Moving Questions

[Jadis]

Ok.. so I found a home that has a rent to buy option on it. It's in a decent area of Redford. The guy is willing to work with me a bit on the terms ...

Sometimes there are grants for first time home buyers ... do any of you know anything about that? Or maybe you could suggest a decent loan company?

My credit isn't horrible ... but it isn't great either. I just don't want to get hosed on a high intrest loan.

Thanks for any ideas you have to offer.

[Fierce Critter]

We bought a house with an FHA loan.

Your realtor can tell you about that.

Oh, but if you're going through just a private seller, you'll need to do that kind of research yourself, which I guess is the point of your thread. :D

Google FHA.

[Rayne]

An FHA loan is a great thing.

My parents just got a great deal refinancing their house for the third time in a row for yet a LOWER interest rate with the FHA and lowered their house payment (which their loan is about $50k over their appraisal value AND they filed for bankruptcy about 5 years ago).

I'm actually looking at switching our interest only on our own house (I know, ICK) over to a fixed rate FHA loan. This will be about our third refinance in two years (First place really screwed everything up -- second one fixed all they could from the first one's screw up but it left us still not right -- this one will fix it all).

As for mortgage companies, they all vary. My parents is awesome -- for them, but not us. We have a decent one for us right now, but they suck for someone else I know. My best-friend has a great mortgage company that works with every little issue they have, but they wanted to charge us an astronomical interest rate. Call and talk to several different ones and see which one would work best for you.

[Steven]

you might be able to get the owner to carry the loan if you dont qualify, thats a growing trend now. if you DO qualify - there are sometiems city grants (check with Redford's website) that you can get but your obligated to stay in the home for "X" amount of years or you have to pay it back. I like Redford personally. I will come cook meat in your backyard.

that sounded kinda sexy....

[sass_in_the_pants]

I am very familiar with Redford.

Redford is the Big Sexy. Pass it on.

Housing rehabilitation program. Might be useful to you.

http://www.redfordtwp.com/dept/comdev/index.htm#sess2

MSHDA usually has the lowest interest rates.

http://www.michigan.gov/mshda

[Pandora]

Also you might want to try to get Two loans to cover the house, to avoid mortgage insurance if you don't have enough to cover 20% of the downpayment. I think it's called mortgage insurance, or private mortgage insurance. It's expensive and unnecessary if you get two loans, i.e. instead of one for 100K, get one for 25K and one for 75K. Your realtor can explain it better than I can, but if you can swing it you'll save some serious cash over the life of the loan.

[sass_in_the_pants]

Also you might want to try to get Two loans to cover the house, to avoid mortgage insurance if you don't have enough to cover 20% of the downpayment. I think it's called mortgage insurance, or private mortgage insurance. It's expensive and unnecessary if you get two loans, i.e. instead of one for 100K, get one for 25K and one for 75K. Your realtor can explain it better than I can, but if you can swing it you'll save some serious cash over the life of the loan.

Pandora's close.

If you have less than 20% to pay for a down payment, you will have to pay primary mortgage insurance. It's stupid, unless you're an insurance company in which case it's a cash cow. So, what alot of people is get two loans, one for the 20% and one for the 80%. Often the rates on the two loans can be less than the rate on a loan for 100% of the cost, once the PMI is included.

Also, PMI is not tax deductible. Interest in this case is.

Also, have you looked at foreclosures? There are unfortunately alot and you can snatch up a nice deal. I've heard, though I can't give you any info on it, but I've heard that they even have free bus tours of the foreclosed properties in an area.

[Jadis]

Thanks for all the info. I called the FHA to get some info. Good stuff.

I have heard of the foreclosure bus tours. Interesting idea. I think I'm going to settle for something I can get on a Land Contract for 12 - 18 months. Time will tell.

I absolutely appreciate the input though!!!!

[pomba gira]

Contact MSHDA or your local housing authority. They have info on a lot of programs, one of them is likely to meet your specific needs! For example I got my house with an FHA moderate-income loan, and a City of Lansing program that paid the down payment, closing costs, and some other stuff as an interest-free loan that will be forgiven if I live in the house for five years.

Also, if you're a member at a credit union, many of them have a certified HUD housing counselor on staff. One of them was very helpful to me when I was facing foreclosure last year. They also do pre-home ownership counseling.

[Draco1958]

I'm not sure where to gwet the info but the Feds did have a program for first time buyers. it's supposed to be a low interest loan. They even have a program to help with down payments too. Check with HUD.