FHA and Convential loans

[EweSheep]

The seller did have an inspection and wood termites done just prior to us getting the house and it was in very good shape. After all I sprinkle DE around the base of the house to keep ants out. We finally solved the problem by replacing the rubber blades on the bottom of storm doors.

Good thing we replaced all the windows except for the bedrooms. Sears no longer offers in what we had done in the last two years so someone else would have to do it. My house is a 4 bedroom house.

This is interesting! I can not wait for tomorrow and see what comes up. I had to ask alot of questions and hubby has some questions too about it. Like if the well water was shared, or what kind of pump, where was the septic tank was, etc. Our realtor said I can offer the country home of $48 to 50,000 because the house is smaller than what people wanted. Most buyers want BIG homes which I have a big home, not huge but big enough.

 

[EweSheep]

Oh yeah I would have to do that! Purge everything out and thin out alot of stuff we dont use, our hallway closet was pitiful! Crammed full of hand towels, kitchen towels, soaps, medical equipments, medications and stuff like that. I would have to clean out our bathroom mirror as well and remove the toothbrush holder from the mirror. I can do it with a basket or tote box too!

This past week before the realtor showed up to do a look and see and discuss how realtors work and she would estimate the price. She did not want us to come out shorthanded on down payment on the other house either so she took everything in consideration so we do not go broke with unexpected $$$ that popped up at the time of closures. At first, we worked with the bank, got a preapproval of this house we are living in now, told them we want to pay only $375 to $400 for mortgages. Well as the time of closing, our mortgage was up to $439 which it was not too bad and then as time went on with ins and taxes, it went up to $495 a month. Now it is back down to $435 a month. All of the adjustments because of insurance and taxes which are the only two that flux with the market. We will not ever go into adjustable rates, its too volatile right now and everyone is paying for it. Fixed rates is all we go for.

I was hoping at the closing, we would only pay taxes on the quarterly basis, like right now, we would only pay for the three months and the buyer can deal with the rest of the year taxes.

Not sure if I want to go two mortgage payments. I do not know if I want to go short sale but that would affect my husband's reaaaaalllly good credit standing.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

The real question is can you afford to buy the new house and be stuck with the payment on the old one too in case it does not sell in the current market? The other question of FHA or conventional...I'd go conventional personally.

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:
That is the real question I am trying to figure out LOL! However we would like the extra money!

We do not have ANY credit card bills. Nor any outstanding bills except for his motorcycle loan (less than 2 thousand) which we are planning to pay that off with upcoming tax return.

 

[kagedgoddess]

Quote:
Yes good advice - also called a USDA -US dept agriculture loan. It should only take 2 weeks from the time of receipt of a formal contract to get the title work, appraisal etc done for you to have a closing date. Have you had a home inspection and wood infestation report done? These are two things that you could use as bargaining tools to drive the price down if they find anything of concern.

GAH!!!! we JUST did this. it took THREE MONTHES!!!!!! be very very prepard to pull out all your hair if you go RD. But otoh we had NO closing costs! we just closed last week, but had a finalized contract in october!! THEN they (usda) called the day OF closing and said, um, can we do this tommorrow?? uh NO! our closing dates had already been moved twice before, the seller put in a per diem for closing late this time. YIKES what a headache! If I EVER do this again, i will get the darned 20% down for a conventional loan and NOT go usda again! but i am thankful we got our house, so i cant complain too much! i bought a house VA Loan before, that was easy peasy and closed within a month, But we had to pay "loan origination fee" up front Plus the normal closing costs. GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Quote:
That is the real question I am trying to figure out LOL! However we would like the extra money!

We do not have ANY credit card bills. Nor any outstanding bills except for his motorcycle loan (less than 2 thousand) which we are planning to pay that off with upcoming tax return.

I'd make sure to have AT LEAST 3 months of expenses sitting in a savings account before trying for swinging both notes, and I would pay off the motorcycle first. Even that isn't fail proof...ask me how I know

We had all of the above when we bought our house a little over a year ago, and then disaster struck. AKA unemployment. We have been able to hold out 5 months on unemployment, but that's not an easy road AT ALL! Just be very cautious, I'd HATE to see you in the same situation!!

 

[EweSheep]

I probably wont go RD because it would not be too rural enough, it is out on the outskirts of town but still half mile away, it is busy intersection for people coming out of Decatur into Harristown.

I will go both ways in FHA and convential loans. I did remember having my first house with HUD and I think I also had FHA as well. Everything was a blur for me because due to the excitement of owning my first home, which almost ten years later, I had to file bankruptcy due to job loss and pregnant at that time.

My credits were in the mid 600's and hubbys was in the near 800's.

12 and half more hours until bank time!

 

[EweSheep]

Cindi, I hate to get idea if disaster strikes! With me being on disablity and hubby still working, we are praying we will weather out the unpredicateable ecomony. Either way where we live, if we are to go down, we would go down either way at either house. At least I do not have to worry too much about it because I am on permanent disablity but who knows, SS will probably not be there when we retire. I am guessing we are good for another 15 to 20 years before we decide to move into an old folks home LOL! It would be nice to have the house PAID off before we hit retirement age but it is like counting chicks before they hatch.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Well GOOD LUCK!! I DO hope things work out for you!

I'll be praying things go great!

 

[AngieChick]

I know that this thread is a bit old, but I just found it.

We bought a house with an FHA loan in August. It was a pretty painless way to go. Just be aware that they do have certain requirements of any property that they insure. Most have to do with safety issues (railings, etc.), that the roof will last at least a few more years and that all appliances are present and work: range, oven, water heater and furnace. There should be no holes in walls or ceilings, no sign of wood pest infestations, etc. The FHA appraisers are generally fussier (or more thorough, depends on how you look at it) with price per square foot appraisals than conventional bank loans. The idea is to not get borrowers into a house that needs a lot of immediate repairs or isn't worth what they are paying for it. There are also regional maximum loan amounts that you will want to look up. Also, there is a maximum amount in closing costs that they will allow a seller to make, I think it was around 6% of the home cost.

The plus side is that it isn't all about your FICO score with FHA. Some people with very little to no debt/credit can actually have very low FICO scores because of it. While there are minimums (580 I think), other factors are taken into account. A big one is debt ratio and another is steady income. Pretty common sense stuff. I think that they want 2 years from the discharge date of a bankruptcy, and a minimum of 12 months of good payments on all debts. So, you can have some past issues if you have proven that it is in fact in the past and that positive change has happened. Of course, individual lenders processing FHA loans may have stricter requirements. The low down payment is a great way for many of us otherwise small credit risks to be able to buy a house. You will want to make sure that the maximum amount of loan that you take on is one that you are comfortable with, not what the bank/lender tells you is the max that you qualify for. After all, what's the point in owning your own home if you won't have any money to fuss with it?

As so many loans right now are FHA, if you put your house up on the market it would be good for you to aim for it passing an FHA appraiser's requirements as well (if possible and repairs would be very inexpensive). You can find the requirements listed out online with a google search.