Fitzgerald Realty & Auctioneers
William J. Fitzgerald
 
B-U-Y-E-R-S
 
Money Saving Secrets For First-Time Buyers
 
Cut Your Costs Down to Size

Buying a home in today’s market takes confidence and experience. You can count on my experience to help you find and buy an affordable home with confidence.  Here are some tips to help you clip your home buying costs.

Home Search

We start off with a basic figure: What is the monthly payment range you can afford? From that, we calculate an affordable loan amount and look only at homes within your price range. You may not find every last feature of your dream home, but that does not mean you must abandon your dreams to buy. One solution is to look at properties that promise appreciation, so when you want to exchange your home later for something closer to your dreams, it will pay off.  

Financing

Another solution is to take advantage of current financing plans designed to reduce your monthly payments, your down payment, or both:
 
·        Adjustable Rate Mortgage. The initial interest rate on an ARM is lower than a conventional loan, thereby requiring lower monthly payments. The rate rises or falls at intervals, but within limits. Ask about 3-year and 5-year options offering no rate adjustment until the third or fifth year, then annual adjustments after that. Desirable ARMs have low rate caps (ideal: 2-3% adjustable cap, 5-6% life-of-loan cap) and below-market rates for the first period. Expect to shop among several lenders for the best terms.
 
·        Fixed Rates. If you’re more comfortable with the security of a higher-priced fixed-rate loan, opting for a longer term (30 years rather than 15 years) may put monthly payments within reach. Although you would pay more in interest over the life of a loan, most homeowners plan to move before 30 years are up.

·        VA Guaranteed Loan. If you are an eligible veteran, the Department of Veterans Affairs requires no down payment (up to a specific sales price) for a VA mortgage. Ask me for current ceiling.
 
·        FHA 203 (B) Insured Loan. Insured by the Federal Housing Administration, your loan (obtained through an established lender) requires lower down payment and interest rate than most other mortgages. Down payment is 3% of appraised value on properties priced at $50,000 or under; 3% of the first $25,000 of properties priced over $50,000 plus 5% of the remaining amount up to an appraised value of $125,000, and 10% of the amount over $125,000 up to a ceiling that varies by area. (Ask me for our local figures).
 
·        Private Mortgage Insurance. You insure your mortgage privately, to allow you to take out a mortgage with less than a 20% down payment. Your PMI covers your lender’s risk (should you fail to make mortgage payments).

·        Buydowns. At settlement, a third party (builder, seller or investor) agrees to put additional cash “up front” with a lender, in exchange for a lower interest rate to the buyer. Approaches vary among permanent buy downs, multi-year and graduated plans. These rate subsidies can help you afford the home you want.

·        Graduated Payment Mortgage. The initial interest rate of a GPM is lower than a conventional loan and it has scheduled increases in following years- as your income presumably is on the rise.
 
·        Seller Take-Backs. Some sellers are willing to consider seller financing (in several formats) designed to reduce buyers’ payments. One format is short-term second mortgage, secured by the house and accepted by the seller to help trim the buyer’s downpayment requirements. Another is a long-term first mortgage but without the usual qualification standards.

·        Mortgage Assumption. When you assume an existing loan, your “downpayment” is the difference between the sales price and the loan balance. By finding an assumption with a high unpaid balance, you may reduce your downpayment. If the loan has a lower-than-market interest rate, you’ll also reduce your monthly payments.
 
·        Co-Signed Loan.
A loan co-signer can help you qualify for a larger loan on a longer term, making monthly payments smaller.

·        Shared Equity. You buy your home with parent, relative, friend or other qualified investor who makes the downpayment. You share the purchase costs, the maintenance, the monthly payments-and equity profits on sale.

SETTLEMENT STRATEGIES

Still another solution to reduce your monthly payments is to find additional funds for a downpayment. For example:
 
·        Tax-Free Gift. Receive a tax-free gift from your parents (or others) documented by a “gift letter” stating no repayment is required (thus your debt burden is not increased). Children can receive up to $10,000 from each parent in one year tax free; thus, a couple can get first up to $40,000 from four parents without any gift tax consequences. Some lenders may require you to use some of your own money in addition to the gift.

·        Finance Closing Costs. Ask your lender if you can pay closing costs from your mortgage loan proceeds. This will free some additional cash for a downpayment.

·        Sale of Assets. If you own other property (real estate, jewelry, collectibles, automobile, etc.), securities (stocks, bonds) or other assets, they can be sold to make your downpayment.
 
·        Tax Refund. Buyers anticipating an income tax refund can use it to increase their downpayment funds, especially in the spring.
 
·        Life Insurance. If your life insurance has cash value, you may be able to borrow against it at a low interest rate, possibly without having to repay the loan- and without jeopardizing your mortgage loan qualifications.
 
·        Securities Loans. If you own bonds, an IRA, vested pension or profit sharing, some banks will lend you cash against these as collateral. The portfolio must be negotiable, although not immediately available.  

BOTTOM LINE

 These are only a few of the dozens of ways to get around the home-financing dilemma. I’ll be glad to help you explore them all. Don’t hesitate to give me a call.

Featured Listings

 
Realtor Equal Housing Opportunity
 

Calculator

 
 

Newsletter

Sign up to receive our monthly newsletter right in your inbox.

 

What our clients are saying  

We had great service, we would recommend to family & friends, would work with again, very helpful and went the extra mile to help, very friendly, professional and answered all our questions, returned our calls, emails and text messages very quickly, very reliable and efficient, extremely helpful & informative, very knowledgeable.

 

~ Randy and Jill Stauffer/St. Mary's Seller

Billy was the best, helped me with everything and got it done. I'm very happy and satisfied.

 

~ Joe Young / St. Mary's Buyer

Very good experience with Fitzgerald Realty & Auctioneers.

 

~ Rick Greer/St. Marys Buyer

Billy got the job done!

 

~ Wally Yowaiski/St. Mary's Seller

Fitzgerald Realty helped us find the home we wanted to invest in and guided us through the process of buying it. Settlement was conveniently done in their office and went very smoothly. We are planning to purchase again through this company. Thanks Billy

 

~ Tom & Betty Campbell/St Mary's Buyer

I reached out to Fitzgerald to find a rental for myself and two kids. I spoke first to Office MGT. , she was very helpful. She then put me in good hand with Mark Thompson. He was helpful, showed me property, answered all my questions, punctual and any time was a good time for him. He definitely was there to help! Thank you so much and when I'm ready to do the whole buying of a house goal I will definitely be calling up Fitzgerald Realty :)

 

~ Leighann Myers / St. Marys Renter

Billy Fitzgerald was very diligent in keeping us informed on the status of the sale and the settlement for the property that we had for sale. He currently has one other listing for us and feel confident that he will be successful in finding a buyer for this property as well. We will certainly recommend Fitzgerald Realty to our family and friends.

 

~ Linda Tyler / St. Marys Seller

I want to thank you for getting my Townhouse sold. The way you took the photos, listed it and being "straight" with me on the asking price made all the difference. I also want to thank you for the excellent service I received while in your capable hands. You are a TRUE SOUTHERN MARYLAND GENTLEMAN and an OUTSTANDING Real Estate Agent. Again, Thank you Billy ....

 

~ Carolyn "Judy" Bakewell / St. Marys Seller

We had great service! We would recommend Billy to family & friends. He was very helpful and went the extra mile to help and would work with again. He was very professional, friendly and answered all our questions. He would return our calls, emails & text messages very quickly. He was extremely helpful, reliable & efficient, also very informative & knowledgeable. I give him 5 stars!

 

~ John Taylor / St. Marys Seller

Good professional, courtesies service. The agent went to bat for me on every opportunity. After the deal was struck Billy aka (COL) did all that was expected and moved rapidly to wrap to entire transaction up. My family appreciated working with Billy and the Fitzgerald Real Estate family and we would recommend their services to others.

 

~ Mark Steedley / St. Marys Buyer

Billy went far beyond what anyone else before him did. Billy is a great person and will be the only one I ever recommend!

 

~ Craig Tiburzi / St. Marys Buyer

Amazingly when I saw a Fitzgerald Sign in the front of property I had to have, I reached out to Mr. Billy Fitzgerald and in less than a month the necessary people were contacted to assist in a short wait to closing. I would gladly recommend The Fitzgerald Realty & Auctioneers to family and friends.

 

~ Brian Small / St. Marys Buyer

My husband and I were very satisfied with the expertise and helpfulness of Mr. Fitzgerald. 4 stars

 

~ Carol Pingleton / St. Marys Seller

I wanted to commend Fitzgerald Realty & Auctioneers for the great job that they have done, for the many years of selling Real Estate for me and my clients. I have always found you very responsive. “A successful transaction is never an accident it is the result of personal service and a sincere effort”. Keep up the good work. Sincerely, Rudolf A. Carrico Jr. Attorney at Law

 

~ Rudolf A. Carrico, Jr. / Charles County Seller

Awesome ! We are so happy with Billy & Fitzgerald Realty !

 

~ Misty Peed / St. Marys Buyer

More Reviews

Want to Know How Much Your Home is Worth?

Get Your FREE Home Market Analysis Report Right Now!

YES, SHOW ME NOW