What advice to you have for a first time home buyer with limited finances?

Answer 1

Try to get a co-signer if possible. It might drastically lower your interest rate and save you alot of money.

We have also been told that every young couple should also keep an emergency house fund, which should be aprox. 2 months of housing expenses.

Answer 2

My advice is to contact several lenders. Make sure you mix up the calls. Call at least two retail banks, maybe a broker or two and a large real-estate lender.

I recently bought a home. There is so much information to learn. Each lender will give you about 3 or 4 different programs to choose from. You can get bad credit financing, low income financing....there is so much to learn. Each one can pre-approve you (and you want to do this before you start talking to a real-estate agent so you know what you can afford to make an offer on). Also, find out which lender will allow the most "seller's assist". In this day and age anyone can buy a house, but don't settle for the first offer.

I actually went through Coldwell Banker Home Mortgage. I was shocked since they are such a huge company, but they were fantastic. They got us the best deal, made sure nothing went wrong, and guaranteed and met the closing date we wanted.

If you want the mortgage officer contact info I have, please email me (click on the email icon next to my name). This guy was great and did all of the calculations and found the program before he even ran credit scores!!

Good luck!!!

Answer 3

you should have at least 6 months of living expenses tucked away. there are programs for 1st time home buyers and down payment assistance programs. you can ask the sellers to contribute a percentage of the purchase price towards your closing costs, but be careful as many lenders will put a cap on how much the seller can contribute. i work in the real estate industry and am seeing too many foreclosures due to misinformed customers. do your homework. You can also contact a credit counseling company in your area. They have free seminars that can help you make the right choice.
Don't forget, owning a home is more than paying the mortgage and utilities. There is upkeep and unexpected problems that happen more than you think.

As for person who got the money back at closing, good for you but it doesn't always work out that way. a lot of lenders will require a certain amount of money to be brought to closing.

Answer 4

Some great tips have been given already.

You can also check out to see if the there are any state/federal grants or loan programs that will help with a down payment, closing cost assistance or even with a discounted loan rate. These programs may help you save money if you have limited resources. Check out the site below for more info.

Good luck!

Answer 5

Get your financing ahead of time. Sometimes realtor's have resources for you to get your financing, but if you go to a site like lendingtree.com the banks will give you multiple offers; they are competing for your business.
Have an idea going in how much you have to spend and what you can afford for your mortgage. Don't let them talk you into spending more! My husband and I knew we wanted to buy a house, but didn't want to get in over our heads; they kept telling us we could qualify for more, but we didn't want to.
If there is anything you don't understand, make them explain it until you do! It's your money. Good luck!

Answer 6

Have you bought yet?
Do you live in USA?
Do you realize the housing market is collapsing?
Not a good time to be buying a house with limited finances, lenders are tightening their requirements, because they are losing money on "ARMS" as people are going into default.

Answer 7

If YOU ARE THINKING OF BUYING A HOME ON LIMITED FUNDS--DON'T --YOU ARE A FORECLOSURE IN THE PROCESS. That is the worst thing you can do. Save up $$$ and put down a reasonable down payment and keep 6 months of monthly expenses liquid at ALL TIMES. The mortgage industry is in great flux now and they do not want your loan.
I am a mortgage banker