Well, I am looking at co-ops in the Bronx, near where I work. $125k would get a decent sized 2BR. Not much square footage, but usable space.
$120k-150k in NYC is ~150-200sq feet, right?
Well, I am looking at co-ops in the Bronx, near where I work. $125k would get a decent sized 2BR. Not much square footage, but usable space.
My wife is a realtor and would NEVER give a prospective client information about mortgages, or ask them for any financial information for that matter. That's a good way to get sued, in my opinion. She does give her clients names of reputable brokers she has worked with if they request it, but you definitely want to do your mortgage homework seperately from your real estate homework.
The only thing I need a realtor for these days is actually getting me in the house. You can find homes via realtor.com and don't need anyone to search in your behalf, IMO.
yep. all the houses the agent showed us were terrible, the one we asked to have a showing for was far and above higher quality and a better deal. we still appreciated his services in writing offer, communicating with selling agent and organizing everything, but it would have been foolish to rely on him for the actual house hunting.Lol so true. Probably about 95% of the houses I looked at were found by me online. Showing the place and writing the offers are pretty much all we need from them these days. Yea, you can write your own offers but many times only an agent has access to the selling agent's contact information.
This thread is funny.
FWIW, I think ignoring people is just silly. I thought the conversation was interesting, and was looking forward to OCGuy's reply, but I guess that isn't going to happen.
This is a discussion forum. Discuss things. Even if you disagree.
This thread is funny.
FWIW, I think ignoring people is just silly. I thought the conversation was interesting, and was looking forward to OCGuy's reply, but I guess that isn't going to happen.
This is a discussion forum. Discuss things. Even if you disagree.
Since this thread started, I have approved over $1,200,000 in home loans.
Lol so true. Probably about 95% of the houses I looked at were found by me online. Showing the place and writing the offers are pretty much all we need from them these days. Yea, you can write your own offers but many times only an agent has access to the selling agent's contact information.
Is this first time buyer variable loan bullshit? If so, how can I report her for unfair practices. I didn't let her have any of my information and I won't be going there again. It was a REMAX office.
I'm not sure how to explain this...but someone questioning the credentials of someone with 100x more knowledge on the subject just doesnt deserve a response. I don't need to prove to anyone what I do for a living and how well I do it. I could easily post pics of my drawers full of 70+ active loans...or my 1040s showing just what I make because I am in the upper echelon of my field...but it isnt worth it.
This person is below responding to. I am happy to help anyone in a RE financing situation, as I always have on these forums. People can either believe that I know what I am talking about, or believe the person saying I don't. Either way, it doesn't bother me.
But I will not entertain ludicrous statements and accusations from someone who I can honestly tell you knows nothing about my field.
Since this thread started, I have approved over $1,200,000 in home loans. That is all I have to say.
I find your posts in this thread credible, classy not so much based upon what he's saying. Absolutely don't take mortgage "advice" from a realtor, always due your own diligence.
If you think a supposed mortage guy who believes ARMs are never necessary, then you would be better off getting your mortage advice from a gas station attendant.
His statements are misleading and quite frankly erroneous. He backtracked and added where he concedes ARMs do help people qualify.
ARMs are not only sometimes necessary, but many times the correct mortage to get. ARMs can save a person a lot of money in the right situation. To read a mortage person completely dismiss someone who mentions ARMs as being incompetent, is laughable. Its so out of character for a true mortage person, I question if he is telling the truth as what he does.
He even tried to throw out the Fannie and Freddy. That to me raises a huge red flag, because they are bigtime buyers of mortages, not originators.
can you point out where he said they are never necessary? i read the thread and missed it. He did say they are NEVER required. slight difference.
...he also said that fannie and freddy own 90 of the mortgages but never said they start them.
His advice is true. the OP does NOT NEED a arm loan. they are changing them because of the housing fiasco.
some people arms are great. the OP hasn't given us much info on if its a good or bad idea.
We did say he should run from that realtor for giving him bad info and advice. In fact he shouldn't be talking with them about his finances anyway.
I underwrite and process Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA home loans. They together own 9 out of 10 loans that are funded in this country.
I'm not so sure what's wrong with a variable rate. My mortgage has a variable rate; after one bank that had preapproved us for a much larger loan backed out of financing this house (because it didn't have water or a heating system - new pump & heating system the day after we closed took care of that) we briefly searched before determining that we needed the assistance of a mortgage broker. We had 2 weeks to finance it & close - and our broker accomplished that; the variable rate mortgage was apparently the best he could do with that span of time to work with.
Anyway, my current interest rate is around 2% or something like that. (I think I posted it in another thread on interest rates, whatever it was.) It has never been above what the current fixed rate is.
edit: re: lending tree. Do you *really* want to pick a lender that needs to go to lending tree in order to drum up enough business? I didn't think about it that way once. It's one of my life's greatest regrets.
Yea he is a well-knows racist on the forums, I should have just done it before.
Jesus Christ amdhunter do not listen to anything Classy says. And leave that realtor.
Research the mortgage/homebuying process. Realtors can be helpful for handholding and may even be required in some markets, but the reality is you can do most of it yourself and even if you are working with a realtor the more informed you are the better.
Pre-approval - Find a mortgage broker or bank you want to deal with. Shop around and find out where rates are at. Check out Fatwallet, there are/were a few good brokers there who are very upfront(MortgageManNJ and some other guy) who can get you good rates and are easy to work with. Check Penfed, Suntrust and even your local banks. We were working with one of the FW guys, talked to our local bank(worse rates and hassle), and eventually ended up getting a message from a PNC broker through a post on zillow.com about a mortgage inquiry. Your agent has nothing to do with your financing. Check the rates, find a bank, give them your info.
We were able to see any listings online through local realtor websites. Most of the big companies in the area have a searchable MLS and I imagine this is true for you too. You can also check out FSBO sites, craigslist and in our area there were still FSBO's who still did it with the newspaper or just a sign in their yard. Zillow can also show you recently sold homes, so you can check some comps on your own to see what other homes in the area are going for.
Once you find a place and get an offer accepted you will need to get a home inspection done. Our realtor had a guy but we researched local home inspectors and their certifications and picked our own.
Did the same with title insurance and our closing attorney. Realtor had them available but was able to save a few hundred $ on each by shopping arround.
If you really get a good handle on the process, there were several local realtors who would refund you a portion of their comission, but I would imagine they have a lower service level and you will be doing some more of the work yourself.
In the end we wound up doing an FHA 5/1 ARM because the rate was lower than the fixed and we plan to be out of this home within 5-8 years and even in a worst case scenario where the loan corrected up the max every year we will still come out ahead on this timeframe. We did pay PMI because 20% down would have taken all our savings and instead we kept some liquid security and had enough to remodel the kitchen in the first year. In the past the unscruplous would push an ARM on people to get them into a home they couldn't afford. In exchange for a low intro rate that would eventually spike, you get a low monthly payment than with a fixed. Now I would be surprised if you would be approved for an ARM unless you could afford it after it goes up. We got amortization tables from our loan officer showing exaclty how much we would be paying in interest and principal every year for our loans.
Ok I rambled and lost the thread of my thought.
First of all, let me preface this by saying I do not have personal experience with EVERY lender in the country, so this policy may not apply to all of them. When you apply for an adjustable loan, the lender still qualifies you as if you were taking a higher fixed-rate loan. Therefore, when making sure your debt ratio is under the required limits, there is no difference betwen the two. If you can qualify for one, you will also qualify for the other. However, there ARE good reasons to finance with an ARM, which may or may not apply to you specifcally.
If your realtor thinks there is a difference, either she normally works with small, local lenders that do not follow this policy, or she doesn't know what she is talking about.