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Buying or Selling a Home/Waht kind of loan should I get?

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Expert: - 3/21/2009


Question
This is my situation:

1.   My house is paid for.
2.   I don’t want the stress of selling and buying a house at the same time.
3.   I would like to buy a house, pay ½ down from savings, get a loan for about a year. After I get settled, I will put my house on the market and pay off the loan when it sells.

Is this feasible? I have substantial savings and no debt, but since retiring, I don’t have a large income. I am wondering what kind of loan I should get? Home equity on my old house? Some kind of short term "bridge" loan? Let me know what you think.

Thanks

Jo

Answer
Dear Jo;
since banks have become so conservative with lending, they want to make sure that you qualify for a loan.  With your existing home being paid off I would say that you should talk to a lender right away and get a home equity loan or a line of credit which you will then use later when you buy another home.  If you try to get an equity loan after you enter into a contract on a new home you may not get it.  My suggestion is to talk to a lender and find out which program you qualify for and what the interest rate will be.  Then ask about bridge loans as well and compare the two.  Loan programs keep changing along with the requirements and restrictions.  Only a lender can speak to the issues of obtaining the kind of loan you are looking for.

Best wishes,
Jessica Bryan

Buying or Selling a Home

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Jessica Bryan

Expertise

buying and selling process such as:
General questions from first time buyers
How to market a home
Why choose a REALTOR
How do I find a REALTOR
Should I consider buying or selling without a REALTOR--how much can I save
Should I remodel or move
How much can I expect to gain by fixing up my home before selling
Helpful tips when selling
Helpful tips when buying
finding a good mortgage loan
what is the difference between banks, mortgage bankers, and mortgage brokers
Questions from the general public, people thinking about getting their real estate license, newly licensed.
Fellow professionals who have interests in networking and how to get started
What is a market evaluation and how does it differ from an appraisal what are the different loan programs
services a REALTOR can perform
when to use a lawyer
when to use escrow
what are the regional differences in the buying and selling process
what is the MLS and how does it work
how can the layman access information on the web--listings and other information
These are just a few of the questions. I can suggest that if I am unable to answer a question I will refer the inquiry to a source that can.

Experience

Anyone who is in this business and who dedicates oneself to professionalism has continued to take classes and along with it,additional credentials, awards and honors. I can list a host of them, but my greatest accomplishments happen to be those of getting first time buyers (who didn't think they could afford to buy a home)into a home of their dreams. The look on their faces when I hand over the keys is worth all of the hard work.

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