We decided to buy a house

[Moosker 7]

Wait, what? What did you get approved for? Some "houses" only allow specific loans, but if you are pre-approved for an FHA loan (or other) you should be good to go to buy a house! What's going on? Maybe it's because of the "smart move" loan you mentioned....try getting approved through a different type of loan!!! Don't give up!!

[Kimbear 53]

Apparently FHA loans work great for DETACHED homes, unfortunately i wont find one around her for less than 200k, so we are looking at townhomes or duplex's which to me look like townhomes, and half the 2story townhomes are actually condos...and yeahhhhh.. 90% of what is out here including some detached homes have an association or a coop. and you cannot buy those homes unless they get fha approved and pass the owner /occupancy ratio and a bunch of stuff.

from what i'm told fha rules this year are stricter than last year and the fha assessor has to also say its ok for the loan....

the smartmove loan is a secondary govt loan that is to help pay for closing costs..basicially they give me 10 years tax free to pay it back. up to 6k.

Edited March 25, 2011 by Kimbear

[Moosker 7]

WHAT? I work with a girl who bought a condo with an FHA loan (which also obviously has an HOA). We have an FHA loan and while we had the home inspection, the inspector told us that there were all these things an FHA "inspector" would want us to fix. We never did any of those! So I think it's worth giving it a shot!!

[Flames9_RN 358]

Yes certain sellers won't deal with certain types of loans as they are stricter, more of a hassle in some cases. Guess they are not desperate to sell. The right house will come along, just try not to get discouraged and then just buy a house because ur sick of the process,lol Hopefully you can go month to month on your apartment lease, that way gives you a bit more time.

[Moosker 7]

Don't give up! Once you finally push through all the paperwork and buy the house, you'll love it!

[Hugglebuggles 60]

I encountered this too Kimbear! We bought our house using an FHA loan. We started out looking at town homes and condos as well, since we could get a little more house for our budget (or so we thought). But if I remember correctly, the units in the complex need to be at least 60% (or something like that) owner occupied, and not rentals. I'm not sure why this is important, but somehow it is. The home also needs to be in acceptable move-in condition, and go through an FHA appraisal/inspection before closing. The appraisal needs to meet or exceed the purchase price or no deal. We looked at a couple fixer homes that needed a bunch of work, but our realtor told us really quickly that there would be no way we could buy it with an FHA. It would have required us to go back to the drawing board and try to get a different loan.

We ended up finding a small detached home that was FHA acceptable. It needed and needs a bit of work here and there, but it was move in ready enough! You'll find something!

[Flames9_RN 358]

I encountered this too Kimbear! We bought our house using an FHA loan. We started out looking at town homes and condos as well, since we could get a little more house for our budget (or so we thought). But if I remember correctly, the units in the complex need to be at least 60% (or something like that) owner occupied, and not rentals. I'm not sure why this is important, but somehow it is. The home also needs to be in acceptable move-in condition, and go through an FHA appraisal/inspection before closing. The appraisal needs to meet or exceed the purchase price or no deal. We looked at a couple fixer homes that needed a bunch of work, but our realtor told us really quickly that there would be no way we could buy it with an FHA. It would have required us to go back to the drawing board and try to get a different loan.

We ended up finding a small detached home that was FHA acceptable. It needed and needs a bit of work here and there, but it was move in ready enough! You'll find something!

Reason why is that studies have shown that condo//townhouse associations that have a higher percentage of owners residing there, look after the place better,thus better for resale--So said our Realtor, Which I tend to agree. The units I have seen that have been rented out at our place, tend to be a bit more run down, and lucky me is renting ours out,lol I rather burn it,lol

[Canadiandggal 49]

We are thinking of starting to look in the next few months but I do not know where to start . I do not have any credit yet, just got my first CC last week, not to mention that I am staying at home till after the baby is born (at least a year or so till I go to work) and My husband has so so credit (he had a bankruptcy 7 years ago) so It will be pretty damn hard.

My head is already hurting just thinking about it.

Kimbear I am sure your house is out there somewhere, hang in there

[Kimbear 53]

We are thinking of starting to look in the next few months but I do not know where to start . I do not have any credit yet, just got my first CC last week, not to mention that I am staying at home till after the baby is born (at least a year or so till I go to work) and My husband has so so credit (he had a bankruptcy 7 years ago) so It will be pretty damn hard.

My head is already hurting just thinking about it.

Kimbear I am sure your house is out there somewhere, hang in there

Well there are programs out there even if you had a bankruptcy. i know for FHA you need at least a 580 score i think. however the amount down will depend. for the 3.5% i believe lowest score is 620. But there are all kinds of options and state programs to help with down payment, closing costs etc.

I just found out we can get also the Fannie May Mortgages called Homepath as well and that our mortgane officer already pre approved us for that as well. With that bit of good news we can now look at places that are not even FHA approved. And the closing costs are lower so are the monthly payments with a Home path, as you do not need mortgage insurance or an appraisal.

Now we have 3 homes to go see tomorrow. YAY.

I believe bankruptcy's drop off your record after 7 years..so dpending on what month it happend or was first recored on his credit rating you may still be able to get something.

Edited March 27, 2011 by Kimbear

[Flames9_RN 358]

Disregard!!

Edited March 27, 2011 by Flames9_RN

[Moosker 7]

Yay! Keep us posted!

[Krikit 1,163]

And the closing costs are lower so are the monthly payments with a Home path, as you do not need mortgage insurance or an appraisal.

I can't imagine any situation where a lender won't require an appraisal for the money they are putting up.

[Flames9_RN 358]

I just looked closely at that homepath--i did notice their was an asterik by the no PMI. I read somewhere that your mortgage rate would be higher. But they said even with the higher rate, ur monthly payments would be lower than paying PMI???? Usually once you get above 20% value, you can drop the PMI anyways. They sure make it difficult to compare them. Banks get thier $$$$$ out of you 1 way or the other

[Kimbear 53]

Well the kicker with homepath is that you require the same credit score as a conventional loan 660, but you don't have to cough up the 20% down payment, and they have usually already done some work and repairs to it.

Apparently i was wrong in thinking we were approved for that..our score falls just below it. so we are still stuck looking at FHA approved condo/ townhomes or buying a single story detached or a duplex etc with no Home owner association fees. so i rethought our finances a bit..and have accepted the fact we'll have to pay a bit more for something we really like. we were preapproved for a set amount but add in utilities etc and no way would we be able to afford all that each month. No matter what the bank says. So i was playing it extremely cautious.

The 3 townhomes we saw last night, to me are not townhomes. and i'd rather 2 floors wide then 3 floors thin with a ton of stairs..and steep ones at that..sorry but i've already fallen down stairs twice and bruised my butt LOL. that was NOT fun.

So tomorrow we have a nice 1/2 duplex they call it, but to me its a townhome like what i'm used to. and it has a nice patio and a big back yard 100 long, already fenced in for the puppers. Taxes are more $$$ in that area but i'm saving myself the 200$ month HOA fees so i figure it all works out even. and its a newer home built in 1984 rather than all the pre 1978 homes i keep finding.

so depending on the viewing and the price, i really have a good feeling about this one. OH and its right next to a forest preserve...not quite the country but far enough out that just maybe I'll see stars for once instead of the planes over my head near O'hare here lol.

[Moosker 7]

Decisions, decisions eh?

As always, keep us posted!