I just applied for the mortgage and got a lock on the rate: 7.25%, 0 points for 30 years fixed. Compared to bankrate, 7.25% seems a little high, but the difference is that those 6.75% loans have high fees. The total fees for the mortgage I applied for is $700, so the lender gets their profit by charging a higher interest rate (which is fine because I won't have this mortgage for more than maybe 5 years).
Considering I am borrowing over 100K, the process is surprisingly simple: show some financial documents, sign your name everywhere and they take care of the rest. I've had some car loans that were more PITA - I remember having to bring in my physcial college diploma (stored in a presentation frame) to get Honda's $400 college grad rebate.
What about buyer's remorse? There is one characteristic about the house that I am not happy about: it was built on a slab foundation. The problem with a slab is that some of the plumbing is typically laid below the foundation, since there is no crawlspace or basement. So if you have plumbing problems, they have to drill through the foundation (sometimes right in your living room) to get to the pipes underneath. This is very expensive and intrusive and a big reason why they use durable PVC piping for drainage. Slab foundations are used to save costs and speed up the building process but if you have a choice you are better off with a raised foundation. Of course, the advantages to slabs are that there are no floor squeaks, no room for vermin to dwell under your house, and slabs make your house cooler because there isn't any insulation underneath the floorboards (there are no floorboards). I like things chilly this is a feature to me.
The more I look at my purchase, the more I am relieved that I didn't spend more. My ratios are a benign 12/18% (max is typically 28/36%) yet now that I am planning my move I can really see how you can spend a ton of money on your house and how pushing the limits is senselessly risky. Had I bought that other townhouse for $175K, my monthly payments would have been $360 higher and I would have needed another $7000 at closing. Even though I was pre-approved for an even more expensive $190K house, it's best I went "cheap". I like to take advantage of our Hot Deals forum.
Facebook
Twitter