Considering New Home Purchase - Need Advice

NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
Generally, I only recommend 15 or 30 year fixed-rate loans. You never know how long you're going to stay, or keep the property. The years go by pretty fast, and before you know it, you'd have accumulated quite a bit of equity.





I don't like interest only loans, even on investment properties. That's almost like renting from the bank. >_>
 
You prefer to be forced to pay the principal back momopi even if there are better rates of return on it elsewhere? I/O's are not for the undiscliplined, but they can be a great product, especially during a bull market in equities...
 
<p>I/O also allows for more flexibility in that you are not locked into paying the principal every month. You may have emergency needs for additional funds on certain months or need extra cash until a bonus comes in. It may not be "sensible" to flake on making a complete payment for your house but at least you will not have to miss a whole payment otherwise. You can then put in extra money to compensate when you have the funds. Why have the bank force you to pay more if you are discplined enough to do it 95 percent of time. </p>
 
Just a quick update here: we are in escrow with the sale of our current house and the purchase of our new one. Loan docs for the purchase should be done tomorrow, and we'll most likely go with the 5.95% 3/1 Jumbo. Only problem is that our broker for our sale is in the hospital, so we're having to do a lot of the work on the sale ourselves.



The buyer's agent is saying he needs something from us called the "sellers' disclosures" tomorrow morning or we'll delay our sale (and therefore delay our purchase and jeopardize our down payment), so the office manager at the brokerage is going to research that and hopefully find everything we need in order for us to be able to sign tomorrow morning. I wish I could just find these disclosure docs online somewhere myself at this point...have very little faith in our brokerage ;.



This time next week we'll either be on the verge of closing or we'll be in what would technically be referred to as "a pickle."
 
<p>You can find the required CA disclosure forms here giltee:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.nolo.com/product.cfm/ObjectID/58D40F50-094F-4575-A5EDD13F3AA36167/213/">http://www.nolo.com/product.cfm/ObjectID/58D40F50-094F-4575-A5EDD13F3AA36167/213/</a></p>

<p>Nolo is the king of DIY legal matters. I probated my mother's estate using one of their books...</p>

<p>Good luck, hope ya don't end up in a pickle.</p>

<p>With regards to mortgage rate, isn't the 5/1 cheaper than the 3/1 now?</p>

<p><a href="http://www.mtgcapital.com/ratesheet-interestonly.html?state=ca&rs=interestonly">http://www.mtgcapital.com/ratesheet-interestonly.html?state=ca&rs=interestonly</a></p>
 
Wow, that's pretty cool. Thanks, IPO. Since we need to have these forms signed and delivered to the buyer tomorrow A.M., we'll see if we can find this book at the local bookstore.



Re the rates, I'll have to ask again tomorrow about the 5/1. The investor for our loan is US Bank, so we have to go by their rates, and I'm not sure they have the 5/1 as being lower than the 3/1. Tomorrow's the day for the rate lock, so whatever it's at is what it'll be.
 
You can buy the electronic version of the book giltee and download it. You'll have the forms at your fingertips within minutes...
 
May I ask the reason behind your broker being in the hospital on your important day? Doesn't he have an assistant to help you with the paperworks?
 
Thanks again, IPO. We picked up the book from B&N but will be returning it, as it turns out our broker had already had us sign the forms when we first signed up to be listed with him. What a relief.



Reason: the broker had some kind of kidney problem that required surgery. He does have a couple assistants whom we've been working with, but they've all been hit or miss. We're going into the brokerage tomorrow morning just to verify that we've already signed all the necessary forms (they should have been sent to the buyer's agent as soon as we went into escrow!), and sign any that we might have missed. Hopefully this will be it.
 
And thanks, All, for the kind words re the move and the new development. We're looking forward to being in the new house (and me being closer to work). We don't have any delusions about the fact that this property will likely drop in value over the next few years and probably never get back up to what we're paying for it, but we're happy with the house in and of itself ;).
 
<p><em>but we're happy with the house in and of itself ;).</em> </p>

<p>And in the end, that really is all that matters.</p>
 
I agree. If you are happy in your house and can pay for the mortgage, it doesn't matter whether the house value declines or not. Perhaps it's better if the value doesn't go up so that the property tax won't go up. Congrats, giltee!
 
We're in ;). Dealing with our escrow company on our sale, and with the escrow company, broker/lender, and sales office on the new purchase was pretty much one of the worst experiences of our lives. However, having the new tasks at hand (emptying boxes, painting, landscaping, etc.) sort of puts all that craziness out of mind.
 
There is an unwritten tradition at the IHB to congratulate people when they buy a home, and I truly hope you are happy with your purchase.





That being said, I can't help wondering if I should offer congratulations or condolences...
 
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