putting an offer down for a condo in jersey city today

kinda nervous

10/18/2007 1:40:19 PM

Quote :

"Raleigh — There were more signs Monday that the national housing slump has hit the Triangle. According to the North Carolina Association of Realtors, sales of existing homes dropped 24 percent for the month of September compared with the same period last year. The slump has hit high-priced neighborhoods the hardest. “In certain price ranges, we're seeing quite a lot of stagnation,” real estate agent Gilbert Hensgen said. Hensgen added that not only are sales slowing, but the market has become more competitive, with an overflow of listings in certain neighborhoods. “I've actually turned more pessimistic about the economy in the next six months. I think these numbers show the real estate slump has really hit the Triangle,” N.C. State economist Mike Walden said. Walden said the Triangle real estate market traditionally has been steady, but the recent sales drop argues against that. He said he has worried the decline would spread to other sectors of the economy. “We're in for a very tight six to nine months," Walden said. So far, overall home prices haven't suffered that much. The median price of a Triangle home jumped 6 percent from $229,000 to over $242,000. “Buyers are being very smart with picking and choosing and making sure they're priced right. And not everyone is pricing them right,” Hensgen said. While Triangle sales are off, it could be a lot worse. It takes an average 73 days to sell a home in the Triangle, compared with a national average of nearly 120 days. Across the state, 9,267 homes were sold in September. Total sales for the month were $2,113,546,343, and the average existing home price was up 8 percent from a year ago, to $228,072. Jacksonville remained the municipality least affected by the housing downturn, with an 8 percent sales increase, followed by Wilson with a 6 percent increase. Carteret County, which includes Jacksonville, led the state with an 11 percent increase. Coastal areas improved, with the Outer Banks and Greenville posting 2 percent and 1 percent increases in sales, respectively."

http://wral.com/news/local/story/1957042/

10/23/2007 12:08:50 AM

im in a shitty situation.

we have to move in 3 months.

i am self employed.

the market is softening, and lending is getting difficult.

so should i go ahead and get my low-doc loan and by a house while i can, risking being upside down on a mortgage right off the bat, or wait it out 6 months?

10/24/2007 11:49:15 AM

lending isn't getting difficult for us, we're actually hiring mortgage staff here in the triangle like crazy because it's getting bad for everybody else - we're still doing no-doc and no-doc jumbos

and the guy i talked to this morning who just got a mortgage through us said we were better on the rate than other places

10/24/2007 11:53:09 AM

Where do you work?

10/24/2007 12:01:10 PM

saw on the previous page about the first time homebuyer loans. I just completed this process through Countrywide and the nchfa program. It is a 5.75% 30 year 0-down loan.

As far as the income restriction, in Wake County you are required to make less than 71k yearly and the house has to be <200k. They do check, and they are thorough. I had to include tax documentation for the last 3 years, verification of student loan debts, w-2s for 3 years, signed verification that I quit my part-time job that wouldve put me over the income limit, college transcript for proof of graduation, employment verification from HR, notarized forms stating that you understand their rules about recapture, and some other items I don't remember. I almost didn't get the loan because there was a holdup with my part-time employer, they have to have EVERY document that I listed above, or you can't get the rate. All in all, it was worth it to get that bomb-ass rate, but it was a headache.

If anyone has any questions about the bond program, feel free to pm me. It was a huge process, so I would be glad to answer questions or help.

Anyone wanna speculate on how my new house will do valuation-wise in the next 4-5 years? Its a 1695 sq ft. townhouse in Cary in the new KB Martha Stewart devlopment at twin lakes. I am thrilled with the place, especially since it is only 5 mins from work. Maple floors throughout the 1st floor. Huge kitchen with island and 42" maple cabinets line both walls. 2 bd, 2.5 bath and a loft. Under a flight path, but you dont notice the jets inside. Master bed has the tray ceiling, and master bath has seperate shower and tub. Very family oriented neighborhood.

[Edited on October 24, 2007 at 12:46 PM. Reason : page not thread]

10/24/2007 12:45:44 PM

That's a nice area. I checked out that place, but didn't want a townhome so I ended up buying a place in Stone Hill. What bond program?

10/24/2007 1:13:11 PM

I just got a 30 yr fixed on 240k for ZERO points, 6.25, and 1800 in total closing costs.

Sound like a good deal?

10/24/2007 1:18:26 PM

Nice, no origination fee. Yeah, that is def a good deal.

10/24/2007 1:21:27 PM

Oh yeah, no escrow either.

If anyone is looking for a loan, I definitely recommend Marcus Martin at Equity Services.

10/24/2007 1:23:57 PM

bond program is what the loan guy kept calling the hfa thing.

10/24/2007 1:27:05 PM

Escrow is for chumps. Most places want to change you a fee if you don't escrow, but just tell them to waive it and they usually do so.

10/24/2007 1:39:02 PM

yeah, with the bond program i think i had to do extra months worth of escrows to make them happy

10/24/2007 2:02:10 PM

^^ yeah, thats what I did. Marcus was cool with throwing all those fees away. Didnt give me any hassle.

10/24/2007 2:08:25 PM

Yeah, you can save $$$ if you know what you're doing when shopping for a mortgage.

10/24/2007 2:16:13 PM

I got a quote today from BoA:

10 down
5/1 ARM 5.75%
No Closing Costs

10/24/2007 9:30:11 PM

Do you have to pay pmi?

10/25/2007 9:45:58 AM

Man, it was great to buy a house in the cheap interest days. It's gonna be hard buying a new place and giving up my 30 yr fixed 4.65% loan, 8% down.

10/25/2007 10:11:59 AM

Interest is still pretty cheap compared to the last few decades

10/25/2007 10:13:37 AM

^^^^Whatever you do, avoid ARM's at ALL COST. Not a single person I spoke to about loans, including both sets of parents (mine and my husband's) and multiple mortgage brokers, said that an ARM is worth it. Each year, if they decide to raise your interest rate, you could be paying $100 more a month just in interest. It's not worth it.

10/25/2007 11:56:26 AM

It really depends on the spread between the arms and the fixed. 6 months ago it was pretty much non existent, but recently it has been increasing. Several years ago there was over a point difference between the 5 year arm and 30 year fixed.

10/25/2007 12:11:12 PM

Exactly, you can get ARMs that adjust every 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10 years.

It's all a game. If you know for high certainty you will be moving in 3 years, then by all means get a 3 year arm.

10/25/2007 1:38:29 PM

Since I'm buying a 1bdrm condo in Jersey City and I'm 27 I'm getting a 5/1 ARM. After 3 years I'll be cashing in on my appreciation and then probably upgrading. Anyway, now the yield curves have inverted again the spread between the 3-5 and the 30 fixed is huge. 6mo LIBOR is down to 4.900% and in a downward trend, I fully expect another liquidity pump next week...expect intrabank lending to get cheaper in the very short term.


Oh - no PMI. The BoA program looks to be pretty damn good. I don't know of anywhere else that'll do a 90/10 and suck up the PMI. The 5/1 ARMs specifically have had at least a couple 150 basis point drops in the past week.

[Edited on October 25, 2007 at 10:22 PM. Reason : PMI]

10/25/2007 10:18:41 PM

I assume you mean 15 basis points.

10/26/2007 12:18:20 AM

Rates are dropping it seems ... Marcus is working to get us something lower than the 6.25. Ill update with the lowest rates he quotes me on monday.

10/27/2007 11:24:38 PM

5.75 + 0 + .5

wachovia custom mortgage. at least 3% down

30 yr fixed, no recapture

10/29/2007 9:45:24 PM

+0 ?

10/29/2007 9:57:07 PM

Marcus moved us down to a 6.125, no points, 1800 at closing with 20% down. Still waiting to see if he can do better later this week.

10/30/2007 7:49:35 AM

Who else are you considering?

10/30/2007 8:21:54 AM

anyone that can get me down to 6.0

10/30/2007 10:16:36 AM

When I did my search the best rates I found were with

http://www.daylightdiscountmortgage.com/ contact bous
http://my.countrywide.com/
http://www.hpw.com/

10/30/2007 10:20:44 AM

Quote :

"It's gonna be hard buying a new place and giving up my 30 yr fixed 4.65% loan, 8% down."

Why? You could get 15 yr fixed at a moderately higher interest rate and you'd still save a ton of money.

10/30/2007 3:29:18 PM

Yeah, but the monthly payments + interest rate would still be higher.

10/30/2007 3:42:48 PM

Yes on the monthly payments, I am pretty sure no on the interest (15 years of a higher interest rate is less than 30 years of a lower interest rate). Debt is evil, it makes you a slave. The less of it you have and the quicker you can pay off, that should be a person's prime motivation.

[Edited on October 30, 2007 at 5:48 PM. Reason : /]

10/30/2007 5:48:14 PM

debt isn't always a bad thing, especially when you're talking about low interest, tax-advantaged debt.

but for 95% of people, who are undisciplined, your advice definitely applies.

10/30/2007 6:23:46 PM

Quote :

"I am pretty sure no on the interest "

No way you'll get a 15 year fixed for less than his current rate of 4.65%

10/30/2007 7:14:30 PM

Quote :

"debt isn't always a bad thing, especially when you're talking about low interest, tax-advantaged debt."

Yeah, definitely. You can easily make more money by investing extra cash opposed to paying down your mortgage.

10/30/2007 7:15:53 PM

i uploaded some pics of the inside of my house if anyone wants to see them.

it's at the townes at umstead park off of ebenezer church road.

11/5/2007 11:40:39 AM

maryland and florida

11/5/2007 11:48:27 AM

What do you do again moody?

11/5/2007 11:50:56 AM

right now i'm the entire marketing and it functions for a raleigh startup

[Edited on November 5, 2007 at 1:58 PM. Reason : .]

11/5/2007 1:58:24 PM

Quote :

"Yes on the monthly payments, I am pretty sure no on the interest (15 years of a higher interest rate is less than 30 years of a lower interest rate). Debt is evil, it makes you a slave. The less of it you have and the quicker you can pay off, that should be a person's prime motivation."

You do realize you are advocating paying down tax advantaged debt at low interest that has zero appreciation value.

Terrific advice if you hate money.

I'll keep my money working for me and you keep your stagnant equity, thank you.


And before i get flamed by the idiots, equity does not appreciate. The value of the home appreciates regardless of whether or not you have equity in it. I know it's a basic concept but there's no reason to suspect more than 10% of people here to understand that since the majority of the people on this board went to NC State.

11/5/2007 7:27:57 PM

^

11/5/2007 7:42:35 PM

buy all the land you can afford

11/5/2007 9:03:01 PM

Quote :

" I know it's a basic concept but there's no reason to suspect more than 10% of people here to understand that since the majority of the people on this board went to NC State."

your attitude - i don't like

11/5/2007 9:32:28 PM

http://tinyurl.com/yrukp2

Hope this doesn't happen to anyone here.

11/5/2007 10:04:00 PM

^^

Well, he does have a point. I do recall that most people thought everything was 7% cheaper during NC's tax fee weekend.

11/5/2007 10:50:10 PM

"And before i get flamed by the idiots, equity does not appreciate. The value of the home appreciates regardless of whether or not you have equity in it. I know it's a basic concept but there's no reason to suspect more than 10% of people here to understand that since the majority of the people on this board went to NC State."




you're close. the value of the home does not always appreciate "regardless of whether or not you have equity in it". there are a bunch of areas in the local market that are depreciating, durham being a part of that trend. so, your equity goes away if you have depreciation, especially if there was 100% financing. nationwide, depreciation is a major problem in a ton of large markets.

get your facts straight next time before that other 10% reads it....

11/6/2007 12:19:34 AM

^You are confused about what rally is arguing. Re-read his post and try again.

11/6/2007 12:29:35 AM

secu has a good 15 year fixed if any of you were interested in a shorter term loan...

[Edited on November 6, 2007 at 2:05 AM. Reason : secu]

11/6/2007 2:01:19 AM