Comments on: Sound Advice on Home Loans

By: enoughiseenough89

enoughiseenough89 — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 18:47:39 +0000

Do your arithmetic, if you sold, how much of a mortgage would be left to pay off.
Go and have a word with the bank/building society.
Finally, you can wait. House prices go up and down all the time, it's down now, but it will go up again, then SELL

By: cubbygrl

cubbygrl — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 17:18:22 +0000

Run Forrest, Run.

Don't even think about it.

By: The Skizzanator

The Skizzanator — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:02:36 +0000

No, it does not affect your credit. It will help you stay within your range that your can afford. Without pre-qualifying, you could end up with a home that you can't afford and then have credit problems

By: dianadoubt

dianadoubt — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 20:53:27 +0000

This is probably the most important question you can ask anyone in financial services. You should build a personal/professional relationship with all the members of your money team. That means sharing more than the information found in your credit report. To find people you can trust is the hard part. With the current upheaval in the economy, longer term experience should be your guide. Talk to parents, family, friends, etc., for their input as well.

Not every banker is going to understand your situation, and most loan decisions today are by committee. With that said, with time and experience YOUR banker should be an advisor as well, and help in these matters.

By: finneysxviper

finneysxviper — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 11:16:32 +0000

well that sounds good but that wouldnt pass inspection in midland county michigan i just put in a manufactured home and i had to put in 16 inch round footings which had to be 42 inches deep your guys footing will still move with frost heaving from frost is the second strongest force in the world besides plate tectonics so your guys solution sucks

By: MissyLPN

MissyLPN — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 00:52:30 +0000

Paying bi-weekly will save a little because you'll have less interest.

But truth be told, it really doesn't sound like you can afford a house right now.

I know that's not what you want to hear, I'm in the same boat. I can afford $600 month but there is nothing in my price range. I have to wait. Plain and simple. Once my car is paid off next spring, I'll be able to afford $900/month so we should be able to get a house then…but we're working hard on saving up a good down payment.

A lot of banks will not even approve a mortgage with 0 down anymore. They're being very careful because of all of the foreclosures.

Add: You can't afford a house right now because a) you don't have a down payment and you won't get a 0 down loan (your potential lender has ALREADY told you that). And b) you don't even have closing costs (around $3000). You're not going to get the bank to knock $10,000 off the asking price PLUS get them to pay the closing costs. Closing costs are almost always the buyers responsibility. That alone, makes you unable to afford a house right now.

You asked for any advice. Save for the closing costs, a down payment and find a cheaper house. If you won't accept that as an answer, then you should have asked for "what you want to hear".

Don't shoot the messenger, m'kay?

By: dp

dp — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 12:30:20 +0000

If you cant sell it see if someone wants to assume the payments. You wont profit from it, but you also wont lose.

By: Gunnarsguns

Gunnarsguns — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 03:42:42 +0000

Looks pretty sharp to me.

By: myles2789

myles2789 — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 03:10:02 +0000

I have a Sure Safe Steel Buttress foiundation and I take offence to your remarks which I find to be bassless. This is the only foundation that turne a manufactured home into a real home–ask someone who has one. I can only conclude you have no experience with the foundation or your are a competitor.

By: stephanie b

stephanie b — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 22:12:42 +0000

First you need to understand what a 5 yr ballon note is. That means you make a monthly payment based on a 30 year amortization (the same payment a 30 year loan would have at your interest rate of 10%) for five years, then BOOM you have to pay the rest off all at once.

This means you will have to refinance in 3 years anyway, unless you have enough to pay off the house (which means you shouldn't have to borrow money to do the remodel).

Since you are headed for a refi in the next few years, looking now is a good idea. The Citifinancial offer is not a good one. You should be able to get a 30 yr fixed rate loan at much less than 11% interest.

The difference between refinancing, a home equity loan, and a home equity line of credit is in how you get the money and how you pay it back.

A refi allows you to pay off the current loan, and if you have equity built up (probably not much after the short time you've been there) to pull out that equity as cash. You will then make payments for the term of the new loan.

A home equity loan is often considered a second mortgage. You can pull out the built up equity in the form of a loan. You will then make payments on your current loan AND on the home equity loan.

A home equity line of credit is a loan that gives you no money up front (usually). Instead you are given a line of credit that you can borrow against. If you make no withdrawals, you make no payments. If you make withdrawals, you make payments. Again the amount is tied to the equity you have built up in the home. Usually you will get a check book or debit card tied to the line of credit. When you write a check or charge on the debit card, you are making a withdrawal and payments will start the following month.

You will be paying for the appraiser no matter what. Citi may say they are paying for the appraisal if you get a loan through them, but you will pay closing costs that include the appraiser's fee. Since you are paying for the appraisal, you get to keep the appraisal. This means that once the report comes in, and you have paid for it, make sure Citi gives it to you. You can use it for applying for a loan at any lender, so you won't have to pay twice.

Hope this helps, and good luck!