The result is that you could get a higher return if you're willing to wait until after the new year to close. Closing at the beginning of the month will result in an additional month in which you won't have to make your mortgage payment. However, you are paying mortgage interest during this period and the total amount you'll owe on your mortgage will be the same as if you closed later that month. You'll pay for your house the same day as the alternative universe version of you, which closed later in the month, but you'll have paid hundreds of dollars in additional interest for that first month of occupancy that they didn't have to pay.
If there is a shortage of cash, closing as late in the month as possible may make economic sense. However, the later you close, the sooner your first full mortgage payment is due. There's a bit of strategy involved in obtaining a mortgage. You may want to keep your closing costs as low as possible, which usually means closing at the end of the month.
But if you close at the beginning of the month, you can postpone mortgage payments for longer. The best time of the month to close could depend on whether you're buying a new home or refinancing the house you already own. The best day to close a home purchase, or a mortgage refinance, is the last business day of the month, unless it falls on a Monday. Then, you should close the Friday before so you don't have to pay interest for a weekend.
Yes, our corner lot is slightly larger than the others. Yes, we have neighbors only on two sides instead of on three sides. But we have traffic on two sides of our house with virtually no privacy (until trees and hedges grow). In addition, we turn back with our car to a busy side street.
Corner lots are not a good deal. Builders who charge premiums for corner lots are taking advantage of inexperienced buyers like you, who aren't aware of difficulties A. Your mortgage broker gave you good advice. I agree with him, assuming he's 100 percent sure he'll sell the house five years from now.
If you keep the house for more than five years, the ARM will then adjust to the then-current index rate, plus the margin. Your loan could take a big leap up. Until more or less last year, I didn't recommend ARMs because their interest rates were too high compared to fixed-rate mortgages. But with indices falling, such as the cost of funds, treasury bills and LIBOR (London's interbank supply rate), ARMs that are fixed for three, five or even seven years are bargains.
However, most homeowners expect to stay longer, so they opt for fixed-rate mortgages. I do not recommend that you waive your legal rights to a jury trial, court rules of evidence, discovery rights, and right of appeal by now agreeing to arbitrate any future dispute with the seller. If a dispute arises later, you and the seller can agree to resort to arbitration at that time, if you so choose. I have read many arbitration decisions in which the arbitrator erred, for example, by not awarding an attorney's fees to the prevailing party, but the court cannot normally correct a bad arbitration decision.
It doesn't make sense to give up your legal rights now by accepting binding arbitration in the future. Is it common for professional inspectors not to reach such conclusive conclusions? AT. You have a smart ad agent who recommended that you obtain a professional inspection report before listing your house for sale. I've done this many times and almost always liked the results, since I was able to correct any problem before the buyer's inspector discovered it.
Did you accompany the inspector? Buyers and sellers must always accompany their inspectors. Then I could have discussed the condition of the roof, instead of simply reading the inspector's report. Lenders should not be allowed to require borrowers to pay only for an appraiser in a company in which the lender has an ownership interest. The conflict of interest is obvious.
The lender can easily tell your appraiser to lower your valuation so that the loan-to-value ratio is greater than 80 percent and you can't pay off your PMI premium. Of course, be extremely friendly and courteous to the appraiser. In a friendly manner, ask the appraiser how much they think your house is worth. If the valuation is not high enough to cancel the PMI, hire your own authorized appraiser.
If that valuation justifies your expected valuation, then confront your lender with the facts. We've owned our home for 14 years. We refinanced our mortgage about two years ago to lower the interest rate. When we refinanced, we had to pay a flood certification fee, which said that our house is not in a flood zone that requires flood insurance.
Unfortunately, you are the victim of an unnecessary federal scam to increase the number of flood insurance policies and increase federal flood insurance premiums. Write and call your local congressman to express your displeasure. Flood maps are gradually being redrawn to include large areas, such as yours, where floods have never occurred. If you live near the Mississippi River or another river that floods frequently, you need flood insurance.
However, the Federal Emergency Management Authority (FEMA) needs more insurance revenues, so they are expanding flood zones to include more innocent homeowners like you. I've even received letters like yours from condominium owners on the fifth and sixth floors of their buildings, whose mortgage lenders told them to buy flood insurance, or. . .
