any advice as far as who I ought to talk to about lending? any advice in general? let's get a good discourse going, TWW.

6/11/2009 10:17:50 PM

our fha loan is through suntrust and we've been quite pleased using them as our lender. many realtors have a bank/individual they prefer to work with (and it can sometimes go quicker that way).

congrats on the impending home acquisition!

[Edited on June 11, 2009 at 10:32 PM. Reason : ]

6/11/2009 10:32:14 PM

coastal federal credit union

6/12/2009 12:27:59 AM

1. Have you got your mortgage rate locked in? If not, do it now--they're creeping up a bit.

And if you need more time (I don't know if you've settled on a house or you're still looking), the lender should extend it for at least another thirty days.

2. Get the price down as low as possible (seems like a given, but some people don't or won't haggle).

3. Get a really good home inspector. If you want, I can recommend a guy who's so thorough you wouldn't believe it.

4. Get a good attorney--I can recommend one. He's an NCSU alum, too.

5. If there's a homeowner's association involved, check the dues and rules closely.

6. Get the seller to pay closing costs.

7. And get the seller to provide insurance in case something goes wrong with the house after the sale.

8. I'll tell you my lender in a PM if you like. I haven't had any problems with them, but I don't know if I can recommend them.

9. And I don't care what anybody says--get a radon inspection!

These are just a few things--PM me if you need to. Good luck!

6/12/2009 1:22:04 AM

The credit market and lending right now is EXTREMELY tight. I'm wrapping up a construction loan and if I tried to get the same loan now, it would be a 25% downpayment requirement vs. when I got it one year ago, it was 10%. Make sure you qualify with income, good credit, etc. as lenders are lot more nervous these days.

Also, we (were) looking to do some financing independent of the mortgage via an unsecured loan so we could get started on additional house projects. Nope. Income and Credit are no issues. Unsecured loans just don't exist right now given how tight the credit market is. Not trying to doom and gloom the situation, but, just level-set on the reality. Make sure your financing is in order before you commit yourself to buying.

And yes, agreed many realtors have a preferred lender. Our builder had a good working relationship with a large bank and our closing costs were about half of what they would have been anywhere else (including through our Credit Union, Coastal).

Lastly, get "Mortgages for Dummies", as well as "Home Buying for Dummies", etc. from the library. Educate yourself so you can have a good discussion with the bank if / when you go talk to them.

[Edited on June 12, 2009 at 6:55 AM. Reason : .]

6/12/2009 6:54:15 AM

avoid carolinas lending.

they have great rates, but your closing will get delayed by several months because they keep fucking up the paperwork. I didn't use them but two folks i know did and they both had the same problems. I was considering a re-fi through them until i heard about their experiences.

6/12/2009 7:33:08 AM

i used SECU...very happy

6/12/2009 7:59:00 AM

Quote :

"coastal federal credit union"

I was able to get the best rate with them, 4.5 fixed last month, however you really need to stay on top of them to make sure you get your rate lock and everything gets processed in a timely manner.

6/12/2009 3:20:28 PM

My wife and I closed on 4/29 and hooksaw makes some good points.

1. I don't know much/enough about current interest rates to comment on this. We got 5.0% fixed, ended up about 1/4% lower than what my credit union was offering at the time. Closing costs were a little more with the 5.0, but the builder paid closing costs.

2. On top of haggling the price down, if you use an FHA loan there is a seperate appraisal and all kinds of rules about the appraisal (such as the appraisal is good, and must be used, for 1 year unless there is some kind of disaster or something). We had all the loan stuff taken care of, negotiated the price, signed a contract to buy, and then a week before closing the bank realized that since it was an FHA loan, and the old FHA appraisal was 1 year 1 month old (new construction home that somebody backed out of buying), there had to be a new one. The new FHA appraisal came in $8k below our negotiated price, which was already $10k less than the builder's "monthly special sales" price. So the bank would not finance the last $8k and the builder wanted us to make up the difference, we refused and the builder ended up lowering the price to the FHA appraisal amount (that appraisal would apply to anybody else that tried to buy the house in the next year).

3. A good home inspection is worth every penny. Even if they don't find anything wrong it's worth the few hundred dollars. We got one despite the fact the builder's inspector gave it the ok (thus they wouldn't pay for an inspection out of closing costs, so we paid for it out of our pockets). Ended up finding a nail in the roof (not properly or fully driven in) that required removal and a patch/seal and he found that the outside water faucets were not properly secured to the house. The builder fixed all those things before we closed.

4. If I got a do-over I would have used an attorney that we picked. We ended up using the builders preferred attorney and while he was awesome, the assistant/paralegal/whatever was horrible. About 30 minutes before our closing appointment with the lawyer the assitant called and said that it wouldn't happen today because they hadn't received the paperwork yet from the lender. It turns out that despite the fact they did not have the paperwork, they never called the lender, nor did the lender contact the lawyer. We had given them both the other's information weeks in advance and both the lender and lawyer assistant assured us we were good to go the night before. Coincidentally the lawyer's assitant was taking a half-day off this day so now she would get to leave a little early since we would be unable to close that day. We did end up closing that day, around 7 pm (our original appointment was 12).

5. Spot-on

6. Yep, every penny of it, well except for the extra inspection.

7. We have a 1 year warranty from the builder. I am not really familiar with this type of insurance, but if I didn't have a warranty I'd probably wish I had this type of insurance.

8. My aunt (in-law) is a mortgage broker so she hooked us up. I think closing costs are more through a broker but the rates were slightly better in my case.

9. Definitely get the radon inspection, I think our inspector only charged us $50 extra for it, its definitely better to know for sure. Don't skimp out on the inspections.

[Edited on June 12, 2009 at 4:21 PM. Reason : ]

6/12/2009 4:17:40 PM

I thought you wanted to "get a good discourse going," WillemJoel. Did your deal fall through? (I hope not.)

7/22/2009 1:20:24 PM

do you mean insurance or warranty?

mine came with a warranty

7/22/2009 1:22:33 PM

NC SECU

10% down, no PMI, 3.75% 2yr. ARM, smaller closing costs

Yes, it's an arm, but you'll save alot over the first few years. It can only change 1% each 2 years.

7/22/2009 1:25:11 PM

^^ Not sure if you're asking me, but the warranty usually is insurance--it's home warranty insurance. The insurance company warrants that they will repair anything covered under the policy paid for by the seller.

7/22/2009 1:36:25 PM

yeah i was talking to you.

mine was not insurance. it was a warranty from AHS
http://www.ahswarranty.com/about/aboutus.html

i could be wrong but i don't see anything about them being insurance on their site.

7/22/2009 2:03:58 PM

^ Yeah, that's why I posted. . .

Quote :

". . .the warranty usually is insurance. . . ."

. . .if it's underwritten by an insurance company and some home warranties are. The "usually" was going too far-- I should have used "sometimes."

It depends on the state, too. In Florida, my home warranty provider operates as Home Security Insurance Association, for example.

7/22/2009 3:33:46 PM

ah, florida, there we go

7/22/2009 5:29:55 PM

goodluck joel

7/22/2009 10:59:23 PM

fyi - short sales are a pain in the ass

7/22/2009 11:14:17 PM

-Get a 1040X filled out asap and mail it out the day you close.

-If you're buying something you want to fix up, multiply your time/money estimate by four.

7/22/2009 11:48:10 PM

bttt

12/10/2009 1:28:31 PM

Gracias Ken.

Close to buying my first home. Wanted to bump this thread for some future questions.



How common is it for the seller to pay for closing costs? Is it more likely or less likely depending on how far or close to the listing price you come to agree on?

12/10/2009 1:34:50 PM

Quote :

"coastal federal credit union"

12/10/2009 1:47:47 PM

Quote :

"however you really need to stay on top of them to make sure you get your rate lock and everything gets processed in a timely manner."

absolutely agreed

bah meant to edit

^^my seller paid all closing costs. I dont think its that uncommon.


[Edited on December 10, 2009 at 1:50 PM. Reason : *]

12/10/2009 1:48:14 PM

I'm hoping to buy our first house this spring. It's exciting but intimidating at the same time. I've already asked a lot of similar questions in other threads, but its nice to have some other answers to read too.

My biggest problem is being too picky I think I've looked at tons of houses online and have hardly found any I like enough to look at in person.

[Edited on December 10, 2009 at 2:11 PM. Reason : ]

12/10/2009 2:11:07 PM

my biggest problem is just doing it. I know i can afford it, but it's still scary

12/10/2009 2:59:42 PM

yea that part applies to me too. I have been waiting to feel like my project has long term stability but outside of that I know I can afford it. However, even keeping myself looking at slightly cheaper houses than I should be able to afford, the price tag of the down payment and the house itself is pretty intimidating. But assuming the job report comes in good in January for the project to keep moving, I just need to get past that mental block of the $$$ signs.

12/10/2009 3:09:59 PM

It can be kind of scary the first time.

Then afterward you realize it was just annoying and overly complicated and not something you want to do very often

12/10/2009 3:18:19 PM

Quote :

"How common is it for the seller to pay for closing costs?"

It's quite common--particularly in this buyer's market.

And concerning buying a home being "scary," I hear you. But think of like that saying, and I'm paraphrasing: If you think education is expensive, try ignorance. If you think building equity is scary, try no equity.

Good luck!

12/10/2009 3:24:57 PM

Part of me is holding back because i know i won't be able to plug the kind of money into my money market savings account that i'm used. But then i have to tell myself "well wtf have you been saving for to begin with!? A house!?" And sure getting through all the initial costs and furnishings, etc. will be expensive but it'll all smooth out after awhile and i'll slowly be able to start saving again.

and then of course, meeting the right person and getting into a long term relationship or even marriage and splitting the cost will make things a million times easier.

12/10/2009 3:52:40 PM

^notice how he didn't specify woman ?




I'm still like 3-4 years from buying something, but good luck with all the unexpected miscellaneous bullshit thats sure to pop up between signing the papers and moving in

[Edited on December 10, 2009 at 4:20 PM. Reason : x]

12/10/2009 4:13:21 PM

How stingy are lenders these days in terms of giving home loans? ie. downpayment requirements, credit scores, etc.

12/10/2009 4:20:13 PM

^^i thought your alterego had a huge place with flatscreens in the bathroom?

12/10/2009 4:28:09 PM

Oh I have flatscreens in the bathroom, believe that

I'm just renting this place

12/10/2009 4:49:15 PM

Use the credit union, SECU. They were polite and had decent rates (5.5% for 10% down on the website now). They probably weren't the best rates, but they have a low initiation fee and no PMI.

12/10/2009 5:42:25 PM

i can get 4.625% with 10% down and no PMI.

[Edited on December 10, 2009 at 6:28 PM. Reason : elsewhere]

12/10/2009 6:28:38 PM

Nice. Going to be hard to beat that. My buddy got the same rate locked last week.

12/11/2009 1:33:52 PM

^^ where'd you get that?

And how far in advance can you "lock in" a rate? I'm assuming with most places you'd have to buy a house within 30-60 days? And how did you swing the "no PMI"? I am planning to put down 10-15%, so I'm not someone out there looking to put nothing down. But it would be sweet to avoid the PMI.

12/11/2009 1:35:32 PM

Most places do a 30 day lock. Sometimes you can find a lender willing to do 60 for a small charge or for free.

NCSECU is known for their no PMI loans. This isn't very common among other lenders.

12/11/2009 1:37:46 PM

ok, thats what I guessed. Figured I'd ask though. Do you have to live in NC to be a member? My mom works for NC public health but I live in SC.

[Edited on December 11, 2009 at 1:42 PM. Reason : ]

12/11/2009 1:42:00 PM

You should be able to get an account.

12/11/2009 1:44:40 PM

I'll have to check into it...I never really thought about that before . Actually I did just check into it, and I can get an account, but I ran across something on their site and it looks like the house has to be in NC. (I assumed that to be the case but I wanted to check).

[Edited on December 11, 2009 at 2:15 PM. Reason : ]

12/11/2009 1:47:47 PM

went to a NACA convention last week. very legit people, non-profit, etc. Almost too good to be true. Of course, they couldn't do anything with my mortgage because I have no hardships. I didn't realize it was a hardship-only type of thing

But they do do mortgages themselves in addition to mortgage restructuring conventions.

https://www.naca.com/index_main.jsp
right now it's
"4.625% 30-year fixed, no down payment, no closing costs"

[Edited on December 11, 2009 at 2:32 PM. Reason : ]

12/11/2009 2:31:52 PM

4.625 with no PMI was what i was prequalified for at Bank of North Carolina with a minimum 10% down.

12/11/2009 6:43:24 PM

My take on buying a home...it isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially if you are a single guy and ESPECIALLY if you can live with roomates. I'm on my 3rd home so I've got a little experience here.

The biggest thing to be aware of is this...if you go to sell your home, you're going to be eating the 5-6% commission to do it unless you have a home that can sell itself or you're patient enough to do a FSBO and find someone that will buy it without agents involved. This means if something unforseen happens over the next several years and you have to move (like happened to me) then you have to book that loss. The sell of a 200k home has you paying out 10 large, this isn't very nice.

In this economy where house prices aren't going to tick up much for the foreseeable future, you're either stuck here for awhile waiting on a turnaround, you can sell without the realtor, or you can get a great deal on the purchase such that you get a little bit of instant equity up front.

Do your homework about the finances of rent vs buying. Sure you get the income tax break, but you also pay taxes, maintenance, and you are less mobile. I bought my first home at 24 and in retrospect I think I would have been better off financially to have either rented a modest place for myself or even better if I had kept a roommate.

12/16/2009 9:58:31 PM

don't forget to get your 8,000 obama bucks in tax credits for first time buyers.

12/16/2009 10:32:08 PM

Btw, on the mortgage rate, here is another area that the brokers and banks love to play games. You'll see that rate up front, then when you go over the good faith you'll see the fees are retarded.

[Edited on December 16, 2009 at 10:38 PM. Reason : .]

12/16/2009 10:37:25 PM

I'd always request a gfe with a rate.

12/17/2009 12:04:50 AM

^^^^^^ regarding NACA, did you notice the terms like

Quote :

"Once you purchase your home, you will need to pay the Membership Fee, which includes the Neighborhood Stabilization Fund Fee,of $50 a month for a period of between five and ten years, depending on the amount of the mortgage."

and

Quote :

"As a NACA Member, you need to begin to fulfill your Membership commitment of participating in at least five actions and activities a year in support of NACA’s mission. There are numerous activities to take part in, including participating in demonstrations,"

So, you'll end up paying them an extra $3000 to 6000, and be required to go to their demonstrations.
lol

12/17/2009 8:38:23 AM

NACA is legit.

That $50 a month fee is peanuts compared to PMI, I had PMI on my last mortgage and it was $97 a month for insurance on a $112k loan, certainly would have been higher on a diff house.

12/17/2009 8:49:05 AM

PMI was one of the reasons I got my first loan from Coastal Federal Credit Union. Their's was $45 or something versus well over $100 from every other lender. I don't know why it was so much cheaper with them, but it's something to consider.

No PMI when I refi'd.

12/17/2009 12:23:31 PM