New Homebuyer here...few quick Q's (sales, real estate, condo)

[pinksnyper]

I everyone. I'm doing lots and lots of research and Ive found a condo that is both afordable and brand new construction with a reputable builder. I have a few questions maybe you more real-estate minded people can answer :

1) They are asking 5% down to reserve this unit (ready in 9 months). Am I in a position to tell them I want to put down less unless theyre going to pay me interest? I mean 5% is ridiculous for them to hold if I'm going to sign contracts immediatly stating that I am purchasing the house.
2) I'm a first timer, should I apply for an FHA loan (6.125% with 0 points currently) or are there disadvantages ? This condo is in middlesex county b.t.w.
3) The salesperson is presumably lying to me when she says that they are FIRM on the price. I told her I'm aware that they sold the same identical units 6 months ago at an asking price of $150,000. Now theyre suddenly $170,000....did the declining market shoot up for this sole realtor in NJ or is she just busting my chops? I want to negotiate....and this is a "less-than-desirable" 1 bedroom unit (when speaking about resell)...can I toss her an offer of $150k or is she likely to turn it down? They have about $5k in upgrades if I really want to just bargain for that , but theyre not even good upgrades.


thanks

[juliann1977]

5% is not a lot to put down on new construction. From what I gather, 10% is pretty common. If you do upgrades, you'll also have to pay a percentage up front on those--anywhere from 15-40% depending on the builder.

By all means, try to negotiate, but if they've raised the asking price, it sounds like they're selling the units well and probably wouldn't be inclined to accept your offer. Our builder also raised prices soon after we signed a contract because the homes in the development were selling well.

[pinksnyper]

anyone else have any insight?

[BobKovacs]

A lot depends on how well sales are going in the community- despite all the doom and gloom, there are still segments of the market that are doing well, and the low end is one of them. $170k for anything in NJ, especially new construction is a steal, and alot of people who previously would have been looking at more expensive real estate are now not able to qualify for it since the mortgage industry has tightened its standards. Therefore, the builder is probably right to request a substantial deposit, and is also right to raise his prices if people will still pay them. So, you can always try to negotiate, but the builder can also tell you to go scratch- it depends on how badly you want/need the house, and how badly they want/need to sell it to you.

[Roselvr]

I'm pretty sure we have to put down 10% on our new construction. We weren't expecting to have to put that much down.

Try to negotiate the price. If they say no, then what did you have to lose? They also may counter. Make an offer of $150k, maybe they will meet you in the middle at $160k. You can also try asking for upgrades to be taken out to keep the price lower, unless the upgrades have been installed already

[pinksnyper]

good tips, thanks everyone. I may just buy a 2-bedroom unit which will be better for resell with some help from the 'rents. We'll just have to see

[JerzBoy]

I was also wondering about that FHA first-time homebuyer loan program. Has anyone had any experiences with this or heard anything about this?

[CuCullin]

Originally Posted by JerzBoy

I was also wondering about that FHA first-time homebuyer loan program. Has anyone had any experiences with this or heard anything about this?

I picked up a better rate, and a no MI program (plus lender paying closing costs to a certain degree), from a BofA conventional 30yr.

[pinksnyper]

Originally Posted by CuCullin

I picked up a better rate, and a no MI program (plus lender paying closing costs to a certain degree), from a BofA conventional 30yr.

I checked with Quicken Loans and they told me I'm ineligable for this program....52k a year and 727 credit....is this accurate?