Down Payment Amount on FHA Loans will increase October 1st.
Are you thinking about Buying A Home in Hoover, Alabama or the Greater Birmingham area? If you have your down payment in place you may want to find that home quickly.
At the end of July, President Bush signed a new housing bill. The bill did some good things; this is the same bill that gave first time home buyers a tax credit. One thing that was a little uncalled for (in my opinion) was the new bill raised the down payment requirement on FHA loans from 3% to 3.5%. This means that if you bought a $100,000 house, then your down payment used to be $3,000. After October 1st, it will be 3,500.
Now that means your loan will be $500 less, so your monthly payment will be a tad lower, but not really a significant amount. You will also pay less on your origination fee and other fees that are based on a percentage of your loan amount. But, again, most people would want to put less money down. It can be a challenge to save up money to buy a home and you also have to consider the utilities and moving costs. If you are close, now is the time to buy and keep that extra 1/2 % in you pocket.
Close, but not quite there yet. Try these ideas:
1. Sell Some Stuff - Do you have DVDs, CDs, or Video Games that you don't use anymore? You can sell them back to a 2nd hand gaming or CD store.
2.Sell More Stuff - Do you have furniture, bicycle, whatever that you can sell on e-bay? There is an e-bay store in the Wal-Mart shopping center on HWY 150 in Hoover if you don't want to do it yourself. There is always the yard sale - I say that last because I hate yard sales, but I've known people that have made some bucks selling used stuff.
3.Get a second job - We're not talking about forever, just until you get some money saved up and if you work retail at somewhere where you get discounts on stuff for your house, you can furnish your place at a discount. Have you looked at how much money you can make babysitting?
4.Cut Off Your Cable - This is only temporary. When you get the new house, you can get it back, but think of how much money you could save without say 6 months of cable payments?
5. Check You Phone Bill - Do you have the right plan for the type of calling you make? You may need to cut back if you are paying extra.
6. Stop Eating Out So Much - Most people waste a lot of money eating out. Eat Breakfast at home, bring your Lunch, Don't buy drinks and snacks out of the machine, and limit your Dinners out to a budgeted amount. Keep track of the money you spend eating out for two weeks. Most people are totally shocked at how much they spend on food.
These are just a few ideas. For other ideas about saving money check out this article.
Saving money to buy a home is a terrific goal. Once you buy a home, the value should increase and you will build equity which is also a means of saving. If you have questions about Buying A Home, let me know and I'll do my best to answer them. Also, if you would like help finding the home of your dreams in Hoover Alabama, or the greater Birmingham area, I'd love to help - contact me at www.ToniBird.com.
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