First Time Homebuyer Help PLEASE!!

Ok, girls. So our bid was accepted! We have a house! :-))))) Now we are going to start looking for a mortgage. Where do we begin. We both have excellent credit (both scores are almost 800), and the 20% downpayment. I have been told not to go to a mortgage broker but to a bank (Washington Mutual, Greenpoint). I have been told that they will be fighting to lend us money based on our credit and downpayment amount. What do you girls recommend who have done this recently?

Also, I heard there was a federal program for First Time Homebuyers called Sonya or something like that. If combined incomes are under 82K a year, which our income is just under. Does anyone know how I can find out about this? I hear its always at least 1/2 percentage less than the going rate. Please help me!

Email me and I will give you the name of our Mortgage person. He works for M&T Bank in Westchester but there was no problem with us closing on LI. He was wonderful to work with! Highly recommed him and his office.

Lisa

PS...Congratulations on the bid acceptance!!

The only play room that the different salesmen have would be closing costs. With your credit rating, the percent they offer you should be the same everywhere. I recommend shopping around, and getting them to spell out the costs.

Have you decided what type of mortgage to get? Knowing that going in helps minimize confusion and games.

Look into the HSBC Community Works mortgage.......no points and for first time home buyers with mortgages under $300,000!!!
It always a low rate!!!

Take a look at BankRate.com. and look at banks you have delt with in the past. You can also try LendingTree.com.

With a good credit score and the 20% deposit you will have no trouble at all. Congratulations on finding a house and the best of luck to you.

I also used HSBC!! They were a pleasure to deal with.

There is a first time homebuyers program - it's called Sunny Mae (or something like that). I was eligible for it three years ago when I bought my condo. It requires a little more work upfront, but it's well worth it for a lower interest %. Just keep in mind, with these programs you can't sell for 5 years otherwise the bank will recapture the interest % difference.

Good Luck!!!

We used HSBC for our first co-op then also for our first house. They really are great to work with. We never had any problems with them. We are most likly going to use them again for the new house we just bought.

Good Luck!!