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SDowner
ParticipantIt is true that high school education in asian countries is more diverse and packed than American system, but it is also true that the method of teaching in the US is superior to many countries, at least at the graduate and post graduate levels. You really learn to think “on your feet” with all the available data.
The best combination is to study up to high school in Asia and do your college course in the US, which advantage many 1st gen asian immigrants have.
SDowner
ParticipantI personally know many friends of ours who have bought houses in the last year (2006-2007). In all cases, both spouses earning good income (gross combined more than 150,000), many have bought in 4S ranch. One among them is already holding onto property bought in 2004 with an option ARM. All of them who bought recently have no down payment, 100% financing, int-only option ARMs for 5-7 years.
None of them came to us to discuss about it, so I could not have told them not to do the mortgage mistakes that I have already made, but trying to fix right now. When questioned regarding the housing market, the standard answer is “I do not care. I make enough money to support my payments and will enjoy life as I want to.”
I can understand the attitude if it is a home you plan to settle down for quite some time, but what I cannot understand is getting an ARM int-only option in the current housing situation, with prices coming down and rates going up. (30-year rates still being historically decent)
SDowner
ParticipantThank you all for your advice.
Regarding the refi:
Did ask for GFE and going to look into it. We are going thro a broker who was recommended to us by some people who have refinanced with that person. The broker says she will pay the closing costs and therefore there would be no closing costs and that APR and rate would be different because of that. The escrow company will know that the broker is responsible for the closing costs, but not the lender. is this acceptable? We have never done a refi and never dealt with brokers in the past. It sounds too good(fishy) to be true? Both the lender and escrow company is through the mort broker….isnt there a conflict of interest here? can i go with another escrow company to protect my interests in refi?
regarding holding on to the house or sell. i agree i would be better off selling the house. thought about it last year when we could have sold off easily, but as i say things differ in different situations. in our situation, my spouse is earning good income (engineering). i am working towards a professional degree in a totally opposite field (medicine). we cannot spend time, money, energy right now to sell a house, shift households, etc. yes, we made a mistake in 2004, but hindsight is always 20/20. we could have done better research getting into the housing market. we did not. we are young and still have time to learn from our mistakes and not repeat them.
right now, i do not want to make any more mistakes as far as a refi goes. kindly advise.
SDowner
ParticipantHi SDRealtor and others:
update on refi situation:
1. Rate cap of 2% every year (as Incarmelvalley mentioned) is misleading. Most options ARMs have 5% cap at FIRST DATE OF CHANGE. meaning, your rate will go up to max of 9.3% at end of fixed term based on current Prime rate index.
2. My current house has appraised to original purchase price.
3. Worked out all the numbers, really put in lots of scenarios. It makes sense for our situation to fix the monthly payments as soon as possible.
4. We have paid down the HELOC and have the capacity to pay it off fully immediately before refi. So, essentially will only refi the first loan. No cash out business.
5. Shopped around for rates, 30-year fixed. Got
-6.125%, no closing costs, no prepayment penalties thro a mortgage broker, contingent on 20% equity after appraisal, know nothing about lender, mortgage might change hands after closing. (have locked this rate)
-6.25%, no closing costs, no prepayment penalties thro our current Mort Lender. (bargained with them after locking lower rate)Questions:
1. What else should I look out for when refinancing?
2. Can I get better rates then above for 30-year fixed?
3. Is it imperative that the lender be very well-known? Is it enough that I know the terms of the loan very well and not care about who holds my mortgage?
SDowner
April 29, 2007 at 1:06 PM in reply to: That crack some folks In Carmel Valley are smoking must be really good… #51405ParticipantI would like to comment on the topic going on between asiannautica and SD realtor, as I have had some personal experience relevant to it.
On healthcare: It is apparent that HC system is a total failure here in US. Unless you can spend a whole lot of money out of pocket or have excellent job with insurance, access to good healthcare is nonexistent.
On quality of healthcare: Dismal in my experience, but is dependant on the skill of particular doctor and not the hospital. I had a life-threatening situation and a doctor in Seattle cleared me for international travel (non-stop 14 hour flight) without doing the appropriate testing. I was ultimately lucky because my home country has world-class healthcare at minimal costs.
On Scripps: I worked as a volunteer in Scripps 4 years ago, exactly the year when they got the Magnet status. I can vouch that the particular department I worked in was excellent in patient care, very professional, fast, and efficient.
Life West of 5 and along 15: I rented in an area west of 5 for 2 years and currently own and live along 15. I think the kind of community feeling that SD realtor talks about would make a difference for people born and brought up in the US. For many others, access to places that are important to them makes the difference.
On life-long friends: I do think “luck” plays a big part in having good friends, lucky in meeting them not in maintaining them. No matter how steady and loyal you are, it is pure luck that will lead you to meet a person suitable to you.
SDowner
ParticipantHi SD Realtor,
No neg am going on with 4.3%, loan based on Prime rate. We might keep the house for more than 4 years, depending on market situation. The cap is payment cap, not index cap. We ran the numbers 1 year ago and decided against refi, but did not take into account the depreciating home value or staying in the house for more than 8 years.
SDowner
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