On the latest CNN news clip today, mortgage rates for fixed 30 year loans just fell for the first time since February.  According to the reports, due to the rate slashes from the Feds in the past week, rates for a 30 year fixed loan is at 5.87%, a drop from 6.13% a week ago. This is, of course, good news for those who are currently in the market to purchase a home or to refinance a home.  These rates are not expected to stay low, so depending on the financial market, if you can, take advantage of these rates while you can. 

I recently was working to help someone who wanted simply to rent a home for the present time. It was a funny experience working with some of these landlords and their agents. On one home, the landlord had a laundry list of items he wanted from the prospective tenant before he would consider the rental application. On another, the landlord approved the application, and then right before the tenants were to move into the unit, the landlord had a change of heart and decided that the tenants needed to put more security deposit down than they had previously discussed.

I was amazed that landlords can set such crazy rules, and yet they can, because they own the home.  However, if a tenant is jumping through all these circus hoops just to have the right to rent the home, then it would make more sense to prepare themselves to purchase instead.  Then you have the right to make your own rules.

I work hard to find the best match of homes for the clients I work with, and sometimes, that can be a harder task than you would think. Take for instance, today, I spoke with an agent who was representing a landlord/owner.  Since the home we was looking at was located in a newer development, it is not mapped yet, so my client was having a tough time finding the location of the home. I called up the agent and asked for instructions on how to get to the home.

You would have thought this agent was working against the landlord/owner and did not want anyone to find the home.  The agent replied that he did not know the location of the home either and he wanted us to try and figure it out for ourselves where the house was located at. He was holding out on the information and did not want to share anything about the home.

Rather than use up any more precious time talking with this agent, I just got off the call as quickly as possible.  I did some deeper research and finally found the directions to get to this rather hidden location and I forwarded it on to the client. 

I was shocked when some clients told me the amount they pay to rent a rental unit. The place was just 2 bedrooms and the rent was about $1800.  With that amount, they would be much better off buying a house and paying a mortgage.  At least the mortgage will pay them back tax dollars at the end of the year, whereas rent money just disappears.

With all that we hear on the news of individuals and families facing foreclosure, it makes many individuals a little nervous about taking action.  However, while the media is playing up the disaster and tell us the sky is falling, there are some intelligent folks out there taking this opportunity to dump their rental unit and purchase a home while the prices are low and very negotiable and the interest rates are still quite decent. 

…you actually own the house that is attached to the garage. You look around your garage and see your familiar items.  Getting out of your car, you walk into your living room–a living room with the walls painted the color of your choice and furniture that you have recently purchased.  You feel a warm smile come across your face as you think to yourself, “I’m a homeowner and it feels incredible!”

It’s true.  Nothing beats owning your own home.  I would compare the sensation to be similar to the difference between staying at a hotel and staying in your own home.  Even when I stay at a very clean and nice hotel, I just never feel as comfortable and clean as I do in my own home.  It’s the same way when you live in a home, but you rent it instead of owning it.  Once you experience both, you know that homeownership is a wonderful thing. Something to think about the next time you drive home…  

If you’re sitting on the fence trying to decide whether or not to buy a home, there is some good news for new.  You can now qualify to get a larger loan and not have to pay higher costs, which allows you to better attain your dream of becoming a homeowner sooner than you think.

Just on March 6, 2008, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development raised the loan limits!!!  You’re wondering, why is that so exciting?  Well, it is newsworthy because with the higher loan limits, you can now qualify for a larger loan without having to get loans that would normally cost you more because they are larger than the limit. 

Let me break this down and give you a concrete example: Let’s say you live in Los Angeles county and you found your dream home and it costs $490,000.  Prior to March 6, the highest loan you can get while still getting decent interest rates was $417,000.  You would need to come up with the downpayment to make up the difference, which would be about $73,000.  Otherwise, without the downpayment, you would be taking on a type of loan that is called the ”jumbo loan,” which has higher interest rates and stricter qualifying requirements.

Now that this new regulation has passed, post March 6, you would be able to qualify for the $490,000 house, and if your overall situation qualifies, you could get a loan for the full $490,000 without having to get a jumbo loan or even put a downpayment.  In fact, with the new regulation, for Los Angeles county, if you wanted to, you could qualify for a loan up to $729,750.00.  The maximum limits of the total loan you can get varies based on the county where you are purchasing the home.  If you live in a different county, the maximum loan may be higher or lower than the $729,750.00 for Los Angeles county.

This is also helpful since if you have a current home and if you have equity and you wish to cash out the equity, you could refinance since the loan limits are higher.  Especially if you took out a jumbo loan previously, any loan over $417,000, you can now refinance to a better loan program or a fixed loan program.  

As you consider the rent to own option, although your current credit scores may not have as big of an effect since your income or downpayment may offset it, it is still to your best interest to take the time to check out your credit report.  If you aren’t aware of it, you are entitled to a free report every year to inspect your credit to confirm that what appears on the report is accurate. 

You can pull your credit by going to www.annualcreditreport.com, a site sponsored by the 3 major credit bureaus.  Or. you can go to one of the 3 bureaus directly to get a copy - www.experian.com, www.transunion.com, www.equifax.com. The report you get is automatically visible online once you verify your identity with the site.  You can then review the report to make sure the items contained in there are accurate and current.  If you see items that are not accurate, it is an easy process to dispute the incorrect items. 

Eventually, while you are waiting to purchase the home, you want to raise your scores so that you can get the best possible loan program. Overall, in the life of your loan, that result in you paying less per month and in turn, you will save thousands in interest. 

Good to see you here at NowRent2Own.com’s Blog. Our main objective is to provide as much information as possible to individuals out there who are currently renters and who may believe that it is a distant dream to become a homeowner.  There are more options available to you than you would normally think, and we want to help you achieve the goal. 

Rent to own is when you rent a home where the owner is willing to provide you with an option to purchase the home at a future time.  This allows you to work on whatever issues may be keeping you from buying a home right now.  We’ve found that many renters are pleasantly surprised that in the process of talking with them, we find that although they may believe they cannot buy yet, we find that they actually can buy now. 

We are working on building some short videos to show you tips on how you can prepare yourself for homeownership.