Thursday, October 19, 2006
To approve or not to approve? That is the question.....
Ok, I made the big phone call today to start getting pre-qualified on a new home loan. These things always make me a little nervous, even though we have excellent credit. Over the past four months, I did a little comparison shopping for loans with various mortgage companies, and while I did find some low rates, these were with companies I hadn't heard of or were for adjustable rate mortgages or other types of mortgages that could be risky. Right now is not the time to take risks. I want a plain old fashioned 30 year fixed rate mortgage with a reliable company. In the end, I decided it would be simpler to stick with the mortgage company we are already using. We've had them for eight years and have had zero problems with them. Their rates are not the lowest, but they are competitive, which should be good enough.
I am rather ticked off with the administrator of my disability pension. I do not have an answer one way or the other whether I will be getting my pension anytime soon, and I need to get the ball rolling on a loan in case my home sells soon, so I can't use the pension as a source of income right now. That is partly what made me nervous about applying today, that I am approximately half a mortgage payment short on income. That could make qualifying for a house on the upper end of our price range somewhat iffy. But if I keep waiting and all of a sudden it's time to buy and we don't qualify, that would be pretty devastating. Better to know ahead of time what we can afford to offer on a house.
So I gave all the basic info to the mortgage specialist, and she's gonna run a credit check and call me back probably tomorrow. The pre-qualification will actually be good for four months, which is way cool, so if I don't actually sell until February, we won't have to re-qualify. This all will of course be contingent upon the sale of our current home since we no longer have any savings. But we will be able to assure the seller of whatever home we decide to buy that we are serious and that our offer will be good. That gives us more bargaining power and confidence that we are not over-extending ourselves financially.
Now assuming that our present house does sell, the big question will be what we are going to buy in Sioux Falls. I checked online last night to see what's still on the market in case Dan's parents decide against moving to a retirement community and selling us their home. The houses that Dan has toured and liked that are still for sale are down to three. One is the "Elvis" house (it has a statue of Elvis in the basement), built in 1957 with 2200 square feet, a one car garage, a privacy fenced yard and reasonably up to date, located near Dan's parents' house. The second house was built in 1962 with 2000 square feet, a two car garage, a chain link fence and several updates, centrally located near a college and hospitals. The third house was built in 1977 with 1700 square feet, a two car garage, lots up updates and a large-ish kitchen, located near our friends' house. The oldest and largest house is the cheapest, and the newest and smallest house is the most expensive, but we're talking a price difference here of only $10,000. I think all three will require us to buy washers and dryers, and one of the houses will need to have the back yard fenced. If we end up buying Dan's parents' house, we will need to finish the backyard fencing as it is only done on two sides. I have no idea whether or not we'll need to come up with any appliances. We are leaving behind all appliances, ceiling fans and window coverings that are in our present home so we won't have to deal with moving them.
Ideally, the pre-qualification will go off without a hitch, we'll get a sale on our current home soon, we'll get a good deal on something in Sioux Falls, AND we'll be able to move before the holidays. This is me with a positive attitude, a crooked grin plastered on my face, hoping crazily for this to be true.
Please.
I am rather ticked off with the administrator of my disability pension. I do not have an answer one way or the other whether I will be getting my pension anytime soon, and I need to get the ball rolling on a loan in case my home sells soon, so I can't use the pension as a source of income right now. That is partly what made me nervous about applying today, that I am approximately half a mortgage payment short on income. That could make qualifying for a house on the upper end of our price range somewhat iffy. But if I keep waiting and all of a sudden it's time to buy and we don't qualify, that would be pretty devastating. Better to know ahead of time what we can afford to offer on a house.
So I gave all the basic info to the mortgage specialist, and she's gonna run a credit check and call me back probably tomorrow. The pre-qualification will actually be good for four months, which is way cool, so if I don't actually sell until February, we won't have to re-qualify. This all will of course be contingent upon the sale of our current home since we no longer have any savings. But we will be able to assure the seller of whatever home we decide to buy that we are serious and that our offer will be good. That gives us more bargaining power and confidence that we are not over-extending ourselves financially.
Now assuming that our present house does sell, the big question will be what we are going to buy in Sioux Falls. I checked online last night to see what's still on the market in case Dan's parents decide against moving to a retirement community and selling us their home. The houses that Dan has toured and liked that are still for sale are down to three. One is the "Elvis" house (it has a statue of Elvis in the basement), built in 1957 with 2200 square feet, a one car garage, a privacy fenced yard and reasonably up to date, located near Dan's parents' house. The second house was built in 1962 with 2000 square feet, a two car garage, a chain link fence and several updates, centrally located near a college and hospitals. The third house was built in 1977 with 1700 square feet, a two car garage, lots up updates and a large-ish kitchen, located near our friends' house. The oldest and largest house is the cheapest, and the newest and smallest house is the most expensive, but we're talking a price difference here of only $10,000. I think all three will require us to buy washers and dryers, and one of the houses will need to have the back yard fenced. If we end up buying Dan's parents' house, we will need to finish the backyard fencing as it is only done on two sides. I have no idea whether or not we'll need to come up with any appliances. We are leaving behind all appliances, ceiling fans and window coverings that are in our present home so we won't have to deal with moving them.
Ideally, the pre-qualification will go off without a hitch, we'll get a sale on our current home soon, we'll get a good deal on something in Sioux Falls, AND we'll be able to move before the holidays. This is me with a positive attitude, a crooked grin plastered on my face, hoping crazily for this to be true.
Please.
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