You can have a 30 year fixed rate on VA, FHA, USDA, Community 100 programs, etc. Your loan options will be determined by your credit ( or lack of ), income to debt ratios, income to housing ratios, etc.

There are many options, even after the fall out of the past year. Check in with your mortgage pros. If they’re still here in this market, good chance they know what they’re doing.

The best time to buy a house, well it depends on the market in the city that your are from….

From what I know houses in Texas are very affordable so if you can buy a house, it is a good investment….

You have to consider many factors, not just interest,

Good luck!

You can, however, as a long shot, ask the bank to do a modification of the Deed of Trust and take you’re ex’s name off. It’s rare they’ll do that though. They’d rather make money on having you refi.

Read your mortgage documents. Some have a clause that you can convert for a fee (usually 1%). If so, contact the lender and ask what you need to do to accomplish this.

If you don’t have this clause, you can still ask them to convert it. There may be more fees as it will actually be a refinance.

Further Response: Referring to the period 1995-2007. Interest rates were not particularly low from 1995-2001. By historical standards, they were pretty much in the normal range. From 2001 to 2007, interest rates were low because the Fed kept the fed funds rate artificially low. The Fed lowered the rates initially to combat the recession of 2000-2001, and then kept them extraordinarily low to deal with the financial impact of 9/11. Alan Greenspan (chairman of the Fed at the time) admitted that this was a serious mistake and was, to a significant extent, responsible for the real estate bubble that collapsed in 2007.

The key point is that the mortgage is transferrered with NO CHANGE IN TERMS. The person assuming the loan may have to meet certain requirements to qualify and may be charged a fee by the bank. It is NOT true that the person assuming the loan can do so without having to be approved by the lender.

I have worked as a loan originator for a few banks and mortgage companies.

The mortgage aid plan would let the Federal Housing Administration back $300 billion in new, cheaper home loans for an estimated 400,000 distressed borrowers who otherwise would be considered too financially risky to qualify for government-insured, fixed-rate loans.

An 83-9 vote put the plan on track for Senate passage as early as Wednesday, but President Bush is threatening a veto, and Democrats are fighting each other over key details. Those challenges will probably delay any final deal until mid-July.

The price of oil is denominated in US dollars, and the US is keeping its interest low, so these policies complement one another. A drop in interest rates in Australia or a rise in interest rates in the US would make Australia’s imported oil, and therefore everything else, more expensive.

A high interest rate hurts people who do have mortgages or need other credit, so that could be another reason why a high interest rate isn’t such a bad policy in Australia’s case. Everything would be different if Australia was exporting lots of goods and producing most of its own oil. Then you would want to lower interest rates to keep boosting production and keep your exchange rate low for foreign buyers.

Me and my wife have been saving money for years so we could put a $100,000 down payment and have already decided against getting a ‘perfect’ house and maybe trading up to a better house after ten years or so.

The people who were irresponsible are getting bailouts. I admit that a small percentage of the forclosures are people who lost their jobs - but most of the people knowingly took a risk by buying more house than they could afford and now want us to bail them out when that risk did not pay off.

Your the best Peter keep fighting, I watch your blogs from the UK every day.

Politics doesn’t really come into facts… and the fact has a better track record than any of his detractors.

Having a strong social secuirty net or geting universal health care won’t mean shit if the entire economy tanks eh?

Doesn’t matter what state you live in, anyone can volunteer for the phone banks.

Schiff may have made some off comments about making bombing runs on Iran, but I don’t think it was in context or a fair representation of his ideas about foreign policy. Let’s give him a fair chance to explain himself, as I’m sure he will have to if he’s running for senate.

Any administration in charge would do that if the Iranian clerics/Revolutionary Guard had missiles that could reach allied targets.

Recent legislation wouldn’t have any effect on you if you lost your house before it was passed. The US Constitution prohibits ex post facto (after the fact) laws. It means laws can only apply going forward but not in retrospect. It might seem unfair given your situation, but this also protects you from facing consequences for doing something that was legal at the time and later became illegal.

Currently Zions Bank (866-7618349) offers a savings account paying 3.50 % when $20,000 is deposited. Smaller amounts give less interest.

CD’s are generally available paying 5.32 % with a deposit of only $1000.00 and held for 1 year.

Both of these quotes are FDIC insured.

Check on Savings and CD Rates by typing in BEST CD RATE or BEST SAVINGS RATE into your Yahoo Search.

If they co-sign and own property, no you will not qualify for the credit.

SOME states are allowing you to use the credit for part of your down payment. But you have to use FHA and you have to still pay at least 3.5% down yourself.

http://mortgages-finance.award.....ompare.htm

Monthly repayments made on your mortgage and the amount that was borrowed, is determined by current mortgage interest rates. Different–>companies offer different interest rates so it is a good idea to shop around for the best deal before settling on one particular lender.

In the United States, there are two sorts of foreclosure in most common law states. Using a "deed in lieu of foreclosure," the bank claims the title and possession of the property back in full satisfaction of a debt, usually on contract. In the proceeding simply known as foreclosure (or, perhaps, distinguished as "judicial foreclosure"), the property is exposed to auction by the county sheriff or some other officer of the court. Many states require this latter sort of proceeding in some or all cases of foreclosure, in order to protect any equity the debtor may have in the property, in case the value of the debt being foreclosed on is substantially less than the market value of the immovable property (this also discourages strategic foreclosure). In this foreclosure, the sheriff then issues a deed to the winning bidder at auction. Banks and other institutional lenders typically bid in the amount of the owed debt at the sale, and if no other buyers step forward the lender receives title to the immovable property in return.

Other states have adopted non-judicial foreclosure procedures, in which the mortgagee, or more commonly the mortgagee’s attorney or designated agent, gives the debtor a notice of default and the mortgagee’s intent to sell the immovable property in a form prescribed by state statute. This type of foreclosure is commonly referred to as "statutory" or "non-judicial" foreclosure, as opposed to "judicial". With this "power-of-sale" type of foreclosure, if the debtor fails to cure the default, or use other lawful means (such as filing for bankruptcy which provides a temporary automatic stay to the foreclosure proceeding) to stop the sale, the mortgagee or its representative will conduct a public auction in a similar manner as the sheriff’s auction described above. The highest bidder at the auction becomes the owner of the immovable property free and clear of any interest of the former owner but the property may be encumbered by any liens superior to the mortgage being foreclosed (e.g. a senior mortgage, unpaid property taxes etc). Further legal action, such as an eviction may be necessary to obtain possession of the premises.

"Strict foreclosure" is an equitable right available in some states. The strict foreclosure period arises after the foreclosure sale has taken place and is available to the foreclosure sale purchaser. The foreclosure sale purchaser must petition a court for a decree that will cut off any junior lienholder’s rights to redeem the senior debt. If the junior lienholder fails to do so within the judicially established time frame, his lien is cancelled and the purchaser’s title is cleared. This effect is the same as the strict foreclosure that occurred at common law in England’s courts of equity as a response to the development of the equity of redemption.

In most jurisdictions it is customary for the foreclosing lender to obtain a title search of the immovable property and to notify all other persons who may have liens on the property, whether by judgment, by contract, or by statute or other law, so that they may appear and assert their interest in the foreclosure litigation. In all US jurisdictions a lender who conducts a foreclosure sale of immovable property which is the subject of a federal tax lien must give 25 days’ notice of the sale to the Internal Revenue Service: failure to give notice to the IRS will result in the lien remaining attached to the immovable property after the sale. Therefore, it is imperative that the lender obtain a search of the local Federal Tax Liens so that if the persons or companies involved in the forelcosure have a federal tax lien filed against them, the proper notice to the IRS will be given. A detailed explanation by the IRS of the Federal Tax Lien process can be found here.

Some individuals and companies are engaged in the business of purchasing properties at foreclosure sales. A number of companies promoting themselves on the internet and in other advertising media have sprung up touting the profits that can be made buying properties in foreclosure. Purchasing properties in foreclosure can be more risky than some companies imply"

good for you! please go to the aarp.com site to see how buying a home is THE way to build wealth in the united states. buy for location, location, location.

i’m surprised that nobody mentioned that a Realtor (r) can advise you which lenders she has personally closed deals with in the past year or so. depending on your circumstances, she will explain why she recommends one over another.

another great source is your credit union, if you have one.

some municipalities offer affordable housing programs for first time buyers, whereby they may allot so many percent of the purchase price (2-3% maybe) so that your downpayment would be higher than is usual these days–what with so much debt that we allow ourselves to live with–for first time buyers, which many times is from 0-5%. sure, you’d probably have to pay that back, but they would make it easy on you.

your own bank is a great source of mortgage funding, if it is not strictly a commercial bank. your proven track record of not bouncing checks, putting a little aside here and there, will help you. ask first what they charge for a mortgage, at what interest rate, and how much they charge for "points" for that rate. a point is one percent of the loan balance after your downstroke. so if the house costs $200,000 and you put 10% down (i’d try to put 20% down to avoid private mortgage insurance, a/k/a PMI), your mortgage balance would then be $180,000 and one point is then $1,800. (one point will also "buydown" your rate by 1/8 of a percent. so then, if competitive 30 year fixed rates with zero points are now running, per the newspaper or via the internet sites that show you competitive rates, 6 1/8%, you can, or your seller may, pay one point so that you then get the 6% interest rate, which then qualifies you for a higher debt ratio).

i want to tell you what you should avoid: do not be fooled by the lenders that offer something that sounds too good to be true, since it is with THEM. your best bet is to buy a metropolitan area sunday newspaper with a real estate section in it. usually, the 2nd page has a list of the lenders in the area, what the interest rate is, what points they charge for the loan, etc. you probably will find one or two of them that charge perhaps 1/16th less than the 4 - 6 lenders that charge the same rate. do you want to know that happens if you go with them?

after you supply them with the evidence of employment, pay stubs, bank statements, etc., etc., etc., (that they use to write up the really important "preapproval letter"), they will lock you in for a given number of days, perhaps 90, to go out and get a contract for a house with that rate, etc. now then, just wait:

here you are, one week away from the closing date. the seller is going to buy another place and move in: his contract is signed and his mortgage is on the line too. so he is counting his sales proceeds, isn’t he? and you have called the movers, put all your stuff into boxes, called the utility companies, purchased the homeowner’s insurance policy, etc., etc., etc., preparing to close on the date stated in the contract, right? so your lender NOW tells you that to give you the mortgage, they need:

the past 10 years’ income tax returns;

the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of each and every single landlord that you and your husband had for the past 10 years;

all of your combined pay stubs for the past 10 years;

a list of simply EVERYONE that ever supervised you and your husband on the job over the past 10 years, as well as:

every trick in the book they can think of to prevent them from giving you THAT loan (which they found, btw, via portfolio lenders),

since:

what lender or bank do you know whose primary business it is to NOT make as much money as it can, any legal way it can? you know of one please call me NOW!

yes, they can close you on the closing date without all this BS documentation, but the interest rate or points will go up, not down. and so…

i have only known in all my career of ONE married couple that EVER did obtain that loan, but they knew exactly what would happen towards the closing date, and they were prepared.

so, go with the lender of your choice that is amongst those that have competitive rates and fees!

service? well, my favorite loan officers or loan brokers (that can get really interesting mortgages if you are in a strange situation, say, with old debts), were always those that would offer to come to your house, after work, with their calculator and mortgage package information, to discuss all of your finances and debts with you so that they could then write you up that very, very important "preapproval letter," not a verbal prequalification. these are usually the veterans in the biz, and they sure know what they are doing! and they know all about the different loan packages and can give you honest pros and cons of that huge variety of different mortgage loans. you will get, in the mail, a "truth in lending" statement after they have given you the preapproval letter. the letter states the amount of mortgage they will give you for how many days, at what rate, etc., etc., etc.

i say that you really need that because the good buys always sell fast. always. it doesn’t matter if it’s now a buyer’s market: the ones that are priced to sell for their location, location, location and their condition sell, sell, sell. so that is why you may have to insist that your Realtor (r) present a copy of that letter with your offer, which, of course, if you really want the place and others do at the same time, you will also tender a check not for an initial earnest money deposit of only a grand, but for the full amount of earnest money that will be placed into a guarded escrow account by the listing broker.

i cannot state more strongly than i will state now, and as i have so many times in the past: once you are over the lending hurdle, find yourselves a competent, experienced (in your market area), knowledgable buyer’s broker/agent. you do not have to pay a penny for it, the seller will pay the commission, out of which she will get paid. then stick with her and do not be disloyal, walking into an open house or into one of those "by owner" places without stating that you have a buyer’s broker, so that all the hard work she does on your behalf yields her some income to live off of. ask how agents get paid.

how you find a good buyer’s agent/broker: drive around the areas you like and can afford (you call the number on the sign and ask how much it is). then ask if they represent buyers. i’m sure the best of the best do. do not go into the office to see only the "top" producers that make ten billion a year and have 25 telephones and fax numbers. get a nice person that is willing to sit with you, after you have learned how much you can spend, to determine first what your NEEDS are, and then your wants. don’t go to see a house on a sign until after you have found a buyer’s broker, then go with her. unless: offers are already coming in. then go see it and have a blank check with you. i am dead serious. do not be afraid: the best of the best buyer’s agents listen so well to you and then tailor suit the searches they do for you so very well that it could be that the very first house you see is the one that is "for you." then, do not be afraid to make an offer. get it, if you can.

yes, my verbosity is going to kill my wrists, but i have this empathy for first time buyers: i love that you are going to be doing one of the best things you ever did for yourselves in your whole lives! so i am so sorry this is so long, but it is my best advice.

AGENCY means that YOUR interests come way ahead of the interests of the Realtor (r), i.e., the bag of money at the closing. ask for her explanation of agency and of dual agency too. that is the one quality you owe to yourselves, to get someone that really, really gives a darn about YOU, since it is YOUR money, not hers.

happy house! happy home!

I went with loans from Huntington and I they’ve been good so far, decent interest rates (I think I was able to get 2/5 fixed), 6 month grace period, lots of options if I can’t make my payments, ect.

If the interest rates were reduced to 1% then everybody in the United States of America would sell their USD and buy other currencies and the USD will be the weakest currency in the World.

I am talking about the people with bank accounts with their money invested in the United States of America and not everybody in the World or everybody in the United States of America.

Interest Rates is only one factor of thousands affecting the value of the USD.

By the way….piggybacks are when you take out a 2nd loan simultaneously with the 1st mortgage.
Stand alone seconds or 2nd mortgages are when you take it out AFTERWARDS.
BEWARE that if you take out this 2nd mortgage…and you plan to refi later on…this will be called a CASH OUT refinance because you didnt take it out the day of your 1st closing.

All republicans should immediately stop paying not only their mortgage, but all their bills.

Then you can wait for the company you work for to get that great tax break, and your boss can raise your pay with all that extra money they have.

That will save our country!

(sarcasm, in case you couldn’t tell).

My first question would be where is the other $48,000 coming from for the purchase? If it’s cash, then you will have no problem getting a home equity loan for about $20,000 with your remaining equity (up to the 90% LTV). If you came up with the $48,000 with a second mortgage, you’re already at 100% LTV and, particularly with blemished credit, I doubt you’ll be able to get the additional funds.

The fact that you were approved for $40K over the purchase price means nothing. A bank is only going to lend up to the value of the house and, in today’s mortgage industry situation, I would be surprised if anyone were willing to go over 90% LTV.

The idea is to get people to spend the money. That increases jobs. Reducing interest rates makes it easier for people to pay their debts. Fewer bankruptcies and foreclosures. The complexity of our having a huge trade deficit and huge national debt are too great to discuss here in a small space. The stimulus may help if it comes soon enough. If it comes too late it may have just the opposite effect. Government is not known for doing things in a timely manner.

Their payment for the first two years was $600 but then jumped to $3,000 in the last year when the mortgage re-set at the higher rate.

It’s the fiscally irresponsible people who bit off more than they could chew who are responsible for the economic woes.

Flippers generally have extra capital and know that it’s possibl that they won’t sell immediately. Blaming first time homebuyers is unfair too because many of them did things right.

I blame the people who bought what they could afford… then heard they could get these amazing low rates to buy expensive houses they otherwise would never have been able to afford. They traded up and now all of them are foreclosed and living in boxes. Bummer.

He is doing the right thing calling for the system to be made fairer. The uber-wealthy already benefit disproportionately from the wealth of the USA. They can afford to contribute more, including contributing to ensure the government doesn’t waste the people’s money in ways that don’t benefit the national interest.

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