Mortgage and Property tax question for LI Nassau (credit score, loan)

[starmanone]

Are we able to pay the property taxes on our own, and not have it included as an escrow acct with the mortgage co?

[Elke Mariotti]

Originally Posted by starmanone

Are we able to pay the property taxes on our own, and not have it included as an escrow acct with the mortgage co?

That depends on your lender. I see very few lenders go along with that in the current environment unless the buyers have a substantial downpayment (more than 20%).
However, if they don't let you do it now, you can always request it after a few years when you (theoretically) have more equity...

[oceanjunkie]

When I was getting my mortgage last year I asked if I could opt out of Escrow. They said I could if I paid 0.25% points. I decided it wasn't worth it.

The loan on my previous place was with ING. They didn't do escrow. Just one more reason why I loved ING. Unfortunately, they only do ARMs

[Mantaray14]

Originally Posted by starmanone

Are we able to pay the property taxes on our own, and not have it included as an escrow acct with the mortgage co?

This will probably depend on your downpayment and your credit score. I was told I could forego the escrow account with no penalty by every bank I applied with (over 20% down and 790 credit score). Although I did get the spiel that they "usually" charge a .25 points if you want to pay you taxes yourself (what is this.. romper room?). I spent practically nothing at my closing by using Bank of America's no fee loan, and nothing was built into the loan (something the mortgage guys & my RE broker couldn't accept even though I showed him the HUD). Gotta love the FIRE economy!