Sunday, March 25, 2007

BUT DAMN! #222 100% FINANCING




My FICO SCORE IS 740!!
BUT DAMN!
I CAN’T GET 100% FINANCING
!

The 100% financing boat has left the dock. 5% down is the norm for owner occupied purchases. If you are thinking second home or rental property you’d better dig deep. We are talking 10% to 20% down. You can thank your slacker friends who took their sub par credit, and purchased sub par loans, with balloon payments and variable rate loans, who live way beyond their means, and who are now loosing their homes, … why? … just to keep up with you, Mr. & Ms. Jones! But wait! Hold up! Let’s check the “at fault meter“, yes, lets not forget the “fungus among us” you putz with your your 740 FICO, you wanna-be land baron who bought the spec house sunk 20k to 60k in it, to fix it up, only to find nobody wants your cheap material choices, no one can afford the new rates and buyers who can afford these over inflated prices, know they can be picky. You’ve been paying that mortgage for 9 months or more and your realtor now brings his portable DVD player to your open house. Fret not, misery loves company and you’ve got plenty of it. On your block alone there are four other houses in the same dam pinch, just different colored signs out front.
What to do? Here’s a "trifecta" of choices for those still wanting to purchase additional property and continue this pony race.

1. If you can, do a full documentation (full docs)loan, ie… someone looking at your taxes and all you dirty financial laundry. You may still be good to purchase no money down if you can move into the place temporarily for 2 years before selling it. This is great If you’re young and it’s just the two of you, I know folks who move every two years for just this purpose.

2. Bite the bullet pay the 10% down, but buy in another state with cheaper land. Scratch Cali, Florida and New York off your list and look at Texas, Nebraska, Idaho, places, where houses are cheap, appreciation is high and people have jobs. Take that sour look off your face. You're not moving there ... you're trying to make money!

3. Negotiation is back! It’s a buyers market and sellers are taking reasonable discount offers, especially if that spec house is sitting there empty. Buyers are willing to pay closing cost and all sorts of paint, carpet “repair concessions” Don’t Demand, Just Ask.
If this column helped save you some "paper,"or "peeped" you some knowledge, please leave a comment below.