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Does anyone have any experience or knowledge working with Wells Fargo using their Home Opportunities Program? I have an annual income of 52k, I am a health care worker, lender pulled scores on 5/22 were EQ 655 EX 661 TU 647, my monthly debts are $293 for car loan, $90 for revolving debt, and $508 for student loans. I applied for pre-approval with NFCU on 5/22 and I have yet to hear from the loan officer. I am a first time homebuyer and I am not certain how long pre-approval should take, but 8 days with no communication is unacceptable in my opinion. I am very interested in the Home Opportunities Program because I would like to avoid a down payment so I may afford to buy furniture, washer/dryer, etc without charging it(this is my first home). I attempted to call Wells Fargo, but they informed me that I would need to call my local branch on Monday because the program may vary based on location. I have found the home I would like to put an offer on. It is listed at 99k and is in Lakeland Fl.
Michelle, you aren't too far from me. I just drove through Lakeland two days ago (I'm just south of Lakeland in WPB area)
I haven't used the WF program but I just looked it up and this is what I see:
Home Opportunities Program
Our Home OpportunitiesSM program may help first-time homebuyers and low- or moderate-income homebuyers who don't have a large down payment purchase a home. You may not need a large down payment or perfect credit to achieve homeownership.
FeaturesYeah that is what I saw on their site. It sucks that I'll have to wait till Monday to call my local branch and find out income limits and what not for the program for my specific county. I was hoping someone would know. I am especially curious about the amount of downpayment required. Am I correct in assuming Navy Federal is being ridiculous making me wait 8 days for a loan officer to contact me? Is that a normal time frame? They told me to call next Friday if I still didn't hear from him, I have already been assigned a loan officer. Next Friday would make it a 14 day wait period from application to first point of contact with the loan officer.
There is nothing in the stated benefits above that make that program attractive in my opinion.
You would be better off going with a straight FHA program or a USDA program. I'm sure Lakeland has a wide area that qualifies for USDA since it is in Polk county which is a rural county. Here is a link for you to check it out http://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/programs-services-individuals
If you don't want to go in the USDA direction for one reason or another, I would go FHA and stay away from the Wells Fargo program. Not because it is offered by WF (although that is icing on the cake for me) but because the program itself is not a good program.
It is a conventional adjustable rate loan. This gives the lender huge opportunity to have a higher margin or more volitile index. The program specifics as to the margin and index were not specified. Maybe that's why they asked you to go into a branch - so the LO could catch you when you fainted after hearing the margin and index!
You can get Lender Paid PMI with this loan or with any other conventional loan if you ask for it when you are talking about loan terms with a good LO.
Buydown options are offered with this loan (means you pay more money up front to get a temporary buy down for a year or two or three).
This loan has income restrictions. FHA doesn't have income restrictions.
Read the info above and IMO you are not getting much. Of course, it is worth your time to speak (not apply) with a true LO at WF to see what the 'additional terms' are for this loan. Then come back and tell us so we can give you a more knowledgeable response.
Can you explain lender paid PMI to me? Unfortunately the areas of Lakeland which are USDA approved are very far off I4 and since I work for Florida Hospital Orlando it is already a pretty far drive where I am being really close to the interstate. Any opinion on the length of time Navy Fed's LO is waiting to contact me?
@Anonymous wrote:Can you explain lender paid PMI to me? Unfortunately the areas of Lakeland which are USDA approved are very far off I4 and since I work for Florida Hospital Orlando it is already a pretty far drive where I am being really close to the interstate. Any opinion on the length of time Navy Fed's LO is waiting to contact me?
2nd question first: I think that Navy is a little slow and they appear to be slammed right now. But if you have that option, it is worth considering. IMO 14 days is a long time for a pre-approval. Are they putting you through underwriting without a property? If so, that's a good thing and it will be easier on you when you find a property. I wouldn't completely leave them if in fact you are going through underwriting now. If it is a slow LO, then see what you can do to push him a little. I personally don't like to leave it to Friday to follow up. If you follow up on Friday, he doesn't really have the time to check into much and get back to you before the day ends. Lots of LO's leave early on Friday's.
I see what you mean by the commute - that is a pretty far distance and I-4 can be a nightmare during rush hours IME.
Lender paid PMI is where the lender will bump up your interest rate a bit and pay the mortgage insurance for you, upfront. That is what Navy is doing in their program - that's why they say no PMI, because they rolled it into their interest rate. Any lender has the capacity to do. Most people don't know to ask for it though. It is only available on conventional loans and not FHA as far as I know.
I really don't think that Navy Fed is acutally underwriting the loan just yet. They did not ask me for any documents. I just told the rep my annual income, DTI, and allowed them to pull my credit. The rep told me I should be able to qualify for up to 129K. I only need about 99K so we met in the middle at 115K just in case. He sent the pre-approal request over the the LO at 115K.
I just bit the bullet and emailed the LO to inquire about the status of my application. I really hate to hassle him because he is the decision maker in whether I get approved or not.
14 days is a verrrry long time before you first hear from your LO. And actually the LO does not decide whether you get approved, underwriters do. Do you have a realtor yet? If not, you should message StartingOver10 - she is amazing and will be able to offer you so much guidance!
Right now I am working with the realtor that Navy Federal suggested. If I use her they will pay $2500 towards my closing costs and give me $400 bonus cash at closing. So far she is ok. Just kinda underwhelmed with this whole process. I don't think that there is anything in my file that would cause this long of a delay.