Call me naive, but...

[msensa]

...I thought Rural Development and FHA loans were designed to help KEEP money in our pockets!  After reading the post where the person has to plop down almost $5000 for a Rural Development loan, I am scared to death!  I know people who got this type of loan without paying anything months ago. 

My broker is still trying to remove a blemish from my credit which should have been discharged in my BK....after that, we're proceeding.  I'm getting worried, though.  I don't want us to drain our hard earned savings and move in with just barely enough cash for the moving van!   She's also finding programs for down payment assistance for us...but on these boards you guys imply those are disappearing as well.

This process is just mind boggling.  I'm beginning to wish we'd have just jumped into the loans a couple years ago that were offered to us, with how bad the banks are tightening their lending standards.  At least we'd have a home to work with now!!

Buyer's market--hah!  Only if you have stellar credit or a big bank account!

[Anonymous]

I cant answer your question about the Rural loan, but I just signed FHA paperwork yesterday and it clearly states that the minimum down payment must be at least 3% of the purchase price, and that the closing costs (origination, app fee, etc) "must not exceed 3% of the purchase price."  Meaning that you could be tapped for 6% at the most.

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

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msensa wrote:

...I thought Rural Development and FHA loans were designed to help KEEP money in our pockets!  After reading the post where the person has to plop down almost $5000 for a Rural Development loan, I am scared to death!  I know people who got this type of loan without paying anything months ago. 

My broker is still trying to remove a blemish from my credit which should have been discharged in my BK....after that, we're proceeding.  I'm getting worried, though.  I don't want us to drain our hard earned savings and move in with just barely enough cash for the moving van!   She's also finding programs for down payment assistance for us...but on these boards you guys imply those are disappearing as well.

This process is just mind boggling.  I'm beginning to wish we'd have just jumped into the loans a couple years ago that were offered to us, with how bad the banks are tightening their lending standards.  At least we'd have a home to work with now!!

Buyer's market--hah!  Only if you have stellar credit or a big bank account!

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USDA RD does 102% financing, including the 2% guarantee fee... of the appraised value.  So if the home sales price is $100k, and it appraises for $105k, you can get a loan amount of $107,100 - to wrap in $5k of settlement costs + the $2,100 guarantee fee.  No down payment is required on USDA RD unless the home does not appraise for the sales price - then the difference between the sales price & appraised value must be brought in as the down payment.  I did not yet come accross the post you mentioned where the person had to bring in $5k for a USDA RD loan, but I suspect it probably was for their settlement costs.  In the situation where the appraised value is the same as the sales price (which often is the case), upfront in your purchase contract you can negotiate/ask for the seller to pay your settlement costs.