Down
payment guidelines
The
main thing to remember here is that your down payment has
to be "sourced" and "seasoned". What that
means is the lender wants to verify that it is indeed your
funds and they want to see it in an institution for at least
three months. You will have to show three months bank statements.
If you have $20,000 under your mattress you cannot use it
for a down payment.
Exceptions
to every rule right? Well, FHA will allow mattress money if
you can prove that you do not use banks for checking and savings
and operate on a cash only basis. (No credit either) There
are also a few non-conforming loans that do not source or
season the funds. AND, of course there are programs that allow
Gifts for down payments but those funds usually have to be
sourced too.
FHA:
Requires 3% down payment unless you are using one of the Gift
programs. (Still 3% if it is a gift) Closing cost may be paid
by the seller and/or part of them may be financed in the loan.
The LTV can actually go as high as 97.75%
VA:
Zero down payment, and closing cost can be paid by the seller.
Conventional:
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Require 5% down and sometimes they
carry first time homebuyer programs that only require 3% down.
Non-Conforming:
It is quite common to get 100% financing in this market. Some
lenders have more than 100% financing. Of course rates are
higher because the risk is higher, and these programs are
credit score driven. A score lower than 580-600 will usually
require a down payment and the lower the score the larger
the down payment. |