Last month I wrote about advice I’ve been seeing popping up in my Facebook feed from Dave Ramsey on mortgages. There are several points that I just don’t find realistic for the average person who wants to buy a home, such as only using a 15 year amortized mortgage with 20% down payment and limiting your mortgage payment to 25% of your take home pay. I promised that I would share a follow up post where I review different scenarios comparing his advise to real life scenarios. [Read more…]
How Does Dave Ramsey’s Advice on Mortgages Pencil Out?
October 14, 2021 by Leave a Comment
Income Limits increased for Home Advantage with Down Payment Assistance
July 1, 2021 by Leave a Comment
Hot off the press! Washington State Housing Finance Commission has just announced that income limits for the Home Advantage program are being increased to $160,000 effective July 2, 2021. Click here for current mortgage rates for your scenario. [Read more…]
BREAKING NEWS: Higher Income Limits for Down Payment Assistance Mortgages
August 28, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The Washington State Housing Finance Commission has just announced they are increasing the income limits on all of their Home Advantage mortgage programs. The income limits are being increased effective immediately from $97,000 to $145,000! [Read more…]
Stop paying rent: Mortgages with down payment assistance
April 27, 2018 by Leave a Comment
This post is the last in my series showing different options for buying a home using mortgages with low down payment options. The series started from a posting I saw on Facebook where one of my West Seattle neighbors is trying to find a place to rent that accepts pets. This is my handsome pup, Hitch, who might not be allowed in most apartments since he’s over 65 pounds…even though he’s just a big puppy. 🙂
My previous posts compared using Fannie Mae’s Home Ready program and an FHA mortgage with the goal of keeping the total mortgage payment around $2200.
This post will be using a program from the Washington State Housing Finance Commission which offers down payment assistance. The down payment assistance is actually a second mortgage at zero percent interest that is tacked on to the end of the first mortgage. There are no payments due for 30 years (or when the first mortgage is paid off). Although the down payment assistance interest rate is zero, the interest rates for the first mortgages with this program tend to be higher (as you’ll see with my quote). [Read more…]
Limited Time Offer: WSHFC is offering grants for closing cost!
July 1, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Last night, the Washington State Housing Finance Commission announced it is offering grants to help with down payment and closing cost for buyers when they use specific programs offered by WSHFC. This is very helpful in a “seller’s market” where sellers are very unlikely to contribute towards closing cost for a potential buyer. [Read more…]
NHF Grant Platinum Program to be suspended
February 4, 2016 by 5 Comments
Well it looks like the National Homebuyers Fund Platinum will be suspended as of February 29, 2016. The lender backing this grant program will no longer be accepting new loans.
If you are preapproved to buy a home and are planning on using the NHF Grant program, you may want to contact your mortgage professional to come up with another plan. [Read more…]
Many Washington State Homes (and Home Buyers) are eligible for Down Payment Assistance Programs
February 22, 2015 by Leave a Comment
RealtyTrac and Down Payment Resource recently compiled a report of how many homes are eligible for various down payment assistance programs by county. Their report revealed that 87% of homes in the United States may qualify for down payment assistance (DPA) for home buyers.
Tips on how to save up for a down payment
December 19, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Get Rich Slowly recently posted How to Save Up for a Down Payment Fast. I’d like to respond to some of the ideas offered in GRS’s post from a Mortgage Professional’s viewpoint and offer my advice.
Here are some of the suggestions on How to Save Up for Down Payment Fast along with my 2 cents (in italics).
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