Thank you! 

I recently got pre-approved for FHA and USDA Loan and I'm not sure which one would be the best. It has been so long since I bought a home in 2008, and Shane is the one that actually helped me to purchase my first home. If anyone could tell me the pros and cons I would so much appreciate it

https://www.bbb.org/us/wa/seattle/profile/real-estate-investing/arrived-homes-llc-1296-1000116569/customer-reviews?

I see people on reddit reporting around 5% (some higher, some lower) over the last few years. 

Has anyone here heard about it and think it's a good deal? Do you think Jeff Bezos being involved will taint it or bring more legitimacy? 

All suggestions greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

I’m writing to share a story with my daughter and her husband. . Last week, they finally found their dream house! Her husband applied for pre-approval, and it was approved. Just two days before closing, they discovered that he had a lien for $200,000 under his name. The loan fell through, and they’re feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Her husband is a high-earning individual, but he had set up a payment plan. Also, the owner kept the earnest money. Can you help them figure out what to do next?

I’m curious, if the borrower is current on their debt, can they still deny the loan?

Hubs & I currently own our home:  bought in 2006.  Current value $300k-400k and we owe about $105k now.  Zillow says $362k value, my mortgage company app says $386k.  In the past 5 years we have replaced the roof, hvac system, water heater, windows.  Rough ballpark I figure we could sell for minimum of $350k, net $200-210k after expenses and mortgage payoff.  We are both on the mortgage and deed.  These numbers are based on current details, and as I said I'm not looking to take action for another 12 months minimum.  So I think these #s are reasonably conservative.

When the time comes, I would like the next mortgage to be in my name only.  Hubs is self employed with sporadic income while I work a salaried job (18+ years same employer).  Credit scores for both of us are 700+ with nothing negative.  He does have $30k+ in credit card debt he is working on.  I am not joint or AU on anything of his w/ a balance.  My credit cards are paid in full monthly, or currently 0% interest and will be paid off before any mortgage process starts.

I do have a number of recently opened accounts in 2024 - but intend 0 inquiries and 0 new credit accounts over the next 12 months.  I just refinanced my car loan to take it from a $504 payment to $390 payment (I pay more).   I would pay it off with the current home sale proceeds but not sure if it would still be part of dti calculations?  I am also on a car loan for my son in law at $630/mo.  I have student loans - not sure what the monthly payment will be on them in a year.

My salaried income for 2025 should be $73k and bonus of $35-40k.  (From what I've read bonus will be counted in DTI as long as it has a 2+ year history of reliability.  Bonus 2023 EOY was $35k, 2024 EOY anticipated at $40k.)  

My questions:  should I be able to do financing on my own, without Hubs?  And what is the holy grail of DTI?  Some sites say 36%, others say 43%. 

I'm running #s and thinking $275k borrowed ($400k home with $125k down from current home sale) at 7% 30 year fixed would be roughly $2400 per month including taxes and insurance.  I could make that fly under 36% DTI but it would require my car loan to be not included, make sure my cards + student loan be under $200/mo total.   I am not big on the thought of paying off hubs credit card debt with equity $, but that is of course an option if his debts MUST be factored in.

Feedback is appreciated.

It’s been a while since I last spoke with you all. How are you doing?

I have some exciting news to share about my daughter. She and her husband found a house, and their bid was accepted!

But here’s the catch: her husband was sued for $200,000 a while back. He had set up a payment plan, but apparently, they found out he’s making a lot of money.

My daughter is really stressed out right now. She’s afraid that the loan won’t go through. Can they really turn down the loan at this point?

If I were to rent it out, I would then like to purchase a new residence.  I have always heard in order to count rental income when calculating DTI, the property must have been rented for the past 2 years.  One broker I spoke with, who I am not sure I trust, stated, that since I would be renting out my current residence, I could count the expected income when calculating DTI.  

So my question is, would I have to rent my condo out for 2 years prior to counting the rental income as income?  (It would be positive cash flow).  

Thanks in advance.  

im trying to figure out who services the mortgage on a property. It was purchase 20 years ago and the last company that I found paperwork for was Home servicing LLC out of Baton Rouge la. But they have gone out of business. Both of the occupants of the home have passed away within the last 7 years but no one seems to know what’s going on. Is there anyway to find out who currently services the mortgage? I’ve tried MERS but it doesn’t show up in their database. 

I'm semi-retired.  Income from SS, small pension, and W-2 (SS max of 19,500/year) is $4,000/month after small amount of income taxes are paid.

I've been off the credit grid since a bankruptcy in 2010.  I have nothing on my report.  Score is 600.  I have $75,000 cash on hand.

I want to offer 95,000 with 19,000 down @ 3.5% for 15 years.

I'm not gonna ask whether I should buy........obviously a personal decision.  But, if there's an opinion, feel free.

Are the terms I want doable, and with whom?

It has taken years of hard work to build my credit score up near 800. As of today I have no negative marks at all on my report (all 3 bureaus) and plan to keep it that way, unemployed or not. I’ve never had a late payment on anything and I am hoping to keep it that way. Leading up to this layoff I did my research on mortgage forbearances and my understanding was that I could postpone my payments for a short period without having any negative impact on my credit. However, after speaking to Wells Fargo yesterday I’m worried that if I do enter into a forbearance plan it may hinder me long-term when it comes to Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

The Wells Fargo rep informed me that it would be reported to the credit bureaus that I was taking part in a forbearance program, something that I imagine would definitely hurt me going forward when it comes to future credit, etc. I’m posting here in the hopes that someone who has done this before can enlighten me further on the details, as the rep I spoke to was unable to answer anything beyond the most basic of questions.

I’ve worked hard for almost 35 years total and have done my best to be as responsible as possible during that time. It does not seem fair to me that during a tough time such as this — one completely out of my control — that I should be penalized for entering such a program while I seek new employment.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide!

I thought this would be a good place to share my NACA journey with those looking to buy a home. Like many college graduates, student loans have become a huge barrier with the new rules by the banks. For me, even though my wife and I have a nice income, the loans forced us to go through NACA. So here is my timeline:

Sept 24- Attended Home Buyers Workshop

During this time, I continued to save my Payment shock (The difference between your current rent and future mortgage payment), paid my bills, and got all of my documents together.

Dec 1^st- 1^st Appointment. Uploaded all of my docs, but my MC told me to just bring everything in since the website makes it difficult for her to keep up with them. No big deal, she rescheduled me the following week .

Dec 7^th- This time, I brought breakfast for my MC since I knew that she hardly gets to eat in the morning. (She mentioned that at the last meeting). I also brought in my paper work and wouldn’t you know it, my file suddently became a priority. J

Dec. 23^rd- Submitted to UW for NACA Approval

Dec- 25-Dec 30 – Holiday Break, no response. No big deal, she told me this would happen.

In the meantime, we found our dream house, and prayed that nobody took it!

January 11^th, NACA approved and we signed our P & S that day, along with attending the Purchase Workshop.

January 17^th Credit Access

Jaunary 19^th Bank App

January 20^th, Inspection. Found a few minor issues, like loose floors and missing window locks.

So to this point, our scheduled close date is Feb 28. There have been few conditions from the lenders, mainly forms that we needed to sign or initial.

For the most part, this has been a smooth and relatively easy process. To be honest, the reason we were so prepared was reading this board (Lurking I admit..Lol) and reading the materials on NACA. If you start this journey, be prepared, have all your documents in a binder and be VERY nice to your MC. It will go a long way! Please if you have any questions, I’ll be glad to answer!

Our home will be a 250K brand new house, all brick with a basement on 2.25% rate. I could never get that anywhere, and we have “good” credit. Don’t give up!

Most or all of the books out there for people about to enter into homeownership (or hoping to) are unsurprisingly all about how to get a mortgage.

What about a situation where someone who's never owned a home inherits one - and one that doesn't have a mortgage on it, at that.

What information does this person need to study to be prepared for his new role?  Legal obligations besides property taxes and possible HOA fees?  Anything to know about homeowner's insurance besides pay the premium on time?  Does the change in ownership trigger a requirement that the house be inspected as it would be ahead of a sale, even though it's not a sale?

What else should I ask about?

I don't have to have any debt, but I take advantage of opportunities for cheaper debt that I've used to make more than the debt costs me. As a result my credit scores while "good" can't really afford the 30-50 point hit of just paying the mortgage off completely right now. I could trigger lenders closing down cards that I use for rewards, higher insurance rates, etc. and I don't want that. 

I'm thinking about paying the mortgage down to about $10k and just suck up paying about $500 in interest for the next year, as I pay the minimum monthly to put off the credit score hit until I've rebounded a little and am ready for it.

I'm not able to find anyone complaining that they've been penalized by the credit bureaus for paying off most (but not all) of their mortgage with a lump sum. And am wondering if that is because that doesn't happen, or just because I didn't look hard enough? If I do pay it down to $10k, should I expect any impact on my credit score at all?

On October 20 I received another email with an updated payoff quote in the amount of $2622 due to the fact that they are including my taxes ($1546) due November 1.  Guess I'm just venting because I would have thought they would have either expected me to pay the taxes on my own since the payoff was due a week before the taxes were or would have taken the taxes into consideration   I did email them and ask if I can pay them on my own as the tax records show the taxes haven't been received yet.

Thanks,

Steve

Fast forward to now... we need a HELOC or cash out refi for a major repair to our home but the bank is requiring 24 months payment history from both lenders. Wouldn't be a problem if the 2nd lender worked with us to figure out our account and allowed a reaffirm. And an added bonus: they changed hands/merged 5 times since our BK so I'd guess if they couldn't find our account then, they REALLY wouldn't find it now. Any thoughts on what is the bank going to need or are we looking at raiding a 401k?

Quote

The bottom line is that homeowners across America do not have any incentive to move,’

I have three small collections technically none because they are paid but still showing and a student loan for 35k 

I owe hardly nothing yet my DTI is high at 57% why?

I am finally in a position to buy a condo with mostly cash, though I will also have to take out a small mortgage (under 200k-- yes, I live in a HCL part of the country where a condo easily goes for 900K+)

My non-marital partner will be living with me and does not have the kind of money I have and will probably never be in a position to own a home, but will be able to contribute 100K or maybe less. I want to honour her contribution, but I feel that since we are not married and it's mostly my money that is making this possible, my name only should be on the deed. She and I could then draw up a legally binding agreement that would lay out her contribution and state clearly that this is an investment, not a gift. I am thinking that if she and I part ways for any reason, I would agree to buy out her share at whatever the market rate is.

I would love to hear more about how other people have handled this, what's fair etc. I want to protect myself obviously, but I also want to protect her and be fair. Thoughts? Please don't say "you should get married!" It's not that kind of a relationship.

I had pre-approvals from 2 mortgage lenders but both want a letter from my employer saying I'm transfering to a local office of my employer. My job is telework with 1 day a week in office if needed.

There is an office 45 minutes away from my old neighborhood but my current office in flyover country will never let me transfer there. I've tried for years. My position can't be filled if I transfer out.

My goal was simple, relocate and buy, keeping my mortgage payment the same as rent and retire. If I retire first, I won't have the income to buy.

Tell me I'm not doomed to be here forever.😪

Home Prices Fell in February for First Time in 11 Years (soft paywall)

Just out of curiosity, how much of a hit will my FICO score take once I am approved for a mortgage? What should I expect?

I have been taking meticulous care of it for quite a long time now, but I am not completely debt free and I was hoping that maybe after this is all done I would be able to apply for a 0% BT card to out the debt I have into the freezer for awhile. If this is truly unrealistic, I might put down a slightly smaller downpayment.

I am an old style bohemian artist and blush to say that at age 58, I have never bought a house. My credit is good (balances but nothing derogatory, and the mortgage company that pre-approved me said it was fine). My employment history has always been spotty and freelance. I have a solid net worth (a little over a million) but I am an urban dweller and have always shied away from homebuying because I did not want to be "house poor."

Without getting into the details, I am about to inherit a large amount of money, some of which will be tied up in a trust, but much of it will not. I plan to use a fair chunk of it as a downpayment on a condo-- this will be a 50% downpayment, with the rest coming from financing.

My question: will this big downpayment offset my somewhat unconventional financial history? I'm not all that experienced obviously and am feeling very nervous.

Multi-Generational housing. Mom, Dad, the grown kids, and their kids all stay under one roof to make the cost of home ownership more affordable, because more people are contributing to the mortgage payment.

I have a friend who is a realtor. I asked him, how much longer will it be until we end up like Japan........... 80 year mortgages, and if things work out, the great grandkids will be the ones who eventually pay it off. All he had to say was it's coming, some day sooner than later. He said the realtors, bankers, builders, and law makers will get it figured out.

I typically do not keep much cash in my back account. However, I have large positions in a brokerage account.

Say I’m looking to buy a 1M home. I have a 200K stock/index position I’d like to liquidate and use as down payment.

However, I do not want to liquidate this position before I’ve found the deal and had my offer accepted. Would the investments need to be liquidated before a pre-approval?

In other words, do mortgage brokers care if the funds are in stock or cash?

"This borrower is not going to qualify regardless of credit scores because debt to income is to high.  She has 44 open tradelines most of which are deferred student loans.  FHA will be her only option with the credit scores  On an FHA Loan with a Purchase Price of $100,000 with a 3.5% Down Payment the DTI’s are 15.71 / 131.03% (what is this and where did these numbers come from?) so WAY too high to qualify for any loan amount.   She would have to pay debt on credit or consolidate some debt into one loan in order to qualify for anything.  Work on consolidating all the student loans. Also start closing out accounts that are not active. (I have none) Then overtime your credit will start building back up.  Having that many open tradlines can hurt your score. If you consolidate debt it may be a little higher payment but overall it will lower you monthly payments. For instance If I have a 3 $100 dollar monthly payments. I consolidate those 3 and now I have a $200 dollar payment it saves me $100 a month. You can still make those same payments but as far as your debt to income it will help.  Conventional allows you to use .5% but you need a 620 credit and DTI will still have to 45%. I would work on consolidating your loans into one loan and do an income based repayment plan."

What do I do? What options?  Yes, I have $435k in student loans, with all deferred, as I am completing my Ph.D.  If I submit the consoladation loan, yes, it would go down to a MUCH smaller number of loans, but still $435k, not to include the new loans for the last year of school.  As an educator, my payments are only for 120 months, then the rest is forgiven.  Can that help me?  I was an entrepreneur last year, so my AGI is $4350, which means I have to use my current salary to get an actual payment plan based on real income that might be $400/month- worth getting into a home.  I could also wait until January 2020 for NACA, as it wants me to wait for twelve months with no late payments. I have my current car note $500 and practically no credit card debt.  The house I want to buy is rentable starting June 1 for 1195/month.  I may ask the owner to consider holding a note, as refi may be easier.

Thanks for the help and suggestions.

If I have a margin loan balance of say 300k with my broker. How does that impact my ability to qualify for a mortgage? Are these margin loans ignored when looking to debt-to-income?
 

I’m unsure because margin loans do not require monthly payments and are backed by assets (stocks/options) that can be liquidated to maintain maintenance requirements.

Obviously with a 300k margin loan balance, I’d have 600k+ in stocks and other assets which would net out to positive 300k+…. So it’s kind of a loan but not really…

Thank you so much for the insights! Appreciate it.

My credit situation has drastically changed. I am CreditKarma Equi 635 Trans 648 with an Exp 639

These numbers have gone up over the last couple of years with lots of hard work.

My question is.....my ex boyfriends parents bought us a house 2 years ago and we signed mortgage papers to pay them instead of acquiring a conventional mortgage. 

We are both named on the deed with his mom as ETAL.

My ex, unknown to me, was a drug addict. I sent him packing back up to NJ with his parents approval. They are allowing me to keep the house and continue to pay them

until I am able to refinance. This is a godsend. 

Now, I am looking for some direction on what is the best way to proceed. What kind of mortgage should a single female with decent income consider?

Is refinancing easier?

Thanks in advance to everyone here