Look to this page for important information regarding buying a home in New York. 

 FIND OUT WHAT BANKS AND CREDIT UNIONS DON’T TELL YOU:

Buying a home is for the vast majority of people the single largest purchase they will ever make.  There are few decisions in life that are more important than when, where and how we decide to buy a new home.  It’s where our lives happen and where lasting memories are made.

But because it’s not something we do every day and because of the size of the investment and financial commitment it becomes a very intimidating process especially for first-timers.  As a result new home buyers usually gravitate to their attorney or to a real estate agent for their information and, in light of what they perceive as the cause of the mortgage meltdown, run to a bank or credit union to get pre-qualified for a mortgage. 

If you’re thinking about starting the process to look for a new home I would advise you to do all of that.  But before you make your first offer on a home I would urge you to call us and make an appointment to discuss in great detail the “SIX STAGES OF BUYING YOUR NEW HOME THE RIGHT WAY”.  At this meeting you will discover all of the important information you weren’t told and how much of the information you were told was just wrong.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

1)     THE PRE-QUAL: We start with a mortgage pre-approval to put you at ease that you’ll be able to qualify for the house that you eventually find.  You’ll find out the difference between a credit pre-approval and a real pre-approval.  We’ll review your personal income, assets and credit and if needed discuss strategies and options that while allowed by banks are usually not discussed with retail applicants.

2)     THE MARKETING: Next we discuss how to find for your new home.  You’ll learn how to work with real estate agents, what to say and what not to say.  We’ll detail the three most important questions to ask regarding the seller and you’ll find out the proper steps to take before making an offer.

3)     THE CONTRACT: After you have an accepted offer you’ll need to go to contract.  Here you’ll learn the three most important parts of a contract, what’s a normal clause in a contract and what’s not, and which features are negotiable.  Plus we’ll uncover what you never see-- the hidden world of a title report, what it shows (and it’s not just who owns the property) and how a mistake can cost you dearly years after you close.

4)     THE MORTGAGE: Now that you’re in contract you need to apply for a mortgage. If planned correctly at the time of pre-approval this should be a smooth and quick process.  You should never go to one bank, put all your eggs in one basket and assume that the processor who will be assigned to your file won’t overlook or misunderstand one of the hundreds of underwriting rules you need to know in order to get an approval.  We have access to several banks allowing us to place your loan with the bank with the most competitive rate, we know the underwriting rules and you work with us directly.

5)     THE CLOSING: After we have your mortgage commitment, and assuming the title searches have been cleared, the next step is closing!  Here you’ll learn what to do before closing, what you’ll need to bring to closing and what to expect when you get there.  Find out the hidden industry secret about the Homeowners insurance you will need to buy that for years has made so many New York homeowners overpay for their insurance.  Learn how the public’s perception of closing costs has been wrong for years, how to lower your closing costs and what closing cost a bank won’t disclose.  The estimate of your closing costs that we provide is accurate so you can come to closing with no fear of any surprises and we’ll be at your closing to ensure it. 

6)     POST-CLOSING: Lastly, we turn our attention to the financial planning changes that your new home purchase creates.  Here through proper tax planning we’ll tell you how your new home “gives you a raise”, money you can take home every month after closing.  To cover the “what-if” scenarios we review your current life and disability insurance and address your need for proper estate planning to protect the new investment you’ve made.

You want to buy your new home the right way.  This is a thorough, comprehensive approach that together you would never get from an attorney, a real estate agent or any bank.  The information is culled from over 25 years of providing mortgages for home buyers in New York.

So call or email us to make an appointment and get this information—after reading through all of this you should wonder what could happen if you bought your new home without it.

DOWN PAYMENT MISCONCEPTIONS:

When people look to make important financial decisions they need to have accurate information and 100 percent of it.  You may find what you perceive to be accurate information from the internet, a trusted friend or better yet the media but unbeknownst to you it may have left out other information that was just as important that you needed in order to make a truly informed decision.

People make decisions based on inaccurate or incomplete information every day and as a result they decide to either do something that they shouldn’t have done or to NOT do something they should have had they had the proper information.

Since the 2008 recession and the resulting real estate/mortgage crash the media has been consistently reporting that home buyers now have to put up a 20% down payment to buy a new home— and that because of strict lending standards it is very difficult to get a mortgage.  After hearing this from so many sources potential home buyers began to believe that it was true and either gave up on the dream of ever buying a home or resigned themselves to having to save for many years to do it.

The fact is however that down payment requirements are still as low as they were in 2008.  FHA requires a 3.5% down payment (although I only recommend FHA in limited circumstances) and a Conventional mortgage only requires 3% down.  In addition these programs allow for Sellers concessions that can cover a large portion of the closing costs by adding them to the purchase price and even gifts can be used toward the down payment so that the buyer needs very little of their own money.  Here’s an example:

Purchase Price:            $400000
Closing costs:              $15000
Total needed:               $415000

 Mortgage:                    $388000
 Gift:                             $17000
 Seller Concession:       $10000

Total from Buyer:         $0

If a gift wasn’t available then the total needed from the buyer is still only $17000.  There are many potential home buyers that don’t realize this and already have or can save this amount of money.  Some can even tap into 401k or IRA accounts without paying a penalty.

The point is that most home buyers in New York have the income needed to qualify for a mortgage but not the entry level costs of a 20% down payment and closing costs.  But with the right information they will learn that they don’t need it and that buying a new home can once again become more than just a dream.