Hi Gang. Okay-my questions. Have any of you bought a home recently using a low-income program to get a mortgage loan? (i.e. female, singles, minority, etc.)Are you happy with the result? I've been out of the loop for a while - anyone know the average current percentage rate for a 15 year fixed rate loan? Do these programs move any quicker through the system than ordinary (straightforward?) mortgage loans? And-final question (for now): how old is too old to dream of owning your own home????

-- Stef (sbrogers@csonline.net), June 29, 2001

Answers

Interest rates vary slightly from region to region. You can see what it is week by week for lenders in your area by looking in the real estate section of the largest newspaper in your area..look for a block ad type thing that quotes that weeks interest rates by bank and type of loan. In my opinion, a person is never too old to own their own home. As far as low income financing or specialty financing, I'm afraid I cannot help you there. If you are feeling adventurous, one of the folks who posts on the Christian Homesteader's Forum has some gorgeous property for sale in South Central Missouri for an incredibly low price! God bless.

-- lesley (martchas@bellsouth.net), June 29, 2001.

Lesley gives good advice, there! I haven't used any of the "programs", but I can tell you that if you really want to homestead, there isn't an age limit, you just have to do what it is you can do. You don't have to grow the wheat, cut it, cure it, thresh it, grind, bake it...unless you WANT to. That's one expensive loaf of bread, huh?

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), June 29, 2001.

Perhaps you could call a few lenders (either banks, or mortgage companies), ask lots & lots of questions, and compare their rates and closing costs. Make sure you ask them if that is ALL the closing costs you will incur. Any lender should be happy to help you all they can - they usually get paid commission on each loan, so they will be anxious to get your business. Find someone you feel comfortable with.

I am in real estate, and just closed on a low cost house with some young people where they got a loan (called the AmeriDream Loan with this particular lender, different lenders have similar programs but may not be called by that name) that actually had the seller pay their down payment for them. For instance, the home was listed at $44,900, and the buyers made an offer of $45,500, with the seller giving them back (on paper) 5.75% of the purchase price to go toward the buyer's downpayment and closing costs. Because this is a FHA loan (government), the seller also paid up to $500 repairs. The buyers did the repairs before closing as they were young people, and the sellers were in their 80's. Of course, the buyers had good credit, and not much in bills.

In this area (NW Illinois), the current rate is about 7.375% interest for a 30 year loan. If I were you, I'd get a 30 year loan because of a lower monthly payment, and if you had extra money each month, send it along with your payment as extra principal (be sure to specify on the check & with a note to the servicing company - get an amortization schedule), and you can have the loan paid off in 15 or so years - yet, if hard times come, you'll have the comfort of the lower payment.

IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO DO ANYTHING! I can't emphasize that enough. It's never too late, and you're NEVER too old! I just turned 61, and I just bought a house (on 1.6 acres) that is in horrible shape - hasn't been lived in for over 2 years, raccoons in the attic, needs tuckpointing, probably needs a roof, furnace had blown up & spewed oily soot up through every register, floor sags in entryway, no refrigerator, range-top stove is shot, couple of windows need replacing, no insulation, someone ripped off the baseboards in the upstairs, filth everywhere - I could go on and on....But, I needed a challenge in my life, it was what I could afford, it has no close neighbors, it's set back a little from the road, there's beautiful trees, a repairable shed out back that would hold 4 cars, and here's the clincher for me - it has a genuine SPRINGHOUSE that water flows through constantly!!! I fell in love! Sure I'm crazy by most people's standards, but that's the good part about getting older - you don't care too much about others opinions. I'm going to have fun, and I bonded with the property almost right away.

If something horrible happens, or even if I die tomorrow, it really doesn't matter - my kids will make the best of it, and as long as I am alive, I'm doing what I want to do. (Perhaps I should explain that I've been single since 1974, raised my kids alone, and am in pretty good health. However, I have no insurance or salary, work on commission only, and have no savings to speak of.)

After I turned 60, I thought, "How much time do I really have left? 5, 10, 20 years? I'm going to do exactly what I want to do!! Guess you could call me fiercely independent. I can visualize how I want the property to look in 20 years, and work toward that, little by little, day by day.

Stef, follow your heart!! And blessings to you....

-- Bonnie (chilton@stateline-isp.com), June 30, 2001.

Bonnie, that was inspiring! Thank you!

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), June 30, 2001.

Sometimes the low-income programs are good. I found one and I was excited! Then after hunting around I found they gave me the wrong info- I still had to come up with at least $1,000. So that went out the window. Kind ahard to have a spare grand sitting around doing nothing when yer already in debt and low-income.

-- not this time.... (html5lover@yahoo.com), March 05, 2002.

My widowed, single mom SIL purchased a home through one of those programs. 0 down 3% interest.

I don't think any government loan program could possibly move fast, just because of the sheer bulk of requirements and paperwork, all needing to be verified. We purchased with a VA loan, and it seemed to take forever.

My advice, take it for what it is worth, free, go talk to a good real estate agent. He should know about all the loans available and will get you in contact with who you need talk to. Get pre-approved before you go home shopping. A good agent will help you get all the things done if he thinks he will get a double commission from selling you one of his listings.

You can never be too old to dream of anything and you are never too old to own your own home.

-- Laura (Ladybugwrangler@hotmail.com), March 05, 2002.