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What Does it Cost to Buy a House in California
First Time Home Buyers in California have options with Down Payment Assistance Home Loan Programs to help when buying a house. Start search HERE.
Start by clicking on the image below and complete the short inquiry form, all the available home loan programs will appear based the information you enter.
Buying a house can be a very easy process when working with the right licensed California loan officer such as myself. When making a big purchase can be stressful and a little overwhelming, especially when it is your first time buying a house.
The first step before starting your home buying process is speak or meet when a loan officer so that your financing is in place and you know what your budget will allow you to buy. Looking for a house before getting qualified, will add more stress to the home buying experience. You will find a home that you wish to make an offer on and the sellers want to review all offers with the highest and best and then look at the strength of the buyer in terms of financing, such as down payment, credit scores and what the earnest money deposit will be.
There are 4 steps in order to qualify for a home purchase, these are traditional steps that are in place in today’s underwriting guidelines. Areas we will need to address when applying for a home loan are, income, assets, credit and funds (down payment and closing cost) to closing escrow.
Income needs to be verified with W2 or 1099 income, what is verified and claimed on your taxes returns is what we use to qualify debt to income. Any schedule C or E earners will require full federal returns (all pages). Non-taxable income will need to be verified with a monthly statement. As of today there are no traditional programs that allow stated income, need to verify all income used to qualify for the home purchase.
Assets are used to strengthen the home loan application, some lending programs will require 2 months reserves of the total mortgage payment in terms of the principle and interest payment along with the property taxes and homeowner’s insurance, also may apply in the monthly mortgage payment; mortgage insurance, monthly HOA payment and in some areas flood insurance. As mentioned before not all purchase programs require reserves but always helps that have it to strengthen the overall loan request.
Credit needs to be ran on all mortgage applicants at the time of applying. There are 2 parts to a mortgage related credit report, the credit scores and what is in the body of the credit report. You may have a lendable middle credit score but what maybe in the body of the report can hamper your ability to buy a house. There are certain items in the report that can be addressed to have an immediate impact to become lendable and then there area time frames that require seasoning periods when it comes to a short sale, foreclosure, deed in lieu of and a bankruptcy.
Funds for the down payment and closing cost are areas that down payment assistance programs can help in. The 2 programs that require no money for the down payment are the VA and USDA home loans, but the down payment assistance programs can still be utilized with these 2 programs with the closing cost. Other loan programs such as FHA and Conventional do require a small down payment investment, can be as little at .5% when using a down payment assistance home loan program.
Not every home loan applicant is the same, you owe it to yourself to speak or meet with a mortgage professional who’s primary focus is the mortgage industry. I do not speak with my construction buddy about my medical issues, that is what a doctor is for and that is what loan officers are required to be, licensed in order to serve our customers better.
I welcome the opportunity to be your first step in buying a house in California. Knowing what you qualify for will make the process of a purchasing a home that much more enjoyable and less stressful. Having the financing in place will also make your offer to the seller that much stronger and stand out. It does hurt for you to explore your options of purchasing a home, you will at least know processing steps, know what your budget will allow you to buy and make the home loan process that much smoother when your offer is excepted by the seller.
I am a quick phone call or text away at 909-503-5600, you can also email me at nathan.rufty@mwfinc.com. I look forward in speaking with you about your goals and plans of owning a home in California.
First Time Home Buyers in California have options with Down Payment Assistance Home Loan Programs to help when buying a house. Start search HERE.
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