First Time Home Buyer need help!!

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone!!

Looking to buy a house and close by early November. We had made an offer on a house last month but we later found out that the seller had already accepted another offer. 

Our real estate agent showed us a house last week which is not in the MLS yet, and he is dual agent now representing both buyer and seller. We made an offer on the house, it was accepted and we are in attorney review now. Some information on the house.

-dual agency

-home has been rented for 6 years and the owner/seller has not visited the house in the past 6 years. Seller disclosure basically marks "unknown" for most questions, so not much information disclosed by the seller.

-It is not a short sale or as-is but we plan to update the house before we move-in which will cost us approx. 20k. 

-Given the house was rented for 6 years, we don't think the house would have been well maintained and we do anticipate some defects in the inspection report.

Few questions or concerns:

I have spoken to a couple of mortgage lenders. Question always asked was - do we want to lock the rate or float?

At what point do we lock the rate, is it after attorney review or after inspection?

At what point do we apply for the loan?

We hope to be out of attorney review by 9/28 and complete home inspection by 10/1. If we do apply for a loan on 10/1, Is closing by 11/5 which is 25 business days realistic?

We plan to make updates on the house from 11/9-11/15 and move in to the new house around 11/15. 

Appreciate any responses to our questions and also any tips/pointers to guide us in our situation.

Our situation:

State: NJ, Property: Single Family, Purchase Price: $365k, Loan: $292k Conventional, Down Payment: 20%, Annual Income: $150k+, Credit score: 800+, Debt to Income: Less than 25%

[Walt_K]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Few questions or concerns:

I have spoken to a couple of mortgage lenders. Question always asked was - do we want to lock the rate or float?

At what point do we lock the rate, is it after attorney review or after inspection?

You can lock the rate once you have a ratified contract.

At what point do we apply for the loan?

Your contract likely specifies.  Ours included a financing contingency and specified that we must submit the application within 7 days of ratification of the contract.

We hope to be out of attorney review by 9/28 and complete home inspection by 10/1. If we do apply for a loan on 10/1, Is closing by 11/5 which is 25 business days realistic?

I would think so.  30 days to close is fairly standard.  There can be hiccups however.

We plan to make updates on the house from 11/9-11/15 and move in to the new house around 11/15. 

Appreciate any responses to our questions and also any tips/pointers to guide us in our situation.

Our situation:

State: NJ, Property: Single Family, Purchase Price: $365k, Loan: $292k Conventional, Down Payment: 20%, Annual Income: $150k+, Credit score: 800+, Debt to Income: Less than 25%

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[Anonymous]

Thanks for the information. 

Update: We are out of attorney review. Home inspection is scheduled for 10/1. 

We have not locked the rate yet. We hope to do it right after our inspection tomorrow. 

[DallasLoanGuy]

25 days is realistic if you are already pre-approved.

lender should be working on the file while you go thru inspection period.

[Anonymous]

Update: We are out of attoreny review.

Locked the rate on 10/1 ARM at 2.75% with 1% lender credit. Mortgage commitment by 10/31 and Closing on 11/9.

Home inspection is complete with some defects on the inspection report. Defects were sent to the seller, and no response for two days now. Pretty nervous now.