Mortgage Rates

[Jaylin]

I am currently in the market to buy a home and need some help. What mortgage rates/plans should I look for to keep my payments low? I am currently looking at a 5yr Int Only 10% down 5.25%int rate(80/10/10), should I look towards other plans or other programs?

[Barry Green]

My wife has been in the in the mortgage buisness for 20yrs. If you want email me and I can give you her number and you can call her to check, we are in Texas but she does mortgages nationwide. The Company she works for IS NOT a broker. And they have some good rates on the type of loan you want.

barrygreen@charter.net

[Hot Foot]

It will depend on the area your in, I would recommend getting advice from three different mortgage brokers to get a comparison of what is available for you. If you can handle the note, go with a 15-year loan and pay one extra monthly house note annually. This will make an enormous interest cost saving over the standard 30 year contract.

Before you know it, the house will be paid off…

Texas Area: True Mark Leading, Gail Fortson @ 713/690-7072 has given me excellent lending advice on my last two homes and saved me a lot of money as well because of their internal contacts in the market place.

[Jaylin]

Barry, I sent you an email with all of the info.

I need Gard's expertise on this one.

[jl9618]

Mortgage Broker and Realtor here- The quote you got on the 5/1 I/O loan is not so good. You should be able to do better than that assuming the standard stuff (full income documentation, decent credit, sourced down payment funds, etc.) is in order.

There are a ton of different programs out there. The best fit depends on how long you will be there and how aggressive or conservative you want to be. There is no "best" loan for everyone. Each situation is different and must be treated as such. Not meaning to step on anyones toes here but... I would definitely go with a broker as they should have better rates and more programs to choose from than an in-house lender (I've worked for both so I've got a pretty good idea of how they work). Plus a broker should have the ability to "safety lock" a rate and play the market potentially bettering your situation as your closing date approaches.

See if you can find a broker who "Warehouses" loans. If they don't know what you are talking about, they don't warehouse so move on. I only do loans in Colorado but if you have any other questions feel free to ask. Do you have an realtor yet? They probably have a finance guy in their pocket who would be willing to give you a quote. Ask for a Good Faith Estimate and try to play one company against the other.

Whatever you do, DO NOT PAY DISCOUNT POINTS OR BUYDOWN YOUR RATE!!!! Also, ask about a complete no cost (lender/broker pay for all the fees- title, appraisal, mtg. broker compensation etc) Doing a no cost allows you to do another no cost in the future if the rates drop. You are certainly able to do the same thing if you've paid your own fees but when you run the math (closing costs divided by the difference in payment between paying your fees and doing a no cost) the break even point is usually about 3 years out. Refinancing before then would essentially be like throwing money down the drain. My hunch is that you will refi in a couple years to roll the 10% 2nd into the 1st which will save you on your monthly payment.

Alright, enough of this talk I'm off work

[Jaylin]

Thank you JL for that info. I have already talked with Barry's wife and she came back with some great rates that I am very please with. To answer a couple of your questions;

Yes we have a realtor.
We have already signed a contract on a home.
Seller is paying all closing costs.
We plan on being in the house around 5 years maybe less.

Barry, I appreciate your help and look forward to working with your wife. Thank you again.

[Barry Green]

Hey no problem, she is very good at what she does and I thought she could help or at least give you some advice on what you need to do.
Hope it all goes well.