Financing Your Home

When you have found the perfect home, the search for the perfect loan begins. There are other factors you should consider besides the interest rate and loan fees when you are shopping for a loan. One important issue is the lender’s general reputation.

A professional real estate agent can provide you with the names of several mortgage lenders and can help you compare their programs. Some lenders may have great rates, but may have very conservative standards for qualifying customers. Others may be more willing to consider people who are marginally qualified or have less-than-perfect credit histories. Some lenders have local underwriters and can process loans quickly, while others may need extra time to process paperwork. The ordinary consumer deals with only a few mortgage lenders over a lifetime, but real estate agents deal with many lenders every month. Ask your agent to help you match your individual needs to the many offerings in this complicated marketplace.

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Several years ago the U.S. Congress tried to protect consumers from a few unscrupulous lenders by requiring all lenders to calculate and disclose the annual percentage rate (APR) you pay on your mortgage loan. But most homebuyers will learn more by directing their attention to the Good Faith Estimate of Settlement Costs (GFE). Although Congress meant well, in practice the APR is not helpful and may be confusing.

If you are looking for a good way to understand your costs of borrowing and/or to compare one lender’s costs to another, the GFE is your best bet. Get your lender(s) to provide a written GFE before you commit your mortgage business. When reviewing a GFE, keep in mind that the lender actually controls only a certain portion of the disclosed costs. Other parties typically control costs of appraisal, settlement, title insurance, recording fees and taxes, survey, and the “prepaid” expenses of homeowner’s insurance, mortgage insurance, real estate taxes, etc. Review these origination fees, discount points, etc. and you will have the ability to understand the full costs of your proposed mortgage loan.

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Buying an old house to fix up has an attraction for many people. If you can find a house with charm and character, a renovation may enable you to create just the living environment that you want. You should start with a good real estate agent to help you locate the right house and recommend lenders who make both acquisition and construction loans.

Financing a renovation is perhaps the most difficult part of the whole project, especially if the house needs extensive work. Few banks will make these loans to people who are not professional developers. You should prepare for your loan application by having a written proposal. It helps to have an engineer’s report or architectural plans and to include estimates from contractors covering the costs and timetables for the work to be done. Your real estate agent can help you put together a market analysis of the neighborhood to show that you will not be over-improving the property compared with other homes in the area.

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There are two important steps preliminary to becoming a homeowner. First you must find the right home and negotiate the price and terms with the sellers. Then you come to one of the most difficult parts of the transaction–finding the perfect loan.

You should do some comparison shopping among lenders. Your real estate agent can refer you to several reputable lending institutions which should be able to complete the loan process before your proposed financial approval date. The loan officer will take your application and have you sign all the necessary papers to authorize credit and employment verifications. You and the real estate agent should get periodic progress reports to make sure that all of the details are taken care of. Such reports will help to ensure that any potential problems are discovered and addressed before they can hinder the transaction.

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Standard real estate purchase agreements usually contain language that releases the purchaser from an agreement if they are unable to get financing within a specified period of time. This contingency includes a full return of the earnest money deposit. If you are buying a home, you should read the financing clause carefully and be sure that you fully understand the terms of the agreement.

You are usually required to apply for your loan promptly and to comply with requests from the lender for any documentation needed to complete the loan application. The contract will also set a time limit by which you must have loan approval. If your lender cannot meet the financing deadline and needs additional time to complete the loan, you must ask the sellers for a written extension.

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Residential sales agreements usually have clauses referred to as financing contingencies which allow the buyers to declare the contract null and void if they are unable to obtain financing. This may be the most important condition in your contract if you are buying a home, so read the contract carefully before you sign it.

Most financing clauses set a time limit of from 30 to 45 days for obtaining a firm commitment from a lender. They may set deadlines for applying for a loan, and require the buyer’s full cooperation in obtaining all the information needed to process your loan. If the loan is not approved by the deadline, it may be necessary to request an extension from the sellers or take specific steps to void the contract and get your deposit money back. Be sure to note all of the financing deadlines in the contract, apply for your loan as soon as possible, and be diligent about providing the lender with any documents that are requested.

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Escalating home prices often cause many first-time buyers to seek help from their families for the down payment on a new home. If your parents are providing financial assistance for the purchase of a home, it is important that you have very clear agreements with them about the conditions under which their help will be provided.

Sit down with your parents to discuss the details of the arrangement. Is the money they are providing a gift or a loan? If it is a gift, be sure to check with your tax expert to minimize the tax implications. If your parents are loaning the money for the down payment, how will it be paid back? Will there be joint ownership with an equity-sharing agreement? Will your parents be named on the ownership papers with you? Are special documents needed?

Whatever form it takes, parents who help their children buy a home give them an incredible gift!

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If you are in default on an FHA-insured mortgage, and the lender intends to foreclose, you should know about the Mortgage Assignment Program. You will have to provide certain information to the FHA to apply for this program.

To be considered eligible for assistance, the home must your principal residence. You must be at least three full payments behind on the mortgage, and the reason for your failure to make the mortgage payments must be due to circumstances beyond your control, such as unexpected unemployment. The FHA must be reasonably certain that you can resume making the payments at the end of 36 months and that the accrued deficiencies will be paid back before taking over the loan.

To be considered eligible for assistance, the home must your principal residence. You must be at least three full payments behind on the mortgage, and the reason for your failure to make the mortgage payments must be due to circumstances beyond your control, such as unexpected unemployment. The FHA must be reasonably certain that you can resume making the payments at the end of 36 months and that the accrued deficiencies will be paid back before taking over the loan.

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Most people know that a checkered credit history can disqualify you for a home loan, and maxed-out credit cards can do the same thing. But what most people don’t know is that merely having a large number of credit cards, even with low balances and a history of timely payments, can disqualify you for a home mortgage loan just as quickly.

According to credit experts, having a number of credit cards can be just as detrimental to the granting of further credit as a history of late payments. Lenders look at it this way: If you have ten credit cards, each with a limit of $5,000, that means you have the potential to run up $50,000 in debt virtually any time you choose. That mere possibility makes you a greater risk, from their point of view.

The moral of the story? If you are planning to apply for a home loan in the future, keep only those credit cards you actually need to use and cancel the others.

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Many lenders are offering a type of Adjustable Rate Mortgage which will allow the buyers to convert their ARM to a fixed-rate mortgage without the expense of refinancing. There are several variations of this type of loan, so you should be informed about the various options before you decide on a loan.

Each lender places restrictions on when the ARM can be converted to a fixed-rate loan. Some allow a conversion after the first year of the mortgage, while others allow a change only on the rate adjustment dates. There is usually a fee for converting the mortgage, but it is much less than the cost of refinancing. The rate that you will pay after the conversion may be slightly higher than the going rate for fixed-rate mortgages. A real estate agent can provide you with a list of lenders who offer convertible ARMs, so that you can shop for the one that is best for you.

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