Buying or Selling a Home/Mortgage pre-approval

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Expert: - 11/30/2009


Question
If I am pre-approved for, say $250,000 loan for a home, but the home is bought for 200,000 can the extra 50,000 be used for other housing costs, such as closing costs, and insurance or is the pre-approval amount just for the home purchase? I live in PA (if that makes a difference).

Answer
Hi Jack,

Your loan amount will be based on the actual purchase price of the home, not on the pre-approval amount. You will probably need to come out of pocket for the down payment unless you qualify as a veteran for a VA loan. FHA has the lowest down payment requirements at 3.5%. On a $200,000 purchase price that would be $7,000 in down payment money. Lending requirements have gotten very strict in the past couple of years, and there are no more $100 financing options except for VA loans.

You could, however, ask the seller of the home to pay all your closing costs for you as part of your purchase contract. Hopefully you have a real estate agent who can help you negotiate this as well as the other terms of the contract like repairs, home warranties, closing date, etc.

Hope that helps and that you find a great home. It's a wonderful time to be buying!!

Buying or Selling a Home

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Diann Tonnesen

Expertise

I have over 25 years of experience in real estate in Las Vegas. I can answer almost any specific question about buying or selling homes, condos, high rise properties or land in the State of Nevada as well as general real estate questions that pertain to the industry as a whole. I can also answer questions related to financing on FHA and VA loans, conventional loans, interest only loans, stated income loans, and hard money lending. You can also go to my site at http://www.greatlasvegashomes.com which has lots of information on it as well.

Experience

With my husband I have been helping families call Las Vegas home for over 23 years and I still love it! We developed a strong niche in the Internet industry and had to start a team of agents to respond to the large volume of calls we were getting. Currently we have 18 full time agents, a sales manager, two leads managers and two transaction coordinators assisting us. Last year we helped over 280 families and investors find property in Las Vegas.

Organizations
Las Vegas Board of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors

Publications
PR Web, Las Vegas Review Journal, and interviewed for numerous magazines as well as a broadcast interview for television by CNN.

Education/Credentials
college journalism major

Awards and Honors
Top agent in the state of Nevada for sales multiple years when working for Century 21 and last year one of the top 10 agents in the country with Prudential.

Past/Present Clients
Just too many great clients to mention here, but I can certainly provide a long list of references on request. Or check out our web sites at:

Las Vegas Real Estate
Las Vegas Condos
Henderson Real Estate
Las Vegas Golf Course Homes

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