Those shopping for houses

wacky Posted: Feb 28, 2003 06:57 AM

Those shopping for houses

Paul and I were speaking to our financial advisor last night and he said in order to buy a house these says you should have 25% or more to put down.

300,000 60k down. Thought there were all these perks for 1st time buyers. Jesus

He also mentioned buying a 2 family, live in it for a couple of years and then upgrade

Any thoughts or opinions, for those who are also in the market or those who have a house

bride082003 Posted: Feb 28, 2003 08:03 AM

Re: Those shopping for houses

look into townhouses or condos or co-ops first. atleast it gets you out of renting (and wasting money) and you will have some equity when you when to upgrade to a bigger house.

And you dont NEED to put down 20%...you can buy something with much less.

My suggestion would be to go talk to someone to see what your options are and what you can be pre-approved for.

GOOD LUCK

JustJodi Posted: Feb 28, 2003 08:16 AM

Re: Those shopping for houses

Hey...
Just wanted to say that we recently bought a house in the new Country Pointe in Dix Hills.. we are waiting for them to finish building them.
Without tellin ya how much it was I can tell you that If we had to put 20% down on it, we never could of bought it..there are ways to work around numbers, just might have to put them back into your morgage

LizD Posted: Feb 28, 2003 08:32 AM

Re: Those shopping for houses

You don't need to put 20% down. A lot of banks will do as little as 5% down, but than I believe you would have to pay PMI. I would check with a bank that you may be interested in using. See what you can get a pre-approval for, and see what the monthly payments would be. A lot of banks will be willing to give you a lot of money, you just want to make sure that you can comfortably afford the monthly payments, and don't forget that has to include insureance, utilities, car expenses, etc. Don't worry, it sounds scarier than it is.

Suzanne Posted: Feb 28, 2003 08:40 AM

Re: Those shopping for houses

We are in the midst of buying a house right now, and we are not putting no where NEAR 20% down.. Right now the prices of homes are so much money that there was no way we could put that much down, and then plus the 10K for the closing.. I didnt want to wrap the closing into the mortgage either because i didnt want to pay intrest on it..

There are alot of banks that will still give you a mortgage with very little down, the only downfall is that the seller sometimes doesnt want to sell a home to someone with little out of pocket down payment..

If you want any more info, FM me..

And GOOD LUCK!!

dkga1026 Posted: Feb 28, 2003 08:43 AM

Re: Those shopping for houses

I have been looking in Bayside for a while now and let me just say that it is so depressing. The homes are ridiculously priced. If I need to put down 25% of at least $400, I will never buy a home!!

wacky Posted: Feb 28, 2003 08:46 AM

Re: Those shopping for houses

Thanks ladies, but the PMI addes to your mortgage. that was his point, he said to put down more so you dont have to pay PMI

Suzanne Posted: Feb 28, 2003 08:51 AM

Re: Those shopping for houses

Some banks offer a better PMI plan... Normal PMI is monthly insurance..sometimes around 100.00 a month..

There are other plans too, like one bank offered us, i think it was about 5900.00 straight fee.. if you get the 20% before 10 years they give part of it back (depending on how many years it takes you to get to that point.)

Also, remember 2 extra mortgage payments a year (maybe your tax return and your xmas bonus) on a 30 year mortgage, will bring your mortgage to only 14 years..

wacky Posted: Feb 28, 2003 08:52 AM

Re: Those shopping for houses

Suzanne you are a wealth of info, today my dear.

Thank you.

Suzanne Posted: Feb 28, 2003 08:53 AM

Re: Those shopping for houses

LOL!!! going through this , theres no way i couldnt retain some of the info!! LOL

LMK if theres anything else i can fill you in on!!

WithThisRing Posted: Feb 28, 2003 08:58 AM

Re: Those shopping for houses

We're looking to build in FL, and the prices of houses are a lot and i mean A LOT less down there then they are up here. When we were getting prices of homes we spoke to a few banks down there just to get information and here is what we found out:

The house we want built costs us x amount of dollars. If we put down 30K we'll get instant approval for the house. We dont have 30K to just throw down. Luckily FI has a job where he can transfer and we'll get approved instantly on his transfer.

If he didnt have a transfer and we dont have 30K there are banks who are willing to work with us but our payments may be a little higher and our percentage rate would be a little higher.

Check out FannieMae.com

that has a lot of great info for first time home buyers and where to go too and what to look for.

Their are many ways to get approved for a morgage and not be putting down 20%. You just have to do a little homework and see what works best for you

wacky Posted: Feb 28, 2003 09:09 AM

Re: Those shopping for houses

Ladies, you guys have definitly done your homework. thank you

MarcellaBella Posted: Feb 28, 2003 09:18 AM

Re: Those shopping for houses

D, you do NOT need 20% down!! how can anyone afford that!! There are soo many ways around the PMI as well, and if you deal with the right people, they will tell you about the ways!

Valenia Posted: Feb 28, 2003 09:22 AM

Re: Those shopping for houses

I bought my condo in Massachusetts, but I doubt this is state specific. We were able to avoid PMI even though we only put 15% down. What we did was take a first mortgage for 75% of the buying price, and then we took a home equity line of credit against our down payment for 10% of the buying price. That left us with just 5% in equity, but no PMI fees. You may want to see if thats an option for you.

Fran M Posted: Feb 28, 2003 09:32 AM

Re: Those shopping for houses

You can purchase a home with less than 20% down. Start shopping for a mortgage before you find the home. Talk to a few different types of lenders, bank, mortgage broker, credit union. Finding the right lender is just like shopping for anything else you need to find the right fit. Sellers will look more favorably on your bids if when you come in with a pre approved mortgage. Good Luck

CherylBooch Posted: Feb 28, 2003 09:33 AM

Re: Those shopping for houses

Marcella is right. If you get the right mortage guy, there are SO many ways around the PMI. Our guy is great, if you need a name, and we know already how we're getting around it! FYI: FH and I could only afford 5% on our house in New Hyde Park. Tell your FA he's nuts!!

HappyEverAfter Posted: Feb 28, 2003 10:07 AM

Re: Those shopping for houses

We are also house shopping (in Connecticut) and we are not putting 20% down, if we had to we would be moving in 20 years We were both actually pre-approved for a mortgage w. no money down, but we will put down 5-10%. A good lender can work around the PMI. We are going to be looking at new homes being built now, so luckily we will not have to hassle w. previous owners looking for minimum down payment. Good luck!

susans Posted: Feb 28, 2003 12:13 PM

Re: Those shopping for houses

Our mortgage was an 80/10/10
Meaning we put 10% down, took out a jumbo loan for 80% and then a seperate loan for the remaining 10%
The 10% loan is a smaller loan that will be paid off in 5 years (as opposed to the 30 year mortgage) and because the interest rates are so low it worked out to being less than PMI. The 10% loan is at a lower rate than the jumbo.
There are definately more options.
We were never told that we HAD TO put down 20-25%.
Good Luck!

curly2003 Posted: Feb 28, 2003 12:21 PM

Re: Those shopping for houses

No way you need to put 20% down. We are in the middle of the mortgage process (signed contracts but waiting for closing date) and we put about 4% down. We would have NEVER bought a home if 20% down was a requirement. Financial advisors are O.K. (Trust me, I am one and work with them) but you really need to speak to a motgage broker directly. There are many types of loans out there and you need to find one that fits your and your FI's budget and income. Good luck!!!!!