this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2024
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In the US, if you're a first time homebuyer you can buy a home with zero cash in hand. You can roll closing costs into the mortgage and have no down-payment. You'll pay more out of pocket for a few years but in many areas it's still cheaper than rent - and rent just keeps going up while a mortgage stays the same. Many states also have free programs where you can take a class and they'll give you a grant towards buying a home.
Credit unions tend to have the best rates. Get into a credit union even if it's just a secondary account that you toss $5 into each paycheck.
Also, there are programs through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for first time homebuyers that prioritizes them over investors. This is the easiest way to get into homeownership but the houses are usually fixer uppers.
People don't do this because it's not a good idea for almost everyone. If you don't put money down, your monthly payment will be astronomical, and THEN you will have to pay PMI on top of that (which isn't applied to the mortgage OR interest) until you hit 20% paid. That money is thrown away and depending on where you live, it can be close to a rent payment on its own, without the actual mortgage payment. If you can afford a massive mortgage with PMI, you can afford to save a down payment. The only time I would do what you suggest is if my income was way more than rent and I was in a rush to move into a house.
Fannie and Freddie are legit, use them!
In what reality is PMI close to a rent payment? It doesn't seem like you know what you're talking about.
I think you're dramatically overestimating how much it will add to a mortgage to use this strategy. For example, let's look at a $250,000 home - the average for my area.
If you put 20% down, your payment will be $1242/mo plus Property Taxes. Certainly cheaper than rent, but most folks don't have $50,000 sitting around.
So let's say you put $0 down and roll $9000 closing costs into your mortgage. Your monthly payment will be $1,843 of which only $214 is PMI. Still cheaper than the average rent in my area.
Even if you're buying a $1mil home with this strategy, the PMI would only be $850/mo. Where are you getting that PMI would be close to a mortgage payment?? You seem to be regurgitating bad faith advice that keeps people scared of homeownership when the reality is that it's an excellent move for many folks.
We live in very different places. Multiply most of those numbers by about 6 and you have my area. I'm not exaggerating - 3 bedroom attached house of 1.5million, mortgage of 6.5k, PMI of $2500. Average rent is 2-3k for a 1 bedroom.
I've lived it. If your average home is $250k, your situation is nothing like mine or half the country that lives in cities. Your advice only applies to rural areas with extremely low cost of living.
PMI would be $1200 in your example, not $2500.
Argue all you want. I gave you real numbers. That was my quote without a down payment.
I worked at banks for most of my career and was engaged to the lead mortgage lender, and together we hosted quarterly free events for our community to show people how to get into homeownership. I suspect you're lying in bad faith to try to scare people out of homeownership and push the agenda that Millennials and Gen Z can't own a home. I encourage anyone reading this to do their own research and contact their bank's mortgage team to determine if its feasible for them.
Over half of millennials are already homeowners, and I'd love to see that number go up.
What search terms should I use to find such a class?
FHA loans
Reach out to your bank. If they have nothing, call your local credit unions.
Can you recommend anything for learning more about this? We've been trying to go through the USDA because we cannot afford a down payment, but they require the house to be in basically perfect condition, meaning there's nothing we can afford.
I went thru USDA for my first home and they had similar constraints. Talk with your bank's mortgage lender. It's possible that an FHA loan would do you better.
I will do that. Thank you very much
FYI if you get a FHA loan, you can't remove the PMI at all without refinancing. This was implemented after the crash in '07/'08. You can still get a conventional loan without doing the full 20%. I put around 10% down and just dropped PMI after about 4 years, though I likely could have removed it earlier if I'd paid for a new appraisal due to the increased property value.