All Forum Posts by: Elise Marquette

@Ben Harrietha hey Ben, congrats on the baby! I’d be glad to partner up on the lending side

Hi @Account Closed, I hope this is helpful. 

1. is still possible to put down 5% on a conventional loan? Yes, however the requirements may change depending on how many units the property is.

2. are there any 1st time home buyer programs? or grants - typically yes, however be wary of these. Speaking from the ones we typically see in FL, the 1st Time HomeBuyer programs tend to carry a higher interest rate and stricter requirements to qualify. We often see them requiring a minimum 660 credit score and many require you to pay them back if you refinance or sell the property within 5 years. they're typically for owner occupied properties only.

3. what are the avrg rates for 790 credit score and no debt? max down payment i can do is 5 to 10%. That depends in part upon your debt to income ratio, if you plan on living in the property, and how many units the property is. this is the ratio of your gross monthly income to your monthly obligations (credit card payments, student loans, auto payments, etc.) For a single unit owner occupied home, you can probably expect to see rates around 2.5% but if you are not living in it, then you're more likely to see rates around 4%. 

4. is it true that conventional loan is stronger than a FHA? Sellers do tend to view Conventional loans more favorably than FHA. However, there are advantages and disadvantaged to each program and it's just a matter of finding which one will best suit your needs.

5. what is the avrg pmi on a duplex around 350k to 450k ? That really depends on how much you're putting down and debt to income ratio. 

@Ryan Ness Have you spoken with a lender? Usually I recommend people speak with the lender before going to crazy on researching different loan options and trying to preapprove themselves. There’s a lot of miss information out there and a lot of information that may or may not apply to your specific scenario

@Ryan Myers when did you buy the property? Like a couple others have said if it’s within the last six months then you’re only eligible to take out about 70 to 80% of the purchase price of the property. This will sort of depend on the value of the property and how many units there are two. Certainly I’ve seen the situation and one of my realtor friends pointed out that when you buy a house or rent a house out, you expect things like working windows and a working roof. I see people get really excited about putting in new windows or a new roof and dump a lot of money into it, but at the end of the day those things should a given so it doesn’t necessarily increase the value of the house by an amount equal to the amount of money spent on these updates.

Another thing that I see is for example with custom homes, I don’t think it sounds like this applies to your situation, but if there are nice extras like imported wood floors or beams, an appraiser won’t necessarily notice those things and won’t really consider them in the value of the house so we see values come in low.

And yes, it certainly can be a little bit of a crapshoot with the appraiser. I’ve seen people contest appraisals but I have not seen a lot of success with it and it seems like it’s really kind of just poking the appraiser in the eye.

It depends on your current interest rate, the new interest rate, and how much you're taking out. I've seen it happen but each case is unique

Will it be strictly and investment property or will you be living in it as a house hack? If it's a house hack, you may have a little more leniency with an FHA loan. If not, maybe consider purchasing the home before the career change

Welcome! My fiance @Jeff Shumway and I are both lenders in the Tampa Bay area. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions

If it's 4 units of less and zoned residential, then your best bet is probably to try to go with a lender. Lenders generally have a lower interest rate than private money. What are your goals with the property? Will it be a house hack or strictly an investment property?

Do you mean private lender as in a hard money lender? Or a private lender that does your typical Conventional, FHA, VA, USDA, etc? A private lender that does your Conventional, FHA, VA, and USDA loans tends to have better rates, better turn times, and better knowledge of the loan programs. I hear more horror stories than not of people going to the big banks for their loans (Wells, Chase, etc.). It's like having a general practitioner perform brain surgery instead of a brain surgeon. The big banks are more focused on their clients' banking and other services than they are mortgages.

We typically do conventional loans (Fannie/Freddie) and all the government loans