All Forum Posts by: Scott Anthony

I recently had an offer accepted on a residential house for my family and I and as a first-time home buyer, I had a question regarding the mortgage process.  We put in offers on a lot of houses, in which case our mortgage lender attached a "Pre-Qualification" letter indicating that we could afford the home.  We never had to supply any physical information, but we did disclose our debts, salaries, bank accounts, etc.  Now we are gathering a ton of documents and info to give to our mortgage lender.  My question is what is the difference, if any, between pre-qualification and the actual approval process?  Are they just verifying that all of the numbers we told them were correct?  Is there anything hidden that I should anticipate or expect?  Also, when they ask for bank statements, what things do they look for?  Where I spend my money? lol

Thanks Tanner! I appreciate the tips. However, what I want to know is what is the difference between the following two scenarios - House for sale asking $300,000. So, the seller wants a NET price of $300,000. What is the difference between an offer of $300,000 with no assist and an offer of $310,000 with $10,000 assist? NET is still 300k. I am bidding over asking because I need closing cost covered, but still offering an amount that would result in the same NET sale as someone putting an offer in with no assist. Is it the FHA that's holding me back? Is it still the "sellers assist" even though NET sale price is the same?

Also, do sellers look at down payment? If I am more than able to cover the minimum 3.5% FHA down payment, does someone who offers 6% down payment have an advantage? If so, how so and why?

Thanks, so much Kelli! I'm keeping my fingers crossed but it's a roller coaster ride of emotions!  Driving us nuts!

Thanks for the response, Alex.  My only question(s) are how is it possible for someone like myself to even purchase a home that fits the needs of my family?  We have the financing, approvals, etc. but yet we cannot close on a deal?  Also, how does someone go about finding a home that if off the market?  What exactly do you mean by that? 

Thanks for your input @Donald Robers .  Do you remember where you read that?  Just curious.  In all of our offers, we have also informed seller that we can close in 30 days (as per our mortgage lender).

Thanks all for the input!! 

Hey all, so wanted to seek some opinions and advice from all. My family and I are first time home buyers in a super hot market. We are looking within 2 sought after school districts and we will not budge from that. Anyhow, houses are selling like hot cakes in our area. We are working with a great realtor who has been in the game for a while and she has even commented how crazy the market is for our price range and our area. Long story short, we have now lost out on 7 home that we have put offers in. 6 of the homes we offered either asking price or a bit above. We are going FHA. We have our down payment, but need assist for closing costs (hence why we are bidding over asking price a lot, so that the seller can still get their NET price). One house we lost out on due to an unethical/questionable legal move by the one listing agent. We have mortgage pre approvals attached to each offer, with earnest money check, and personal letters to seller(s). Homes are going for sale and are under contract within 24 hours. What advice, if any, do you guys have to help with our pursuit? Are listing agents "hiding" some offers to sellers for specific reasons? I feel as though we have made some great offers, but then the house was wiped away from us. We are losing homes to people who are putting down crazy amounts of cash and losing homes to people who are overpaying for a home and willing to cover the cost even if it doesn't appraise for the sale amount. Would a 203k rehab loan be better on some of these light fixer-upper homes that have been on the market for 30+ days that maybe we can put $40k or so into?

Sorry if this is in wrong section! feel free to move to necessary spot!  Thanks all!

well, met with my mortgage guy and unfortunately, we don't qualify for the conventional 97 due to salary. biggest draw for me was the 3% down vs. the 3.5% for FHA. I also liked the ability to cancel the PMI, but he told us the average mortgage these days lasts 4 years, so i can always refi and make adjustments.

Thanks a ton both of you!  I am actually meeting with a lender tomorrow whom of which introduced me to the idea of the Conventional 97 last week.  Figured I'd try to get a bit of a jump start on things asking here! lol.  I look forward to learning more tomorrow!

Thanks, Ben! I appreciate it. As far as the DTI is concerned, do they compute that including estimated mortgage or is the up to 50% DTI before adding mortgage into the mix? I currently do not have a rent/mortgage, but I do have car bills, student loans, and so forth. Thank you!