[MR77]

Hey all, I'm a first time home buyer. I've rented in Las Vegas for over 5 years. Does anyone out there have some advice for me? I'm just starting the whole process. I'm going to speak with a mortgage guy next week and then a Realtor once I am approved. I'm looking for something in Green Valley for around 150-225K, 3 bedroom 2.5 bath. Id like to avoid an HOA, but will buy into one if it is a great house.

My parents have both given me an earful about buying a house, but they live in PA, and the market is much different there. I'm just a little unsure of what I will be able to get. So here is some background. I have 16K to put down, 10K will be coming from my parents as a gift. The rest will be coming out of my savings. My credit score is in the 770s. I'm looking to pay no more than 1200 per month on the mortgage. At first glance, does it appear I have things in line? Should I wait to build up more of a down payment? I'm sure the mortgage guy will have a lot of info for me, but I wanted some outside input.

I guess my biggest question is when should I pull the trigger? Looks like a good time to buy, but I'm not sure if the market has bottomed out. Also, since my checking, savings, and car loan accounts are all through Wells Fargo, would they be the best to talk with about a mortgage? Any other recommendations? Any good Realtor recommendations would also be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Kalbo]

Looks like you are in good shape, and yes now is a good time to buy if you plan to be in the house a few years.

[Kabrasco LaFonz]

And Wells might be your only option, with tightened lending standards they were the only bank I was able to push through my last loan. A no-HOA in Green Valley definitely refers to the north end where you are going to see allot of older houses in not-so-good shape, and the neighborhoods can be hit and miss as you probably know. I would stay open to the idea of a newer home with a reasonable $30/mo or so HOA, might not be easy to find in GV but it would certainly hold it's value better than an 89' with no HOA from what I understand.

[airics]

from my calculations, you will max out on a home at $175k... once you include insurance, taxes, and your 16k down payment.. with the low downpayment, you will probably also have pmi... without the pmi, you would be at 1200 per month at 6%

[airics]

what do you do for a living

[olecapt]

The market likely is not at the bottom but it is close. You can buy now or you can wait until fall. Neither has any big downside. If the REPO action starts to slowdown or stop you may want to jump in. But on the other side you may save another percent or two and have more down if you wait.

Forget abut HOAs. It is not an issue you can deal with. Go find a good buy and take it. In general the vast majority of the REPOs will be in HOAs.

A 3BR 2.5 bath two story is workable at about 200K. It will likely be a starter house but one that you can be quite content in.

Your financing will likely end up FHA...with the gifting and down payment that is probably the right plan for you. Has a number of benefits. But we will leave that to a loan officer. You know the Daddy///M3 here is a loan guy who works primarily with new buyers. You might even consider a private message. He is very knowledgable about that general area.

[KD Hawaii]

*GASP*! your credit score is 770? that is not so good. Mine is 839, I get a very low interest rate for the loan.I think 3.2% or something like that..Good Luck on house hunting

[Daddys///M3]

Airics is correct regarding your payment. $175K at 6% will put you at around $1180 a month including MI, hazard insurance and taxes (all estimated of course but estimated a bit on the high side). $180K would put you around $1225 a month, also including everything. Keep in mind I am not factoring in any kind of HOA.

Olecapt is also correct about FHA most likely being the right program for you, mainly because of the low down payment and gift funds. As long as you have a solid 2 year work history and can document all of your income, and the income is substantial enough to ratio out given any other debt obligations, then it sounds like you shouldn't have a problem getting qualified. As far as Wells Fargo goes, I can't speak with any certainty on their mortgage division, but it is my experience that most banks don't really give any preferential treatment because you have accounts with them but I could be wrong. If they do it will likely be in the amount of closing costs that they will charge, which in my opinion is a moot point as it sounds like you will need seller concessions anyway. A competent broker should be able to beat their rate (as well as BofA's, WaMu's, etc.) on a fairly consistent basis.

Also I wanted to point out that your credit score (I assume you got it from myFICO.com or something) is very likely not the score that will be pulled up by the loan officer that you decide to work with. In actuality, there are 4 different FICO algorithms that operate differently. They are mortgage, consumer, auto, and insurance. I believe that myFICO uses the consumer algorithm, which always scores higher than mortgage FICO's. Also, your credit score can vary depending on credit agency as well. Not the bureaus, but the agencies that pull credit for LO's, i.e. Kroll Factual Data, Credco, Landsafe, etc. I can't tell you how many times I've had clients tell me that they had 700+ FICO's, and when I pulled their credit they had 615's. Just wanted to prepare you for that if it is the case.

[airics]

kd 770 is great, how are you getting your score? and where did you get 3.2%, that is a teaser rate.

[Daddys///M3]

Originally Posted by airics

kd 770 is great, how are you getting your score? and where did you get 3.2%, that is a teaser rate.

I think KD is joking, at least I hope they are.