@Anonymous wrote:
First you need to get your score up, which means paying off those CC's (or at least down to under 10% utilization)
Then you need to have enough money put aside to pay the collections (but do not pay them now). The bank may or may not make you pay them, but if they do, pay them at closing. Paying a collection does not raise your score and can lower it by changing the date of last activity.
Then you need to have enough money saved to pay the full 3.5% down payment, whatever closing costs are required, and all buying/moving costs. You need to do all this without re-charging your credit cards.
As a note, alot of people in the past have gotten sellers to pay for closing costs. While this is a possibility, it is harder than it used to be due to tighter appraisal standards and lending standards. People want what the market value of their home is, not hte market value minus closing costs. SO unless the house is going to appraise for more than what yhe asking price is, getting seller paid cc is harder to do now than it was. You either need alucky appraisal or a fairly desparate seller usually.
Hi mickie...we're still seeing a lot of seller-paid closing costs in our market. I'm sure some of this is market-by-market. We also see that it varies by lending program. We are in a small community, and if we see a home sell <$150k with FHA or USDA, for example, those costs are more often than not still being paid by the seller, and sellers are being groomed to pay them by their agents. Buyers are being urged to ask for them by their agents. In our higher price ranges, however, we are not seeing sellers paying closing costs.
I agree that no buyer can ever assume that ANY of their closing costs will be paid or shared by the seller. It may happen, but don't count on it. If it happens, it's gravy.
