Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I live in Seattle, which is experiencing a housing BOOM. Homes are appreciating like crazy, and the average home is around $500K. Since we live in the burbs (renters), we will probably need to outlay at least $600K+ to buy a home. And these are not fancy homes....just run of the mill, 4 bedroom 2 bath homes.
I'm wondering how mortgages work in these types of areas. Assuming most people don't have $120K+ in cash to plop down a 20% down payment on a house of this cost....do they have more flexible mortgage terms? I know after the big housing crash many lenders tightened their rules. Is it possible to get a mortgage with just 5 or 10% down? Do they offer longer mortgage terms? I'm wondering how people can afford it
It depends - we offer 5% down up to 625K, but only on a 10/1 or 7/1 ARM. Or, with 10% down, we do an 80/10/10 (two loans with 10% down) which avoids PMI. Other lenders will have similar products. The rules are definitely tighter, excellent credit required for both loans.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,551 posts, read 81,085,957 times
Reputation: 57734
In many cases there are multiple offers over the asking price, and the accepted offer is cash, no loan. Often immigrants bringing over a lot of money with them from their country. Not quite as bad as in Vancouver, BC, but getting there. In our city of 50,000 with median price $646k it's now 30% Asian population.
I was visiting family last week in Seattle (Bellevue), beautiful (clean) area and agree economic times are improving. What you pay is dependent on what area you choose to settle in.
At the Issaquah Best buy store. got into a conversation with Microsoft representative about jobs in the area. He said large company's are hiring technical jobs. In Redmond at a Starbucks coffeee shop, got into a conversation with an engineer working for Amazon. He also said near are many new opportunities in the area.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
