All Forum Posts by: Andrew L.

I am definitely qualified in terms of credit and DTI criteria. I'd imagine a mortgage with less than 20% down payment, even without PMI or MIP, will still be higher than ones with the 20% down payment. The question is, how much higher?

Alright. Looks like I will need to get in touch with someone local. There is a lot of little nuances I just don't know about. 

FHA is an interesting option. I kept thinking I wouldn't qualify for but it reads like there isn't much income threshold after all. However, I still hope to obtain the lowest rate possible, since I will more likely go with a 15 years fixed loan rather than a 30 years.

So I plan to put own 20% (to avoid PMI or MIP) and secure a jumbo loan (if SFH or condo) to lower the rate. If I go with my current plan, I would have to take out two loans:

1. Around $100k - 150k loans for down payment

2. Around $500k to $800k jumbo loan

Is there other option I am not aware of? What do stock-rich-cash-poor people typically do in my case?

Well, I only check online from reputable lenders. I don't know local lenders. 

Hi, I am a first time homebuyer and would like to buy a primary home for myself. However, I am stock-rich, cash-poor. So I've been looking for ways to get around capital gains tax from my stock portfolio. 

I did a quick check on E*trade and TDAmeritrade. The rates all look kind of high to me ($500k to $1M)

E*Trade
TDAmeritrade

I also check my 401k program. Empower Retirement wants 5.25% interest rate for a $50,000 loan. Higher than Etrade or TDAmeritrade. 

I am only looking to do the minimum down payment (20%~25%). I don't know if there is any first time buyer or down payment assistance program in Virginia that has high income threshold or no threshold at all. Otherwise, I am likely not qualify. 

I don't know. Is there a better option I haven't though of? I've been on and off the BP forum but I will start reading more as I get more serious about home buying. 

That's interesting. I would think the two major sources of tax expenses come from personal income tax and property tax. Either one of them is lower in MD than in VA. Unless I am missing something here...

I am in a similar situation except that I have a higher budget ($600k - 700k) and prefer NOVA (McLean, Vienna, Fairfax). I just read somewhere that MD doesn't charge transfer tax for Co-op...that's quite a bit of saving. Is there a good website to compare all the real estate-related tax in the tri-state area?

As the title implies, I am new to real estate and just last week, I called out a couple of mortgage brokers to see what kind of mortgage and rate I could qualify for. I wanted to do this without incurring a credit pull since I haven't decided whether this is a good time to buy a house (residential, for myself...not looking to make a profit or make it into a rental property). Anyway, so one of the brokers will be starting out with a new bank next week and was kind enough to tell me as much details without incurring a credit pull. Another broker (not sure whether he works for any particular bank) simply asked to provide all the info and he will give me a pre-approval letter. 

I am sensitive to having multiple credit pulls even though my FICO is right around 800, but still I want to be able to compare rates from different sources/brokers. So below are some of my questions:

1) Will a broker working for one particular bank be at a disadvantage compared to one who can pull loan offer from multiple sources? 

2) Can the rate change between pre-approval letter and actually buying a house? Or does a broker has to offer the rate on pre-approval letter?

3) Any tip to shop around for best rate without incurring too many credit pull. 

Thanks!