Home Buying & Real Estate Thread

Careful with the blanket statements.... ARMs can be ok...

One client of mine in particularly is a retired mlb pitcher.... while he was still pitching he did an interest only loan on a rental property here on the shore... it makes him about 55k a year in rental income. He was only paying under 1k a month for it for the first 10 years... this let him pocket the rental income and fund some other investment ventures in the interim. Now that the market has fallen off from its peak 7 or 8 years ago and is slowly rebounding He will pay the adjusted amount (more than doiuble the initial payment ) only for a year or two and then sell...

He seems ok with it and financially it all sounds fine to me. For the average buyer a 200x raise in mortgage is going to be damning but no two situations are the same
 
What do you guys think about hiring a home inspector to follow the construction process on new construction? I am thinking about doing this but the Builder is not required to fix everything the inspector finds and the city will inspect the home throughout anyway (obviously not with the level of detail that a home inspector would).
 
Guys what type of interest rates are yall getting?

I close the 31st and they just locked me in at 4.0%

I don't have excellent credit but that seems like a good deal or should i keep pushing for less?

Its funny how it dropped another .25% when I told them I was shopping around.
 
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Guys what type of interest rates are yall getting?

I close the 31st and they just locked me in at 4.0%

I don't have excellent credit but that seems like a good deal or should i keep pushing for less?

Its funny how it dropped another .25% when I told them I was shopping around.
That's still a really good rate. I don't see rates dipping back into the 3's unless something major happens.
 
 
That's still a really good rate. I don't see rates dipping back into the 3's unless something major happens.
Agreed the rates are not breaking under 4% they keep hitting that resistance and rebounding.

I locked at 3.75% last week due to the program I am going through (.25% less than normal rate).
 
Careful with the blanket statements.... ARMs can be ok...

One client of mine in particularly is a retired mlb pitcher.... while he was still pitching he did an interest only loan on a rental property here on the shore... it makes him about 55k a year in rental income. He was only paying under 1k a month for it for the first 10 years... this let him pocket the rental income and fund some other investment ventures in the interim. Now that the market has fallen off from its peak 7 or 8 years ago and is slowly rebounding He will pay the adjusted amount (more than doiuble the initial payment ) only for a year or two and then sell...

He seems ok with it and financially it all sounds fine to me. For the average buyer a 200x raise in mortgage is going to be damning but no two situations are the same
I think it's safe to say at this point though, that an ARM is almost a universally bad idea since we are just off historic lows. There's almost nowhere to go but up from here.
 
I think it's safe to say at this point though, that an ARM is almost a universally bad idea since we are just off historic lows. There's almost nowhere to go but up from here.

Yea, at the present absolutely. But theyll be a viable option again eventually. I didnt even take notice its addressing prospective buyers not just in general.

Wish i was in a position to buy last spring and not this coming spring :x
 
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I think it's safe to say at this point though, that an ARM is almost a universally bad idea since we are just off historic lows. There's almost nowhere to go but up from here.
Yea, at the present absolutely. But theyll be a viable option again eventually. I didnt even take notice its addressing prospective buyers not just in general.

Wish i was in a position to buy last spring and not this coming spring
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Personally, I would venture to say it's never a good idea, because if rates happen to go down, you can always just do a refi and get the lower rate. Fixed rates may be slightly higher, but I just consider that insurance against rate inflation and the difference is negligible.
 
I'm so ready to move in the home. But it may be a while to save up for the down payment...Unless there are other ways?
 
Good looks fellas.

#Nthomeowners
Yeah man, easily.

Just make sure you don't have a lot of debt.
Oh, okay. Sweet. Then maybe I just need to focus on saving up for that 20%...But living in the SF Bay Area...That may be forever =(
 
If your credit score is good it may be worth it to go conventional and put the 5% down. At least then the pmi goes away.
 
Man, so many terms that I need to learn :(

Yeah it's pretty overwhelming at first but you figure stuff out quick

I'd hate to be in a buyer in a place like San Fran

From what I hear it's worse than Dallas

Here any decent home is selling 1-5 days after being listed

I did a new build because it was the only way I could get a decent home without getting into a bidding war

A lot of cash investors are buying anything sight unseen in the Plano, Frisco area because of all the jobs that are coming in the area, couple that with the Cowboys training facility is moving here and it's crazy

My house has 12K in equity and I haven't moved in yet
 
I was looking at moving to Dallas from Jersy but income to house value is challenging, that cost of living transition is a shock.
 
@SneakerPro  same here man close to 20K in equity already 
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@Fozzy Badfeet  imo 20% down is  a thing of the past for first time home buyers in a lot of markets (350K-700K starter homes) UNLESS your being gifted most of the 20% which I know a lot of people are. They like to leave this fact out lol.

Go FHA 3.5% down and even some Convention loans are as low as 3.5% down, but most require at least 5% down.

FHA- Government backed sub prime loan you pay a Premium Mortgage Insurance (PMI) for the life of the loan (.85% of the total loan per month).

Conventional - Standard prime loan you pay Mortgage Insurance (MI) until your Loan to Value (LTV) hits 78% , the MI depends on your credit score.

Be aware that your mortgage scores are much lower than your credit and auto scores. My mortgage scores were 30 points lower than my credit card scores.

You can purchase your mortgage FICO scores at myFico.com when you are close to buying. $20 per bureau or $60 for all 3, best to get all 3 because you need to know your middle score.
 
Let's say your parents give you $25k for a downpayment is that gonna be subject to a gift tax?
 
Let's say your parents give you $25k for a downpayment is that gonna be subject to a gift tax?
Gift tax? Never heard of that, but for the loan processing they would just need to write a gift letter and say it is a gift and no expectation of repayment.

Also they need to be able to show where the money came from 401k, savings, etc.
 
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this is a good thread

I sold my home by owner last month and just moved into my new place last weekend.  Got into a bidding war, lost, but then got the call that the buyer could not obtain financing 
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Now is the time to buy gentleman, i'm locked in at a 3.9 fixed with 20% down.  Could not be happier for myself and my family, our dream home.
 
what are the options for someone who wants to buy property but does not want to pay interest?

is it cash deal all up front or are there any other ways to do it?
 
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