Hot loan news that will save you money when you buy now…

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.  

A sure and easy way to improve your credit score…

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. 

What is rent to own and why should I consider it?

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.