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Mortgage help please

Mortgage help please

Old Mar 13th 2014, 6:28 pm
  #46  
 
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Default Re: Mortgage help please

Originally Posted by GeoffM
Ok, so to the mortgager payer, what difference does it make as to who owns the mortgage (owns, as in bank/Fannie/Freddy/whatever)? Asking out of a lack of knowledge rather than arguing. ... .
Like Michael said, almost certainly no difference at all. And in fact it is usual for loans to be sold several times during the full life of a 30 year mortgage, and it is quite possible you would never know. I only found out that an "investor" owned my mortgage when I tried to use a government scheme (i.e. was not part of the mortgage contract or otherwise legally enforceable by me) to do a low cost refi.
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Old Mar 13th 2014, 6:40 pm
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Default Re: Mortgage help please

Originally Posted by Pulaski
Like Michael said, almost certainly no difference at all. And in fact it is usual for loans to be sold several times during the full life of a 30 year mortgage, and it is quite possible you would never know. I only found out that an "investor" owned my mortgage when I tried to use a government scheme (i.e. was not part of the mortgage contract or otherwise legally enforceable by me) to do a low cost refi.
You tried a HARP? I heard that program has been working pretty well. Not for you? I was wondering about how the mortgage owner changing affected getting rid of PMI.
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Old Mar 13th 2014, 6:51 pm
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Default Re: Mortgage help please

Originally Posted by GeoffM
Yes, the point being that in the UK it doesn't seem to be as much of a hot topic - though it ought to be.

I thought prequal was a relatively firm commitment, subject to nothing undisclosed, skeletons in the closet, unsatisfactory home inspection, big change in buyer finances between prequal and closing etc. Seems they're rather less meaningful than I thought.
When you are pre-approved, there is not an in depth look at your finances. That occurs during closing and there may be credit card debt that shows up on closing, unforeseen expenses incurred by the buyer, employment hours cut, etc. If someone offers 50% and has equities to pay for the home outright, the chance of a loan falling though is very slim.
How much do people tend to offer here, let's say for a house that's been on the market for a month or two, seems to be priced about right, no bidding war, and the market is relatively equal between buyers and sellers? Generally in the UK a buyer would knock maybe 10-15% off the asking price and start from there. I get the feeling the starting offer is closer to the asking price here...?
Three years ago, it was a buyer's market with housing prices still dropping and 10%-15% under asking price was probably common since if the buyer doesn't accept the offer, there were hundreds of similar homes for sale. Today even though Victorville is only starting it's recovery, sellers are probably are developing a backbone. Also in the US, generally homes are seldom put on the market at more than 5% above market value. Anything above that amount will likely have few or any viewers and no offers.

Also I believe it is easier to compare homes in the US than in the UK so over pricing a home pretty much guarantees that the home won't be sold. Part is because homes are more similar in the US and the other part is everyone has unlimited access to MLS.

Last edited by Michael; Mar 13th 2014 at 6:55 pm.
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Old Mar 13th 2014, 6:52 pm
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Default Re: Mortgage help please

We bought our first house here in the US August last year.
We used a mortgage broker who helped us through the whole process. We had a 30% deposit waiting in the bank ready to go when we found the right house. With all the pre approval stuff the broker was able to have everything in place for us to close in less than 30 days.

We actually offered over the asking price to secure the house and asked for a quick closing. The area we got the house is a sellers market and we were competing with people with full cash offers. I might add we also did this all without a buyers agent and used this as a bargaining tool with the sellers agent.

Our mortgage is with quickenloans and they have be absolutely fine.
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Old Mar 13th 2014, 7:23 pm
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Default Re: Mortgage help please

Originally Posted by bewildering
You tried a HARP? I heard that program has been working pretty well. Not for you? I was wondering about how the mortgage owner changing affected getting rid of PMI.
HARP doesn't work if the investor won't play ball. I don't know what percentage of home owners were affected, but certainly not everyone was able to take advantage.
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Old Mar 13th 2014, 7:30 pm
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Default Re: Mortgage help please

Originally Posted by Pulaski
HARP doesn't work if the investor won't play ball. I don't know what percentage of home owners were affected, but certainly not everyone was able to take advantage.
So are you effectively stuck in your current mortgage until the investor decides to sell your loan?
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Old Mar 13th 2014, 7:52 pm
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Default Re: Mortgage help please

Originally Posted by Bluegrass Lass
So are you effectively stuck in your current mortgage until the investor decides to sell your loan?
Only with respect to a "HARP" abbreviated refi process. The investor can't stop you going through a "full process" refi, or the nuclear option, of selling the house and redeeming the mortgage.
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Old Mar 18th 2014, 11:24 pm
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Default Re: Mortgage help please

Seems a silly question to me, but can we get two pre-qualification letters (or whatever format it takes), from two different advisors? Presumably done very close in time to each other in case the credit score takes a hit?
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Old Mar 20th 2014, 4:12 am
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Default Re: Mortgage help please

Originally Posted by GeoffM
Seems a silly question to me, but can we get two pre-qualification letters (or whatever format it takes), from two different advisors? Presumably done very close in time to each other in case the credit score takes a hit?
A great question. Within 120 day period you can apply for multiple pre-approvals and it will only count as one credit inquiry on your credit report. But all our mortgage offers were very similar. I would advise saving money on the buyers agent. We went through redfin and are getting a rebate from our agent.

Good luck
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Old Mar 20th 2014, 4:27 am
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Default Re: Mortgage help please

Originally Posted by bewildering
..... all our mortgage offers were very similar. ....
If you have even half-decent credit and go to reputable banks they will be. Those people who convince themselves that "the banks won't deal (fairly) with me", and go with Joe Bloggs' Independent Mortgage Brokers "because they shop around to get me the best deal", are the ones who get s¢rewed, by Joe Bloggs'.
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Old Mar 20th 2014, 4:16 pm
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Default Re: Mortgage help please

Thanks. I've seen rebates on Redfin, and some listings where the seller is prepared to pay the buyer's closing costs - though the latter one assumes the seller would be less negotiable on the house price.

Off to see the first adviser in half an hour. Fingers crossed!
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Old Mar 20th 2014, 9:43 pm
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Default Re: Mortgage help please

90 minutes later - he was in no rush - and we have a letter in our hands, with something more formal in a week or so. He was a little wary of my income, being self employed and somewhat variable, despite the two years tax returns. So we're basing on SWMBO's salary only (being a salaried RN), but this alone is enough to get the kind of house we're looking for.

Only thing he didn't ask for in advance but which I took anyway, and which he thought would be useful, was our current rental agreement and landlord's phone number for verification. We also need to produce a letter of a couple of paragraphs indicating SWMBO's work history given our immigrant status and then her being on maternity leave until getting the current job. Of course, the underwriters could still ask for more.

Our credit scores from the three agencies did vary a bit but Credit Karma was in the ballpark. Only thing the latter did not show was a delinquent payment of $102 which is a reporting error we need to fix. I guess we probably should have got our own reports done prior to the meeting.

Last edited by GeoffM; Mar 20th 2014 at 9:46 pm.
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Old Mar 22nd 2014, 4:44 am
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Default Re: Mortgage help please

Okay, another couple for you. Do we (a) try to get the deposit up a couple of percent (single digits! ) or try to lower the credit card utilisation in a late bid for a better credit score? Is it possible to get a better APR at closing than originally guesstimated at prequal? The way things are moving we're looking at closing in May/June.

If it is only the wife on the mortgage, does my score make any difference at all? I notice they've done a hard hit anyway on my score - I would hope they look at scores before they whack them!
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Old Mar 22nd 2014, 4:55 am
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Default Re: Mortgage help please

IDK about the credit score, but understand there is a difference between the loan and the mortgage. You will both be on the mortgage (deed/title) even if the loan (note) is only in the wifes name.
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Old Mar 22nd 2014, 5:08 am
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Default Re: Mortgage help please

Originally Posted by GeoffM
Okay, another couple for you. Do we (a) try to get the deposit up a couple of percent (single digits! ) or try to lower the credit card utilisation in a late bid for a better credit score? Is it possible to get a better APR at closing than originally guesstimated at prequal? The way things are moving we're looking at closing in May/June.

If it is only the wife on the mortgage, does my score make any difference at all? I notice they've done a hard hit anyway on my score - I would hope they look at scores before they whack them!
Cash/liquidity is king, especially as a new home owner. Even if reducing credit utilization didn't help, and I suspect that the difference will be too small to make a noticeable difference to your credit score and therefore your mortgage rate, it (reducing credit utilization) will give you more flexibility after you have closed on your new home. In short, IMO paying down debt is the way to go, rather than locking up additional capital in your down-payment.
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