First Time Buyer Questions

[Anonymous]

Thanks in advance to anyone who has feedback

1. Should I apply for a FHA or Conventional loan?

2. How big of a problem is the fact that I will not have two years of rent history? Can I still be preapproved with auto underwriting?

3. Are any associated fees like appraisal, land surveys, and title insurance my responsibility upfront and how much should I save for these? If the homeowners have an appraisal or survey should I use theirs? Is any of this included in the loan or do I pay this before closing?

4. Should I get preapproved before talking to an agent? Any tips on finding a good agent? How will I know how educated my agent is if I'm not mortgage savvy?

5. My AAOA is currently 6 months. I plan to purchase a home no later than 1 yr 7 months. If I do not open any new accounts will my AAOA be 2 yrs? Is it possible to get a house before my AAOA is 2 years in my situation or should I wait?

My info....

mortgage credit scores via myfico

EQ 654. TU 671. EX 648
☆☆☆I expect or hope to increase these scores to at least above 680 by purchase time.

Collection = 1
2012 dr bill. Paid $478 closed $0 balance

aaoa currently 6 months but I don't plan to purchase for a year or 1 1/2 years.
oldest account 11 months

Income 63000
employed full time 2 years
drive a semi paid by mile and quarterly bonus

Monthly debt....
Cell phone 200
car insurance 75
no work related expenses except my food

Assets....
50 k in savings

Location.... jackson tn
single family home
move in ready
$70,000 -:$80,000
Primary residence

[Anonymous]

Oh and I plan to put 25k down on mortgage

[StartingOver10]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks in advance to anyone who has feedback

1. Should I apply for a FHA or Conventional loan? Depends on the terms (interest rate and closing costs) but with $25k down on an $80k purchase I would go conventional

2. How big of a problem is the fact that I will not have two years of rent history? Can I still be preapproved with auto underwriting? Do you have one year of rental history?

3. Are any associated fees like appraisal, land surveys, and title insurance my responsibility upfront and how much should I save for these? If the homeowners have an appraisal or survey should I use theirs? Is any of this included in the loan or do I pay this before closing?  The lender has to have a new appraisal on the property you will get under contract at that time. Any previous appraisals won't work. If the seller has a survey, go back to the surveyor and you might be able to negotiate a better rate to update the survey.  The lender will provide you an itemized list of closing costs and pre-paid expenses that are due from you at time of closing. These costs are in addition to the down payment.

4. Should I get preapproved before talking to an agent? Any tips on finding a good agent? How will I know how educated my agent is if I'm not mortgage savvy?  Get a good Realtor and s/he will have a couple of good lenders for you.  Ask family and friends for a referral to a good agent. If they don't have one, do some research and call them. If they can't answer questions for you, move on to another agent. We are all different. We have different skill sets. Some agents know about financing and have excellent lenders others never get involved in the financing process. You want to work with a lender and Realtor as a team for the best results.  Usually this means using an experienced agent. Interview the agent. If you aren't comfortable with them or their answers, find another one.

5. My AAOA is currently 6 months. I plan to purchase a home no later than 1 yr 7 months. If I do not open any new accounts will my AAOA be 2 yrs? Is it possible to get a house before my AAOA is 2 years in my situation or should I wait?  AAoA has nothing to do with mortgages. It affects your score but your score is good enough to get a mortgage now so don't worry about AAoA.  (that is for the credit card forum only)

My info....

mortgage credit scores via myfico

EQ 654. TU 671. EX 648
☆☆☆I expect or hope to increase these scores to at least above 680 by purchase time.

Collection = 1
2012 dr bill. Paid $478 closed $0 balance

aaoa currently 6 months but I don't plan to purchase for a year or 1 1/2 years.
oldest account 11 months

Income 63000   Is this W-2 income or 1099 income? Makes a difference.
employed full time 2 years
drive a semi paid by mile and quarterly bonus

Monthly debt....
Cell phone 200
car insurance 75
no work related expenses except my food

Assets....
50 k in savings

Location.... jackson tn
single family home
move in ready
$70,000 -:$80,000
Primary residence

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You really are in good shape for a mortgage now most especially with your target purchase price and down payment. I am assuming you have at least 12 months of payments on your accounts. If you have less than 12, you will need to wait until you can show 12 months of ontime payments.

[Lemmus]

^^^+++ ...exactly what SO10 said ...read it and take it to heart ...in the mortgage world money cures most everything ...25k down on an 80k mortgage with your current scores is a shoe-in ...find a good realtor that knows your area well ...follow her advice in finding a local lender if possible ...your biggest problem will probably be finding a lender willing to fund a 45-55k loan because its so small ...we should all have such a problem 

...don't be led down the path of "but you can afford a much more expensive home" ...your realtor and lender will both likely go there ...stick to what you feel you can comfortably afford over the long haul ...thats probably your 70-80k number ...hth

[Anonymous]

If you plan is to purchase in 1 - 1.5 years, I'd try to save that extra 20-30K and buy it off.

You'll get hit with all these fees when going for the loan. 

Save some more, you're almost there.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for responding.
I don't have one year. I have rental history from 3 years ago and before that but I assumed they want current rental history. I work and live in my semi so there is no need to rent. I want to buy there because my dad lives there and he is getting on up there in age.

My income is w2.

I've had my car insurance and cell and one credit card for over a year all with on time payments. I just started working on my credit last year. I always paid cash for my vehicles.

[Anonymous]

Sq1
I was thinking of that but in order not to use my entire savings I would probably have to wait 3 more years. I love relatives but I'm about ready to stay at work all year just to avoid staying at their house on my time off.

Plus I thought this would look good on my credit.

But I am going to dbl or trpl payments

[StartingOver10]

I don't know how the lender will look at your recent lack of rental history.  It is possible that it won't be a factor because of your large down payment and very low LTV. 

Hopefully one of the loan officers can answer your question. dpeezy? Shane? Dallas? others out there

[DallasLoanGuy]

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@StartingOver10 wrote:

I don't know how the lender will look at your recent lack of rental history.  It is possible that it won't be a factor because of your large down payment and very low LTV. 

Hopefully one of the loan officers can answer your question. dpeezy? Shane? Dallas? others out there

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if approved thru automated underwriting, rent verif is not required.

[Anonymous]

If I'm approved doesn't sound promising.

How ca I better my chances to be approved for auto underwriting.

I am not going to rent a place just for mortgage purposes.