Shopping For a Home Loan in Venango County, PA

Shopping For a Home Loan in Venango County, PA



Loan Elements

Next to shopping for the home inVenango Countyitself, shopping for the home loan can be just as cumbersome. For such a large amount of money, you want to make sure you are getting the best deal possible.

There are four key elements of your home mortgage payment: the principle, interest, taxes, and insurance. The principle is the amount of money that your are borrowing, less any down payment made. The interest is the cost of borrowing, expressed as a percentage of the total amount that you borrow. The money for your property taxes are put into an escrow account until it is time to pay them. Home insurance is required by most lenders. If your down payment was less than 20 percent, you will also be responsible for paying private mortgage insurance.

Types of Loans

There are several different kinds of home mortgages from which you can choose. The major factor to use in the decision of which home mortgage to borrow is the length of time that you plan to be in your home. For example, if you plan to remain in your home for a long time, a fixed mortgage is perhaps the best mortgage to choose.

The two major kinds of home mortgages are fixed-rate and adjustable-rate. As the name suggests, a fixed-rate mortgage, FRM, has an interest rate that doesnt change over the life of the loan. Your monthly mortgage payments will never change. FRMs are typically available for 15, 20, or 30 years. With an adjustable-rate mortgage, ARM, the interest rate varies depending on current market rates. In most cases, the initial interest rate for an ARM is lower than that of the FRM. If you are interested in lower monthly payments for the first few years of your loan, an ARM is a good choice.

A balloon mortgage is yet another type of home mortgage loan that you can obtain. This type of loan has a lower initial interest rate for five to seven years. After that time, the entire balance of the loan is due, hence the term balloon mortgage. Balloon mortgages are best if you are planning to sell your home, refinance it, or pay it off prior to the balloon payment due date.

Choosing a Loan

Now that you know the components of your home mortgage and the types of home mortgages you can choose, how exactly will you make a final decision? This will depend entirely upon your personal situation. As mentioned previously, the length of time you plan to live in the home is a key factor. You should also consider your career and salary for the length of time you will have your home mortgage. Do you expect your salary to remain the same or increase the length of your loan? Are you comfortable with the uncertainty an ARM can present as far as monthly home mortgage payments?

Also consider the cost of the loan. What is your interest rate for the loan? Consider also the fees charged by the lender. You may be able to negotiate a waiver of some of the fees. Ultimately, you want to pay the least amount of money for a home mortgage loan.

There is a lot of free information available to you about buying, selling or investing in Venango County. For complete information about theFranklin and Oil City real estate market including current homes for sale, property values and more please visit the most complete website online dedicated to everything Venango County real estate at www.hometownhorizon.com . So please feel free to contact me with any of your mortgage questions and I will me more than glad to answer you queries. Call me, Bob Richards at 814.432.8488 or email me at rrichards@venangorealestate.com.

100% financing to buy a home is still available in Venango County. The USDA has a gov't program that Venango County qualifies for. For more

Buying real estate in Venango County, PA

If you're looking to get the very best house you're capable of getting for the least amount of money you'd like to spend in Venango County. Be sure you are in the optimal position from which to negotiate. Price is only one bargaining chip in the negotiations, and not necessarily the most important one. Often other terms, such as the strength of the buyer or the length of escrow, are critical to a seller. In the past it was our policy to suggest to potential buyers that they try to get qualified for a loan before they apply for it. This means that you spend a few minutes on the phone with a lender who asks you a few questions. Based on the answers, the lender pronounces you a pre-qualified and issues a certificate that you can show to a seller.

Sellers are aware that such certificates are WORTHLESS, and here is why! This information has not been double checked Oftentimes-unknown problems surface! Glitches on the credit report due to any number of reasons both accurately and inaccurately, down payments that have not been in the clients bank account long enough, etc, some of the problems I've seen include recorded judgments, child support payments due. So the way to make a strong offer today is to get a pre-approval. This happens AFTER all information has been checked and verified. You are actually APPROVED for the loan and the only loose end is the appraisal on the property. This process takes anywhere from a few minutes to a few days depending on your situation. Something we strongly suggest for all of our clients to have. Since you are currently renting a home and don't have a home to sell you may be at an advantage when competing with other buyers because many buyers must sell their current home before they are able to get financing for another.

Play the Game of Nine before house hunting in the Venango County market, develop a list of about 9 items you want in your new location Then make a list of the nine things you don't want. NINE OF THIS AND NONE OF THAT. You can use this list as a scorecard to rate each property that you see. The one with the biggest score wins! This helps avoid confusion and keeps things in perspective when you're comparing dozens of homes. When house hunting in the Venango County, PA keep in mind the difference between SKIN AND BONES. The BONES are things that cannot be changed such as the location, view, size of lot, noise in the area, school district, and floor plan. Easily changed surface finishes like carpet, wallpaper, color, and window coverings,the SKIN represents. Buy the house with good BONES, because the SKIN can always be changed to match your tastes. We always recommend that you imagine each house as if it were vacant. Consider each house on its underlying merits, not the seller's decorating skills.

A good agent will show everything available that will meet your requirements. You should not make a decision on a house until you have seen enough to pick the best one. Go to the Multiple Listing computer with your agent to make sure that you are getting a COMPLETE list of homes for sale in Venango County so you get the home you really want instead of whatever the agent has chosen to let you take a look at. In early 2000's, homes in Venango County were selling quickly, usually a few days after listing. In this type of market, agents recommended that their customers place an offer instantly if they were interested in the home. That was good advice at the time. Today there isn't always this urgency, unless a home is drastically under priced, and you'll know if it is. Remember the dangers of waiting too long; the property could be sold before your bid arrives. If you really like a house, get an offer written and make sure your agent writes in the proper clauses to get you out of the offer.Let's not forget that when making your consideration, also remember to do research into the SCHOOL DISTRICTS that are located in the same area. For more information about schools in the Venango County market you can visit my website at www.hometownhorizon.com. Information is available on every school; such as class sizes, % of students that go on to college, SAT scores, etc.

Stop Calling Ads!The agents in the Venango County market create ads solely to make the phone ring! Some of the drawbacks the ad neglects to mention are traffic noise, power lines, and even litigation inside the community. What's not mentioned in the ad is usually more important than what is. For this reason, we want you to be very careful when reading ads. Remember that the person writing the ad is representing the seller and not you in most cases! The most important thing you can do is have someone on your side looking out for your best interests. Your own agent will critique the property with an eye towards how well it meets your needs and will point out any drawbacks you should know about. So whether you decide to work with me or not, pick an agent you feel comfortable with and enlist the services of that agent as a buyer's agent. Then you become a client with all the rights, benefits, and privileges created by this agency relationship, and you're no longer just a shopper. Did you know that many homes are sold WITHOUT A SIGN ever going up or an AD EVER BEING PUT IN THE PAPER? These great deals go to those people who are committed to working with one agent. When an agent hears of a great buy, who do you think he's going to call? His client, who he has a legal obligation to work hard for you, or someone who just called on the phone and said keep your eyes open. To get the most bang for your buck when buying property in the Venango County, PA is to find yourself an agent you're comfortable with and stick with him or her for all your real estate market needs. A plethora of data on the subject of selling, buying or investments is out there at no cost.

For complete information about the Venango County real estate market including current homes for sale, property values and more please visit the most complete website online dedicated to everything Venango County. So please feel free to contact me with any of your mortgage questions and I will be more than glad to answer your questions. Call me at 814.432.8488 or email me at rrichards@venangorealestate.com.