All Forum Posts by: Jason Wray

Josh,

This is the best advice I can give you as I see this happen "EVERY" day! When looking for real estate its a tough market due to low inventory, cash buyers, and less days on market. Not having the cash in hand or at least sitting in an account as "Cash reserve" liquid is ideal for making quicker more aggressive offers. Having the equity sitting in a property or properties is great but it take 20-30 days in most cases to pull the cash out through a refinance. The process plus the appraiser/appraisal can slow things down and possibly cause you to lose opportunities. HELOC's are okay but they are not liquid and cannot be used as "Cash reserves".

They also add an extra debt obligation and add to DTI and open you up to "excessive trade lines" on credit which can drop scores and cause other issues. I would tell you to at least have the cash on hand for the initial down payment sitting in an interest bearing account to offset the mortgage payment until its ready to be used.

So you may want to pull some cash out now on a cash out refinance early in 2022 before rates go up soon!

Jessie,

Try and reach out to Jessica Viola - Attorney.  727-364-1497 cell office 813-204-6481 office.  Her office is really diverse and set up to handle all practices including real property.

Stephen,

You would not be able to refinance into an FHA loan unless you were currently living in one of the units for (6) months on title. It can be done but you would have to deal with the county and do a quit claim to add yourself as Sole/individual.

Michaela,

The best this for you at this point is to do a refinance to transition that current FHA loan into a conventional loan. This will remove the monthly FHA MIP and open your FHA buying power open to do another FHA purchase with 3.5% down. You could also take a little cash out and on the next purchase just go Fannie/Freddie and go 5% to avoid the higher of the MIP versus PMI to lessen the monthly PITI payment.

Yes.  All day.  Send email.

Mike,

There is no specific time period associated with taking the first steps. If you have good/fair credit and have 10-15% down for an investment or second home then pull the trigger now. If you do not have the funds but own your own home you could do a cash out refinance or HELOC and pull out some equity/cash from the home to use for the down payment (DP). Keep in mind out of state purchases are allowed as well and you might even find a better deal. Maryland can be on the high end pricey side in many areas now a days!

That is where a second home can come into play where you can put 10% down. You can still use it as a STR and rent it out throughout the year and visit as well. It can also be transitioned into a long term permanent rental as well down the road or within the same year you purchased. There are also a lot of good realtors and bank REO attorneys that have a lot of distressed and pocket sales. If your going to use financing i would also strongly suggest finding a great bank that offers both traditional and Non/QM Portfolio loans. Get a Pre-approval so you know your Max loan amounts and options!

Abdul,

Before you buy in any state just check to see if it's an attorney state.  Keep in mind even if it is like New York for example you can still waive the attorney and use the title attorney for both sides (If  financing is involved).  

Armand,

This is an example where using a Bank or Direct Lender (Fully Delegated) can save you a lot of "BS" aka - Junk fee's!  You should not be getting beat up over broker fee's on top of origination (Plus margin built into rate).  You also have have to be careful of title junk fee's they exist and it may make some title companies angry but they charge for some unfavorable line item fee's.  Shop the title companies on all refinances and ask for a "leaner fee sheet" EVERY time you see those title fee's above that nickel and dime you to no end!

No, FHA is 3.5% down. Once you refinance the current FHA loan into a conventional loan you can buy another home using FHA 3.5% down. Might be a case of a rookie loan officer or misunderstanding of occupancy.

Marco, the window is actually open within a 45 day period so long as you close on a mortgage.  if you do not close it will impact your score just like any multiple inquiry pull would.  There is also a hidden red flag that  a lot of lenders/banks do not shre is that underwriters will question and possibly red flag a file with excessive credit pulls from multpiple lenders.  They see it in some cases as a risk as to why did so many lenders pull and not close.

A HELOC is not a mortgage it is an "open end" liability like a credit card. These are reviwed differently and can be more of a hit to credit.