I thought I made too much to qualify for down payment assistance

Jamie (name withheld) was convinced that owning a home was a better decision for her family than renting., but the costs of buying her first home made it feel beyond her reach. Even though she had a great job, it was hard to save enough money to make her dream a reality.

FirstTimeHomeBuyersNetwork.com, an association of Mortgage and Real Estate professionals who specialize in helping first time home buyers find the right first time home buyer programs and incentives, were there to help Jamie and her family.

“When she was first referred to me by Jim and Teresa DeBruyn of Distinctive Realtors, I realized that Jamie and her family were facing the same challenges as most first time home buyers.” said Greg Cook, of FirstTimeHomeBuyersNetwork.com.
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First time home buyers use down payment assistance to save thousands on move in costs

Members of FirstTimeHomeBuyersNetwork.com, an association of Mortgage and Real Estate professionals who specialize in helping first time home buyers find the right first time home buyer programs and incentives, recently made the difference for a Hemet first time home buyer.

Linda (name withheld by request), had decided now was the right time for her to make that move from renter to homeowner. Her husband had recently lost a lengthy battle with cancer, and she was anxious to move out of the rental they had shared and buy a home that was “hers”.
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First Time Home Buyers getting out of credit score jail

The current real estate market is giving first time home buyers a chance to follow the smart money and make that move from renter to homeowner.
Rising rents are providing additional motivation and “Why rent when you can own for less?”  is becoming the catchphrase of the day.

If saving for down payment is the #1 barrier facing most first time home buyers then having a low credit score is certainly a close second.


But having a low credit score doesn’t have to be a “life sentence”.

To read the complete article

San Diego first time home buyers are following the smart money!

Is now a good time to buy your first home in San Diego? 
Maybe, Maybe not, but here are some compelling financial reasons to consider buying your first home in San Diego.

 1) Rents are on the rise in San Diego - Renters in San Diego, according to CNNMoney, may soon be facing rent increases of 31% over the next few years and 10% in 2011 alone.


Read the complete article 

Stop wasting time with on-line mortgage calculators

If you’re a first time home buyer, we know that typically you get 90% of your information from the internet before you begin the search for your first home. We also know that first time home buyers do much of their information gathering about home loans on the internet as well.

This “insider” information has led to most real estate and mortgage websites offering a “how much home do you qualify for” widget. You get to enter some basic like your desired sales price, down payment, interest rate etc. The widget then calculates a monthly payment and estimates(based on the amount of income you entered) a sales price for which you qualify.
it all sounds pretty simple, but the real value for your first home search?
None!... Zero!... Zip!... Nada!

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First Time Home Buyer Programs are not one size fits all

A first time home buyer can find the right first time home buyer program from one of  the mortgage sites on the internet?

Just like the other first time home buyer myths, this is too important to be an “off the rack”, one size fits all shopping trip.

Many of these sites are not lenders and shouldn’t be issuing rate quotes anyway.

Apparently, the government has too many other things on their plate to investigate.

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First Time Home Buyers still think renting is cheaper

First time home buyers across the country are finding that owning their first home may, indeed, be a cheaper alternative to renting.
Owning your first home has to be the right fit for your lifestyle now but also your lifestyle in five or ten years. You will change, your families needs will change and it’s very possible the opportunities you have today to become a first time home owner will change.

Hot Tips for first time home buyers

First time home buyers have a number of choices when it comes to the programs available to help them down the path of homeownership.

Unfortunately that’s the good news and bad.
Good because the programs are out there
Bad because the differences can be very confusing.

Read more

First Time Home Buyer Programs - 15 years "same as cash"

This is the first in a series of posts about the first time home buyer programs and down payment assistance programs available to first time home buyers in California and specifically Riverside County.
Millions of Americans have bought big screen TVs, appliances, lawnmowers, even cars with “same as cash” terms.

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Now qualified first time home buyers in Riverside County can get down payment assistance with “same as cash” terms. In fact the terms can be even better than “same as cash”.

The County of Riverside through its EDA (Economic Development Agency) is rolling out an enhanced version of its Neighborhood Stabilization Homeownership Program (NSHP)  “purchase price assistance” program.

Like all down payment assistance programs there are qualifying criteria for not only the future homeowner but the property as well.

Following the 6 Tips to first time home buyer programs, let’s look at NSHP.
Eligible properties are bank owned foreclosed homes located in portions of 15 cities and 9 unincorporated areas of Riverside County with a sales price maximum of $292,686.

1. First Time Home Buyer - NSHP like all first time home buyer programs requires that you be a first time home buyer or not have owned a home in the last three years. We’ll verify this by requesting your federal tax returns for three years.
2. Owner Occupied - All first time home buyer programs require you be purchasing your first home to live in.
There is an affordability period of 15 years for NSHP. What this means is that for the first 15 years you own the home (and occupy) if you sell it, you will be required to repay the down payment assistance.
Because there are no payments or interest charged you only pay back what you initially borrowed (same as cash).
After 15 years the down payment assistance becomes a grant and no longer requires re-payment.

3. Credit Qualify - All first time home buyer programs have an underlying first mortgage (usually FHA) for which you have to qualify based on your income and credit.
To help you with qualifying, NSHP may be combined with the Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC) program to give you a boost in qualifying.

4. Income Limits - NSHP has income limits of 120% of HUD median income. So a family of three can earn as much as $70,200 and a family of four $78,000.

5. Down Payment Assistance - NSHP provides down payment assistance up to 20% of the purchase price in the form of a “silent second” with no payments or interest (same as cash), to a maximum of $75,000.
Because many of the foreclosed homes need some cosmetic repairs and energy efficient upgrades there is also a “repair component” as part of NSHP, which becomes part of your first time home buyer incentive.

• For more information on the repair component.

6. Homebuyer Education - All Riverside County homeownership programs require you attend an 8 hour in person home buyer education class. This should be one of your first steps on the path to homeownership. Because of the high demand for first time home buyer programs these classes fill up quickly.

NSHP offers first time home buyers one of their best opportunities of owning their first home. It will require effort and patience on your part, but when you can borrow money “same as cash”, it’s worth the effort, don’t you think?

Other Related Posts:

• 5 Tips for writing a smart offer
• Is now the right time to buy your first home?
• I thought I made too much money for first time home buyer programs

First Time Home Buyer Blunders to Avoid

First time home buyers have so much at stake when buying their first home that in the attempt to "do it right" they might forget some of the basics.

Here are some tips for first time home buyers that while basic do form the foundation of a successful home buying experience.


If I were going to add one more first time home buyer tip, it would be: Rely on the experts you have chosen for the right information, not friends nor family members.

The changes in today's market seem to happen daily, and you need the advice of someone who is in this market everyday to guide you through to a successful closing.

To contact a first time home buyer specialist

Other Related Posts:

6 Tips to understanding first time home buyer programs

I thought I made too much to get first time home buyer assistance!

Down payment assistance if I don't need it?

Great News for landlords and first time home buyers

Landlords got some great news - renters? not so much!
First Time home buyers?
When it's cheaper to own than rent, that has to be great news!

It seems that almost daily first time home buyers are getting information that makes that buy vs. rent decision a little  easier. According to a new report released by real estate search site HotPads.com residential rental rates have risen 6.7% since June of 2010, far exceeding industry experts predictions.
We are seeing renters flocking to their chosen social networks, flustered that their landlord is screwing them over and are being met with the harsh reality that it isn’t their landlord, it is the entire market. (AgentGenius)
It’s estimated that rents in San Diego will rise 10% in 2011 alone.

So how do you know if buying is the right decision for you and your family?
Forget the financial part for just a minute and ask yourself if you’re ready to assume the lifestyle.
If you think you’re ready to settle in fand can handle the additional responsibility that comes with homeownership, then  you might want to use this handy tool to help analyze the financial part of your decision.

If you find two similar houses, one for sale and the other for rent and divide the sale price by the annual rent, you can call the result the Rent Ratio.
It’s a formula similar to the price-to-earnings ratio that savvy stock investors use.

In concrete terms, a rent ratio above 20 means that the monthly costs of ownership will exceed the cost of renting. Anything less the pendulum starts to swing toward home ownership. Anything less than 10-14 is clearly a buying sign.

But there’s more to the decision than just the monthly payment.

If your lease expires at the end of the month, how much would you need to move into your next apartment or housse?

In California a landlord, for an unfurnished rental unit can legally charge an amount equivalent to two months rent (first month plus security).
So if the rent will be $1500 you would need a minimum of $3000.

Will you be able to do that?  if so, check this out!
If you were buying your first home, using the California first time home buyer program you might be able to move for as little as 1% of the purchase price.

• Compare the rent ratio figures for Southwest Riverside County

For more information on how this program might work for you and your family

Other related Posts:
Save thousands on move in costs with down payment assistance 

Down payment assistance even if I don’t need it? 

First Time Home Buyer Blunders to Avoid

First Time Home Buyer Myths - Busted Again!

“A first time home buyer can get a “smokin” deal in this market because of all the foreclosures!”

MYTH! (sort of)

If, by “smokin’ deal” you mean as compared to the prices of 2,3,4 or 5 years ago, then ABSOLUTELY!

But if you mean, you’re going to offer 20, 30, 40, or 50% below current asking price, well then you have three chances! 1) None 2) Fat 3) Slim left town.

There’s no lack of sound byte reporting that is telling you how much less foreclosures sell for than regular or standard sales. The truth is: traditional media is disconnected from the realities of local housing markets.

All first time home buyers would love to get a “smokin deal” on their first home but the realities of today’s market are driven by “supply and demand” not by your desire to get a “deal”.

If your first home will be in a market that is dominated by distressed sales, then the supply is controlled by the banks and major lenders. Their sole purpose is to sell the house for as much
as the market will bear. That’s why the department you’ll be dealing with is called “Loss Mitigation” or in layman’s terms: “Cut our losses department”.

The banks spend a lot of money determining the market value for each one of the homes they own (REOs) or might own (short sales). They might hire an appraiser to determine market value
and/or a local real estate broker to do a BPO (Broker Price Opinion). Using this information is how they arrive at what will be an acceptable selling price.

The banks also have to answer to the investor(s) who own/owned the loan that is/was on your “dream home”. If the banks have already repaid the investors, once again they have to mitigate their losses, because their investors demand it and very often will not approve anything less than their perception of value.

You might have heard that up to 70% of all home sales are to first time home buyers. That creates demand, so you will be in competition with other first time home buyers and thus “the bidding begins”

Almost every market has a “tipping point”. Homes above that price point generally have less competition and below it there’s more competition. So, your approved target price will tell you how much competition you’re likely to be facing and whether your offer will be accepted

If you’ve hired a Realtor who specializes in helping first time home buyers, they will know that “price point” for your market and can advise you on the amount of competition you might be facing and help you write a competitive offer.

Even if every offer you write is competitive, in most markets you’ll probably be writing more than one before you’re the winning bidder. Writing a “lowball” offer does absolutely nothing to move you along the path to home ownership.

Other related posts:

• First Time Home Buyer Myth #1

• First Time Home Buyer Myth #2

• Blunders to avoid when buying your first home (Video)

First Time Home Buyers Credit - Credit Course 1

First time home buyers don't need "perfect" credit to buy their first home but they do need to show that they can manage their credit.



Your mortgage company will be lending you hundreds of thousands of dollars and they want to be sure you will pay them back and pay them on time.

This is the first in a series of videos on first time home buyer credit scores and things you can do to make sure your loan application gets

For more information on first time home buyer credit
Other related posts:

6 Tips to understand first time home buyer programs
5 Tips for writing a smart offer on your first home
3 Myths about first time home buyer programs

First Time Home Buyer Myths - Busted #1

First time home buyers can get the best information about their market on-line

MYTH!

First time home buyers can get information about the real estate market on-line but it’s not the BEST information.

Buying your first home is the most important decision you will make and relying on the major news outlets is trusting that decision to sound byte reporting.

They only have a few seconds to grab your attention to entice you to read/watch further. To cram as much information in as short a time as possible they will generalize and make conclusions based on one set of data, without talking about the other pieces of the puzzle.

The fact is that traditional media is disconnected from the realities of housing.

Regardless, talking heads are saying in one day that permits are up so housing must be stabilizing yet on another day saying that builder confidence is down and we’re in for a bumpy ride. The truth is that the pendulum is still swinging and there are signs of national housing stabilizing but we’re still experiencing the bounce so we can’t say for sure one way or another (although we can say housing is currently a mess). (AgentGenius)

or how about Foreclosures? from the same AgentGenius article
Various news anchors continue to point to foreclosure data as a sign of a recovering housing market and continue to fail to see all of the moving pieces...The number of homes actually repossessed in May fell 4% from April and 29% year-over-year...
These numbers look good, but don’t take into account why this process has slowed down.
We’ll give you a hint- it isn’t because employment is any better or because consumer confidence is up. No, it’s because the big banks have kinked the hose of the flow of foreclosures in light of the robosigning debacle (where banks didn’t manually review documents before foreclosure leading to illegal foreclosures on wrong addresses, homes paid in full and various other mistakes) as many states attorneys general and federal agencies are investigating the banks’ processes, putting a hamper on how quickly papers are/were being processed.

Where can you get the best information?
Local industry professionals (Realtors & Lenders) will have the best information.

Here’s a first time home buyer tip that will help you find the right professional.
Just ask “How’s the market?”
If they start talking about “their market” i.e. “I’m sooo busy” or “it’s a great time
to buy” keep looking, they aren’t going to give you the important information you need.

• To contact a first time home buyer specialist

Other Related Posts:

• First Time Home Buyer Blunders to Avoid (Video)

• New Cop on the beat to protect first time home buyers

• 6 Tips to understanding first time home buyer programs

• 3 Myths about first time home buyer programs

First Time Home Buyer Road Trip

Buying your first time home is not an event, it's more like a "road trip" and to reach your destination, you have to have a full tank of gas and directions from people who have traveled the road many times before.

The "fuel" in your tank is knowing that your first time home buyer loan and first time home buyer program are right for you and your family. Too many times first time home buyers don't check the fuel gauge before they start their "road trip" and as a result are left stranded hoping that AAA will stop by.

"Hope is not a strategy"

FirstTimeHomeBuyersNetwork.com is an association of Real Estate and Mortgage professionals with the training and experience to help first time home buyers and their families find the right first time home buyer programs and incentives available in today's complicated real estate market.

Most families qualify for more than one program and matching your first home with the right first time home buyer program requires more than just a real estate or mortgage originator license.

You wouldn't trust an important family "road trip" to someone whose qualification is "they own a car", trust someone who has been on that trip many times, knows how much fuel it will take, and knows the alternate routes if congestion or turbulence should happen.

For more information on the first time home buyer and down payment assistance programs available, Click Here