New Home prices going up? (Houston, Katy: good credit, loans, buyer) - Texas (TX) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

chris_ut · 09-11-2007, 09:12 AM

If you have a good income why not just save up the 20% down payment?

robertsd247 · 09-11-2007, 09:59 AM

I am not questioning that. My question is are people with super credit still having to put down 20% for the loan?

meletonmc · 09-11-2007, 02:15 PM

I would like to hear that answer as well. We have 750+ credit, but our money is tied up in other properties. We would like to buy soon, but we were hoping to put down 10% on a home in the low $300,000 range. Do you think they will ask for 20%
Thanks!

chris_ut · 09-11-2007, 08:06 PM

I have good credit and just signed a contract to build a house so Ill let you know what happens with my mortgage.

Houston Bound · 09-12-2007, 03:13 AM

With so many houses on the market at the moment - especially 'completed but never lived in', it strikes me there's a surplus of available property which is making real estate agents try to force price rises to meet their targets - it's like creating a false property boom and hoodwinking buyers into thinking their homes will appreciate in value. At the end of the day a house is only worth what someone will pay for it.

maddysammy · 09-12-2007, 04:54 AM

We both have great credit and we want to take a small morgtage on a house we are building.. We have 3/4 of the money to pay for the house.. We own with no mortgages 3 other properties have a nice sum 401K... and we don't have alot of dept(a couple of car payments, some credit cards) We have been trying for the last few weeks to get a no income verification loan. with no luck.. My husband is a realtor and now is selling cars so when we get to Houston he will get a job in either field(once he gets his Texas license) anyway needless to say this is very frustrating and the loan officer keeps trying to reassure us this "credit crunch" will be over shortly.. well we are getting down to the wire the house will be ready in a month or so... this credit crunch...can't be over with soon enough!!

tstone · 09-12-2007, 07:07 AM

In Clear Lake I don't think there has been any appreciation worth mentioning in the past couple of years. The prices will fluctuate but always seem to settle in on the same average as always. And to the earlier comment on salaries not keeping up with home prices... a $6k increase on a $200k home is only a 3% jump.

I do wonder about some of these new homes though. For instance in Katy there were new homes that were selling for about $300k last year. The first tax appraisals came out, and they were valued around $210k.

This was in Cinco Ranch, I believe. Either a community got huge tax breaks, or a community got trapped! Usually the appraisal is a little lower than the sale value, but I have never seen this much deviation before.

Redrover · 09-12-2007, 02:33 PM

To those of you thinking about buying a new build home, you might consider using a buyer's agent to help you negotiate your purchase. Most people think that they only need a realtor if they are buying a used house but that isn't the case. It can be very helpful to have someone who knows the market, has mortgage information etc. to negotiate things like upgrades with your builder. Also, builders will often give you more bang for your buck when they know you are being represented by an agent. (I am NOT a realtor.)

chris_ut · 09-12-2007, 03:40 PM

I ended up going with my VA loan so no down payment required. Guess I wont be much help for you sorry.

jlocc619 · 09-13-2007, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meletonmc

I would like to hear that answer as well. We have 750+ credit, but our money is tied up in other properties. We would like to buy soon, but we were hoping to put down 10% on a home in the low $300,000 range. Do you think they will ask for 20%
Thanks!

As long as you have the good debt to income ratio and the income to cover the additional expense, you won't have to worry about 20% down. I have average credit (about 75 points less than you) and have purchased 3 homes NEVER putting 20% down. I'm not in the RE or loan business, but I know there are several different loans where you are not having to put down the money out of your pocket. There are 100% loans where you don't have PMI, 90/10, 80/20, and 75/25. 75/25 is for those with better credit, but if you're willing to put 10% down then I would do the 80/10/10 with 80% being your first, 10% being your second (at a slightly higher interest rate), and 10% as a down payment. Hope this helps.

Jason