Zero down home financing is about getting rid of the obstacle of closing costs. You can trade in your rent payment for a house payment without paying thousands at closing. Before you start enjoying the benefits of home ownership, make sure you follow these tips to get approved for the best rates.

Check Your Credit Report

Annually checking your credit report is a good idea, especially if you are applying for new credit. Make sure that all your information is correct. If there are mistakes, get them fixed. Otherwise, you could be paying thousands in interest charges.

While looking at your accounts, keep your debt to a minimum. A high debt to income ratio can disqualify your for a zero down loan. Also make sure the debt you do have is spread over multiple accounts rather than maxing out one account.

Increase Your Cash Reserves

Cash reserves settle lender’s nerves. So you might consider liquidating stocks or other assets when applying for a mortgage. At a minimum, lenders like to see at least two month’s worth of payments as liquid assets. You do have the option of reinvesting those funds after the loan has been completed.

Look For The Right Lender

Not all lenders will look at your application in the same way. Each company has their own lending criteria. So start your search by requesting loan estimates from several financial institutions. You can start with a mortgage broker site or go directly to the lender.

There are several definitions of zero down home financing. It could mean no down payment or a rolled in closing costs. There are even home loans with no closing costs. Check loan quotes and their fine print to find the financing that best meets your financial goals.

Always Other Options

There are other options to avoid a down payment. One option is to get two mortgages to finance your home’s purchase. The other option is to put money down, but then turn around and take out a home equity loan. This option usually helps you avoid paying PMI.

Don’t rush into any mortgage. Research the numbers and choose what works best for you and your budget.

The credit crunch has bought good and bad news for home buyers. The good news is that house prices are sliding, bringing homes within the reach of first-time buyers. The bad news is that mortgage loan conditions have tightened up so much that only those with the largest deposits and the cleanest of credit records stand a good chance of getting exactly the loan they need.

In fact despite no change in base rate since the 0.25% cut in April, fixed-rate, tracker and discounted rate mortgage costs have been rising – not for existing customers but for those looking to arrange a new mortgage or a remortgage. Inflation fears, thanks in large part to the soaring oil price, have sent money market interest rates, on which many of these mortgage deals are based, sharply higher.

Getting the best mortgage deal

If you are not a first-time buyer and are thinking of moving, you probably have some equity in your property from past years’ rise in prices. So, unless you bought your current home very recently, you should still be able to move your mortgage without difficulty. While you may get less for the sale of your present home than you might have done last year, you will also be paying less for your new house.

Unless you are trading down a long way to release equity, the general fall in prices should mean that things will even out in the end. You might even find yourself paying less stamp duty if the fall in prices brings the cost of your new home below one of the tax thresholds.

Hard times for new borrowers

The prospects for new borrowers are not so rosy – and this applies to first-time buyers, existing borrowers whose current deals are coming to an end and anyone needing to move house whose current deal is not “portable”, so they will need to take out a new loan.

Over the past few years, fixed-rate mortgages have been all the rage, because even with the arrangement fees that they attract they have worked out cheaper for borrowers. People who opted for short-term fixed rate deals felt they could easily find a new, and maybe even cheaper, rate when their first deal came to an end. Indeed, some people found it tempting to cash in existing mortgage deals and suffer an early repayment penalty because it could be cheaper to remortgage at a lower rate.

Mortgage arrangement fees are higher

To make matters worse, fees are also jumping. According to recent research, the number of fixed mortgages with high fees has rocketed by as much as 1,368% in the past 18 months, as lenders get tough on customers looking for the best deals.

Some 323 fixed mortgages – 34% of the total fixed rate mortgage market – charged application fees of £750 or more. This compares with September 2006 – before the credit crunch hit the UK – when only 22 fixed mortgage deals charged that much.

Average application fees on fixed mortgages have risen by 66% over the same period, from £517.19 in September 2006 to £860.25 now. The highest fee on record 18 months ago was £1,499 on Halifax’s two-year fixed mortgage for homeowners with a 25% deposit or more.

But now the Halifax charges a fee of £3,999 on a three-year fixed deal for its existing customers who have homes worth between £500,000 and £2 million.

Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) have shown that, ironically, fixed-rate mortgage deals grew in popularity in April, with the proportion of borrowers taking out a fixed-rate mortgage up 5% to 59%, compared with 54% in March, the largest proportion since last December.

Go for a longer fix

However, anyone taking out a two-year fixed rate mortgage could be tying themselves in, not just to a deal with high fees, but to the prospect of paying out all over again in just two years’ time. Darren Cook of analysts Moneyfacts, said: “With fears of base rate increases, swap at over 6.3% and rising, and lenders continuing to price more for risk, it is likely that mortgage rates will continue to follow suit. Under these uncertain times, many borrowers are looking to fix their mortgage payments and a five-year deal could become a preferred option rather than the popular two years.

“The current average rates for a two-year fixed deal stands at 6.68%, which equates to a monthly repayment of £1,029.75 on a £150k repayment mortgage. In comparison, the average five-year fixed stands at 6.66%, with a monthly repayment of £1,027.86.

“There is little difference between the initial monthly repayments of these two deals and, in my view, we have now seen the end of loss leading product pricing within the two-year market.

“With the short and medium term economic outlook not looking too promising, homeowners are less likely to move home due to falling property values and banks lowering the maximum loan to values available. There is now new scope for a borrower to possibly take a more prudent approach, to look past previously popular two-year deals and look for longer term stability.”

Beware of tracker mortgages?

It seems like only yesterday that mortgage experts were telling everyone to go for tracker loans. Fixed rates were going up, but the Bank of England base rate – to which most trackers are linked – seemed likely to fall.

The experts are changing their minds, or maybe the pessimists have louder voices, as economists are now warning that the Bank of England base rate may need to increase to keep inflation under control. Opting for a tracker loan could be a bit of a gamble until the outlook for base rates seems more certain.

Bigger deposits attract the best mortgage deals

In its report the CML warned that lenders need not only to pass their own higher borrowing costs on to borrowers, but they also need to protect themselves in case house prices fall further. Therefore some lenders have been putting up the cost of mortgages for borrowers who can put down only a small deposit.

According to Moneyextra.com’s most recent monthly review of the mortgage market, the average loan-to-value (LTV) being considered by first-time buyers in May was just under 82%. However, many lenders are routinely restricting borrowers to loans of no more than 75% of the value of the property they want to purchase, while some will only offer their “best” rates on 60% LTVs. There are now none of the plentiful 100% loan deals that were on offer at the start of the year.

Robin Amlôt, senior editor of Moneyextra.com, said: “First-time buyers are being pushed out of what’s left of the housing market – being asked for deposits that could run to several tens of thousands of pounds.”

The CML said that new buyers put down an average of 13% during the month, the highest figure since November 2004 and up from 11% in March.

It’s important to know when looking for real estate financing that the advertised mortgage rates are not always what you’ll get from the lender. The change in rates can be due to market fluctuations, economic news and any other of a dozen reasons. Interest rates can change throughout the day. With adjustable rate mortgages the initial interest rate is usually lower than a fixed-rate mortgage and the monthly payment is also lower. An adjustable rate mortgage may or may not be a good choice because on the average, most people move or refinance within seven years.
Check to see if the property taxes are deductible. Talk with your CPA or other tax advisor for current tax information. The 30-year loan is your best choice if you’re looking for a long-term stable loan; for instance, if you’re planning to stay in your house for a long time. It’s usually the safest home mortgage you can get also. If you’re buying a second home or second property, you’ll need to identify the sources for your down payment, since you will not be selling your current house and using the proceeds to buy the home. You’ll need to expect a larger monthly payment for housing or other expenses too.
The disadvantages of fixed-rate mortgage include higher cost; they are usually priced higher than an adjustable-rate mortgage. The real estate financing situation for each buyer is different. Check with your CPA or accountant, you may be able to deduct the interest you pay on the mortgage loan and some of the financing costs of the home, such as points on your income tax return.
If you’re working with a builder within a sub-division or housing development and just making carpeting, lighting and appliance selections for a brand new home, you’ll probably be able to get a standard home mortgage loan; but if you’re hiring contractors, electricians, plumbers, and painters, you’ll probably need a construction loan, which provides funds to pay the subcontractors as the work goes along. Make sure to get an estimate of your real estate financing closing costs from the lender you’ve chosen. By current law, the lender is required to provide a statement to you within three days of receiving your loan application. And there are many options for those who have a few bad credit marks on their credit report.
If you’re having a problem getting a home loan or home mortgage, why not consider a lease-option on a property. A lease-option on the real property will allow you to set a good purchase price now, and then you apply a portion of the rent each month toward your down payment, building equity in the process. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages offer consistent monthly payments for the 30 years you have the home mortgage. And if the market is good, you can benefit from locking in a lower rate for the full term of the loan. If you don’t get approval a mortgage application can be resubmitted several times; it’s not uncommon for this to happen.
Now if you’re on a fixed income, an adjustable rate mortgage, especially a short-term ARM, may not be your best choice. The advantages of a fixed-rate mortgage include a stable interest rate, consistent principal and interest payments making this loan stable. The rate won’t change; a good choice if you’re likely to stay in the house for many years.
Keep in mind that low credit scores don’t mean you cannot buy a home or other real property. Continue to explore all the options and you’ll come up with the best real estate financing. Work with a reputable mortgage broker or lender to create a customized loan program with the best combination of rates, points, and closing costs to meet your needs.
Most importantly you have to be careful not to assume that you can cut back on your expenses and stretch yourself into a house payment. You don’t want to be cutting into healthy eating habits by eating fast food, for a house that you may not be well enough to live in for a long time. Make sure you know what you can afford to spend each month on a house payment when you start searching for the best real estate financing.