Knoxville Tennessee Real Estate Blog

No, I’m not being facetious or implying you’re a dummy because you haven’t bought a house yet.

In fact, just the opposite; waiting until now has saved you thousands of dollars more that than measly 8 grand credit a lot of your friends got when they bought earlier this year. Here’s how.

Let’s take a look at the facts and mortgage market now compared to what they were then.

The $8,000 federal tax credit that got everyone excited earlier this year expired at the end of April, 2010. Buyers that had a contract dated prior to that were able to claim the credit and also got a loan with an interest rate around 5.5% or so.

If they bought the median priced house in the Knoxville, TN area, which would have been around $180,000, and got an FHA insured loan with the minimum 3.5% down payment they would have a monthly mortgage payment of $986.25 for their principal and interest. Taxes and insurance are added to that amount.

However, because you waited until now for whatever reason, interest rates have continued to drop. In the current mortgage market you can get an interest rate as low as 4.25% which would lower your monthly principal and interest payment to $854.50 or $131.75 LOWER than your friends who bought earlier this year and got the tax credit.

One huge benefit to you with the lower interest rate is that it’s actual cash you’re saving each month you can use for savings, bill paying, or whatever you choose.

And if you only own you house 5 years and 1 month and then decide to sell and move up, move down, or whatever, you have then saved $8.036.75 in actual cash payments which puts you Waay ahead of your friends and their $8,000 credit 5 years previously

Finally if you end up keeping your house and paying off your 30 year loan over the whole term you save a whopping $47,430 in actual monthly payments over your friends who bought earlier.

So if anyone tells you that you’ve missed the boat on that now expired tax credit,just whip out your calculator or this article and explain to them how you decided to wait until conditions were ‘more perfect’, as they are now, before pulling the trigger on your new home purchase. Then show them how much more they’re paying compared to the sweet interest rates you’re now able to take advantage of.

In the greater Knoxville, TN are visit www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com to see all the area homes for sale.

A little further north, Portsmouth, NH and Seacoast area buyers can visit www.NewHampshireMaineRealEstate.com. The state of New Hampshire also has a stunning 3.5% rate through their New Hampshire Housing program. These are the lowest rates in their 30 year history.

The only dumb question is the one you don’t ask; call or email us.

The nice folks at Lender411.com  wrote a very flattering  review of my blog. You can get some great mortgage information (not to mention a great mortgage) by visiting their website.

Content published by Jim Lee

This is a guest post by Brandon Fischer on VA benefits; I hope some veterans find it useful.

Jim

VA benefits

by Brandon Fischer:

For the men and women that have so willingly served our country, the government offers a variety of programs and incentives designed to enhance their quality of life after service. Benefits for our country’s veterans range from educational assistance to job training with benefits more specifically being:

• Job training
• VA health benefits
• retirement funds
• the GI Bill VetFran
• franchising opportunities
• The VA home loan program.

VA Home Loans

Since its creation in 1944, the VA loan program has provided millions of veterans and active duty service members – even those with imperfect credit – with the opportunity to achieve home ownership. The VA home loan program’s flexible eligibility requirements offer borrowers the ability to receive loans up to $417,000 in most areas of the country and loans up to $1,094,625 for borrowers looking to purchase a home in more expensive real estate areas.  Veterans can use a VA loan calculator to find the loan limit in their area.

What are VA Loan Benefits?

Because the VA insures part of each loan, VA-approved lenders have greater confidence in eligible borrowers. This greater confidence in borrowers inclines VA-approved lenders to offer qualified borrowers a variety of benefits they would not be able to find with conventional loans including:      zero down payment required

• Competitive interest rates
• Down payments in the form of gifts
• Flexible debt-to-income ratio
• No mortgage insurance required

How Do I Qualify for a VA Loan?

The VA Home Loan program offers some of the most flexible eligibility requirements which has allowed over 18 million service men and women achieve homeownership. More than 80% of all veterans and active duty service members who have obtained a VA loan would not have been eligible for a conventional loan. To initially qualify for a VA, a service member must:

• Have served 181 days on active duty
• Or served 3 months during war time
• Or have served 6 years in the National Guard or Reserves
• Be the spouse of a service member who was killed during active duty

Service men and women who meet the preliminary guidelines must also obtain a Certificate of Eligibility to apply for a VA loan. Although there are no required income minimums and flexible eligibility requirements for VA loans, most VA-approved lenders wll require a mid-range credit score of at least 620 to secure financing.