Would like to be a first time home buyer but listening to the news think you will not be able to get a loan? Do not discount yourself UPDATED JUNE 2009

Listening to the news lately has been a minefield that scarey to potential first time home buyers. You hear that there is no better time to get into the market as a first time home buyer but in the next sentence you hear that banks are not lending . Love to take advantage of the up to $8,000 you could get back when you do your taxes and reach the American dream of owing your own home but hearing credit is tight, and you are not likely to get a loan . Maybe your credit is not perfect or you have don't have much if anything for a downpayment and it has discouraged you from trying ? Well don't be discouraged , you might just be surprised , pleasantly! Lets myth bust here a bit: A) It is going to cost you a lot of money to find out if a bank/mortgage company will give you a mortgage and it will affect your credit too- answer to this is No and yes , when a possible lender pulls your credit it affects your credit slightly but this is not permanent. The reason it affects your credit is that other lenders will assume that you might have gotten a loan that has not yet hit your credit report. That is why it is not permanent. The small change to your credit score is based on a few days or at most a month of not knowing if you have a loan not on your score yet because of the inquiry. If you are serious, the best way is to interview several loan officers to determine the one you want to work with and only allow that one to pull your credit. This affect on your credit is short lived anyway . And no it should not cost you anything to get prequalified . A mortgage officer might charge you to pull your credit but until you have been approved and are ready to start the process of purchasing that will be the only cost they will charge you . Once you have been approved and your found the house you want to purchase, the most they should ask you for is a credit check fee(if they ask you for that). It will be only when you are ready to proceed to go forward with a loan that they should be asking for any money. B) Lenders are not lending . Not true . Go to your local bank or credit union, they have plenty of money to lend . Rural Housing has expanded its programs to make home ownership really affordable to many many Americans including 100% financing and with credit scores as low as 600 . C) You don't think you have enough for a downpayment and or closing costs. Well even if that is true there maybe ways around it. For instance if the Seller is willing they can pay up to 3% or 6% of the purchase price towardsyour closing costs depending on the lender and or program , and that should be enough to cover close to if not all your closing expenses . As to the downpayent , if you have a parent , grandparent or other relative that would be willing they can give you a gift of the downpayment and FHA loan might work for you . Even if they do not have it but have equity on their home that they can tap into , they can use this as there is no requirement that they show where they got the money from. If this is not an option for you, there is federal grant money that you might qualify for that will pay up to 4% of the pruchase price towards your closing costs and or downpayment. This grant has to be repaid when you sell or if you refinance but it lets you get in with little or no money if you qualify. Rural housing and the Veteran's Administration if you qualify to get a loan from either of these is can be as low as 0 percent down and there is no Private Mortgage Insurance requirement . If you are buying in NH, NH Housing Finance has as little as 1% down(if you are outside NH , each state has its own finance authority) and FHA is 3.5% down . You can even do a combination of any of these programs to get the best bargain . D.) You are not sure that your credit is good enough- What do you have to lose - the cost of a credit check is a small amount and Rural Housing will allow for scores of only 600. Or go to www.annualfreecreditreport.com and pull your credit for free. If a lender can't help you because your credit is not good enough, you will know it is time to get help with a credit repair company . But on the other side you might find that they are more then willing to lend to you and all it cost you was a small credit check fee. E) This has to be your primary home what happens if your job changes will they take your house away?- some programs will require you to sell or refinance others will not be affected . You can not buy a house as a first time home buyer that you do not intend to use as your primary residence with any progam nor can you get the stimulus credit . But what happens after you have ocupied it and your job situation or living situation changes will depend on the program you have financed under.

We have taken our listings up to 250,000 and put together what you might have to come up with if you were to have a loan program with 1% downpayment requirement . Based on that at 6.5% interest and a 30 year loan what your payments would be given the current taxes for each house . Each notes if this Seller will be willing to pay your closing costs . For this information go to www.kingrealtynh.com and pres the tab at the left that says first time home buyers listings. you can also find information on qualifying to get the up to $8,000 stimulus credit at tab for stimulus at the same location.