Getting a mortgage in Huntsville (good credit, loans, how much)

[UAHgrad]

My husband and I are first time homebuyers. We are looking for a good mortgage company in Huntsville. We have a small down payment. We bank with Redstone. We were thinking of looking at Redstone. Does anyone have any experience with them? If not, who do you suggest with competitive interest rates for people without a 20% down payment?

[friday13]

Originally Posted by UAHgrad

My husband and I are first time homebuyers. We are looking for a good mortgage company in Huntsville. We have a small down payment. We bank with Redstone. We were thinking of looking at Redstone. Does anyone have any experience with them? If not, who do you suggest with competitive interest rates for people without a 20% down payment?

Do your pre-shopping on the computer at:
bankrate.com
valleymls.com

make a (short) list of lenders that look good on paper and then call/make an appointment.

I hear that the recession changed the today's lending landscape and it may be they treat every applicant on a case by case depending on their financial situation (employment history, income, credit score, credit history, solvability, downpayment).

But start your search on line an weed out the lenders you don't like (it's less likely that a bank posting 6% will give you a 4.75% deal no matter your creditworthiness, the reverse is true, too: if you see a 4.75% that may be for the top 1% with a perfect financial picture, you might qualify for 5%).

[RemoWilliams84]

Also, depending on whether you are building a house or who you are buying from, some will have preferred lenders. My wife and I are first time buyers and we went through WR Starkey. We had all of our closing costs paid for and they also offered us a 2-1-buydown and free floatdown which were very helpful. And with a 20% down payment you will be eligible for better rates than we were.

[UAHgrad]

Originally Posted by RemoWilliams84

Also, depending on whether you are building a house or who you are buying from, some will have preferred lenders. My wife and I are first time buyers and we went through WR Starkey. We had all of our closing costs paid for and they also offered us a 2-1-buydown and free floatdown which were very helpful. And with a 20% down payment you will be eligible for better rates than we were.

We dont' have 20% down. I'm looking for someone who has good rates without the 20% down. What is the 2-1-buydown and free floatdown?

I apologize for my spelling in the title of this thread. I swear I'm an intelligent human being. It's just been a very VERY long week at work.

Thanks for your help!

[RemoWilliams84]

Originally Posted by UAHgrad

We dont' have 20% down. I'm looking for someone who has good rates without the 20% down. What is the 2-1-buydown and free floatdown?

I apologize for my spelling in the title of this thread. I swear I'm an intelligent human being. It's just been a very VERY long week at work.

Thanks for your help!

Sorry, I misread that. Thought you said you had 20%.

Anyway, the 2-1-buydown means that if you get a 5% interest rate, the first year you will only pay 3%, second year 4% and 3-30 you pay the 5%. It really saves a lot of money those first couple of years.

The free floatdown means that if you are building a house and you have to lock in your rate early like we are, that within a month of closing, if the rate is lower than when you locked in you can take the lower rate at no cost to you. You can usually do this floatdown, but without the deal it cost you a hefty fee.

Like I said though. These are not with everyone. Our builder (Adams Homes) was offering these if you went with a preferred lender. Our rate was 5.125% and we have very good credit but only the 3% to put down. The rate dropped 1/2 a percent right after we locked in. Hopefully it will stay lower and we'll be able to take advantage of that float down when we are ready to close.

[Keeper]

Originally Posted by UAHgrad

We dont' have 20% down. I'm looking for someone who has good rates without the 20% down. What is the 2-1-buydown and free floatdown?

I apologize for my spelling in the title of this thread. I swear I'm an intelligent human being. It's just been a very VERY long week at work.

Thanks for your help!

I fixed the title for you.. If you want it to say something else just DM me.

[Bamachic80]

We used Countrywide when we bought out house end of November last year. Not sure on the figures and what not, but they were a pleasure to work with and is who our buyer and Realtor recommended.

We did have a decent down payment..however.

Remo, looked like you got a better rate with us and we are with Adams.

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by UAHgrad

We dont' have 20% down. I'm looking for someone who has good rates without the 20% down.
Thanks for your help!

You don't need a 20% downpayment if you can qualify for a FHA loan, it only requires a 3.5% down. Almost all lenders offer this loan.

A good way to plan to buy a house is first get yourself "pre-qualified" by a lender. This means that he/she will run your credit report and based on your expense/income ratio to tell you how much of a loan you can qualify.

When buying an existing home, a "pre-qualified" letter coupled with your offer is a very powerful tool. It basically tell the seller that you're already approved and will no problem getting a loan. One key factor a seller must consider is, in addition to the offerring price, can this buyer get the loan? Last thing the seller want is to accept your offer, take the house off the market, and a month later had to put the house back on the market because you can not qualify for the loan. So a seller is more willing to negotiate with you on the final selling price if he/she knows that you're already "pre-qualified".

Another thing, most builders are offerring "incentive" to buyers. This include paying your closing cost (which could be another 1~3% of selling price). They also have a list of "preferred lenders" that offer a better financial terms. So shop around and ask a lot of questions.

You can also negotiate with existing home seller to have them pay your closing cost.

Remember, a lot of so-called "standard" are really negotiable. A good realtor should be able to tell you about all this stuff.

[Charles]

How to get a low-interest rate loan - Apr. 17, 2009

[Toymeister]

PenFed. Pentagon Federal Credit union, look under their membership criteria as you will see you qualify. I don't care who you are, you qualify. No dangerous loans, no games, no marketing calls asking you to refi (think Countrywide when you thinking nagging calls). PenFed DID NOT TAKE A BAIL OUT (Think Countrywide) Do not take my word for it, check out fatwalllet forums for advise. Be wary of mortgage firms that the realtor/builder recommends. Maybe the prefered lender is fantastic maybe, just maybe the motivation is a small finders fee.

Redstone is of average quality for a credit union, PenFed is superior, also check out Navy Federal to see if you qualify. As always think, trust yes but confirm