Escrow closed on my house last week; I am officially a home-owner! It is a small 3-bedroom, 2-bath on .82 acres fenced with a two (ha, ha) car garage. I got it for $188,000. Yes, houses are still affordable if you live where nobody else wants to live.<\/p>\n
Some lessons learned<\/b>: The lender will want every last piece of financial documentation about the money you are pulling together. They are very uptight. <\/p>\n
You have to buy house insurance and it pays to ask around and call a few different businesses in town.<\/p>\n
It's like pushing against an elephant to get anything to move, but take active charge of your paperwork and check back on people constantly (or else they will feign ignorance).<\/p>\n
I got a terrific deal: 5.125% on a 30-year fixed plus 3% cash thrown my way, because I am teacher working at an under-performing school. <\/p>\n
Ideally you should come up with 20% of the down, but you know what?? Lenders want your business and will give you a bigger loan than you can practically afford if you have good credit.<\/p>\n
GOOD CREDIT is critical – so pay all your bills on time! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Escrow closed on my house last week; I am officially a home-owner! It is a small 3-bedroom, 2-bath on .82 acres fenced with a two (ha, ha) car garage. I got it for $188,000. Yes, houses are still affordable if … Continue reading