First Time Homebuyers – Page 3

Market Prediction for 2014

The Affordable Home Is Worth Waiting For.

A good friend and real estate broker made a prediction:

“Spring 2014 real estate market will be the busiest since 2005. Prices will not spike so much as the volume of transactions. That’s my take.”

That’s a LOT of homes getting sold. His prediction is based on what we both believe is serious pent up demand, both from YOU, the potential Buyers and from potential home Sellers. And again, I quote:

“Think of all the people who have waited since 2007-8. Putting off life, babies, etc until there was a recovery. The pent up demand will be a considerable influence.”

I Believe in The Affordable Home.

Prepare, prepare, prepare:
• Mortgage Prequalification
• Attorney
• Home Inspector
• Buyer’s Agent

Do your research, hit the streets and work hard shopping for a home BUT stand your ground on your price. The Affordable Home is out there waiting for you, and it’s worth the wait.

My friend the real estate broker is a great guy named Phil Faranda. You can find his words of wisdom here:
http://westchesterrealestateblog.net/the-most-compelling-economic-indicator-for-real-estate-on-earth/

The document ‘drip’

I once lost a client because he was annoyed with me for asking him to provide documents for his loan application. He felt that my request for ALL the pages of his bank statement (he only provide page 2 of a 6 page statement), various W2 forms and 1099 forms (he had varying income streams) and the complete contact information for his wife’s employer was “too much.” He cancelled his loan application, and I was happy to see him go.

I believe my role as someone’s Loan Originator is to help them have a positive and tranquil experience with their Loan Application and approval process. I believe I should use my extensive knowledge garnered from nearly 24 years in the industry to know most-all the documents an Underwriter will require in order to approve someone’s loan request. So, I ask for a lot of documentation up front at the time of application.

Then there’s my childhood friend Bill who moved out west after retiring here in New York.

He found a house and applied for his loan. I recommended a fantastic national mortgage banking company (I’m not Licensed in Bill’s state). Instead, Bill chose his bank, where he’d had his money parked for many years. A few weeks into the loan process he called me one evening ranting and raving. It seems the bank kept calling him and asking him for more documents every day. He said they were “papering” him to death! We reviewed the requested documents together and I told him they were all reasonable requests. What was unreasonable was the fact his Loan Originator should have gathered these documents with the initial loan application.

As to my former client—the real estate agent who referred him to me told me after he closed how he was complaining during the many weeks it took to get his loan approved how the Loan Originator kept asking him for more and more documents every day. The real estate agent said the guy was pretty stressed over those requests.

When you apply for your mortgage, your Loan Originator can either gather all your documents up front—the mark, IMHO, of a true and experienced PRO—or document “drip” you through to closing.

Here’s what you should be prepared to submit at Loan Application:

__Paystubs: most recent four weeks consecutive

__W-2’s: most recent two years

__Tax returns: Federal Tax returns for most recent two years including all schedules

__Bank Statements: most recent three months consecutive statements, all pages

__Other assets: proof of other cash assets: 401k, IRA, Employer Pension Plan, Retirement funds, Mutual Funds, Stock accounts: Most recent three month statement, all pages

__Photo ID

__Fully signed Purchase Agreement (Contract of Sale)

__Proof of your Earnest Money Deposit

Do you have questions? Click on ASK TREVOR and I’ll respond to any and all inquiries, even if you’re not buying a home in New York State.

Check out my Trulia profile HERE

Check out my Zillow profile HERE

Find me on TWITTER: @tcurranmortgage

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Key Points for VA Loans

More Veterans are using their Veterans Benefits to buy homes today with VA Loans. The problem many of them encounter is this: Mortgage Loan Originators (MLO) don’t have sufficient experience with VA Loans. This can make for some troublesome times when a Veteran is buying a home. You definitely want to work with an experienced MLO, someone with at least 15 years experience. Take some time when shopping for your VA Loan to interview the MLO before you make a decision.

Some key points for you to know when you interview a Licensed Mortgage Loan Originator (MLO) for your VA Loan:

VA Funding Fee is 2.15% of the Loan Amount (and is always financed) for Active Duty Veterans with at least 180 Days active duty. No Funding Fee for Disabled Veterans.

The Funding Fee is different for other service types/periods, including Reservists.

A Veteran can finance 100% of the purchase price of the home.

A Seller can pay all of a Veteran’s Closing Costs, and more.

There’s a lot of misinformation out there about VA Loans and your MLO will need to be available to explain and reassure the Seller and the real estate agents of the VA process. For example, many Sellers and/or real estate agents believe that VA Loans take “a LONG TIME” to approve and close. Not true. (My average closing time on VA loans is about 6-8 weeks compared to 3-4 weeks for FHA). They also believe that VA Appraisals ALWAYS slash the value of the house. Not true. I’ve only seen one VA Appraisal come in slightly less than purchase price in the last couple of years, and, in that case, both the Listing Agent and I suspected the value might be tight before. Bottom Line: your MLO has to have clear communication to make it easier for you to negotiate with Sellers when competing against other Buyers with different financing terms.

If your MLO asks you for your DD-214 right away, then you know you’re dealing with someone with experience. You don’t need the Certificate of Eligibility or COE as we MLO’s can obtain that directly from VA on your behalf.

For a New York Purchase you’ll need some cash for your “Good Faith Deposit” when you sign the contract of sale. It’s the rare Seller who will sign a contract with a Buyer who doesn’t at least put $10,000 on the contract (refundable to the Veteran at closing due to the 100% financing). Not that it’s impossible (I’m working with 3 Veterans right now who have less than $5,000 to put down), but it will require serious negotiating on the part of your MLO, real estate agent, and Attorney.

VA Condos: few and far between because the VA just doesn’t approve enough Condos, so focus on Single Family Homes. Find VA Approved Condos

Two Family Homes: unless you have experience in property management (and can prove it), you’ll have to qualify with your own INCOME for the purchase; rental income will be excluded from the qualifications.

You’ll need a Termite Report but YOU CANNOT PAY FOR IT, the Seller must pay.

We qualify Veterans’ Income two ways: a percentage of monthly gross income, or “Debt to Income Ratio” AND a residual income method which is similar to doing a family budget, so it’s a pretty cool way to qualify you.

Do you have questions? Click on ASK TREVOR and I’ll respond to any and all inquiries, even if you’re not buying a home in New York State.

Check out my Trulia profile HERE

Check out my Zillow profile HERE

Find me on TWITTER: @tcurranmortgage

Ask Trevor A Question

Using Gift Money

Often First Time Buyers rely on family to provide extra money for the purchase of a home in the form of a Gift.

In general, before using Gift money from family, I recommend you have a discussion with the Mortgage Loan Originator (MLO) who prequalified you. Depending on the Loan Program she used to qualify you, there may be restrictions on using Gift funds or there may be other requirements.

Gift funds, like all monies used in the purchase of a home, must be “sourced.” That is, your Lender will need to see the source of the Gift money from your family member. In most instances the Lender will also need to track the transfer of those funds from your family member into your bank account.

Again I caution: Speak with your MLO before using Gift monies for the purchase of a home.

A question that often comes up when Gift monies are involved is:

“What are the tax consequences of using

Gift money when buying a home?”

I’m happy to refer you to the website for my good friends at Burns & Rodriguez for professional guidance in this area from tax professionals:

http://www.brodtax.com/newsletter.php#6

Do you have questions? Click on ASK TREVOR and I’ll respond to any and all inquiries, even if you’re not buying a home in New York State.

Check out my Trulia profile HERE

Check out my Zillow profile HERE

Find me on TWITTER: @tcurranmortgage

Ask Trevor A Question

It’s Not Enough: 6 Months Reserves

I’ve noticed a trend on the ‘net over the past two years or so where lots of folks advocate buying a home ONLY when you:

Have 20% Down payment
Have the cash for your closing costs (here in New York 4.5%-5% of purchase price!)
Have 6 to 12 months monthly budget in reserves

6-12 months reserves is NOT enough.

Look at the recent recession: many, many, MANY Americans were out of of work for several YEARS. Lots of folks tapped into their savings and retirement accounts to survive; lots of others lost their homes altogether. Clearly, having ONE Year in reserves wasn’t enough.

Granted, this recession was more severe than those in recent memory, but do you really believe 6 to 12 months reserves is enough?

I can understand a more conservative mindset; it’s a natural reaction to the excesses of the “Boom and Bust.” Believe me, I really do understand because I lived and worked through that debacle. I still cannot believe people’s behavior in those days. Lunatic is a good way to describe it. From the Account Rep’s at the Sub-Prime Lenders to the amateur real estate agents and loan officers to the barely qualified consumers who simply wanted “MORE” I’m still shaking my head to this day.

And so we’re left with a new consumer mentality that, when it comes to buying a home, you should almost pay cash for the house, never mind the mortgage loan.

I applaud such an attitude.

The shame is it’s not based in reality.

Even were one to eliminate all unnecessary debt, never dine out, never rent a movie, brown bag your lunch, hand wash your business clothing, commute on public transportation, take a second (and maybe a third) job, the REALITY is that—for most folks—it would take years and years, not to mention incredible discipline, to achieve this perfect home-buying nirvana.

Again to the reserves. Most definitely a commendable behavior. Maybe worth postponing the purchase of a home and tightening up a family budget to aspire to this noble goal. But many families want a backyard for their kids to play in today. Many other folks are well and truly tired of paying rent to complacent landlords.

For those folks, there’s a mortgage loan and

the option to purchase a home sooner rather than later

with the available means.

Commendable though it may be, saving oodles of cash to put 20% down, pay all your own closing costs and be left with many months of emergency reserves just isn’t practical for many people. And it doesn’t help those same folks achieve the goal of home ownership.

Do you have questions? Click on ASK TREVOR and I’ll respond to any and all inquiries, even if you’re not buying a home in New York State.

Check out my Trulia profile HERE

Check out my Zillow profile HERE

Find me on TWITTER: @tcurranmortgage

Ask Trevor A Question

You Need To Build Credit: Where to Begin

You need to build more good credit. I recommend opening the following accounts as a way to build credit:

Sunoco http://www.gosunoco.com/ways-to-save/gas-credit-cards/

CareCredit: available at your Dentist. http://www.carecredit.com/apply/landing.html

CapitalONE secured credit card http://www.capitalone.com/creditcards/mastercard-secured-credit-card/

A secured credit card works like this: you deposit with the credit card company a pre-determined amount, say, $500. This amount is your credit limit. You swipe and use the card same as a regular credit card; the secured card activity gets reported on your credit report thus building your credit history. My advice: open the account and use no more than 50% of your “limit.” Then make MINIMUM monthly payments; don’t replenish the total amount! This type of activity gets much better results on a credit report.

Bank Debit/Credit Card: If your bank offers a card attached to your checking account that can be used as either credit or debit, then you should use the card as credit. Check with your bank to see if they offer this type of card AND if they report the activity to the credit bureaus when you use the card as a credit instead of debit.

Visit my Useful Links page for other great websites that provide accurate and honest advice on building credit.

Do you have questions? Click on ASK TREVOR and I’ll respond to any and all inquiries, even if you’re not buying a home in New York State.

Check out my Trulia profile HERE

Check out my Zillow profile HERE

Find me on TWITTER: @tcurranmortgage

Ask Trevor A Question

What Is The Future of the Real Estate Market?

What Is the Future of the Real Estate Market:

Buy NOW with a 30yr Fixed Rate mortgage

I recently answered a question on TRULI.com about the future of the real estate market. Here’s what I had to say about that:

The future of the real estate market is the past: it is CYCLICAL. As with many other markets—commodities, stocks and bonds, comic books and baseball cards—prices, values and activity go UP and they go DOWN.

If you seek to buy a home to live in and to reap the intangible benefits of homeownership, then the LAST thing you should be thinking is about market peaks and valleys. Create your “dream list” of location and features you want in a home. Get prequalified for mortgage financing so you know your limits in terms of the monthly payment for a mortgage loan. Then jump in the water, so to speak, and buy your home.

If, on the other hand you’re attempting to “time the market” well,

Good Luck with that.

In my nearly 24 years working in this field, I’ve seen many different “markets” come and go. But one thing has been constant: many people want to live in a home of their own. To them it doesn’t matter what the “market” is doing.

I welcome Comments for all my blog entries

but they must be approved.

If you wish to Comment on any entry, please do so and I will quickly review and approve.

Thanks for reading tcurranmortgage.com.

Hope that helps!

Definitions: Earnest Money Deposit or EMD

Earnest Money Deposit or EMD

When you sign a contract to purchase a home, you’ll provide an “earnest money deposit” to be held until closing in an escrow account by the attorney for the homeowner. If you are purchasing a HUD Home the EMD check is presented with your Offer by the HUD Approved Broker in the bidding process.

If you’re applying for an FHA loan, the EMD usually equals your 3.5% down payment. If you apply for other types of financing—-VA or Conventional—then your Real Estate Agent or Attorney will guide you as to the amount requested by the Seller.

There is no “set” or required amount for the EMD, although many Sellers’ often request 10% of the purchase price. This is a matter of some negotiations between your Real Estate Agent/Attorney and the Seller’s Agent/Attorney.

For example, what if you’re closing out a CD for your entire down payment but you only have $10,000 cash on hand for the EMD today? It’s important to discuss with your Real Estate Agent/Attorney before you come in to sign the contract the amount of the EMD.

Do you have questions? Click on ASK TREVOR and I’ll respond to any and all inquiries, even if you’re not buying a home in New York State.

Check out my Trulia profile HERE

Check out my Zillow profile HERE

Find me on TWITTER: @tcurranmortgage

Ask Trevor A Question

How To Buy A HUD Home

How to buy a HUD home

1. You must have a Prequalification letter from an FHA Approved Lender
2. You must present your bid/Offer through a HUD Registered Real Estate Broker
3. Helpful Hint: when you make your Offer, add a 2 digit number to the end of the bid price. Example: $357,019 instead of $357,000.
4. You’ll need a Cashier’s check to present with your Offer; the HUD Real Estate Broker will advise of the amount.
5. You can request a renovation loan with your Offer: ask for the 203k Streamline
6. Have a GREAT Home Inspector lined up
7. Have a GREAT real estate Attorney lined up
8. Make your bid and GOOD LUCK!

Find HUD Homes at the HUD Homestore: http://www.hudhomestore.com/Home/Index.aspx

My friends at Yahoo! Finance’s “Destination Home” Series provide a great summary on buying HUD Homes:
How To Buy A Home for $15,000

I welcome Comments for all my blog entries but they must be approved.

I will be happy to review and approve all legitimate comments provided by readers of tcurranmortgage.com. I do not permit unfettered access to comments for obvious reasons: mortgage spammers and their ilk. If you wish to Comment on any entry, please do so and I will quickly review and approve.

Thanks for reading tcurranmortgage.com.

Hope that helps!

How-To Convert from “Renter” to “Homeowner”

Rent today; Buy tomorrow. How to convert from Tenant to Homeowner.

When I rented my first apartment in Astoria, I did not want to be a Tenant my whole life and pay my Landlord’s mortgage. I longed to become a Homeowner.

That’s why I found my way into the mortgage business in 1989 and soon afterward became a Homeowner. Here are the fundamentals any Tenant should know to prepare to become a Homeowner in the future, no matter when that might be.

• Credit: Establish 3 credit accounts, no more than 5. Pay your bills on time. Keep your balances to no more than 50% of your credit limit. Don’t pay off the accounts in full. Keep balances active for 12-24 months. All of the above will provide both a good credit score and adequate credit history to qualify for a mortgage loan.

• Assets: A basic savings budget isn’t hard to accomplish. Pay your rent first in your budget; then set aside 10% of your income before taxes . Make it a budget priority and you’ll still have money left over for entertainment and restaurants and clothing.

How much money do you need to buy a home? Many buyers spend no more than $25,000 to buy their first homes. There are loan programs with low down payment requirements and many real estate agents negotiate for their Buyers a “Seller’s concession” to include the Buyer’s closing costs (which are HIGH here in New York!) in the price of the home.

Imani got the keys to her new home with a VA Loan

• Income: Two years consistent income is the basic requirement for either a salaried individual or a self-employed person. Income from Bonus, Commission, and Overtime is treated differently and is best discussed with your Mortgage Banker.

• Market Survey: it doesn’t hurt to go out and get to know neighborhoods where you might like to buy a home. Visit open houses on Saturdays and Sundays. It’s okay that you’re not yet buying; tell the Realtor at the Open House you’re just beginning your “survey.” You’ll also get to know market prices for different kinds of homes. It’s okay to “window shop” homes on the weekend at Open Houses!

I hope these fundamentals will help you better understand the path to homeownership is a process that, with preparation and dedication, you can move through easily.

George S. converted from Renter to Homeowner!

Do you have questions? Click on ASK TREVOR and I’ll respond to any and all inquiries, even if you’re not buying a home in New York State.

Check out my Trulia profile HERE

Check out my Zillow profile HERE

Find me on TWITTER: @tcurranmortgage

Ask Trevor A Question