All you homeowners

[AnonymousPenguin]

First off... Hi guys!!

I'm looking to buy a home...
Any recommendations/suggestions on mortgage companies, loans, etc...???? ...I would greatly appreciate it since this is new for me.

Anyone have any internet lenders?...how are they?

Any ways to avoid mortgage insurance?... I know of the 80/20 loan...


Also, if anyone is selling their townhouse or has a neighbor/friend selling one...please let me know!!

Thanks a bunch!

 

[Otter]

AP!

 

[Ken King]

Chilly Willy, welcome back. As to your questions, ask Sleuth14. That boy has looked at about every house on the market and probably dealt with every realator in the area. He should be able to give you the low down.

 

[Kirsten]

Hey there, my hubby and I are also in the process. Bank of America has something called the Acorn Program, if you attend a 3 part seminar on financial responsibility for homebuyers type thing they WAVE the mortgage insurance on your loan. Its a pretty good deal, 3% down and they said they would approve us up to $210k.

All parts of the program are held up in DC but its worth it.

Hope this helps, also if you don't already know this don't be douped by mortgage companies, EVERY TIME you have your credit history pulled it takes points off your overall rating! Neither my hubby nor myself knew this and we went shopping around on our own and because we prequalled with 3-4 different mortgage lenders it dropped our score significantly, and don't let them tell you it won't effect your credit because it DOES! Wish I could help you out more.

We are using John Crane with ReMax Choice over in Soloman's (brain fart just forgot which way it is spelled) and overall the ReMax agents in SOMD seem to all be VERY willing to work for you, and do their best to get things done. Hope you can find something to your liking! Good luck

 

[SxyPrincess]

Welcome back, AP!

 

[SmallTown]

Fallacy: My score will drop if I apply for new credit.
Fact: If it does, it probably won't drop much. If you apply for several credit cards within a short period of time, multiple requests for your credit report information (called "inquiries") will appear on your report. Looking for new credit can equate with higher risk, but most credit scores are not affected by multiple inquiries from auto or mortgage lenders within a short period of time. Typically, these are treated as a single inquiry and will have little impact on the credit score.

 

[Kirsten]

ST the financial advisors at the Acorn program, which is where hubby was yesterday, told him that every time you have a CREDIT INQUIRY done, it knocks points down on your overall rating, now it may just be temporary but it does affect it. And when you are shopping around for a mortgage the last thing you want is your score dropping.

Now no I don't know who the financial advisors are, but confirmed it with some personal contacts who have gone through the homebuying process. So yes it does.

 

[SmallTown]

http://www.myfico.com/myfico/CreditCentral/CreditInquires.asp#20



I've gone through the process twice, on both times our scores either stayed the same or increased between start and finish of the home buying process. No lender wants you to think it doesn't affect the score because they don't want you to shop around. Also, many don't even know how the scores are created because they don't really care. They just pull up your info, get your credit score, then move on.

 

[Christy]

Originally posted by Kirsten
ST the financial advisors at the Acorn program, which is where hubby was yesterday, told him that every time you have a CREDIT INQUIRY done, it knocks points down on your overall rating, now it may just be temporary but it does affect it. And when you are shopping around for a mortgage the last thing you want is your score dropping.

Now no I don't know who the financial advisors are, but confirmed it with some personal contacts who have gone through the homebuying process. So yes it does.

A few years back we filled out an application on LendingTree.com, because, hey, getting the lowest interest rate sounded pretty cool to me. It was a killer for our credit rating because of all the inquiries.

 

[Christy]

ST, there's a huge difference in scoring when you do something stupid like fill out a LendingTree application, which essentially gives each lender permission to pull a full credit report, whereas, when you get a bazillion "pre-approved" credit card offers or refinance offers that have zero effect on your credit. They're two different types of "pulls".

 

[Kirsten]

Originally posted by Christy
ST, there's a huge difference in scoring when you do something stupid like fill out a LendingTree application, which essentially gives each lender permission to pull a full credit report, whereas, when you get a bazillion "pre-approved" credit card offers or refinance offers that have zero effect on your credit. They're two different types of "pulls".

Just be careful AP, and watch how many lenders you prequal with. Again good luck

 

[SmallTown]

Originally posted by Christy
ST, there's a huge difference in scoring when you do something stupid like fill out a LendingTree application, which essentially gives each lender permission to pull a full credit report, whereas, when you get a bazillion "pre-approved" credit card offers or refinance offers that have zero effect on your credit. They're two different types of "pulls".

Yes, but look at the link I posted to read more about how this works with regards to mortgages and cars.

And with our first home, we used lending tree as well as traditional lenders and saw no adverse things happen to our credit score.

But with the extra talk of mortgage hits, I guess nobody bothered to read the link.
And also, checking the score yourself on myfico doesn't impact your credit score either, regardless of what people may tell you.

 

[sleuth]

Originally posted by AnonymousPenguin
First off... Hi guys!!

I'm looking to buy a home...
Any recommendations/suggestions on mortgage companies, loans, etc...???? ...I would greatly appreciate it since this is new for me.

Anyone have any internet lenders?...how are they?

Any ways to avoid mortgage insurance?... I know of the 80/20 loan...

For a lender, try Steve Combs at Charter One Mortgage in Lexington Park. He really went above and beyond to help me out. I got a loan that was 100% financing, 6.0% interest, and no PMI. Tell him Craig Hamilton referred you.

For a realtor, I used Juliet Brown at Century 21 New Millenium in Lexington Park. I was pretty happy with her and she worked hard, but I don't know how she really compared with other realtors.

 

[vraiblonde]

Hi Penguin! We miss you! Tell TT I said Hi! And BBC!

 

[giggles04]

The only information I know about finding real estate and what not is realtors. I know many in the area that are very good with what they do.
One is Ron Lord with Remax... he's a friend of my dad's. If you want his info... let me know and I'll pm it to you.

Others are Karen Brooks, Margaret Taylor, and Lucy Barbour with C21 in Lexington Park, and Jennifer Kessler in Solomons. Addie McBride is another good one, but her company name slips my mind. Either way... you can't go wrong. These would be the only people I would deal with when I'm ready to look for a home.

 

[Erin]

Try this site for rates:

www.bankrate.com/brm/rates_home.asp

Select the state & it'll give you loads of lenders. I'd be careful when comparing rates, some companies have lower rates but then get you with 'hidden costs' at closing. It's tricky business, but if you keep asking your lender questions then you should be well informed and not have any *surprises.*

 

[Lilly]

I do not reccomend anyone at C21. Our buyer's agent actually left halfway through the settlement because she was late for a hair appointment!! I guess she figured she already got her cut and didn't need to do anything more for us!

Also as far as Home Inspector's go I don't reccomend Canter Environmental either. They did a shoddy job on our inspection. Missed several things that they should have caught and then screwed up a lead paint test.

Wish I had more good reccomendations! Good Luck!

 

[itsbob]

ANONYMOUS.. there are always townhouses for sale where I am.. Patuxent Point in Solomons. One next to me is for sale on Stowaway Ct and the one floor place across from me is for rent.. I love it here. HUGE townhomes, I have a 5 bedroom w 4 bath. No mowing the lawns.. free pool...

 

[AnonymousPenguin]

Thank you all for the suggestions...I'm taking notes... lots of good info! ...keep em coming.

Hi Vrai... I've lost touch with TT and BBC... last time I ran into BBC (over a year ago), he said that TT was moving to...to... Georgia I think. Maybe our paths will cross again...