Ditto.
Realtors, brokers, VA loans - first time home buyer
- Thread starter NorCalAthlete
- Start date
NorCalAthlete
O_o
Realistically, as picky as I’m being it’ll probably be a couple months just for the right place to pop up regardless. I do feel like it will continue to slide for a bit but I’m ok with that and just as with investing time in the market beats timing the market most cases. I could have bought a place in 2014 and passed due to not feeling financially secure enough - looking back I easily could have done it. Now...now I’m not going to miss another shot while sitting on the sidelines worrying.
berth
Well-known member
Many people I know have "over bought" on their budget and pondered how'd they'd get by, and in the end they've managed to get through it with no drama.
Mind they always had stable careers an income, which is pretty much a requirement. But even if you bought within your budget, if you're income takes a big hit, it just affects everything.
scootergmc
old and slow
Don't second guess your feelings. You're either ready or you're not. Just because you're better off six years later doesn't mean you should've done it or easily could've. Plenty of people from 2004-2006 felt the same way and went ahead and did it. You say "miss another shot" like there's an opportunity to be had right now. Does the opportunity have to do with your working/fixed (not your investing) income level? Is there a chance it will diminish with a RE downturn?
bpw
Well-known member
On the other side of that, when we bought our house we went for something either one of us could easily afford, if that is an option it can quite wonderful to not really have to think about the cost of the house every month. It also allowed us to pay back the loan way faster since we both would put money in every month even though it wasn't needed. Our house is smaller and more beat up than what we could have "afforded" but we are also at ~70% positive equity after five years and could pay it off now if we wanted to.
I would rather own a small house than rent a large one from the bank.
sill'r B sill'd
Throttle Therapy
My wife and I are closing on our first house in SLO County this Friday. Prices are going up, so we decided to buy before we got priced out. We offered 35k over asking and we weren't even the highest offer (My co-worker bought a house two blocks down for 550k and list price was 500k). We released some contingencies which made our offer more competitive.
Definitely have a good realtor that puts you on their MLS. They can often email you right when a listing goes live, or even contact you if they have info on specific houses coming up. We thought about a condo or townhouse, but decided to stretch our budget to stay away from HOAs and all the horror stories attached to them.
If you have good credit and a decent down payment, your PMI could be very reasonable even with a conventional loan. Ours is $63/month with both our credit scores above 780 and 10% down. PMI was waaay less than the mortgage calculators on Zillow or Realtor.com.
We paid for the housing inspection and found him ourselves via reading online reviews. The seller paid for a termite and septic inspection. The house was built in 2002 and everything checked out great.
Our realtor referred us to a loan officer he closely works with. We also checked rates through our local credit union, but the loan officer was able to get us a better rate. He had amazing online reviews and has been wonderful to work with.
I'd recommend buying asap as long as you have stable income. Everyone says to wait for the bubble to burst, but you could get priced out of an area you like just as quickly.
Good luck with the new home search!
Definitely have a good realtor that puts you on their MLS. They can often email you right when a listing goes live, or even contact you if they have info on specific houses coming up. We thought about a condo or townhouse, but decided to stretch our budget to stay away from HOAs and all the horror stories attached to them.
If you have good credit and a decent down payment, your PMI could be very reasonable even with a conventional loan. Ours is $63/month with both our credit scores above 780 and 10% down. PMI was waaay less than the mortgage calculators on Zillow or Realtor.com.
We paid for the housing inspection and found him ourselves via reading online reviews. The seller paid for a termite and septic inspection. The house was built in 2002 and everything checked out great.
Our realtor referred us to a loan officer he closely works with. We also checked rates through our local credit union, but the loan officer was able to get us a better rate. He had amazing online reviews and has been wonderful to work with.
I'd recommend buying asap as long as you have stable income. Everyone says to wait for the bubble to burst, but you could get priced out of an area you like just as quickly.
Good luck with the new home search!
Kornholio
:wave
Pete,
FWIW, I bought my first house using VA and made zero down payment and had no issues with buyers based on that whatsoever. That was in 2009 when literally zero banks knew fuck all about VA loans and how they worked. It was a cluster fuck to find a banker that actually knew anything at all and was able to make the effort needed to actually secure the loan. These days, the market is flooded with buyers using VA loans and the banks are well versed in it. I've still never heard of a seller turning up their nose at a buyer or a bank not being able to secure a loan just because the buyer is VA either. From my own personal view, not having to put up a down payment is really the biggest point, if not realistically the only point of using the VA loan. If you're able to secure even just 3%, you're in FHA territory and no longer have to jump through the hoops necessary to secure the VA loan. Obviously if you can do 20%, you're in better shape than most first-time buyers.
YMMV. :2cents
FWIW, I bought my first house using VA and made zero down payment and had no issues with buyers based on that whatsoever. That was in 2009 when literally zero banks knew fuck all about VA loans and how they worked. It was a cluster fuck to find a banker that actually knew anything at all and was able to make the effort needed to actually secure the loan. These days, the market is flooded with buyers using VA loans and the banks are well versed in it. I've still never heard of a seller turning up their nose at a buyer or a bank not being able to secure a loan just because the buyer is VA either. From my own personal view, not having to put up a down payment is really the biggest point, if not realistically the only point of using the VA loan. If you're able to secure even just 3%, you're in FHA territory and no longer have to jump through the hoops necessary to secure the VA loan. Obviously if you can do 20%, you're in better shape than most first-time buyers.
YMMV. :2cents
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tfkrocks
Well-known member
Haven't bought anything yet but I talked to an experienced realtor about it when I was loosely considering something. He basically said that it's a long shot in the Bay Area since people can easily sell things "as-is" and not put money into it which usually won't satisfy VA loan requirements. A major point was that those required inspections absolutely must be paid for by the seller; you're not allowed to just cover the costs yourself under a VA loan. It made me reconsider trying to get something sooner with a VA loan and to just save up more.
gnahc79
Fear me!
If the location is good, don't rule out townhomes/multi unit. We've been in our place for 13 yrs now. Pros of a townhome far outweigh the cons for our place. HOA fees actually went down several years ago and regular maintenance is still done. The big stuff is covered, no special assessments/fees for a new roof, new siding, repainting etc. Upkeep costs just have to cover stuff inside the home. Great option for a first time homebuyer. Prices are still nuts for my neighborhood. IMO wait until a few months after the eviction moratoriums expire.
DannoXYZ
Well-known member
yeah! Unemployment and bankruptcies on rise. Many people overbought their houses. New lockdown orders. We're ripe for crash in multiple markets. You'll know when crash happens and prices will be much more favourable. Heck, I bought my place in 2009 for 35% less than it would've cost in 2008.
There's delicate balance between down-payment and mortgage payments. You'll have to run what-if scenarios based upon what that difference would earn you. I'm up 53% for past 12-months in my investments. So there's balance somewhere such that I can maximise my net-worth growth by paying certain % down to lower my mortgage payments so extra cash can go into investments and make higher return.
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Ogg
Oggito ergo sum
I've used VA loans twice without issue, both times with 5% down to get a better overall rate. If you qualify for a VA loan, then you also likely qualify for membership @ military-related credit unions. In addition to their experience underwriting VA loans, they also tend to have the best mortgage rates.
At last check, Navy Federal was lowest by a significant margin.
I used NavyFed in a non-VA transaction last October - generally a great experience.
berth
Well-known member
The reason folks talk about VA loans, is apparently as a "bank" they're pickier on appraisals and inspections and such. They're just a bit fussier about it. That's what our Realtor said, simply that there's more of a chance of escrow failing because of the VA (vs the buyer) than with a normal bank.
How much more of a chance? I don't know. I don't recall if we sold to someone with a VA loan or not, I just recall it wasn't a real consideration for our offers (i.e. we're not rejecting it because of the VA, but because someone else offered more XXX).
How much more of a chance? I don't know. I don't recall if we sold to someone with a VA loan or not, I just recall it wasn't a real consideration for our offers (i.e. we're not rejecting it because of the VA, but because someone else offered more XXX).
FLH03RIDER
Recedite, plebes!
This might be a helpful place to start regarding a refi:
https://www.va.gov/housing-assistance/home-loans/loan-types/
Akira-R
Well-known member
Ask if anyone has died in the house.
Check all the faucets for buildup/signs of hard water. They may have a water softener already, but if they've just installed it recently the pipes may not be in the best shape. The faucet buildup might be a sign of that.
If it matters to you, check the PGE zone and see if it's in a zone that doesn't get rolling brown outs.
Check what internet services are available for that location.
Check your phone carriers signal in the area, and in the house if you inspect it.
I'll also +11billionty on overlapping rent with closing. If possible, try to work out a month to month. I recently had a buddy whose contractor and team got covid. This was already on top of being slow. Shit will never line up end to end. Make sure you aren't forced to move in before it's ready.
Check all the faucets for buildup/signs of hard water. They may have a water softener already, but if they've just installed it recently the pipes may not be in the best shape. The faucet buildup might be a sign of that.
If it matters to you, check the PGE zone and see if it's in a zone that doesn't get rolling brown outs.
Check what internet services are available for that location.
Check your phone carriers signal in the area, and in the house if you inspect it.
I'll also +11billionty on overlapping rent with closing. If possible, try to work out a month to month. I recently had a buddy whose contractor and team got covid. This was already on top of being slow. Shit will never line up end to end. Make sure you aren't forced to move in before it's ready.
littlebeast
get it while it's easy
is this because of the low (and no) downpayment requirements on VA loans? it may be a function of their lending practices. due to them generally funding a higher precentage of the purchase price than the average bank, it would make sense if they are concerned that the property may appraise lower than the loan amount - in which case they’d focus heavily on the appraisal and inspection results.
IIRC this is legally required to be disclosed (a box on the mandatory disclosure form).
Abacinator
Unholy Blasphemies
Curious, why does it matter if anyone has died in the house?
Ogg
Oggito ergo sum
The VA doesn't make the loan, they insure/guarantee the loan (for something like 80% of the value of the loan). Typical loan underwriting is more focused on ability/likelihood to repay. The VA part of the underwriting is more along the lines of insurance underwriting, so they're more concerned about the resale value if you default, some of which is driven by conditions like age of roof, etc.
Think of it as cheap/free PMI for veterans.
That's generally true of any lender/loan, not specific to VA-backed. The appraisal, of course, is supposed to arrive at market value. Yeah, I get that "market value" is whatever a third party is willing to pay in an arm's length transaction, but the mortgage industry puts the appraiser in the middle as a hedge against that third party being
Edit: Better way to say this... You've done an appraisal, even if just in your head, to arrive at FMV from your point of view. As a partner in the transaction, the lender uses the professional appraiser to decide what they think FMV is. The lender is only willing to be a party to the transaction if you use the lender's estimate of FMV.
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