do i NEED credit history to buy a house?

I'll try to make this quick. Two friends plus me want to buy house at end of summer, when my friend and I turn 18. The other friend is already 19. I hear you have to have good credit history to buy a house. Since we're young, do we even have any credit history? [Two of us have had debit cards for a couple of years.] And also, you're supposed to have a solid 2-year employment. I have worked on/off at an arts & crafts store since fall of 2006.. about 10 months altogether. My friend has worked at a call center place for 8 months. I don't know about my other friend. Is that good enough work history? And yeah, I will be looking very hard to find a steady, stable job before I think of moving out at the end of summer. Given the story, could you guys please answer the questions I have. I don't know much about buying a home, obviously, so any help would be awesome!

Public Comments

1. DO NOT BUY A HOUSE WITH TWO FRIENDS. You don't even know the work history of one and you are going to rely on her to pay a third of your mortgage!??!?!?! The other worked some minimum wage job for 8 months and you are going to rely on her to pay a third of your mortgage! YIKES! Very Very Very bad idea. Don't do it!!! One of you buy the house and the others rent.
2. Normally buying a house uses a mortgage. If you put a huge down payment on the house someone will give you a mortgage because if you stop paying you lose the house. Forget the credit line. It is for people who have no down payment.
3. I agree with the others, buying with friends is a terrible idea. For the rest,.... Your job history is actually very bad, you can't hold a job. The 2 year thing is 2 years at the same employer. You also need 2 years of credit history, debit cards do not count. So, you need to get 3 things together before buying...a good job, good credit and a good down payment saved up (20% of your sales price).
4. If you do not have a credit history, you can ask the mortgage company to manually underwrite your loan. You will have to provide more documentation of income. Without a solid work history this will most likely not work for you. Also, it does not seem like buying a house in your situation is a very good idea. If you you are wanting to buy a house because you think renting is wasting your money, you should reconsider. Renting can be a good option until you are financially and personally ready to own a home. If you are interested in a house because you think it would be a good investment, you should instead consider a Roth IRA. If you start putting in $2000 a year at 18, the miracle of compounding will make you a very rich person later in life.
5. Not suggesting 18 or 19 is too young to buy a home - I think its great you are thinking about it! Even though you all may be best of friends the best way to ruin that friendship would be to buy a home in these circumstances. Good credit is important and it will totally drive the interest rate you will be paying on the mortgage, and with either low or no credit will likely make it impossible to get a loan. If you are serious about doing this try renting a home on a 6 month lease first, see how that pans out with your friends and save up for the down payment the difference between what you pay in rent and what you will pay on a mortgage. Assume you might rent a house for 1000 per month, maybe your mortgage would be 2000 - you should save 6000 by the end of the lease. While you are renting check things out in your local area for home prices and work with a mortgage broker to see if this could go anywhere. Keep in mind besides the mortgage you will have to pay property taxes, insurance, maintenance costs and probable mortgage insurance (unless you have > 20% down payment). All of these can add another 30-40% above your basic mortgage payment. Given the current market conditions in most areas in the US it will be very difficult to sell on short notice if something happens and you or your friends are unable to make the payments. I don't have any personal experience similar to your situation (buying property with friends) but it seems like it is risky and will be tough to qualify for the mortgage. Home ownership is still a very good investment and like I said its great to start building towards this goal early!
6. There are programs that will allow a person with little or no credit to get a mortgage based on their income however, DO NOT SIGN ANY LOAN WITH FRIENDS at this stage of your life. I repeate, DO NOT SIGN ANY LOAN WITH FRIENDS at this stage of your life
7. If you guys are dead set on living together, go find a nice 3 bedroom rental. Less commitment. Even if you could get financing (which would be VERY difficult) imagine if housing prices keep going down and you guys have a falling out? Then you;re stuck owning a home with 2 people you don't even like, and you won't even be able to sell it. A forclosure would make sure you will have even more difficulty buying a house in the future when you are really ready. This is one case where the downside is way bigger then the upside. I agree with the above posters. I think this is a VERY bad idea.