Mortgage Loans

[FLAJenn]

Fiancé and I got pre qualified through Nationstar today! I know that doesn't really mean anything at all,but they said upon bringing our score to 620 we would be pre approved? We have another meeting on Sunday with the new home consultant. It would be a new build from KB. Said their minimum score is 620, mine is at 607 EX and 597 TU from here and fiancé's are at 617 TU and 593 EQ from here. She didn't say for how much or anything yet probably since we are not preapproved?

[JM-AM]

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FLAJenn wrote:

Fiancé and I got pre qualified through Nationstar today! I know that doesn't really mean anything at all,but they said upon bringing our score to 620 we would be pre approved? We have another meeting on Sunday with the new home consultant. It would be a new build from KB. Said their minimum score is 620, mine is at 607 EX and 597 TU from here and fiancé's are at 617 TU and 593 EQ from here. She didn't say for how much or anything yet probably since we are not preapproved?

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The excitement of being pre qualified sometimes takes a burden. You are moving to fast, unless you feel you will reach a 620 midscore with-in the next 90 days.

The reason I say moving too fast...

If it is a new build and you want upgrades, you will most likely have to pay for them ahead of time, or a big portion of them.

Even while you could have your contract be contingent on financing all the upgrade money given would be lost.

You will have a prelimary closing date according to home completion, and maybe an extension if you havent reached your mid score yet. But the builder wants to get paid.

It is great news you found a builder and a Lender to work with you, but before you go jumping the gun and possibly losing money, get the scores closer first. List your issues here for others to chime in to help you boost them, use the rebuilding board for lots of great advice.

I know you can do it and get your scores there, I just dont want you to lose any money because it took a little longer then you anticipated.

[MovingForward_2012]

What is the total household income? I can give you an idea of your approval amount.

I am not trying to put a damper on your home buying experience with KB but where I live (Colorado), KB builds really crappy homes. I have lived in 3 different KB homes out here and you can tell it is essentially a home out of a box. They pre make the walls and other items in big factories and then they put up big pieces. They don't do all the work on site like Lennar, Meritage, Oakwood, or Highland. The homes I have lived in just fell apart...especially after 10 years and along with that their value drops. KB is no longer building homes out here because of the bad reputation they have regarding the quality of their building. Just something to consider. I encourage you to read customer reviews online regarding KB homes. KB's prices are cheap for a reason.

[FLAJenn]

No I appreciate anyone's input! Together our income in 90k, my report is clean minus a 75 med collection from 2007. My scores are on the original post. The only thing that the simulator says for me to do is to pay down my cc balance which I did last week to below 9% . Just waiting for the statement to cut on the 21st for the jump in score. Fiancé has 3 medicals and a cc charge of that midland has and an car loan charge off because car got totaled and he didn't have any gap insurance. But on his simulator here it also only said to pay down cc balance and his core would bump also to above the 620 range. The model that were looking at would be base 173,990, the sales consultant said at the most with 15% in upgrades they allow to be rolled into price it would be 203k.  Anything above 15% we would have to pay for. We aren't really concerned about superficial things and things that can be changed down the line so for the 15% they can roll in we were thinking of just doing structure upgrades for it. The max FHA loan amount in the Tampa-St.pete area is 292K I believe

[MovingForward_2012]

I wanted to make a correction about KB no longer building homes out here. I checked their website and they are mostly all located in lower income areas and most of them are attached homes. Personally for me, I would rather have a smaller, sturdier, well built home than a bigger, flimsy, built by slackers home. I have lived in DR Horton and Oakwood homes and after 10 years, the banister is sturdy and doesn't wobble, the garage door opener still functions, etc. One KB Home I lived in had mitch-match window sizes, when they were supposed to be the same. We had to run back and forth, back and forth to the hardware store getting blinds recut because windows that were supposed to be the same size, were not the same. It was a nightmare!

[JM-AM]

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FLAJenn wrote:

No I appreciate anyone's input! Together our income in 90k, my report is clean minus a 75 med collection from 2007. My scores are on the original post. The only thing that the simulator says for me to do is to pay down my cc balance which I did last week to below 9% . Just waiting for the statement to cut on the 21st for the jump in score. Fiancé has 3 medicals and a cc charge of that midland has and an car loan charge off because car got totaled and he didn't have any gap insurance. But on his simulator here it also only said to pay down cc balance and his core would bump also to above the 620 range. The model that were looking at would be base 173,990, the sales consultant said at the most with 15% in upgrades rolled into price it would be 203k. The max FHA loan amount in the Tampa-St.pete area is 292K.

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Your husband may have to pay off the charge offs also. They are impacting his DTI, but you try what you stated and if your score hasnt increased enough after what you have already tried, then you work on the next possible situation to boost them.

I have a house in Sarasota, it is the 2nd house we purchased many years ago. Just a drive over the bridge and we are neighbors!

[MovingForward_2012]

If you make $90K in household income, you can get pre qualified for a lot of home. Max home price assuming very little debt is $360K. So the home you are looking at is well within your price range. You could go a little higher and still live comfortably.

[FLAJenn]

We barely have any debt at all. Only 2 cc's each 2 with a $200 limit , 1 @ $300 and 1@ $500 and my student loan payment of 132. Then obvioulsy cell phones and car insurance.

Here's another question though, we get approved for x amount and not use the entire $$ where does the extra go? An escrow account or jsut deposited in to our bank? Like if we want to get new furniture and stuff like that?

[slappymancuso]

You have some flexibility, but you will not be able to take out extra on most loan types for home repairs, appliances or anything like that.

You could, however, look into seller paid closing costs which could cut down on your out of pocket expenses at closing and thus let you use some savings to buy those sorts of things. In this situation you might offer a certain amount on the home with the contingency that the seller will cover x amount of closing costs. You take the loan out, and seller is responsible for the agreed contribution towards closing.

[MovingForward_2012]

You don't get any extra money if you buy lower than your preapproval amount. It is similar to buying...you only finance the car's value not the preapproval amount.