Importance of Getting a Pre-Approval Before House Shopping is a post from: FHA,VA and Conventional Home Loans in all 50 States

The very first thing you should do when in the market for home is the get a full  loan pre-approval.  This is true regarding FHA, VA or conventional home loans.  This is very important because your don’t want to waste a lot of time searching for a property until you know for sure if you can get approved and what the maximum amount you can approved for is.  This can be accomplished in a matter of minutes and then you will have the peace of mind that if you make and offer on a home and it gets accepted you will have no problem closing.

Below is a list of what we will do to fully approved your for your loan:

1. We will go through a loan application (most often over the phone).  It is best for me to talk to you and go through the application vs. having you fill one out as this way we get it right the first time and save a lot of time.
2. We will do a credit check
3. I will ask you to send me your last 1 months paystub copies, last 2 years w-2′s and bank statements documenting where you will be getting the down payment.  If you are self-employed we will need your last 2 years of federal tax returns all pages.

After those simple steps I can issue you a pre-approval letter.  In the call we will also discuss the maximum loan amount that you qualify for and what the total payment will be (mortgage + property taxes + home insurance).

If you have any questions or would like to get a fast pre-approval give us a call or email.

Warm Regards,

Rob Chomentowski

Sr. Loan Officer

rob@affinity-financial.com

858-922-7899

Non-Permanent U.S. Resident OK for 3.5% Down FHA Loans is a post from: FHA,VA and Conventional Home Loans in all 50 States

There are a lot of potential homeowners that assume erroneously that they need to be U.S. Citizens to get a mortgage loan to purchase a house in the United States.   And there are others that believe that yes they can get a home loan as a non-permanent resident, but they would have to put a very large down payment down.  Both of these beliefs are false.   As long as you have a social security number and are eligible to work in the United States, you may likely be able to qualify for a 3.5% down payment FHA loan to purchase your primary residence.

A quick review of highlights of FHA home loans:

• only 3.5% down require and that can be a gift from a relative or lifelong relationship
• you do not need perfect credit
• flexible underwriting guidelines
• 30 year fixed rate mortgages that are still at historic lows
• low amounts all the way up to $729,000 in California

Warm Regards,

Rob Chomentowski

Sr. Loan Officer and FHA specialist

rob@affinity-financial.com

858-922-7899

Using the $8,000 Tax Credit With an FHA Loan is a post from: FHA,VA and Conventional Home Loans in all 50 States

I wanted to update some new information that has come out regarding using the $8,000 federal tax credit available to home buyers purchasing a home by November 2009.   Recently HUD has talked about allowing borrowers to “monetize” the tax credit and be able to access that money when they close to help them with the money needed to purchase the home.   There has been a lot of mixed information and confusion about this as HUD 1st issued a mortgagee letter about it a few weeks back and then retracted that.  But I will summarize the latest information on it.

HUD is basically saying now that they will allow borrowers using FHA loans to get a bridge loan for the tax credit the help with paying closing costs.  This bridge loan would be a “silent 2nd” loan for the amount tax credit that would eventually have to be paid back by the borrower.  It may or may not have payments.   However borrowers would still have to have the 3.5% minimum down payment needed for an FHA loan.   Government agencies and non-profit groups are supposed to be offering this bridge loan.  However to date there are no agencies offering the bridge loan.

So in summary, in the near future you may be able to get a bridge loan in the amount of the tax credit due to you to help pay closing costs if you purchase a home with a FHA loan.   However at this time there no agencies set up to offer the bridge loan.  But stay tuned and we will update you when there are.

Warm Regards,

Rob Chomentowski

Sr. Loan Officer and FHA Loan Specialist

858-922-7899

rob@affinity-financial.com

FHA Loans and Termite Work is a post from: FHA,VA and Conventional Home Loans in all 50 States

Most older houses have some level of termite damage that exists in the house structure.   And most purchase offers made by buyers call out as a condition to their offer that the buyer will do a pest inspection and the seller will be responsible to fix any section 1 termite damage.  Section 2 termite damage is more serious and not generally paid for by the seller, but of course can be negotiated to be cleared by the seller.

In the old days of FHA loans you had to get a termite clearance before the lender would fund your loan regardless of whether you called for a termite inspection in your purchase contract or not.  But these days if you do not ask for a termite inspection in your purchase contract, you will not have to get a termite clearance to get the FHA loan.

Now if you feel that your seller will pay for the termite work, it can be helpful to call out the termite report inspection as a contingency of your purchase.  But if you feel the seller will not pay of the termite work, you may want to leave the termite inspection out of the contract.  Because once it is in the contract, you will need a clearance before you close.  And if the seller will not pay for the work, the buyer will have to pay for it.

If you have any questions about this topic or any other questions about FHA, VA or conventional home loans, feel free to email or call me.  My contact info is below.

Warm Regards,

Rob Chomentowski

Sr. Loan Officer

rob@affinity-financial.com

858-922-7899

Home Loans For Investors is a post from: FHA,VA and Conventional Home Loans in all 50 States

Most articles on this blog are geared towards FHA loans, which are for people purchasing their primary residences .  But we also handle all other available residential financing such as conventional loans, Jumbo home loans for large loan sizes over the conforming limits, and investor home loans to purchase rental property.  In this blog post I will write a quick blurb as to what is available right now for investors.

Basically right now if you buy a rental property you will have to put 20% down.   The interest rates will be better with 25% down.  You will have to qualify with full income documentation, that means if you are a W-2 employee 2 years of w-2′s + last 30 days paystubs.  If you are self-employed that means your last 2 years tax returns.   One nice thing is if you buy rental property is you can use the estimated rent as income to help qualify even if the property is vacant.  When the appraiser appraises the property they will estimate the market rent.  That is what you can use as income to offset the new housing payment.  This means you can buy a lot of property without if affecting debt ratios because the rent will cover a lot of the rental house payment.  You can also buy up to 10 total financed properties. 

I don’t usually comment on the housing markets, but in many high quality areas of the U.S. that have come down in price significantly (California, Arizona, Nevada Florida especially), there are some tremendous buys.  You can buy a property in a premium market and it will “cash flow”.  Meaning the rental income will cover the total housing payment and all expenses.  In many places in California for example, it has probably been nearly a decade since an investor could achieve this!

So if you have any questions or would like to get pre-approved to buy rental property, give us a call or email.

Warm Regards,

Rob Chomentowski

Sr. Loan Officer

rob@affinity-financial.com

858-922-7899