Buying a home

Executive Member Joined: Jul 17 2006 Posts: 338

for all those who recently (or not so recently) bought:
please share tips on how you found a mortgage, what we should look out for in a mortgage, finding the right home and every other advice that may be helpful for first time home buyers.
thanks.

Platinum Member Joined: Sep 22 2004 Posts: 9754

First tip: morTgage is spelled with a "t".
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Executive Member Joined: Jul 17 2006 Posts: 338

also, how much money did you put for down, closing costs, taxes and other fees?

Executive Member Joined: Jul 17 2006 Posts: 338

cassandra, I'll correct that and you give me another tip.

Platinum Member Joined: Jan 01 2006 Posts: 48224

I recommend you get a lawyer you trust. Ditto a broker.

Posted: Tue, May 12 2009, 3:38 pm Post subject:

yeah, we went thru a lawyer and a good bank. dont get an ARM loan, it will mess you up. ask around about trustworthy banks. part of the reason the mortg. crisis happened was because lenders were not being honest about certain fine print...

we put down 20%, expect on average 2k of closing costs
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Platinum Member Joined: Sep 22 2004 Posts: 9754

Executive Member Joined: Nov 23 2005 Posts: 312

I worked for a mortgage company, so I can try to give you answers to any specific questions. Mortgage approvals have gotten much tougher. You'll need to be able to provide tax returns or paystubs. LTV limits have gotten stricter too. It is very hard to get approval for anything above a 90% Loan To Value. The money you have to come up with at closing will vary depending on many things. Expect the bank fees to be anywhere from $750-$1,000. You will have to pay for an appraisal. It can be anywhere from $350 and up depending on the appraised value of the house. If you escrow - You will have to pay one years insurance upfront which will vary greatly - anywhere from around $750 to $4,000 (not very common to be that high). You also have to come up with a minimum of 2 months of property taxes. It might be more depending on when your taxes are due. The attorney's fee on a purchase averages around $1,100 or so these depending on where you live. You will also have to pay Title Insurance, Survey cost, Recording fees etc...None of these are fixed, and will vary depending on loan size etc... Good luck.

Executive Member Joined: Jul 17 2006 Posts: 338

lovemy2kids:
thanks for your reply. can I ask you to explain further

[I worked for a mortgage company, so I can try to give you answers to any specific questions. Mortgage approvals have gotten much tougher. You'll need to be able to provide tax returns or paystubs. LTV limits have gotten stricter too. It is very hard to get approval for anything above a 90% Loan To Value. The money you have to come up with at closing will vary depending on many things. Expect the bank fees to be anywhere from $750-$1,000. You will have to pay for an appraisal. It can be anywhere from $350 and up depending on the appraised value of the house. If you escrow - You will have to pay one years insurance upfront which will vary greatly - anywhere from around $750 to $4,000 (not very common to be that high). You also have to come up with a minimum of 2 months of property taxes. It might be more depending on when your taxes are due. The attorney's fee on a purchase averages around $1,100 or so these depending on where you live. You will also have to pay Title Insurance, Survey cost, Recording fees etc...None of these are fixed, and will vary depending on loan size etc... Good luck. ]

What is LTV?
What's escrow?
Are the Title insurance, survey cost, recording fees etc.. the same at all banks? or does every bank have their own prices?

Thanks.

Platinum Member Joined: Jan 01 2006 Posts: 48224

I do closings for a living.

Executive Member Joined: Jul 17 2006 Posts: 338

shayna: whats an arm loan?

Executive Member Joined: Jul 17 2006 Posts: 338

cm: what are the details that happen at the closing?

Senior Member Joined: May 11 2008 Posts: 103

Not Shyana- but I work in the industry so can try and help.
Cip, an arm loan is a loan that is an Adjustable Rate Mortgae. It is fixed for a short amount of time, typically 5/7/10 years, and then adjusts each year or six months after that. With 30 year fixed rates so low now, that would really be then only loan advisable.
Mortgage closings are when all the parties involved get together and sign all the loan document- this is when you would officially transfer the home to your name.
Addiitonally keep in mind that a lot of the figures given apply to certain states. If you were buying a home in NY, the closing costs would be sustantially higher.
Any other questions?

Platinum Member Joined: Sep 22 2004 Posts: 9754

Do they even still do arms anymore after all the defaults?

Posted: Wed, May 13 2009, 6:32 pm Post subject:

yes, cassandra. we just researched refinancing to get a lower rate than we had gotten 6 years ago, and I did see the ARM rates. crazy, no? they should get rid of them totaly.

Executive Member Joined: Jul 17 2006 Posts: 338

thanks toni,
here's more:
What is LTV?
What's escrow?
What are average closing costs in ny?

Executive Member Joined: Nov 23 2005 Posts: 312

LTV - Loan to Value Ratio - it is the percentage of your mortgage amount in regards to its value. If your mortgage is $80,000 (keep dreaming, haha) and your home is worth $100,000 your LTV is 80%. Anything over 80% requires mortgage insurance.

Escrow is the money you pay with your mortgage that the bank holds to pay your insurance and taxes.

The title, survey, and recording fees etc...are not fixed. The title company/attorney set that. Technically recording fees should be the same though - actual cost, but don't count on it. Expect some junk fees possibly from the attorney as well - postage, copy fees, disbursement charges, doc prep fee. You can try and negotiate that before so there are no surprises at closing.

If you're in NY there is mortgage tax as well.

Senior Member Joined: May 11 2008 Posts: 103

Seems like LoveMy2Kids answered it mostly.
In NY the broad range of closing costs is between 3% and 6% of the mortgage amount.

Executive Member Joined: Jul 17 2006 Posts: 338

thanks ya'll.
so step 1 is to get in touch with a morgage broker who will tell me the home I can afford?

Platinum Member Joined: Jan 01 2006 Posts: 48224