Tag Archive for first time home buyer

03 Sep 2014
Down Payment Assistance

Home Advantage Down Payment Assistance

How much Down Payment Assistance can I get with Home Advantage?  This depends on the price of the home and lending guidelines.  Home Advantage provides down payment assistance up to 4% of your loan amount.  So if your loan amount was $200,000, you would potentially be eligible for $8,000 in down payment assistance!

Do I have to pay the Down Payment Assistance back?  The money would have to be paid back eventually, but there is NO monthly payment and ZERO interest!  You would repay the down payment assistance when you either sell the home, rent it out, or pay off your 30 year mortgage.A or B?

What loan programs can be used with Home Advantage?  Almost any loan program can be paired with this down payment assistance program, including Conventional, FHA, USDA, and even VA loans.

Is Home Advantage any different than other Down Payment Assistance programs?  Yes.  The rates are much better than other programs that have been offered by Washington State in the past.  Also, for this down payment assistance program you DO NOT have to be a first time home buyer AND it can be paired with the MCC program!  This is unprecedented as in the past most programs have only been available to first time home buyers and could not be paired with the MCC.

Is Home Advantage right for everyone?  Everybody’s personal situation is different.  To find out more about Home Advantage guidelines, as well as other down payment assistance programs offered in Washington State, go to our Calendar/Reservations page and sign up for one of our FREE First Time Home Buyer workshops.  Don’t make the biggest decision of your life without getting educated!

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30 Jun 2014
Real Estate

What’s Earnest Money for?

What is earnest money for?  Earnest money does a couple things for first time home buyers.  One, it’s a show of good faith to the seller that you have the financial capacity to purchase the property.  Two, and more importantly it’s a remedy for default in case you decide to illegally breach the sales contract.

So it’s like a deposit?  Yup, that’s another way to think about it.  If a first time home buyer breaches the contract, the seller is going to be very inconvenienced by having to go back on the market and find another buyer.  They may also be out a fair amount of money, so they just want to confirm that the buyer is serious about purchasing their home.

How much does earnest money have to be?  It really depends, but a general rule of thumb is somewhere between 1-3% of the purchase price.  For instance, somewhere between $2,000-6,000 for a $200,000 dollar home.  Again, this is just an example as the amount can vary in each specific money in the windsituation.

That’s a lot of money!  We realize that this can be a large amount, especially for first time home buyers just starting out.  Please keep in mind that like a deposit this money is credited towards the final purchase.  So as long as you DO NOT breach contract and move forward to closing (which most buyers do) the earnest money will be credited towards your down payment amount.

But what if I decide I don’t want the house?  There are also several protections in the contract that give you outs in certain instances, but we’ll save this for another blog.  Before writing an offer and making a decision about earnest money, be sure to consult with your licensed real estate broker.

Don’t make the biggest decision of your life without getting educated!  If you’d like to learn more about earnest money or the home buyer process in general, please go to our Calendar/Reservations page and sign up for one of our FREE First Time Home Buyer/Down Payment Assistance workshops.

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03 Jun 2014
Real Estate

What if I Don’t Close on Time?

What if I don’t close on time?  Closing your home purchase on time is crucial!  Many lenders think if a first time home buyer misses their close date it’s not really a big deal.  “Just get an extension”, they might say.  But it’s not this easy, so make sure you ask your lender up front how long it will take them to process your file, and hold them to it.

How does it affect me?  Much of first time home buyers lives will revolve around their closing date.  You’ll give your landlord notice that your vacating, you’ll schedule movers, you’ll potentially have new furniture delivered.  If you miss your close date it will probably throw a monkey wrench into your entire life, not to mention you not having a place to live for a while!

Does the seller care?  The seller’s life will also revolve around the close date.  They’ll be scheduling similar situations, so they want to stay on schedule as much as you do.  They also may be buying a new place, and they usually Senior man showing a for sale signcan’t close on their purchase until you close on purchasing their existing home.  So the seller is very concerned with you closing on time.

Sounds like just a bit of inconvenience.  The biggest thing for first time home buyers to be aware of, is if you miss your close date the seller DOES NOT have to give you extra time to secure your loan.  In today’s current housing market, many buyers are placing back up offers on homes that are already under contract with other buyers.  If you miss your close date it gives the seller a way to EXIT the contract and potentially sell to another buyer!

Don’t make the biggest financial decision of your life without getting educated!  If you’d like to learn more about the closing timeline or the home buying process in general, please go to our Calendar/Reservations page and register for one of our First Time Home Buyer/Down Payment Assistance workshops.

 

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01 Apr 2014
Down Payment Assistance

New Down Payment Assistance for First Time Home Buyers!

Down payment assistance for first time home buyers!  There is a brand new down payment assistance program offered in Washington State.  It allows for up to 5% of the purchase price in assistance.  So if you were purchasing your first home for $300,000, you could potentially receive up to $15,000!

What if I also need money for closing costs?  The great part about this new program is the assistance money can be used for BOTH down payment and closing costs.  Depending on your situation and purchase price, you may still need to come up with one or two thousand dollars, but this is about as close as you’ll get to a zero down first time home buyer loan.

So do I need to REPAY the down payment assistance?  NO!  In the past, most of our down payment assistance programs have esentially been second loans with subsequent repayment terms.  HOWEVER, this new down payment assistance program is a GRANT, which means it does not have to be repaid!

How long does the program last?  It is a pilot program, so we don’t have a definitive answer as to how long it will be around.  But in the past, whenever we have seen a first time home buyer program with these types of terms, the program typically doesn’t last very long.  So if you want to take advantage, you should act fast!

How do I gain access to this program?  In order to take advantage of this program, you need to attend one of our workshops where you will recieve a state issued certificate veryfying that you have went through the education process.  Our state funded non-profit wants to make sure you are make educated decisions as a first time home buyer.

Don’t make the biggest financial decision of your life without getting educated!  If you’d like to gather more information about this new down payment assistance program, or the home buying process in general, please go to our Calendar/Reservations page and sign up for one of our FREE First Time Home Buyer workshops.

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17 Mar 2014
Real Estate

What if I Can’t Afford What I Want?

What if I can’t afford what I want?  As prices continue to rise, we hear this more and more from our first time home buyers.  You may want a certain number of bedrooms and bathrooms, but your price range may make it tough to accomplish this in the neighborhood you want to be in.

So what are my alternatives?  The first and maybe easiest way to accomplish this it to look at other property types.  For instance, if you are looking for a single family home but feel like they’re out of your price range, you could start looking at townhouses or condos.Two lawn chairs

But I’ve always wanted a yard.  We realize for some first time home buyers, a single family home is all they’re willing to consider.  The next possibility is moving outside your specific geographic area to see if outlying areas are more affordable.

But we have to stay in our existing school district!  Sometimes first time home buyers are absolutely NOT willing to look outside a specific area due to school zoning or other reasons.  A third option is considering a property that needs some cosmetic updates.

As long as I get the number of bedrooms/bathrooms I want.  It may even make sense to look at a home with LESS bedrooms and baths, as long as it has the potential to add these things later.  Many of our first time home buyers are considering starting families but don’t have them yet.  So a strategy could be looking at homes with unfinished basements, where you could add bedrooms and baths later.  The point is, when buying your first home it may make sense to think outside the box.

Don’t make the biggest financial decision of your life without getting educated!  If you’d like to learn more about the home buying process, please go to our Calendar/Reservations page and sign up for one of our FREE First Time Home Buyer workshops.

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