Susan Buhr

The purpose of my post/blog is to provide answers to the three primary financial questions all home buyer's have on their minds when they are considering to start looking for a home. To answer these three questions, I contacted five Lenders I refer Clients to and I asked the following questions; what are the current interest rates ranges? What is the minimum down payment range? What is the lowest credit score acceptable, mid range and highest credit score?

Here is a summary of their responses;

• Current local interest rates range: for a 30 year fixed - 4.750 % to 6.0 %.
• Minimum down payment range: 3.5% to 5.0 %.
• Credit scores ranges: 580 - 680 (average) 681 - 720 (good) 721-740 and above (excellent).

They also provided me with generalization of the three primary loan products using 30 year fixed mortgage;

• VA (must have served in the military), VA certificate (certification is taking the government two months to turn around), minimum credit score 580 or higher, no down payment required, no PMI (private mortgage insurance), plus 1% origination fee, interest rates 4.75% and higher, depending on credit score, debt ratio and other loan requirements may apply.
• FHA, loan amount up to $310,000, minimum credit score 580 or higher, 3.5 % down payment, plus PMI, plus 1% origination fee, no late rent payments in the past 12 months, interest rates from 4.75%, depending on credit score, debt ratio and other loan requirements may apply.
• Conventional, loan amount great than $50,000, minimum credit score 600 or higher, 5.0 % down payment, plus PMI, interest rates from 4.75 %, depending on credit score, debt ratio and other loan requirements may apply.
• Conventional, loan amount great than $100,000, minimum credit score 720 or higher, 20.0 % down payment, no PMI, interest rates from 4.75 % and higher, depending on loan amount, debt ratio and other loan requirements may apply.

Note: all interest rates and requirements are subject to change without notice. Also, all five Lenders have other loan products available.

I hope this information gets you to rethink, that you can buy a home. Columbus home prices are stable and there are a lot of homes to choose from, it really is a great time to buy. Please contact me if you have questions, or you would like for me to refer you to a Lender, to get your mortgage pre-approval started.

Susan Buhr, Broker

PDS Real Estate

614-527-7724

www.pds-realestate.com

Buying or selling a home, you should be aware of how to save and cut energy cost through 10 inexpensive methods. If you are selling your home, you should incorporate some if not all these energy cost saving methods into a home. Why, because home buyers are well educated and so is their Realtor in energy cost saving area. As a Realtor, I will point out to either my seller's or buyer's most of these 10 energy cost methods. Please read this link it identifies cost saver and how much each method will save.

http://www.realtor.org/rmohome_and_design/articles/2008/0810energytips

Susan Buhr, Broker

PDS Real Estate

No forms required to conduct your home search!

Visit our website www.pds-realestate.com

I was born and raised in Columbus Ohio, after finishing College I moved to Houston Texas and then moved to Philly. I moved back to Columbus ten years ago. The reason I moved back, besides family, is that Columbus has a lot to offer just as Houston and Philly do, but on much smaller scale. Columbus has less traffic, less violent crimes, great road, great schools and services, very low unemployment, and cost of housing and cost of living is cheaper than these very large cities. This link from the Columbus Dispatch provides stats why Columbus Ohio is worth living and buying a home

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/05/29/housing_survey.ART_ART_05-29-08_B1_CLABG67.html?sid=101

Susan Buhr, Broker

PDS Real Estate

No forms required to conduct your home search!

Visit our website www.pds-realestate.com

I think the Columbus Board of Realtor "The Grass is Greener Here" campaign is great for up to date real estate information, because the information they put out is well thought out, researched and focused on current issues in the Columbus Ohio real estate market. For example this link provides home buyer's why they buy a home and how it will benefit them. Also it provides them with question to ask a Realtor when the home buyer is ready to hire a Realtor. http://www.columbushousingfacts.com/help-for-homebuyers/

Susan Buhr, Broker

PDS Real Estate

No forms required to conduct your home search!

Visit our website www.pds-realestate.com

Stop looking, you have found the connection to one or all four areas you have been searching for. I say this because, I've have gotten excellent feed back from my clients who have attended these free home educational classes. These classes are put on by Columbus Housing Partnership which is a non profit organization, thus they will not sell to you, they can recommend, they give you current and well researched information on each topic.Please read this link and contact Columbus Housing Partnership for its 2009 class schedule.

http://www.columbushousingfacts.com/help-for-homebuyers/homebuyer-education-programs

Susan Buhr, Broker

PDS Real Estate

No forms required to conduct your home search!

Visit our website www.pds-realestate.com