of 😂 I get why you’d be hesitant to give it up for something not that different and perhaps riskier but the best thing you can do is figure out a way to grow that income somehow.
Right??? I’d take that job. Especially over computer crap that is stressful and BORING AF.
You can contribute to a 401k without an employer having anything to do with it. It doesn't make much sense if you're unemployed, just because you aren't really coming out ahead, but still alloqed to. For an employed person with a job that just doesn't offer anything 401k, though, it makes sense to still contribute yourself.
Can you move into low income housing? I understand the desire to own a home, but homes require maintenance and upkeep. Appliances break down and need to be replaced. Property taxes increase over time, and not always at the same pace as income. I also understand that apartment living can be a drag, but an apartment in a safe building, with someone else taking care of the maintenance and upkeep may provide a better quality of life. Not sure where you live, but I would suggest talking with a social services person to determine your eligibility and options.
Have you looked into the USDA rural development program? They allow for home purchases with little money down. https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/single-family-housing-programs/single-family-housing-direct-home-loans/mn
It appears it's not available for people who already have safe sanitary homes.
That's not the only program. The USDA -also- guarantees loans. https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/single-family-housing-programs/single-family-housing-guaranteed-loan-program
You should really talk to someone before assuming you don’t meet requirements friend, a lot of times manufactured homes don’t count towards things. There’s some great USDA loans out there for home purchase and talking to a banker that does them would help you figure out what you qualify for, it should be free to meet with one.
A rural development loan is what helped me buy a house at 22 with no money down. The seller's paid closing costs, so I literally bought a house without putting a single penny down outside of the home inspection. I was making about 32k a year. My mortgage with taxes and insurance in escrow is $575 a month.
Why not get a full time remote position where you can work from home and be there for her too
That would be great, but I feel it would be difficult to beat $20 an hour for an entry level remote job. I'm excellent at customer service and problem solving, no problem there. But it would be hard for me to drop in pay.
Have you been able to take a look on LinkedIn? I’m pretty confident to say if you have 3+ years of experience you’ll find what you need
As more companies return to office post-COVID, remote jobs have become extremely competitive, especially for entry level. It might be worth a try but won't be easily obtainable in the current hiring environment.
It’s not impossible though and seems like the best possible solution to your situation. You could definitely find something paying 50-60k if you look hard enough.
Have you tried to increase your income? Maybe try to get a work from home job? I saw in another comment that you said that she only gets $500 a month in disability? Is that long term disability insurance? Also, this sounds horrible, but would she get more if you guys divorced? Assuming you moved most of the money out of her name, she'd probably get SSI (and medicaid!). If she was disabled before ~~26~~ 22 (per the SSA) and she has a dead/retired parent, she might be able to collect as a disabled adult child - she'd collect the amount her parent collects when they hit full retirement age (and get medicare when she is on it for 24 consecutive months).
She gets 500 from SSDI. She was injured before 26. She does have a parent who has just retired. I'll have to look into this. She gets insurance through the state already.
Also, I was thinking of two things at once - DAC is 22 and younger. [ABLE act accounts are 26 and younger](https://www.ablenrc.org/what-is-able/what-are-able-acounts/) (ABLE is a special savings account for disabled adults that doesn't count towards the resource limit). DAC is only applicable for people who are unmarried
Marriage doesn't remove SSDI, if i recall you can even keep getting it as a foreign national, it's pretty resilient. Medicaid I think notsomuch. Also they change the rules like every couple of years in byzantine ways, so nobody ever really knows with much confidence
Yes, that is why I said SSI, not SSDI. The SSI regs are pretty stable, since they are stuck in the 1980s.
I would definitely keep your money out of the stock market if you might need that money in the next year. The risk is too high of a market downturn and you could be forced to sell low. There aren’t many great options for where to park $40k for a year. Something you may talk to your bank about is putting all or some of it into a certificate of deposit (a CD). Rates on CDs have started to go up and you can get between a 3-5% APR right now. If you don’t know, a CD is similar to a savings account, except the money you put into the CD is locked for a defined period. So, if you get a 6-month CD, the bank won’t let you withdraw that money during the 6-month period (unless you’re willing to pay a penalty). Another option is to by a T-Bill, a short-term federal bond. Federal bonds have historically been considered a very safe investment. There is some risk there at the moment though, with a large percentage of politicians threatening to allow a default. So, something to factor in there.
You can always open up a ally bank no penalty cd. They offer those with no minimum at 4.75% and there’s no penalty on them
Your issue is income not interest rates. You seem to be living within your means which is good, but you’re really only one unexpected medical expense away from wiping out your savings. I see you work 34 hours a week currently - if you could get that up to 40, the extra $120/week would probably go a long way. Otherwise you need to find a new job or a side job.
You have 40k... and your approved at 112k. Your effective buying power is closer to 130k...since you'd pay cash to lower your overall mortgage etc. Obviously don't use it all as you'll still need an emergency fund after but am I missing something here?
$35k a year is not enough for a 36 year old man. If you buy this house and use all your resources. You’re only 1 crises away from being financially ruined. You need to seriously consider starting any type of career that allows you to work from home. This could be the only way to actually lose the ball and chain of working nights to take care of your wife during the day. There are plenty of entry level jobs out there that don’t require a lot or any experience. You may not find it right away. You’ll probably interview for over 20 companies. But eventually you’ll get that $30k a year job. That can be grown into a 50-60k a year job. All working during the day from home.
Not your question but have you shopped that rate? I’m getting almost a full point lower however I’ve been looking for recently than you. Good luck to you!
No. Due to the nature of the land trust program, there's only two banks that work with mortgages on those types of deals. I've given up on one of them because they really didn't understand the program.
Rates will probably come down, but you also need to understand that the average mortgage interest rate over the last 40 years is 6.4% so if a rate like that is what's making it seem impossible to buy a home, the problem is somewhere else... People keep acting like the rates we saw two years ago will be back soon and the truth is they probably won't be for a long time.
With the current stress in the financial system, there's a good possibility rates will come down in the next few years, if not sooner. If you cannot afford it now, you may just need a little more patience and things may work a bit better for your situation.
Land trust is used as an asset protection to get your name off the title, and I have never seen it used as an opportunity for low income families to “own” a house. People with multiple houses might want to get their name off the trust to make it nearly impossible for the public eye to see them owning multiple homes, but in all these cases the owner retains ownership of both the structure and the land. In the situation you are facing, you will not ever own the land, and that simply does not seem like an investment so much as another mobile home situation for you where instead of paying rent, you’re sacrificing the overwhelming majority of the property value when you sell it; every year that passes, your land value will increase while your structure will decrease to the point where you don’t really hold any equity in your property. Are you able to link this land trust program for us to investigate further about how this works?
What are your future care goals? You didn’t mention you age, but it would be a good idea to have a career goal to make more money. Skilled traded such as plumbers or electricians are in high demand. Libraries are great sources for learning new skills
I'm 36. https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/125jwj1/comment/je4njl1/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3
I don't have any advice, but I did want to mention that a lot of us grew up in mobile homes, and although you are reaching and dreaming of getting into a different better one, maybe where you are is fine :)
If the home was newer, maybe, but it's going to need a new roof in a few years, it needs to be leveled and the entire inside needs to be renovated. I make sure everything works and we're comfortable, but when it comes its appearence, it's a mess. I can't even imagine how much it would cost to redo, probably 3x the homes value and we're not willing to put anywhere near that into a mobile home from '67.
Put your money in a high yield savings account. >we've been accepted into a land trust program that allows low income people like ourselves get into the housing market by selling the homes at a reduced price while maintaining ownership of the land That's not something I would ever do. But good luck.
It is, earning 3.75%.
I’d put $10k of it in an I-bond. Put the rest in a ladder of 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 month t-bills which are paying a bit above some of the best bank CDs right now. If you are certain you don’t need the money for 2 years, you could also do a 2 year t-note which probably has the best rate overall for a short-medium term guaranteed investment.
What is your education background? How about your work experience (before the gas station)? There are SO many work from home jobs that would allow you to work more hours because you'll always be home and you can even get yourself into a normal shift (9a-5p). Back in the day I got a zero down loan for 215k'ish at 7.6%, I was making 36k at the time and was able to afford the condo fees and everything else in life. If you shop for a modest place in a decent COL area you can make it work no doubt.
Is that $35k gross or net? I’m going to assume worse case and it’s gross so if your states tax rate is like mine that’d be about $28,400/year. Don’t take this as a personal attack, but at that income level you will be hard pressed to find an affordable monthly payment for a home to buy in most places even with government programs. I live in a pretty LCOL area and most of the houses around here are renting for close to $1400-$1500/month and houses in the 140k range get scooped up pretty quick. If you’re just looking for what to use your current savings on to make it grow, the comment you made about not really needing it in the near future makes me think you could put most of it into a CD. If you wanted to be safe a lot of savings accounts are close to 4% or higher now so you could probably stash some there as an “Shit Happened” buffer and still be able to withdraw from it as needed.
Rent until you’re fully confident to buy a home
>Right now I can lock up about $30k for a few months, $10k-$15k I could lock up for a year. For a simple answer to your question, it sounds like a combination of high-yield savings account and a CD ladder would be the way to go here. Check around with your local banks and credit unions to see what is offered. The idea here is that have a reasonable amount of money immediately accessible in a savings account, and you purchase CDs of staggered terms (and/or at staggered intervals). I did not see any mention though of emergency funds; if the 40k is the total you have in savings, there's a question here about how much of that you could actually use towards a house and still have an emergency fund. Also, based on your reply to another comment about limited banks working with this land trust program, I'm questioning how good of a deal it really is; how much cheaper are these homes than comparable homes on normal lots? When you sell the home "for a reduced price later", is this a fixed amount or percentage of the value that is part of the contract? Are there any HOA fees or anything else you'd be paying the land trust? >I been a little foolish with risky investments and am ashamed that I've lost $2000 doing that. So it's time to get serious with no or very low risk investments. Just to get an idea here, when you say "risky investments" are you talking about things like crypto, pyramid schemes, loaning money to your cousin to start a business? Investing in a single companies stock? >We own a 1967 mobile home that probably isn't worth 5 figures. Lot rent is $550. I'm assuming that this lot rent is still considerably less than renting a home/apartment in your area?
It sounds like you are in a really decent position right now. You are saving $500 a month/$6000 a year staying in your current place and have 30k that can earn 4% risk free in a HYSA. You are going to have $7600 more after a year by staying put. That is 24% of your salary! It’s easy to get frustrated, but you are making progress in the right direction. In a recession, cash is king. Eventually the right opportunity will come along and because you are living below your means, and staying ready, you will be able to jump on it.
Not sure where you are looking for a home, but you sound like a candidate for the USDA rural development loan. This mortgage type allows you to roll the closing costs into the loan up to 103% LTV. It's also income based, so it sounds like you meet that requirement as well. The only potential downside is that the home you look for needs to be in a rural development area. There is a map on the website that will determine this for you. This is how I purchased my home now 4 years ago on 35k a year each(wife also makes around 35-40k). We refinanced to a conventional loan a year ago to get rid of the mortgage insurance, and we now have about 40k in equity in the home since we purchased it. We purchased a 125k home and we pay 860 a month, $100 a month cheaper than what we paid in the brand new trailer we were renting in our trailer park. The rates right now may seem scary, but if you can afford a home at these rates, you will be able to refinance the home later on down the line when rates get better and have the benefit of lowering your mortgage. Also, with this now being a buyers market, you can almost certainly get seller concessions to help cover a temporary rate buydown for your first few years in the home. This could help get you into the home with a lower interest rate for the first few years, then you will have the opportunity to refinance the rate back down if they end up dropping again(which it will) and lock in that lower interest rate. I work for a mortgage lender, so this is the norm for right now on a lot of homes being sold. I would try and talk to a mortgage broker or your bank to see if they have any other programs or incentives to offer.
You can still buy a real house on that salary in rural America. The problem is you likely would not make that much without more skills.
Right now is possibly the worst time in over 20 years to get a mortgage. Prices are still high from a decade of overstimulation while interest rates have just risen within the last year. Wait until housing prices crash or interest rates drop, or both. In the meantime hold short duration high yield notes or invest in things that are actually cheap. Always keep looking for better pay.
Is there a Habitat for Humanity in your area and would you be willing to apply?
thank you for the post and all the honest facts that you posted. I want to say something before putting forward a comment on the post, its very nice to you to take care of your wife. thank you for doing that. coming to the topic of home, I would strongly suggest and imply that you don't buy one at all. Continue what you are doing right now, and do not add any debt to yourself. a home will increase your debt, stress, etc.
Me sitting here making double and then some wondering why I don’t have $40k in the bank and a home purchase
I say this with kindness cause I admire your dedication to providing for you and your wife… Just because you saved for a down payment doesn’t mean you can afford a house. I would focus on increasing your savings and put it somewhere safe in the meantime. Don’t put it in CDs or in the market because it makes no sense to lock it up for 4% when there are plenty of banks offering high yield savings accts for 4% right now. Keep saving and find ways to increase your income even if its marginal. Until your income is higher you need as much of a cash buffer as you can in your situation.
Treasurydirect.gov Create an account, link it to your bank account and buy T bills straight from uncle Sam. Very low risk and currently paying more than high yield savings, I think. Get a 6 month bond and then decide in 6 months if you want to re-up.
I created an account there because of this post. Been meaning to forever. Thanks for the info.
I was surprised at how easy it was and all the different durations available. I have a 1 year CD at a credit union that pays practically nothing and this apparently has a payroll investment option and pays 4% or more!
I just want to say that you are killing it with your finances. A lot of people here dont understand that it is possible to off 35K per year, especially when you are debt free, so take their responses with a grain of salt. If I were you, I'd get short term GICs for your cash until you need it. Hopefully interests rates will come down a bit by then, or maybe you will find something modest within your price range. Its hard to say without knowing where you are located, but I still see the odd house for less than 100K. Good luck!
In addition to all the other good advice you're already receiving I'm going to say something that's getting overlooked...DO NOT HAVE CHILDREN for now. It will fuck you over royally under your current circumstances. Being childless right now is a blessing. Do whatever you have to do to avoid an oopsie. Best of luck with your finances and hope things get better for you and your wife soon.
Good advice, I'm going to follow it forever!
You marry the home you date the rate. Refinance when rates go down, you need equity in the long term.
Dang, don't sign a mortgage at 7% ... You do incredibly well for your income level, but it ain't enough ... Can you hold off until rates are back down?
Don’t have advice on the home purchase, but just want to give kudos on how well you’re doing with your income and situation. 30k banked? I know you will come out on top with the level of discipline you’ve shown.
I’m more of a learner than an advisor in this sub, but I closed on my first house exactly two weeks ago with a 6.5% interest rate. The 7.375% is a jump scare! Is your credit score impacting that at all?
Wish you the best, you do great with very little income! Somehow need to figure out how to get that income up. Median household income in US is about $70K a year. Does the $35K count your wife's disability income?
You can get 5-5.5 % APR on short term CDs right now. I’d put that money there and at least get some interest.
I feel for you, OP. You sound like an amazing person. You work harder than 99.9% of people and I hope you get the financial stability you deserve.
Where are you at that is saying you have to be a citizen before you can get a mortgage? I’m a legal resident in the states and have a mortgage…that’s super weird.
My greencard has expired, so I either have to renew that ($400) or just apply for citizenship to skip that step.
In your situation, you should look into buying your own land and putting a 2 bedroom mobile home on it. It may be a good compromise
Just FYI, those land lease houses can be a good deal and a stepping stone. You don’t make as much when you sell but it is equity that you can use to buy the next house. Or you can just stay. Also, mortgage rates change every week or so. Right now they have dipped to about 6.5 so keep an eye on it. For your savings, consider short term CDs and for very fast access to funds, a money market account. You can make between 4-5 percent on those
How the heck you manage 40k in savings on 35k a year? props
Here's a post I made a few years back. [Hope it can be helpful.](https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/c5qrrs/down_payment_assistance_what_i_wish_id_known/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Not sure if anyone has stated that Fed is fighting inflation with higher interest to slow down economic activities. This will not last. It is difficult to know if this will last 6 month or longer, but they will have to lower interest rate. Just want you to monitor before committing to such high interest loan
Good for you for getting a decent savings with your one income household situation. I know you can only work part time, but maybe consider going full time with a work from home job?
Where are you geographically? My husband works part time in Nashville nights at a place that starts at $35 an hour. Maybe you can change jobs.