Our Journey Home: Full Speed Ahead

“Thank you for choosing me to be your agent. I am very excited to be representing you. I truly love working with first time home buyers and it just gives me a sense of value for my job. Seeing a family get their first home is very rewarding.

As far as the pre-approval, the interest rates are dropping dramatically. I received a couple of e-mails from lenders yesterday and the rates were between 5.10% to 5.50% for a 30 year loan. These rates are fantastic. I think you should start to look into financing as soon as possible and ask the question about locking in the rate, or floating the rate. And also ask the lender if they will let you buy down the rate if they should drop again….”

We contacted the broker she recommended and here’s the e-mail from her:

“Thanks so much for contacting me today.  I’ve been privileged to help many of [our realtor’s] clients with their mortgage financing.  She really is the best around!  I can’t say enough good things about her.  My husband and I sought her help when we purchased our current home. She saved us a lot of money and time because of her understanding about oil wells.  We probably would not be in this home we love so much without her.  She and I will work hard for you so that you will be happy homeowners just waiting to mow the lawn in the Spring! 

Your timing could not be better— rates have dropped almost 1% in the last week and home prices are down.  It is very unusual for these two things to occur together.  Because we are Mortgage Brokers/Bankers we have access to programs and rates from a huge number of lenders. We basically do the mortgage shopping for you and free you up to do the fun part— looking at homes with your realtor.  I’ll provide you with the information you’ll need to make an educated decision.  You should always feel free to ask questions.  That’s what I’m here for— to help you in any way possible.  With us, you receive the added bonus of Underwriters at our office.  This is invaluable because we can get loan approvals very quickly but we can also get questions answered right away by the experts.  In addition, everyone at our office has many years of experience.  All added together it totals more than 270 years! (32 years for me in banking and mortgage lending— yes, I started young!).

You asked about getting together to look at mortgage options.  We should probably talk on the phone first so I can get enough information to give you some options when we meet.  I’m fortunate that our families are in the area so I will be here during the holidays.  I’m very flexible about when and where we meet. Our office is just a stone’s throw away.  We’re on the cul-de-sac next to the Marriot.  Let me know what time we could talk on the phone tomorrow or Friday– during the day or evening.  We could then meet early next week if that works for you.  The pre-approval process is very quick and easy.” 

Well, then. Open and flexible about meeting with us. Both mentioned the dropping interest rates, both are very eager to help. I’m impressed so far.

We spoke with the broker yesterday and gave her some information so she can give us a few options for loans (FHA, conventional, etc.) She’s also supposed to check if we qualify for first-time home buyers assistance. (I looked into it and I think we make too much money – can you believe that?)

We might be pre-approved by Christmas, which means we’ll know exactly how much house we’re looking for. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for $200K. I did some preliminary calculations on what we can afford and came up with about $225K, so $200K should do us fine. It wouldn’t be much more than we’re paying now, which is insane!

So when you check back after the holidays, you might be hearing about how the YoungMommy and the YoungDaddy (well, he’s 28, but that’s still young, right?) found their dream home! Keep your fingers crossed!

YoungMommy