LongTimeCatFan said:
BWahlberg said:
Have you talked to a lender out there? In Montana there's grant-based loan programs that serve as gap loans for certain income-qualifying buyers. I would assume Colorado would have something like that. Another idea is "RD" (rural development) financing that could help too, but you'd have to be outside of city limits.
Not necessarily. It could be a suburb development and qualify for RD. I have an RD loan and live in a newer sub division on the west end of Kalispell.
Any lender down there will be a far better resource as they will know what the best available options are.
Go to no less than 4 lenders and no more than 7 (for some stupid reason that many inquiries into your credit knocks down your credit) and get them to quote you a pre qualified package.
Don't put the cart before the horse. Get pre qualified then go shopping.
That's my .02
I'd say chat with 3 or 4 lenders for sure and then apply with just 1 for a single credit check. From there you'll know your FICO score, your debt to income, and a comfortable payment range. You can discuss that with other lenders without having to do multiple full applications.
LTCF is right - for example East Missoula, Frenchtown, Lolo, and the entire Bitterroot Valley, in town or out of town qualifies for RD, so it doesn't necessarily have to be "rural" by what a normal expectation would be.
Also when chatting with lenders I see these assumptions a lot.
1. If you have a checking/savings account with a big national/regional bank they'll give you the best deal. That's not true. All banks and mortgage companies build their lending guidelines to national standards for the loan programs they offer. Some might give you better fees than others but I've never really seen borrowers get "good deals" because they have checking/savings/or credit accounts with a certain bank.
2. Local credit unions give the best deals. They can, I'm not saying they don't, but I've seen people make this assumption to only find out that's not the case. I can only speak for ones I've worked with locally but many times I've seen credit unions have limited programs for borrowers.
3. Every mortgage company is the same and offers the same programs. Totally wrong assumption. You have credit unions, local/regional banks, big national banks, and mortgage companies/brokers. They all can have access to slightly different programs and have some different pricing too. In other cases some might be able to reduce their fees if you negotiate with them a bit, while others cannot. In even further cases some might have guarantees for closing dates and assurances for housing if the closing is delayed by financing. That's why it's good to ask around and talk to a wide group.
4. Not an assumption but a good thing to find out from the mortgage companies you talk to is this, where are the mortgage underwriting decisions made? "Underwriting" as it's referred to is the background checker who pours over your full application, the appraisal, and any other details they see fit. Some companies have local or regional underwriters and others (usually big banks) have larger underwriting centers that are out of state. This can be good and bad both ways. I've found having a "nearby" underwriter helps get answers quickly and you can go direct to the source (or your lender can). While the big guys sometimes see their underwriting get bogged down because they're waiting in line in some underwriting clearing house in Colorado, Oregon, or Florida. Knowing where the underwriters are helps b/c if they're on the east coast and you're on a deadline you know their business day is probably going to end 2 hours before yours does. Not all big banks have issues with underwriting though, many times it's a smooth process - but it's good to ask about that and get the lenders honest opinion on it.
