[HLS]

If you qualify, it’s easy to get a loan.
If you don’t qualify, putting 70% down won’t help
(unless you go to a hard money lender)

For some people, it’s never been easier to get a loan.
Having $10 million in the bank doesn’t make it any easier to qualify for many loan programs.

If you make $300,000 a year and only have one credit card and no mortgage loan history, you could have a hard time getting a loan, even with 30% or 40% down.
If you have crappy credit, and can qualify, you can buy with 3.50% down,
If you have good credit and can qualify, you can buy with 3% down.
There are loan limits and different guidelines/costs for various programs.

20% down avoids mortgage insurance, not necessarily easier to get a loan with 20% down.
It’s only ‘easier’ because your payment will be much lower.

I did a refi for an appraiser recently, he’s a great appraiser but confused about mortgages.
Your uncle is wrong. It’s not ‘extremely difficult’ IF you qualify. For many people it’s simple to qualify.
He is correct that FHA is not cheap with mortgage insurance but many people don’t care.
They just want to buy a house and will pay whatever they are told.
If interest rates were higher, many people wouldn’t qualify.

[HLS]

Your question is a bit complicated,
If you want to contact me privately I can discuss
possible options with you. I’m Realtor & mortgage guy.
YOU cannot borrow money on your mother’s houses.
(Perhaps she can if she qualifies)

If you are a salaried employee, you get no extra credit for being at a job for 10 years, in many cases 30 days is enough.
If your MID credit score is 740 or above, in most cases it makes no difference if your credit score is 760, 800 or 840.
It’s all about qualifying and understanding what it takes to qualify.
In many cases it’s easier for someone with 3% down to qualify than someone who is putting 50% down.
The system is broken and it’s not going to change anytime soon.

[HLS]

$400K purchase 25% down
$300K loan @ 4.00% = $1432 payment
+ taxes & insurance = $1900 PITI +/-

You will get your 5% CoC return just from the reduction of principal so any rent that you collect over $1900 +/- should be saved for maintenance & repairs.
(Do you know if you can qualify for financing?)

I wouldn’t expect any appreciation any time soon and there’s a good chance of dropping values and then a flat market for an extended period of time.

You will get an additional tax benefit from depreciation, assuming that you qualify, but this should be a bonus, not a factor.

I’ve been a landlord for over 30 years, it’s not for everyone. I would not suggest a condo as a long term investment.
You should be able to get at least $2250-$2500 a month rent OR it isn’t worth buying.
You can get much better returns in other areas.

[HLS]

Almost every standard mortgage payment is due on the 1st of the month and has a 15 day grace period before a late charge.
If you mail a check, you avoid any extra fees.

Contrary to what many people think, there is no benefit to paying a monthly mortgage payment early in the month. It does not improve your credit score nor does it pay off your loan any faster.

The company you send your payments to is a SERVICER, they don’t own your loan.
Each one has its own rules about paying online and whether or not they charge an additional fee after a certain date in the month.
They CANNOT charge anything extra if you send a check that is received by the 15th.

[HLS]

American Home Shield has some of the best reviews,
Old Republic some of the worst.

I don’t look at them as parasites,
but for those of you that are experts at everything in life and can’t imagine paying anybody to do anything, you don’t need
any coverage.

Policies are available as low as $300 +/- a yr
that cover a lot of things. There is still a deductible per service call.
They say that the age of the items doesn’t matter.

[HLS]

Do you have a legal background on this subject
OR are you stating your opinion because you just assume that they can charge ?
Are you familiar with RESPA violations ?
The loan application was withdrawn.
There are laws to protect the consumer.

As a broker, I would never charge a penny over the actual cost of a credit report for a withdrawn loan.(OR cancelled/denied)
Perhaps a bank/credit union can get away with this, I don’t know.

Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) is administered and enforced by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
A consumer with a question or complaint related to a mortgage or mortgage servicer, call (855) 411-2372

Another example, you might think that disclosure & delivery requirements for an appraisal are simple.
From the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection it took 124 pages to clarify & explain the official interpretation of the law:
http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201301_cfpb_final-rule_ecoa-appraisals.pdf

[HLS]

I’m not sure that it’s legal to be charged a non-refundable application fee for a loan.
Their only actual expense was the cost of a credit report and I think that is all they can legally charge you.

[HLS]

Accurate loan pricing changes every day.
It also depends on your loan amount and % down.
There is no one rate that fits everybody.
Although you say ‘no points’ are there ANY fees other than points ?
It’s very easy to get confused about no point loans and no cost loans etc.

[HLS]

Ironman,
As a Realtor (AND mortgage broker)
I’m willing to discuss this with you if you’d like to contact me. No charge to talk 😉
I’ve helped many readers/posters on this site.
Sheldon

[HLS]

Scaredy,
I highly recommend you contact PRO GATES in Fallbrook. 760-723-1389. Roger has been in the industry for many years. Nice guy.
He deals with the motor & install. Ask him questions about what kind of gate you should buy and who you should get it from.

There are several guys in Fallbrook that design & make the gates, Roger does installation and repairs.
things to consider:
Depending on width, whether you need a single gate & arm OR a dual OR a slider & Whether to go solar or electric.

[HLS]

Flu,
You are touching on part of the concern of the report which is that many people cannot qualify to buy (even with almost nothing down) because of lending guidelines…
SO… should it be easier for people to qualify to buy ??

There will ALWAYS tenants, in all parts of the country.
The macro housing market is not like San Diego/ So Cal though.

I have a friend in FL who was told he could get $340K for his house last year. It’s been listed for sale and is still for sale. I think it is down to $249,000 and hardly anybody looks.
Nothing wrong with condition. He’s even willing to carry with a down payment.

Many parts of the country have properties sitting. It’s not always easy to find tenants in many areas,
even when rent is $300-$500 a month.

[HLS]

[quote=scaredyclassic]Cars probably wouldn’t cost that much less without financing. They have long useful lives and help generate income. Financing at low interest therefore a good idea.
[/quote]

Cars are a status symbol for many, and another large segment of the economy. NEW cars are not a necessity.
If there were no new cars produced for the next 10 years, I don’t think that there would be a shortage. Older cars would be kept running, people would still be able to get around and there would be a lot less debt carried.
If financing was not available, I think that cars would be selling for less.

If there were no new clothes produced for 10 years would people be walking around naked ??

[HLS]

An extreme example to make a point:
For those that only focus on the monthly payment,
on a 30yr mortgage the payment on $400K @ 4.25%
is the same as $612K @ 1.00% AND $328K @ 6.00%

To the buyer with a loan, the total payments on any of these loans over 30yrs will be $708,000, they may not really care what they pay for the house.

But the responsible cash buyer needs to come up with an extra $612,000 when rates are low and only needs to come up with $400,000 where rates are now but only $328,000 if rates were 6%

[HLS]

The housing market is a HUGE part of the economy in this country and correlates with the general mood of the country and a sense of wealth & security for many.

The govt has stepped in to create a market for mortgage backed securities along with govt subsidies, guarantees and insurance.

If there was no financing available for houses and
buyers had to pay cash, is there any doubt that houses would sell for less ?
If 50% down was required, they would sell for a bit more. If 25% down was required, prices would be even higher and when you get to almost nothing down, the prices become inflated.

What’s ironic is that the responsible ALL CASH buyer who has worked hard and saved to buy a house,
has to pay the same price that someone with crappy credit and no down payment has to pay.

Is it fair ?
If crazy financing didn’t exist, houses would sell for less. The prudent, responsible, all cash buyers would be able to buy 2 or 3 houses for the same amount of dollars and rent them out to those without the cash down.

The availability of financing a purchase allows for an inflated price.
If student loans were not available, I believe that higher education would cost less and those that truly wanted one would figure out how to pay for it.
Part of me believes that there shouldn’t be any auto financing and that credit cards should be ‘charge cards’ and required to be paid in full every month, carrying a balance should not be allowed.

[HLS]

Livin, agree with you but it’s the elephant in the room that very, very few want to talk about.

Leverage makes it MUCH worse, DE-leveraging is potentially a disaster because of the exponential effect. Selling leads to more selling. Margin calls force selling. This doesn’t happen on the way up.

I’m not against the stock market, I’m against the lack of understanding by most people that it’s not a one way street and there are ALWAYS ways to hedge and cover some/most of the downside risk.

[Author]

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