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Working remotely until next year! Who’s in? Lol
Most recession-proof practice areas?
Has anyone considered going back to school?
iPad vs. remarkable - thoughts?
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Chief
Can’t speak from personal experience since I paid mine off long before applying for mortgages. (Not necessarily recommended if you can avoid it, in hindsight.) But your broker/realtor, if not your mortgage loan officer, should be advise you about how that might affect your DTI. You could also try this: https://www.biglawinvestor.com/marketplace/jd-mortgage/
No issues and I’ve got A LOT on IBR. They look at your ability to pay month to month rather than total amount.
Same re IBR, and I had no issue. They looked at my monthly payment, not the total.
Rising Star
They don’t care as long as you have the income to cover the loan payments and also the mortgage.
No problem at all. I’m on income based repayment with over $250k in debt at the time as a single person, and they just needed proof of my monthly payment amount.
You’re fine. I sold one house and bought another during the pandemic. You’ll just have to contact your loan servicer and get a letter saying what your total loan payment will be once loans go into repayment. The lender will use then loan letter to factor that into your available cash flow to make sure you’re buying a house at a price you’ll be able to afford with the student loan payments.
If they’re federal loans and on pause due to the pandemic, it’s a new requirement. Every pre-qualification I did when I bought my house last August required it. The monthly statements and my credit report were not accepted because they both currently saw $0 payment required.
You are totally fine. My boyfriend and I are also 2020 grads both working in big law. I have around $100k in student loans and he doesn't have any. Our credit was around the same as yours, maybe a tad lower. My boyfriend was pre approved for $700k by himself (we wanted to see if we would get a better rate with just him bc he had no student loans, but it turns out it didnt matter so we just added me as well). We asked for 700k bc we didn't want or need to go over that on our first house, but they made it sound like we could have gone much higher if we wanted. We found a house for $580k and put 20% down.
Ours is a detached townhome 10 mins from Downtown Dallas for $580k. Tbh seems kinda pricey for a townhome, but the finishes are super nice and we like the area. Honestly the housing market has been insane this past year. There was another house we were considering out in the suburbs, but the asking price was $200k more than it was sold for two years ago so we passed on it.
No. I bought a house on my own in March 2021 and have not made a single payment toward my student loans (~ $80k). I don’t have a big law salary and had less than 2 years of work experience at the time. My house was a little over $400k. You will be completely fine.
Ask around and see if your law firm partners w any major banks as preferred lenders. My firm is partnered w Citi and they have a special law group that services Amlaw100. You get less hassle in underwriting process and the lowest rates I’ve come across. Also don’t sink into default assumption that you need to go w a 30yr fixed. If this is your first starter home and you intend to upgrade as you grow your family, an ARM may be more advantageous. We did 7/1 ARM on our current home bc we either intend to move or will refi before 7 yr fixed period expires.
I had no problem
You’re fine.
Rising Star
No, it wasn't an issue for me. I think you should be more concerned about whether you have both been at your current jobs for at least 2 years. You may want to wait until that point.
They waived the two year requirement for my fiancé and with big law jobs (and student loans)
Pro
That DTI is beautiful. There’s also mortgages just for professionals.
My partner and I had twice the student loans and half the income than that and we were fine. We also had only 1-2 years of post-grad work history and were both starting new jobs at the time. The process of buying a house is a headache no matter what, but at least for us the bank didn’t seem concerned about approving a mortgage given our advanced degrees and perceived long-term career stability (my partner is in healthcare). This was in 2019, so not sure if the risk analysis has changed during the pandemic.
Bought a home in Jan 2021 - I hadn’t even started my biglaw job yet, and had $150k ish in loans. My husband was making around $80k and had no loans. We were able to qualify for $700k (though we didn’t go that high) with no problems. Things are a little different now than in Jan 2021, but I still highly doubt it should be of concern.
Literally no issue. If you haven’t made payments they assume your monthly payment will be 10% of what you owe automatically. As long as your income covers that and the mortgage below whatever max% of Dti they allow you’re golden
Ahh okay that makes sense! Thanks!
If your monthly payment is zero due to the pandemic freeze, call the student loan company and they might have a specific form to give the lender - otherwise they will hit you with a 1%-2% payment for the calculation- happened to me because of the freeze but I was able to clear it up.
No. My husband and I are law school sweethearts and we both have student loans from law school. We were approved for a mortgage almost a year ago and that never came up as an issue.
Just bought my first house with massive student loans from law school & coming from the public to private sector. You should do your own math to see what you are comfortable spending on a Mortage plus utilities. You can also estimate your monthly payback rate on your student loans through your loan service too. Student loans didn’t damage my buying power. Best advice is to talk with a Mortage officer and shop interest rates. They can break down your estimated monthly payments based on the current interest rate, downpayment and total loan.
No, not at all