You can still buy a home today with little or money down in Utah with a couple of good tips.  Agency loans like MyCommunity and Home Possible are still making loans to home buyers with no down payment.  The rules for qualifying for these loans have tightened up in effort to reduce the chances of exposure to foreclosures for the lender. 

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA all love to see reserves for borrowers; which helps enormously in getting approved for a no money down loan. What lenders like to see is a minimum of two months the buyers proposed mortgage payments with taxes and insurance in reserves with the borrower.  This can in the form of bank accounts, 401K and other retirement accounts, stocks, bonds or any liquid asset that has been in borrowers account for two months. 

 What many home buyers don't know is that the money they have been saving to put down on a home might better be kept as a reserve account for establishing stability to the lender, then applying for a 100% home loan. 

If a new home buyer looking to use one of these loans and meets the guidelines for credit and income but fails to have the required reserves there is another way to build those reserves fast.  Have a yard sale or sell anything you can document with a receipt or transfer of ownership for the money, then put it into an account to show that you have had the asset there.  Keep in mind you cannot sell something like a used baby buggy to your Aunt for $2900.00.  The value of what you sell has to be in line with todays value of the thing you are selling.  If you are selling a scooter or a piano to raise money for your reserves you must check the "book" values for these sales and they must be in line with todays current market.

Cash reserves are good for lenders and home owners alike.  Please feel free to contact me about ways to establish reserves that adhere to lending guidelines.

Rain Wallace

rain.wallace@chl.cc