All Forum Posts by: Stephanie Medellin

 Yes, you will have closing costs each time you refinance, but most people do roll the costs into the loan.

@Johan Yang  Mother's maiden name is a red flag, as well as the driver's license number.  Once he gets your social security number, he can probably use your mothers maiden name as your security word for other accounts??

@Chris DeSisto  Is this for a property you own now and have under contract?  I found an old email from one of our lenders with info on loans for buyers with lease options, so it does look like it's possible.

@John Webber Home Ready and Home Possible rates are usually a little bit lower than regular conventional rates for the same down payment, but not as low as FHA, although when mortgage insurance is factored in the monthly payments end up being fairly close.

It really will depend on your particular scenario which loan will be the least expensive.

@Jim Froehlich  Your front end ratio refers to your personal housing payment for the home that you live in.

The back end ratio covers everything combined (i.e. your personal housing payment, monthly payments for credit cards, installment loans, and any negative cash flow on other investment properties.  The max ratio for conventional loans is 50% as long as you get approved by automated underwriting, but you're right, the calculations are not as straightforward as you described.

True, you will still have PMI, but it is at a reduced rate because the LTV is lower. PMI rates change based on the amount of coverage. It will vary with credit score too.

@Soup Nikk Yes, on a single family home you can put 15% down for a conventional loan. The rates are pretty much always going to be higher than putting 25% down, but that is the same with any loan. You will get better rates for a lower LTV. You will also have mortgage insurance with less than 20% down. For example, I just ran a search to compare the two. With 15% down + Monthly Mortgage Insurance the rate was 0.25% higher vs. 20% down. This will vary a bit depending on the exact scenario, but just to give you an idea.

@Bradley LaBrie  Yes, interest rates for a 4 unit will be higher than for a single family home on conventional loans.  Sometimes 2-4 units are priced the same, sometimes 2 units will be different than 3-4 units.

If it's an FHA loan, the rates may not be any different whether it's a 1, 2, 3, or 4 unit.

@Shane Klackner  Ask each lender that you're talking to if they can provide a list of closing costs.  There are so many variables, it's really hard to pinpoint.  It won't be an official loan estimate, but it should give you an idea what to expect.

Will you be including taxes and insurance in your monthly payment?  

Are you buying down your rate? (paying points)

Will your loan have any lender fees?

As far as title/escrow related fees and recording fees, most title companies have a fee calculator.  I like First American - you can find their fee calculator at this link: https://facc.firstam.com/

@Travis Trowers  Do you have good credit?  There's usually room to raise the interest rate and get 1-3% back as a lender credit that can also be used to cover closing costs.  Not in all cases but most.