Securing financing

I have spoken with a couple lenders and have been approved for just about $300k. There seem to be some good deals in Brooklyn right now, not necessarily on a price per square fottage basis, but due to the possibility of FHA financing and low taxes. Basically I would need a loan of slightly more in order to make an offer on a condo I looked at. I am planning on renting half of the apartment out... [more]

I have spoken with a couple lenders and have been approved for just about $300k. There seem to be some good deals in Brooklyn right now, not necessarily on a price per square fottage basis, but due to the possibility of FHA financing and low taxes. Basically I would need a loan of slightly more in order to make an offer on a condo I looked at. I am planning on renting half of the apartment out while living there. I have done some 'testing' of the market on craigslist and think I could get at least $1250 per month. Between the $8k first time home buyer tax credit, ability to deduct interest/RET and tax abatements in the area I have calculated that the IRS will actually owe me money after my first year of owning. (This is taking into account my starting level salary and assuming maxing 401k). Also they offer a rent to own option where I would lock in a negotiated price then pay rent for up to 6 months at which point they would return what you paid in rent in full as long as you went through with the deal. If I was getting the $1250 per month and did it for 3 months starting in September, I could still close in time to get the $8k tax rebate and in the meantime make an extra $3750. At this point I might have enough to do a larger down payment and maybe get the loan on my own, but what if I was a little short? If I brought in a co signer to help me secure the loan, would there be any way for them to have a smaller amount of risk due to the fact of me 'almost' being able to get the loan on my own? Or are co signers always the same amount liable? Like could they guarantee to be able to cover $1000 a month if something were to happen, for example, as opposed to the whole loan or is this not how it works? Basically I am just trying to make the proposal to a cosigner seem less risky. If I had a signed lease from a renter, I know this couldn't be used to help me with a lender, but to a cosigner it would be a pretty good validation that I would be able to afford the payments. Any thoughts on this? [less]