Going on a ski trip this weekend with the wife and 2 of her friends, who I know dont like me very much and their boyfriends. Yay.
I'm trying to get started with the process of buying my first house, and I have no idea what I'm doing. I filled out the form at LendingTree.com to get a rough idea of what I would be eligible for, and now I very much regret that decision. My phone has been buzzing almost continuously since I clicked the submit button.
I'm doing the same. I just went through the process of getting loan approval. Forget Lending Tree, use Bankrate.com to find lenders. Your best bet is probably credit unions. I'm setting a conference call with three different ones to discuss their offers.
Having worked in banking for the past 12 years and specifically in mortgages for the past 8 years, I'm so glad not to have to go through that process right now. Between all the new regulations that have been implemented the past couple of years, rates yo-yoing day to day based on the ramblings of the president (this has started to level out a bit recently), and the market being a total sellers market at the moment (at least where @Clutch and I are, not sure about Boston), it's definitely rough to be a first time home buyer. That said, I can't offer any rates or anything like that, but if you guys have any questions about the actual process, drop me a line.
The Boston housing market is awful for buyers right now. I have to spend about $500K to get anything decent, and that's just in the outer suburbs. Chinese real estate companies have been buying up a ton of property around the city and the housing prices have skyrocketed as a result. Im shooting for 20% down to avoid PMI, but are there ways to avoid a PMI if I cant put together that kind of down payment? Can I get away with no PMI at 10 or 15%?
A friend is looking to buy her first house and I explained to her the initial feeling of that first house is euphoria, quickly followed by lying in bed at night staring at the ceiling thinking "I owe how much?" She made her first offer on a house the other day and promptly threw up.
Well its time to get back to life. Flying back tomorrow. Going to back to class and my internship is going to be odd
Short answer: No. Long answer: Kind of... It's different for Purchases vs Refinances. Typically for a purchase you're going to be stuck paying PMI if your anywhere above 80% of your loan to value ratio (commonly referred to as LTV). There are some places that'll do Lender Paid PMI, which basically means the bank will pay your PMI up front in one lump sum for you, but usually in exchange for a higher rate, so you're essentially covering the cost for them over the life of your loan. The other option is doing a simultaneous second mortgage, otherwise known as a blended rate mortgage where basically you take out one loan to cover 80% of your purchase price and a 2nd mortgage to cover the remaining balance after your down payment. Not every bank does these products though as they're much riskier. The other thing to keep in mind with this approach is that you're technically on the hook for two separate mortgage payments each month. There's also the USDA Rural Housing loan program, but considering you're in Boston, that's not going to apply to you.
I honestly just want a piece of land over some suburb cookie cutter. My friend got a palace of a house on about five acres of thick brush for 200k way out in the sticks. I wouldn't mind a shitbird house if the property looks nice.
It's good to have land. I prefer property over house. Nowadays around here houses are large and property is small. There's no lawns and the houses are only feet apart. I don't need a big house, the one I have is small but I like having a real backyard. My ideal is house location is just outside the edge of town. Not "in the sticks" but still close to everything as well as being far from noise and assholes breaking into your car at night, and the proporties are huge which I love.
Im not planning to buy in the city, the wife doesnt want to raise a family here. So we will likely end up in one of the rural or semi-rural areas about 15-20 miles out. So even with really good credit I cant escape PMI? that blows. I was thinking of asking the bank to put the PMI in escrow so I can just make one payment a month, etc. but Im still waiting on their offers. Ill find out next week.
No, the best you can do is have your PMI payment lower, as part of it IS based on credit. Regarding the payment, the bank will usually add it into your escrows if you want. You just make the one monthly payment to your lender and they pay the PMI on your behalf. Back when I had it that's how mine worked.
Hear, hear. I loved the 125+ acres I had in Mississippi, it was like having my very own drunken funland. I could do pretty much anything I wanted at any time of day. I had a pond stocked with bass and acres of forest to go roam around in. It was great. But, I also like my little 3 acre swath in the Ozarks. It's just big enough to not have neighbors right on top of me, but small enough I don't need a small fortune in heavy equipment to keep the place up.
Love this idea. A few years ago, I started doing this with contractors, and it's worked out great whenever I am looking for multiple proposals on something. I had my regular HVAC guy quote me on a repair / replace and it was way higher than I thought it should be. So, I just had him limp me along for a year. The next year, I called him and 2 other companies and had them meet me at the house at the same time, showed them what I had, and asked for their offers. I got much better pricing, including the original guy AND, I now have a new HVAC guy.
Nett's old property in BC had a backyard worth more than my life. In a rainforest. I would have killed for that. On the other hand I'm not so used to having precocious bears poking around on my property. That will take some getting used to. As far as dangerous wildlife is concerned, I live in the wimpiest place on the face of this earth.
Yea southern Ontario is know for nothing dangerous, outside of maybe a pissed off raccoon, possum, or mountie
Moose are cool until you realize how easily they could stomp the shit out of you. I am more afraid of bumping into a moose on trails than black bears.