My fiancée and I are not experts at mortgages, but we have learned many valuable lessons about the home buying process by our experiences in the last two years. Our journey started out searching all over the internet and yellow pages looking for a loan that would best fit our situation. But first we had to determine what our situation was, and what kind of home we wanted. We have learned through this process that the type of property you want is a major part of getting the loan process started.
After about six months of looking at homes from Dixon to Dobbins, California, we decided that we could not afford the size home we wanted with our current income. Doesn’t that sound familiar? So we decided we wanted to buy bare land. Sounded like a good plan to me. But, then we started looking for a land loan, we filled out all of those Get a 300,000 dollar loan, No Money Down for $214.24 adds that they have on every website you visit. Then dozens of loan officers called us back saying we pre-approved for all different types of money, when we told them we were trying to buy land they replied in two different ways, “We don’t have land loans” or “it will take at least 30% down. “Alright I’ll call you back,” I said.
So we sat down and started calculating this option. We found a one-acre lot we like in Dunnigan, California for $160,000, “That’s a lot cheaper then the $395,000 home we want in Woodland,” I told my fiancée. So, I figured if we could almost afford the $395,000 home we could easily afford this loan. WRONG! I realized that 30% of $160,000 is $48,000; we don’t have that kind of money for a down payment. I decided there had to be a way to get this land we wanted, so I scheduled appoint to meet the Real Estate Agent that was selling the land; which turned out to be the worst mistake of the whole journey.
My Fiancée and I arrived at the Real Estate Agents office hoping to get some different options, so we could buy the land we wanted. But after three hours of listening to interesting stories about his children and ex-wife, we left his office with an offer to the seller, the agent representing us, handing him a $1,000 deposit to take the land off the market, and a verbal agreement that we could receive a loan for $160,000 with 5% down. My Fiancée and I were excited and nervous at the same time; we’ve learned about dual-agency in school and really didn’t know if he could get the best deal we could, since he represented both the buyer and the seller. Note: At all Cost, Do not have the same agent as the Seller or vice versa. But we searched everywhere and this was the first time we heard that we could receive a land loan with only 5% down, so we just decided to stick with our decision.
To be continued……
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Amanda Swift writes on Business and Real Estate related issues. You can learn more by visiting my blog, Find the Right Mortgage for Your Family http://savingmoney4future.blogspot.com/ Help from Demario Warren
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