Mortgage rates at all time low

[Fausto]

IANAE, but I believe lately, down payments don't do shit. I've heard of people being offered the same rate at 0% down as 20% down.

My CU said they need minimum 5% down from us and that was pretty much it. No bearing on the loan rate that I'm aware.

 

[HumblePie]

Meh, I'll just get a VA loan when I decide to purchase my first house. Blows those rates out of the water.

 

[Train]

Meh, I'll just get a VA loan when I decide to purchase my first house. Blows those rates out of the water.

Not really, I got a VA loan, and it barely beats conventional at this point. The savings mostly comes from not having to pay PMI. Which is then offset by the VA funding fee, so depending on how long you stay in the house, it could be a wash.

Maybe when rates are higher VA loans are more competive, but nowadays the benifit of a VA is the no PMI and they will send out a pretty strict inspector for you.

 

[Wyndru]

Meh, I'll just get a VA loan when I decide to purchase my first house. Blows those rates out of the water.

Isn't it still relative though? Lower conforming fixed rates means lower VA fixed rates?

HSBC's VA refinances are currently 4% (only about .125 less than conforming). It's surprisng how close these 2 types of loans are at these rates.

 

[boomhower]

I'm closing in a week or so at 3.5% on a 15 year FHA through Wells Fargo with the bank paying a point. I still can't get over how low the rates are these days.

Edit
Forgot, only $100 down to boot.

 

[PokerGuy]

I locked in 4% 30 year fixed not too long ago. I can't believe rates have dropped even more, but there's almost 0 chance of rates dropping enough to make another re-fi worth it for me.

 

[ultimatebob]

Sorry... but even 3% interest rates aren't going to get me interested in investing in property yet around here. House values are STILL going down where I live... they're a good 40% off their highs now.

 

[Wyndru]

I locked in 4% 30 year fixed not too long ago. I can't believe rates have dropped even more, but there's almost 0 chance of rates dropping enough to make another re-fi worth it for me.

Haha, I was told this by the bank reps at my closings in the 5's, then again when I refi'd in the 4's, I'm considering pulling the trigger again.

 

[overst33r]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong. PMI is paid if you don't put 20% down, correct? Or does this depend on the lender?

 

[vi edit]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong. PMI is paid if you don't put 20% down, correct? Or does this depend on the lender?

Almost always, yes. Workaround in the past was to split the loans into two. One for 80% and a second for like 15% if you were doing 5% down. This was a way around the system, although you paid a premium on the second loan since it was technically a second mortgage.

 

[overst33r]

Almost always, yes. Workaround in the past was to split the loans into two. One for 80% and a second for like 15% if you were doing 5% down. This was a way around the system, although you paid a premium on the second loan since it was technically a second mortgage.

So in a hypothetical scenario where one has the funds for a 20% downpayment and plans to stay there at least 5 years, is there any reason NOT to plop down the down payment to avoid PMI? (or one could make more money to offset PMI by keeping the money liquid, but that's a whole other discussion)

 

[GotIssues]

Haha, I was told this by the bank reps at my closings in the 5's, then again when I refi'd in the 4's, I'm considering pulling the trigger again.

We are at 4.875, but we aren't 100% sure how long we'll stay in the house (potential job in Europe in the foreseeable future), so it makes pulling the trigger a difficult for us.

 

[Golgatha]

Sorry... but even 3% interest rates aren't going to get me interested in investing in property yet around here. House values are STILL going down where I live... they're a good 40% off their highs now.

The value of my home peaked in 2005 at $320,000. I bought in at $222,500. Now estimated worth is $234,700. Sold the house I bought in early 2004 in late 2010. The first time home buyer credit I got from the government made my overall gain around $2,000.

All that said, this house was the actual long term investment. Not an investment in terms of dollars, but in family happiness. We got what we wanted, where we wanted it (in terms of where in the city we wanted to live) this time around rather than trying to find a neighborhood were the home would merely retain it's value.

 

[Golgatha]

Nice work. Same boat with daycare. We'll pay ours off early but sticking with the 30 year gives us some breathing room. Once the kids are in school we'll start paying it down hardcore.

Similar situation except my wife stay home full-time with the kids. Youngest is going into kindergarten this fall, so hopefully we can do the hardcore paydown too sometime very soon.

 

[Rage187]

Mid March, we are aiming for 2.75 for 10 years. We have 11 years left at 5.25, so our payments will go down and we will be paying a year less.

 

[LuckyTaxi]

question for those who have gotten a mortgage. so between my wife and I, we make a little over $150k a year. however, with my credit being bad, we're going to try to get approve with just her income alone. It makes more sense for us anyways since we would want to buy a house that we can comfortably pay with one income. We make about the same amount of money, she clears a little over $3800 every month. Would she have a problem getting approve on her own for a $200k mortgage? We plan on putting down enough money to get the loan amount under $200k with $200k being the most.

Her credit is above 730 and her only debt is a $339/month car payment.

 

[spidey07]

Should be fine. Go get pre approved and work with a broker. They'll still take your low credit score, but there will be a ton of fees if you do both of you.

 

[Rage187]

question for those who have gotten a mortgage. so between my wife and I, we make a little over $150k a year. however, with my credit being bad, we're going to try to get approve with just her income alone. It makes more sense for us anyways since we would want to buy a house that we can comfortably pay with one income. We make about the same amount of money, she clears a little over $3800 every month. Would she have a problem getting approve on her own for a $200k mortgage? We plan on putting down enough money to get the loan amount under $200k with $200k being the most.

Her credit is above 730 and her only debt is a $339/month car payment.

Should be fine. You can even write up a renters agreement between you and her where it shows you are going to rent a room in the new house for $500 a month.

 

[RaistlinZ]

Would love to buy. But even a decent starter home in my area (Northern Virginia) means you need $300,000 just to start looking. Sucks.

 

[Blackjack200]

Anyone know where to get a good low cost small mortgage? I'm buying an investment property for $35k and putting 25% down. I checked with my bank and they would charge almost $5k for that mortgage

I don't even care about the interest rate or the type (30, 15, 5-1 ARM) because the interest is going to be low and I'm going to pay it back quickly anyway.

 

[highland145]

Anyone know where to get a good low cost small mortgage? I'm buying an investment property for $35k and putting 25% down. I checked with my bank and they would charge almost $5k for that mortgage

I don't even care about the interest rate or the type (30, 15, 5-1 ARM) because the interest is going to be low and I'm going to pay it back quickly anyway.

$5K to do the paperwork? F that.

 

[vi edit]

My re-fi fell through. My home value dropped over $30,000 on the appraisal since my last one 15 months ago. That knocked me out of my under 80% LTV and put me back into PMI & escrow territory which I'm not in currently.

So that was a waste of $400 to have somebody tell me my house has dropped almost $2,000 a month in value over the last 15.

Bleh.

 

[endervalentine]

bah! this makes me sad, we refi-d to 3.375% at 15yr a couple months ago I know I know never do 15yr, but we did ...

hopefully rates stay low for the next 4 months, so we can refi again for a 30yr,

 

[Blackjack200]

$5K to do the paperwork? F that.

I think origination is a little over $1k, then they charge out the ass for the appraisal, a "bank fee", title insurance, and all kinds of bullshit that they stack on top.

 

[Train]

My re-fi fell through. My home value dropped over $30,000 on the appraisal since my last one 15 months ago. That knocked me out of my under 80% LTV and put me back into PMI & escrow territory which I'm not in currently.

So that was a waste of $400 to have somebody tell me my house has dropped almost $2,000 a month in value over the last 15.

Bleh.

did you check Zillow? What percentage drop are we talking here?