Housing Guide
THE CHRONICLE
WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2009 | 27
Q&A FROM PAGE 26 Duke Credit Union. We have been offering 100% financing, Home Express, since 2002, provided they are qualified borrowers. On this product, we are the actual investor and lender. The way that we do it is to provide a 1st and 2nd mortgage. The first is for 80% of the loan-to-value and the 2nd is for 20% of the loan-to-value. The first mortgage is a 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage (ARM). This is amortized over 30 years with principle and interest. It is not an Interest-Only type of ARM, nor is it a SubPrime mortgage. The 2nd mortgage is a 15 year fixed rate mortgage. We offer this for purchases, refinances and 2nd homes. We even pay the closing costs on the 2nd mortgage portion for you.
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What is PMI? What are discount points? PMI stands for Private Mortgage Insurance. This is an insurance policy for the lender protecting them against the mortgage going to foreclosure. The amount that you pay generally depends on the amount of your down payment, loan amount and your credit score. To avoid this and you only want one mortgage, you will need to put down 20%. If you are unable, you will want to keep track of your principle and your home’s appreciation. My advice would be wait until you are certain that you have 22% equity before inquiring into the removal. Discount points are where you typically see that the borrower is ‘buying down’ the rate. That is to say that they wanted a lower rate, they had extra cash on hand and they wanted a rate that was below the going rate. They could pay extra at the time of closing in order to get the lower rate. Each point is equal to 1% of the loan amount. One thing that I would suggest is to weigh the difference and see where you break even from a cost perspective before handing over the extra money.
iDEAL LOCATIONS
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Can you briefly describe the different types of loans (fixed, adjustable, etc.) and how to you determine what is best for you?
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There are several different types of mortgages available. The most common is the fixed rate. This means that the rate is fixed for as long as you own the home unless you refinance. The terms for this type can be anywhere from 30 down to 10 years. Another type is the ARM, which is an acronym for Adjustable Rate Mortgage. ARM’s are a fixed rate for a specified period of time. This is generally either 3, 5, 7 or 10 years. What happens is that the rate is fixed for the amount of years and then the rate can adjust yearly, on a conventional loan after the initial period. With a FNMA type of ARM the rate can only adjust as much as 2% either up or down and there is a lifetime cap of 6%. This means that the rate can never go higher than 6% from the rate that you started with. These types of loans are amortized over 30 years. Many are afraid of this type of loan because of all of the ‘bad press’ it has received. It is my opinion that the ARM’s that we all heard about were either an Interest Only ARM or a sub-prime ARM. The FNMA ARM’s are not bad. Depending on the current market conditions you are sometimes able to get ARM’s with a lower rate than for a 30 year fixed. The question to ask yourself before getting this type of loan is, how long do I intend on living in the home. Typical homeower’s today are in their house an average of 3 – 7 years. If that is the case, then it may be worth investigating further.
Whether you fall in love with a house due to its architecture, its landscaping, its location, or all of the above, now is a smart time to be negotiating for a home loan.
Interest Only mortgages are still available. I try to keep people away from this product. This type of mortgage provides the borrower an opportunity to own a home and to pay the interest only for a specified period of time. This type of loan means that you are not required to pay anything towards the principle during the initial period of 3-10 years. However, if you only pay the interest and you put nothing towards the principle, you are going to have a tough time trying to refinance when that initial period ends because the only equity that you are going to have is from appreciation and that will not be enough unless you put close to 20% down. Appreciation in this area can be anywhere up to about 4%.
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Pet Friendly Laundry Facilities Lease: 6, 9, 12 months Water furnished Complete kitchen appliance pkg. Wall-to-wall carpet, window treatments Great West Durham location! Spacious apartments, convenient to Duke University and Hospital, VA Hospital, US 15-501 & shopping malls N On bus line N TAA Member
Holly Hill/Poplar Manor/Erwin Terrace
919.383.3830
866.383.9256
2716-D Campus Walk Ave., Durham, 27705 Fax 919.382.0427 Hours: Mon-Fri 9-5 After hours by appointment only
1 Bedroom/1 Bath..............705-886 approx SF 2 Bedroom/1-2 Bath. . . . . . .910-1,750 approx SF 3 Bedroom/2 Bath........1,260-1,315 approx SF From Duke (Towerview Dr.), turn right on Erwin Road, left on Lasalle Street, then left on Campus Walk Ave. teamincnc@nc.rr.com