How to Buy Your First Home

by Diana Summers

Overview

Take the fear out of buying your first home

For many, the process of buying a home for the first time can seem intimidating and overwhelming. How to Buy Your First Home is your resource for information on the subject. This book guides you through the entire process, including:

Preliminaries-Renting versus buying, determining what you can afford, deciding where to live

Searching for Your Home-What to look for in a home, hiring a realtor

Finances-Mortgage basics, government agencies, home loans for veterans

The Buying Process-Weighing your mortgage options, hiring an attorney, making an offer, inspecting and appraising your home

The Future-Caring for your home and increasing the value of your investment

Included within the text are Attorney Tip boxes that highlight important facts. Click on This boxes will guide you to helpful websites for additional information about calculating costs, locating homes in your area and more.

Extensive appendices include a glossary of important terms, contact information for state offices of real estate regulation and sample worksheets to help you as you make your decisions.

Written by an experienced attorney, How to Buy Your First Home is the resource that will take the mystery out of buying a home.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781402233982
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	05/01/2005
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	328
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Diana Brodman Summers received her J.D. from DePaul University College of Law and her undergraduate degree from Roosevelt University. She is an arbitrator for both the Cook and DuPage County mandatory arbitration programs and was recently appointed to the Liquor Commission for the City of Downers Grove. Ms. Summers is an active member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the American Bar Association, the DuPage County Bar Association, and the Illinois State Bar Association.

Ms. Summers has taught seminars for lawyers through several bar associations and has written articles on computerizing law offices. She volunteers with other Illinois State Bar Association attorneys in accordance with the local Judge Advocate General's office to provide low-cost legal service for returning members of the military. She currently maintains a law practice in Lisle, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.

Read an Excerpt

How Much Can You Afford for a Mortgage?

Every lender has a formula to tell how much a person can afford in mortgage payments. Formulas are good because they can give a definitive number. However, most formulas do not factor in a person's lifestyle (what is important to that person), future financial down-turns, or what each person feels comfortable paying for housing.

COMMON DEBT-TO-INCOME RATIOS
Mortgage lenders loan money based on a set of criteria. That criteria rates the property, the neighborhood, the building, and the borrower. This chapter will explore the common criteria used to rate the borrower and how you can use that information to make decisions before you ask for a mortgage.

Housing-to-Income Ratio
Lenders usually use a two-part ratio calculation that sets the boundaries of what you can pay for a home. This is currently expressed as the 28/36 formula (but the exact numbers may change by the time you read this).

The first part, the front-end ratio or the housing-to-income ratio, is the total mortgage payment divided by your gross monthly income. The percentage result should be somewhere in the 28% to 33% range. Right now 28% is currently used by the majority
of lenders. Depending on your credit history, amount of debts, and amount of potential future income, your lender may change the front end percentage.

The total mortgage payment or housing costs includes: monthly loan payment, real estate taxes, home owners insurance, mortgage insurance (if any), and association fees (if any).

Gross monthly income is what you receive each month from every source. This income total is before taxes or any deductions (such as deductions for your 401(k) program) are taken out.

Debt-to-Income Ratio
The second part, back-end ratio or total debts ratio is the percentage of your gross income that can go towards all of your monthly debt. In the 28/36 formula, a person should not pay more than 36% of his or her monthly gross income for all debts.

Again, gross monthly income is what you receive each month from every source. This income total is before taxes or any deductions (such as deductions for your 401(k) program) are taken out.

Monthly debt includes payments on credit card debts, loans, alimony, child support, plus housing costs, but does not include household expenses like utilities, food, clothing, and the like.

Monthly housing costs are mortgage payment, real estate taxes, home insurance, mortgage insurance, and association fees.

HOW TO USE THESE RATIOS
So, you are probably looking at these ratios and saying "How does that affect me? All I want to do is to get a mortgage without the hassle of dealing with math equations." Not only do I understand, I feel exactly the same. These ratios were created and are routinely
used by lenders, you know, those people who enjoy working with numbers. For the rest of us, these ratios can give us an approximation of what we can afford in a mortgage and for our total debt.

While we can use the ratios like the lenders (as guidelines and generalities to determine if someone qualifies for a mortgage loan), there are two important pieces of information on ratios. First-the ratios can vary by lender, by type of mortgage, and by what the economy is doing. Second-lenders do not only use these numbers. Other factors such as your credit history, the size of your down payment, the cost of the home, the appraised value of the home, and other facts about you and the property go into the decision to issue a mortgage.

This can be better explained through examples. Let's follow two potential home buyers as they wade through the ratios. (We will also see how numbers can be deceiving.)

***
Example 1:
Janet is single. She works as a computer programmer making $42,000 per year. Her gross monthly income is $3,500.

According to the 28/36 formula:
Gross monthly income x 0.28 = Total monthly housing expense
$3,500 x 0.28 = $980

Or, in words, Janet can afford a $980 total monthly housing expense. (Remember that total monthly housing expense includes the mortgage payment, plus homeowners insurance, plus real estate taxes, plus any mortgage insurance payments or association payments.)

Looking at Janet's debts:
Gross monthly income x 0.36 = Total monthly debt expense
$3,500 x 0.36 = $1,260

This shows that Janet's total monthly debts should not exceed $1,260. Again, remember that this does not include those pricey household expenses such as utilities, food, clothing, transportation, and other living expenses.

Looking at Janet's monthly debt, she is paying $150 a month on credit card bills and $100 a month on a student loan. If you add the $980 of a total mortgage payment plus the $250 a month on debts, Janet comes up with a total of $1,230 in obligations. This is $30 less than the maximum debt obligation that the 28/36 ratio allows.

So Janet should be approved to get a mortgage from the lender that uses this ratio. Or should she? The numbers look great, but what if the credit history is not so good? Janet's employment history may be spotty. She may have had several jobs in the past 15 years, never staying longer than two years at each job. Janet's employer may have publicly announced that they are closing. So, Janet may not automatically get the mortgage loan she wanted.

What if Janet's credit worthiness is ok, but the property she wants has problems? Maybe the house is in terrible condition and did not appraise for the amount she is asking the bank to loan her? Janet may not be able to get the mortgage she wanted on that property.
***

These two scenarios show that although a person can be within the 28/36 ratio, there may still be problems obtaining a mortgage. In both of these cases, Janet may have to provide a larger down payment or she may have to select another property. On the other hand Janet, like many of us, may not feel comfortable with a $980 monthly mortgage payment. She may be planning to buy a new car, plus a house full of new furniture.

So how does the 28/36 ratio relate to real life? These numbers are merely maximums. This ratio says that Janet should not take on a total mortgage payment of more than $980 and that she should not have total debt of more than $1,260. So, if Janet can come up with a sizable down payment, or look for a house with a lower total cost, she may be able to get that total monthly mortgage payment down to around $600. This would allow her to go into more debt on other items.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Section 1: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Top 20 Questions of First-Time Home Buyers -

Section 2: PRELIMINARIES
Chapter 1: Buying versus Renting -
Words
First Time Home Buyers
Financial Reasons
-Equity
-Tax Advantages
-Passing to Heirs
-An Investment
-Buying vs. Renting
True Cost of Home Ownership
Intangible Reasons
-Status
-Privacy and Work Schedules
-Community
Conclusion

Chapter 2: Qualifying Yourself for a Mortgage -
Your Credit History
Credit Reports
-Free Credit Reports
Credit Scores
-Improving Your Credit Score
Credit Report Errors
-Repairing Your Credit Report
-Correcting Credit Report Errors
Credit Counseling

Chapter 3: Calculating What You Can Afford -
Common Debt-to-Income Ratios
-Housing-to-Income Ratio
-Debt-to-Income Ratio
How to Use These Ratios
From Monthly Payment to Total Mortgage
Cost of Living Increases
Your Lifestyle

Chapter 4: Qualifying the Neighborhood -
How to Research a Neighborhood
-On the Internet
-Field Trips
-In the Library
-From Your Couch
How to Select a Location
The Food Shopping Test
Other Cost of Living Amounts
Public Improvement Plans
Old vs. New

Section 3: SEARCHING FOR YOUR HOME
Chapter 5: Deciding Which House Features are Important -
The Building, Itself
Features
Essentials
Handy-Man's Special or Fixer-Upper
We are All Getting Older
Condominiums and Townhomes
Building from the Ground-Up
-Building Your House
-Buying in a Builder's Development
-Advantages/Disadvantages of Building

Chapter 6: Working with Real Estate Agents and Brokers -
Real Estate Professionals
-The Real Estate Profession
Problems with Real Estate Agents
-Changing Agents
Whose Interest is Protected by the Real Estate Agent
How Real Estate Agents get Paid
Multiple Listing Services (MLS)
Comparables
Viewing a House Up for Sale
-Notes and Checklists
-Home Warranty
-Home Inspection
What Not to Say to Real Estate Agents and Sellers
Games Played to Make the Sale
-Inflating the Worth of the House
-Another Offer
When Do You Legitimately Need to Act Fast

Chapter 7: Handling the Emotional Side of a Home Purchase
-Emotions in House Hunting
-Under a Deadline
-House is Beautifully Decorated
-It is a Real Steal
-Using the Seller's Emotions
Buyer's Remorse
-When Buyer's Remorse is Legitimate
-Legal Consequences of Allowing Buyer's Remorse to Run Amuck

Section 4: FINANCES
Chapter 8: Explanation of Mortgage Basics -
Prequalifying
Preapproval
Mortgage Lender Types
-Portfolio Lenders
-Mortgage Bankers
-Direct Lenders
-Mortgage Brokers
-What Does This Mean for You
Mortgage Types
-Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM)
-Assumable Mortgages
-Balloon Mortgages
-Buy-Down Mortgage
-Convertible ARM
-Deferred Interest Mortgage
-Faith Financing
-Fixed-Rate Mortgage
-Subprime Mortgage
-Wraparound Mortgage
-Zero Down Mortgage
Necessary Documents to Apply for a Mortgage
Internet Mortgages
Your Mortgage is Approved, Now Lock-In That Rate
Your Mortgage is Not Approved
Points

Chapter 9: Government Agencies and the Secondary Mortgage Market -
Housing and Urban Development Agency (HUD)
-Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
-Ginnie Mae
Fannie Mae
Freddie Mac
Government Agencies and the First-Time Home Buyer
Secondary Mortgage Market

Chapter 10: Additional Sources of Money -
Living Together
-Roommates
Friends and Relatives
Retirement Savings
Local Government Assistance
Zero Down Payment
Low Interest Mortgages
Renting with an Option to Buy
-Pluses
-Minuses

Chapter 11: VA Guaranteed Home Loans -
Qualifying
VA Appraisal
The Loan
-Approval
-Advantages
-Disadvantages

Section 5: THE BUYING PROCESS
Chapter 12: The Legal Side of Real Estate -
Do I Need an Attorney
Title Searches and Surveys
How to Hold Title
-Joint Tenancy
-Tenancy by the Entireties
-Tenancy in Common

Chapter 13: The Offer -
The Contract
What is in a Real Estate Contract
-Components of a Real Estate Contract
Negotiation
-Things to Remember in Negotiations
Earnest Money
-Escrow

Chapter 14: Appraisers, Inspectors, and Homeowners Insurance
Appraisers
Inspectors
-The Inspection
-Defects
Insurance
-Home Insurance
-Flood Insurance
-Mortgage Insurance
-Title Insurance

Chapter 15: The Closing -
The Walk Through
What Really Happens at a Closing
Closing Documents
-What to Bring to the Closing
Closing Costs
Problems

Section 6: THE FUTURE
Chapter 16: Enjoying Your Home -
Responsible Home Ownership
Keeping Utility Expenses Down
Correspondence from the Mortgage Company
Congratulations-You Get a Tax Benefit
Reducing Your Mortgage Debt

Chapter 17: Foreclosure and How to Avoid It -
Preventing Foreclosure
When You Can't Pay the Mortgage
Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac
Staying Positive -

Glossary -
Appendix A: Internet Sites by Subject -
Appendix B: Worksheets -
Appendix C: Sample Letters -
Appendix D: State Offices of Real Estate Regulation -
Appendix E: HUD-1 Settlement Statement -
Appendix F: HUD Offices -
Appendix G: VA Guaranteed Loan -
Appendix H: VA Regional Offices -
Index -
About the Author