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Old 10-03-2019, 02:09 PM
 
Location: Port St. Lucie, Florida
4,507 posts, read 9,170,291 times
Reputation: 1998

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2 CENTS --You really really need to get with a lender and get pre-qualified/pre-approved.

You state you do NOT have 20% down -- what about closing money? You NEED to get down to a dollar amount to know where you are going and what you can actually afford. I'm all for the "reality" factor.

Here we will not accept an offer on a house without a pre-qual or pre-approval letter. If you were to find a house that you just love you could not make an offer on it becuse it wouldn't be accepted.

The Seller wants to know you can afford his house too that's why they want that letter because it can indicate a strong buyer or a weak one.

Ask some friends if they have a Realtor they like and get someone to help you do this right. There are SO many pitfalls you can fall in if you try doing it yourself without knowledge -- it's a legal binding contract you are stepping in to. Please remember that.

And no... please please do not do anything with the online financing. You need someone that is available face to face or at least close by and is available on weekends and evenings.
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Old 10-03-2019, 02:15 PM
 
Location: Rochester, WA
14,417 posts, read 11,948,812 times
Reputation: 38810
I 'get' that, ginan... my Dad was old school, and was horrified to learn I was getting our home loan from some bank he'd never heard of. He thought I should go in to Washington Mutual who we'd had our accounts with for 25 years. That was a "real" bank in his mind. We did it our way... and was never sorry. Our lender was my best friend through the process and made sure I did everything I needed to do and kept it together, even when our realtor wasn't helping much. And when the dust settled in the housing crash, WAMU was one of the worst offenders for writing bad adjustable rate loans that really got people in trouble.

Our favorite go-to lender is actually a Mortgage Broker. He shops and can work with many lenders to find the best fit. He's always available and on time. Our second favorite is a local credit union that under-writes in house, so they have the ability to be very flexible on properties and buyers who may not fit in the standard boxes. Both have their advantages. I know other good lenders who are particularly good and helping buyers with troubled credit to clean up their credit rating, who will work with them over the long haul that sometimes takes. I try to think through the options I know to find the best fit.

Not closing on time is frequently just headaches, but it can mean sellers who don't want to give extensions and don't have to. It's really important that the buyer and the lender have their ducks in a row and stick to deadlines. If there are delays in the contract, you don't want them to be your fault.
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Old 10-03-2019, 02:22 PM
 
165 posts, read 118,157 times
Reputation: 65
Quote:
Originally Posted by possibleyou View Post
Speak to several different mortgage lenders and compare interest rates. If you get preapproved then you will be ready for when you do find the perfect house. You will have to submit a preapproval letter with the offer you put on a house you wish to buy. As long as you provide all your necessary documents to your lender in a timely fashion then the process will move along quicker and you can tell your lender to put a rush on it. Wells Fargo gave me a very low rate and we were able to close in 30 days. I would only use a large bank for a mortgage, my sister used a small Mortgage Advisors company and they ripped her off and gave her a higher interest rate only because they resell the mortgages so they make more off you. However if you go with Chase they will give you a low reasonable competitive rate and they won't resell the mortgage, your lender will always be Chase. I personally would only use a well known bank. If my sister went directly with a bank she would have gotten a lower rate.
Thanks possibleyou.

I do definitely plan on comparing interest rates, and reviewing the lender my realtor recommended just like I would anybody else.

I'm sure that with the small lenders there are good ones and bad ones, too. I'm sorry to hear about your sister's experience. Did she end up paying higher interest rates as a result of when they sold her mortgage?
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Old 10-03-2019, 02:26 PM
 
165 posts, read 118,157 times
Reputation: 65
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert20170 View Post
If you're credit is even just fair a hard pull will only cost you 2 or 3 points. Should your pre-approval expire, you'll have easily gained that back by then with judicial use of your credit. You should definitely get pre-approved.
We are definitely thinking we should, and will do it.

Thank you Robert20170.

(and yes we will have to be extra diligent with our credit - we usually are - but I realize it's even more crucial during this period.)
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Old 10-03-2019, 02:30 PM
 
349 posts, read 268,247 times
Reputation: 644
Quote:
Originally Posted by ginan View Post
Thanks possibleyou.

I do definitely plan on comparing interest rates, and reviewing the lender my realtor recommended just like I would anybody else.

I'm sure that with the small lenders there are good ones and bad ones, too. I'm sorry to hear about your sister's experience. Did she end up paying higher interest rates as a result of when they sold her mortgage?
No, they just locked her into a higher rate to begin with so that when they resold the loan it would be more valuable. If she went with another lender she would have gotten a better interest rate with more favorable terms for her.
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Old 10-03-2019, 02:31 PM
 
Location: Rochester, WA
14,417 posts, read 11,948,812 times
Reputation: 38810
The VAST majority of banks will sell their mortgages to the secondary market. They may continue to service the loan, send the bills, etc... but they sell the loan so they can get the cash they need to keep making loans. They would not be able to afford to keep giving loans if they were looking at a 30 year repayment of those funds. There are a few local banks who keep their loans in house. They are the exception to the rule. It makes far more difference to the bank than it does to you. Once you make your loan, assuming you get a fixed rate loan.. the terms should never change, even if the name on the check does.

Last edited by Diana Holbrook; 10-03-2019 at 02:52 PM..
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Old 10-03-2019, 02:32 PM
 
Location: Kansas City North
6,810 posts, read 11,472,231 times
Reputation: 17091
Since you have lots of questions (that’s good) and are listening to the answers (even better) here’s one more morsel of free advice: stop right now buying anything on credit. No cars. No furniture (wait until AFTER you close. Don’t buy it a week before). No vacations. If you carry a balance on your credit cards, work on reducing that balance. It can only help you in the end.
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Old 10-04-2019, 12:39 PM
 
6,503 posts, read 3,411,819 times
Reputation: 7903
Quote:
Originally Posted by BoBromhal View Post
you shouldn't have concerns - though naturally any folks unfamiliar with the process are concerned - about the preapproval process.

If you're pre-approved today by a reputable local lender (don't use BofA or Wells), then you'd be pre-approved if it expires UNLESS your situation changes negatively.

A mortgage lender's credit pull for preapproval is NOT going to affect your credit score. You need 1 preapproval. if later on (once you find a house), you want to compare programs among different lenders, that's wise too. But you only get pre-approved by 1.


You've done 1 important part - determined a location.

Presumably, you know these neighborhoods are in your price range through some other method (an online calculator?)

You need some general house qualifications - you've done that.
You need to get a real prequalify/preapproval.
You need to find a Realtor.

After you do these 3 things, THEN you're ready to "shop" for houses. And so the ? becomes - if THE house comes up next week, will be ready?
I pursued a USDA-guaranteed mortgage with SunTrust in 2014 (existing relationships) and they still sold it off prior to issuing my first statement.

Got sold to Chase - funny story by itself - one day I logged in to pay the credit card and a mortgage just "appeared" one day. I thought it was identity theft until I called to confirm.

A year or so later sold to PennyMac with whom it remains today. Jeez!
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Old 10-04-2019, 12:40 PM
 
Location: Central IL
20,726 posts, read 16,283,321 times
Reputation: 50370
Quote:
Originally Posted by ginan View Post
Because it's a hard pull? Lowers credit score? etc.?
A hard inquiry will only lower it 5-8 points - that's nothing unless you are very marginal. You have more to gain by being able to jump on a house that's very hot. If a hard inquiry is going to ruin your credit then your credit isn't good enough to be buying a house!
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Old 10-04-2019, 02:14 PM
 
21,826 posts, read 9,386,613 times
Reputation: 19325
Quote:
Originally Posted by ginan View Post
Because it's a hard pull? Lowers credit score? etc.?
I just did a prequalification and I was concerned about that too. It literally lowered my score by about 1 point. I think when you do it with multiple lenders, it can lower it.
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