6 replies to this topic

[TXITGIRL]

We are in the process of planning to buy a house this time next year. We just renewed our rental at $1000 a month.
At the time of signing the lease we were required by the owner to put down $1875 deposit - refundable when we move out.

So basically we have $2000 saved up (saving another$1000) so far for meeting the minimum 3.5% for an FHA and the value of the house we are looking at buying here in San Antonio, TX is $150K. $150K can get you a brand new home with HOA.
But we will look for homes without HOA's

anyway, concerning the deposit that will be refunded back to us and signing our mortgage papers, are we going to be required to have that 3.5% in our checking account ready to be deducted??

so lets say, we move out May 30 2012, we only have $2000 in the checking, we wait 30 days for the refund to come thru from the property management company

Is it true we cannot sign the mortgage papers until we show we have the $5000 in our checking account?

$2000 saved
$1875 to be refunded
$1000 currently saving from now until early next year or until we meet $5000 total

3.5% of a $150K home is $5000.


pardon my real estate terms and knowledge, i am still a noob at all this.

[jst300z]

3.5% of a $150K

5,250

[TXITGIRL]

oops my bad for the mis calculation.

[Brian B The Loan Professor]

You can start the process but you need to allow time to create the papertrail and have it reviewed - many banks are going to one touch underwriting that simply means they want it all at once - they will look once - give conditions and then look at those - each step takes time so dont plan on getting it on the 30h and funding/closing on the 1st

[yossi]

 will the bank approve, if some of  the funds needed for downpayment/closing costs are in a 401k that I could borrow from? 

Edited by yossi, 09 May 2012 - 11:07 AM.

[happyfamily]

 will the bank approve, if some of  the funds needed for downpayment/closing costs are in a 401k that I could borrow from? 

Yes, they could, but you would have to disclose that. In order for them to include that asset as part of your downpayment, they also have to include that loan as part of your debt. You need to talk to your loan officer about that.

[twizzle]

will the bank approve, if some of the funds needed for downpayment/closing costs are in a 401k that I could borrow from?

Yes, they could, but you would have to disclose that. In order for them to include that asset as part of your downpayment, they also have to include that loan as part of your debt. You need to talk to your loan officer about that.

We used a 401k loan, and it was not counted in our DTI when we got our FHA loan. All we needed to do was send a copy of the statement and two-sided copy of the check to UW to verify the funds. Don;t know if things have changed (this was a yr ago) as things are always changing w these loans, but that was our exp.

Also, OP, I'd look into homebuyers grants for TX. Any extra help is nice, if you can get it. (We used a grant this time around and only had to bring 1.5k to the table.) Remember, you pay down and closing costs. Even if you get a seller's assist, there's a limit to how much you can get, and it doesn't always cover everything. Plus, I'd really, really advise you to do a home inspec, which you pay for. But even then, a FHA appraiser can come back and req certain inspections, etc. And there's going to be out-of-pocket expenses to moving no one talks about much. Houses inevitably need stuff, moving comes w costs, utilities can req $, and we even had to cut a check to the sellers for the oil left in the tank at closing. That was a nice $400 chunk.

So, my point is you'll want to try to save for more than the exact down payment, but I'd also be exploring ways you can get help w the costs (grants, gifts, etc).

Edited by twizzle, 10 May 2012 - 08:23 AM.