| |
| |
|
Mortgage & Refinancing Information |
|
|
|
How to Buy a Home Without a Down Payment
Mortgage rates are rising and it's becoming more difficult for a prospective buyer to save up for the necessary down payment. Fortunately, there are ways around this hurdle. Although homebuyers were once required to put down 20% of the purchase price, those times are long gone. Generally, lenders now require 3 to 5 percent down. The problem then becomes how to save up for that 3 percent. What many don't know is that they have several options for coming up with the money. RETIREMENT SAVINGS Most 401 (k) or Individual Retirement Accounts will allow people to borrow or withdraw money early. Doing so can be a good strategy for the home buyer. With a 401 (K), one can borrow up to $50,000 or 50 percent of the balance, whichever is less, and then repay a loan over five or more years, with interest. The added advantage is that this type of borrowing won't count as debt when a lender is assessing a person's qualifications for a loan. And there is also the possibility of getting better appreciation on money invested in real estate. But, are there drawbacks from borrowing from a 401 K? There can be. For one thing, if the borrower quits or gets laid off from the job, he must repay the loan within 90 days or be subjected to penalties and taxes on the early disbursement. GIFT MONEY While borrowing against retirement savings is possible for people who were able to set money aside, there are many people who have little or no savings. What many don't know is that some loan programs allow borrowers to use gift money to make down payments. This gift money must generally come from family members, spouses, domestic partners, or even nonprofits. NONPROFITS There are many nonprofit organizations, such as the Home Solution program, that help first-time borrowers. Sometimes the seller will pay 3 percent of the sale of the home, plus a fee, to the nonprofit. The organization then loans the buyer that 3 percent at closing time for use as the down payment. And the Federal Housing Administration generally insures both Gift and Non Profit Loans. There are also programs run by nonprofits to help low-to-moderate-income people purchase homes. One such program is the Habitat for Humanity, which requires buyers to contribute by working on their own home as well as the homes of others. Additionally, housing finance agencies in many states offer special loan programs for low- to moderate-income buyers. Fannie Mae, the biggest buyer of mortgages, offers loans through housing finance agencies that require down payments of as little as 1 percent or $500, whichever is less. NO-DOWN and LOW-DOWN Another option available is the no- and low-down payment loans. These types of loans, however, have the disadvantage of requiring costly mortgage insurance. Mortgage insurance benefits the lender in cases where a borrower defaults on the loan. But, there are ways around this hurdle. A person can avoid mortgage insurance by getting a "piggyback loan." A piggyback is a home equity loan borrowed on top of a primary mortgage. For example, one could put 5 percent down, get a primary mortgage for 80 percent of the home's price, and a higher-interest home equity loan for 15 percent of the price. In one example, a couple made a 5 percent down payment from the proceeds of a previous home, got a 20-year home equity loan for 15 percent of the purchase price, and a 30-year mortgage for 80 percent of the price. The piggyback loan allowed them to avoid buying the mortgage insurance. While the payments on the second mortgage are roughly the same as what they would have been paying toward mortgage insurance, they can deduct the interest expense on their income taxes. And so there's the added benefit that the piggyback loan is working for them, not the lender. THE UNORTHODOX Some African and Caribbean cultures use the unorthodox method of forced savings known as the susu. In the susu plan, a group of people use peer pressure to compel each other to save. They pool their money and then distribute it among themselves, periodically, such as on a monthly basis. For example, a dozen people might contribute $500 each into the pool every month for a year. In the first month, one person gets $6,000. The next month, the next person gets $6,000, and so on. At the end of the year, each person has both contributed, and received, $6,000. There are many options out there for getting around the down payment hurdle. Ultimately, the borrower must decide what method is most suitable to his needs. Genesis Font is an SEO and Developer for LoansInteractive.com > Mortgage and Loan Officer Websites. We also offer Quality Web Hosting Services.
MORE RESOURCES:
Mortgage-Refinance - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
New Home Loan - 3 Tips To Speed Up The Mortgage Loan Approval Process Imagine this: you've found the perfect house, and feel lucky because the interest rates happen to be at an all time low. So you submit your mortgage loan application, and then?wait. Be Prepared With Your Home Equity Loan Checklist A home equity loan can be an excellent way to obtain money in order to pay off high interest bills or consolidate your current debt into one monthly payment. A home equity line of credit is a form of revolving credit in which your home serves as collateral. How Good a Deal Is Your Banks Mortgage Insurance Plan? When you go to the bank to get a mortgage, you'll inevitably be asked to take out mortgage insurance. The idea behind mortgage insurance is simply that if something happens to you or your spouse then your loan will be paid off which is good news for your family and the bank. What is a Repayment Mortgage? A repayment mortgage is the type of mortgage that most people think about. The idea behind a repayment mortgage is that you pay monthly for a set period and each payment consists of an element of capital and interest. Buying a New Home - Home Buying Tips If you in the process of looking for your first home, there are some essential steps that you should be aware of. Many times, people fall in love with a home and rush into the deal-not considering some important issues. Mortgage Basics for First Time Home Buyers Anyone planning to take out a mortgage for the first time will most likely find the job a little daunting, not least because the financial jargon can often be very difficult to make sense of. As with any major financial decision, it is essential to fully understand every aspect of a mortgage plan before making a commitment. How Not To Be Ripped Off By Mortgage Brokers One of the things that bothers me about the mortgage industry is the number of unscrupulous brokers that operate in this market.Talk about giving the industry a bad name!I worked for a mortgage lender until quite recently and I used to be shocked at the fees that brokers charged their clients. Cash Out Refinance Mortgage Loans - Home Equity, 2nd Mortgage or Cash Out Refinance Loan There are some definite benefits to doing a cash out refinance. Just make sure that overall you are not going to be spending more money in fees and interest doing a cash out refinance as opposed to a home equity loan. Secrets Your Banker Wont Tell You - Which Loan is Best for You? Recently I was driving in my Car and I heard an Ad for a Mortgage lender who claimed they would help you find the Best Loan out of over 400 Different Loan Types. 400 Different Loan Types now that has to be confusing. Home Loans For People With Adverse Credit History Whether you are planning to purchase a home for the first time or refinance an existing mortgage, plan on comparing lending companies before you accept a financing offer if you have adverse credit history. Sub prime lenders specialize in offering loans to people who have a high-risk credit history. Bad Credit Loans Authenticate What Is Positive About Bad Credit This might not be the front page news but it is now out in the open! 'Bad credit is getting loans - all kinds of loans'. Lending institutions, banks and other financial constitutions are coming forward to provide loans for bad credit. Some of the Available Loan Types There are many mortgage products available on the market today. We can help you find out which one is right for you. Home Equity Loan - Not Just For Home Repairs, And Tax Deductible, Too! Thanks to the combination of low interest rates and skyrocketing property values, home equity loans are more popular than ever. The value of home equity loans taken out by Americans has doubled in the last two years, and the market for them shows no signs of slowing down. Home Mortgages: Does It Ever Make Sense to Pay Points? Interest rates on home mortgages are often quoted with and without points. A point equals one percent of the amount you are financing. Mortgages - Which Loan is Right For You When buying a home, you need to take a home mortgage loan, either because as a debtor, you end up paying less tax, or because in a market where property prices rise faster than salary levels, the money you have saved falls short of the amount required. When searching for a home mortgage loan, you can select from a wide variety. Home Equity Lines of Credit - the Basics A Home equity line of credit is a loan which is similar to a credit card. These often have a very low interest rate (In most cases even lower than home equity loans). Remortgage Debt Consolidation - The New Recourse For Credit Crunch Shakespeare once said about human nature 'with nothing shall be pleased, till he be eased with being nothing'. It is human nature to not be satisfied with anything for long. Life of an Escrow Escrow is one of the last stages in the purchase or sale of a real property. When someone says that they are in escrow, it means that they have either accepted an offer on the sale of their property, or their offer to purchase has been accepted. Selecting the Right Mortgage for You A mortgage is a loan you take out to buy a home. This loan covers the "principal" (purchase price of the house minus your down payment) plus the "interest," which is the fee a lender charges you to borrow the money. What Are Home Equity Loans? A home equity loan is simply borrowing on the difference of the value of your home and the outstanding mortgage on the house. Lets say, you have bought a home worth $50,000 some time back, after making a down payment of $5,000.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
