All Forum Posts by: Michael Cohen

I will add the dirty little secret: credit SCORES, in and of themselves, are not all that matters. Your credit profile (or history) is just as important. For example, a lender may technically allow 590 scores on an FHA, but the reality is that if your score is at 590, there are issues going on that are going to be hard stops: unpaid collections, tax liens, recent late payments, etc.

You're best off having a qualified, competent lender pull your credit profile and review it. If he/she is good, they can identify the issues and run What-if Scenarios to see how to fix your credit as quickly and cheaply as possible so it's no longer an issue.

3% is a pretty low estimate on closing costs. Maybe it's different in VT, but here in MD, DC, VA region, you'd realistically be looking at 4% to 5.5% in closing costs. On an FHA loan, allowable Sellers Concession goes up to 6%, so they can cover all of your closing costs though.

Hey @John D. - what loan type is your current mortgage, VA?

The cash-out refi is going to be limited to 75% LTV. What do you owe, and ball park of what it's worth?

There are low down payment options on conventional loans. 3% Fannie HomeReady, or anywhere between 5% and 20% down on a traditional Fannie/Freddie loan.

You use the actual documented payment, provided it will fully amortize. This means you cannot use income based repayments. If you cannot get actual documented payment (i.e. in deferment, in school still, etc.), then you must use the GREATER of 1% or the amount reported on the credit report. 

Student Loans are stopping a LOT of borrower's from being able to afford a house, unfortunately. We all expect these rules to change soon, but who knows when...

@Aaron T. - @Melvin List is correct. A VA loan is 100% financing only up to the conforming loan limit of $424,100. Anything higher than that and you must pay 25% of the difference.

0% down for the first $424,100 of the purchase price, then 25% of the rest: 

$775,000 - $424,100 = $350,900

$350,900 x 25% = $87,725

The cash-out refinance LTV ratio on a 4-unit for FannieMae is 75% of the value of the property, as determined by an appraisal.