Anyone else house shopping?

We are talking about doing this over the summer. I have an idea of what we should be able to qualify for, but have not gone to get pre-qualified yet. We are going to try to get the new homeowners grant that is offered in our state to get the 20% down paid for us and maybe use his VA Loan. Depends on what kind of deal we can get from the bank.

we are just getting ready to get prequalified right now! its a lil scary and intimidating!! but i'm ready... what company did you end up going through?? we're looking at downey savings and countrywide

I am working from home and part of my job is financial consulting and mortgage loans. Mortgage process is not difficult on your part, because most job is done by mortgage broker. If you don't want to show full documents, you can have a loan based on stated income, stated assets. It is less headaches and no paper work on your side. My advice is not to take 100% loan and not to take any ARM loans. Make sure you know in advance about closing cost and mortgage fees. When shopping for home or condominium, check an estimated home value on zillow.com There are much more to check if you are buying condo, some builders are out of business and seller will never tell you. Banks are having more restrictions now for buyer qualifications due to huge foreclosure rate. Good luck with your hose hunting. Rates are great now and this is the best time for buyers.

If you have the credit... now is a GREAT time to buy a home. Interest rates are REALLY low and housing prices are very low as well... getting through the mortgage brokers is a pain in the donkey's rear end but it can very well be worth it to you in the end. Greatest of luck to you. Zelo

We bought our first home 4 years ago. The mortgage part was a little tricky for us, since I had worked several "seasonal" positions at different companies the years before landing a full-time, year round position, so I had to get letters stating that I was permenantly employeed, as well as all the usual stuff. Other than that the mortgage paperwork wasn't too bad. It was the stuff like the inspection, surveys, taxes, etc that were a bit scary to me! I saw you want 100% financing; we got this with our mortgage but our broker was able to get us a VHDA (Virginia HOusing Development Authority) loan so that we didn't have to pay the mortgage insurance. It was a slightly higher APR, but since you can deduct that from your taxes, it's the better way to go. See if you can get something similar in your state.

We just got the call yesterday telling us how much we are preapproved for. We are going to look at three houses today. I'm so excited! I looked around a long time to find a mortgage broker who understands exactly what we want for a mortgage and for someone that we connected with so I'm not too stressed about that part. I'm more stressed about the fact that I have a complete image in my mind of the perfect house for us and I'm afraid we might not find one that meets all my criteria. Good luck with your house hunting!

That's great that you are house shopping. It's been about 12 years ago, since I went through the process of buying a home. So all of the details escape me. Sounds like you are ahead of the game, with what you have already at hand.