buy a home in Hawaii 
buy a home in Hawaii
There are currently 12 blog entries related to this category.
FHA to Revise Mortgage Insurance Premiums
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010 at 8:03pm. 112 Views, 0 Comments.
Congress just passed H.R. 5981, giving FHA (Federal Housing Administration) the authority to adjust its annual mortgage insurance premium. All FHA loan borrowers pay a monthly insurance premium on top of their mortgage payment, as a way to insure these low down payment loans. Currently an FHA loan allows you to buy a house with 3.5% down.
A recent bulletin issued by David H. Stevens, Assistant Secretary for Housing/Federal Housing Commissioner, said that FHA would lower its upfront mortgage insurance premium from 2.25% down to 1% AND increase the annual premium from .55% by an additional .85-.90%.
So while the up front cost is low, this is a HUGE INCREASE in monthly payment and severely decreases a borrowers purchasing power. Getting your FHA…
FHA loans will no longer allow 6% seller closing costs credits to buyer
Thursday, January 21st, 2010 at 12:56pm. 534 Views, 5 Comments.
Well, HUD is at it again. It will go into effect sometime
in the summer, but FHA loans will be limited to 3% seller concessions
instead of the 6% currently allowed.
This won't mean much for higher priced homes but it will
cause people buying lower priced homes, which tend to be the people that
need the help the most, to have to come up with more money.
Basically this is another case of the government hurting people by trying to help them.
Rates are going up, just not today
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 at 2:17pm. 257 Views, 0 Comments.
Last week, the Federal Open Market Committee announced they were leaving rates unchanged. According to the statement released, in an effort to "provide support to mortgage lending and housing markets" they will "purchase a total of $1.25 trillion of agency mortgage-backed securities and up to $200 billion of agency debt."
However, what's important is that "they expect to gradually slow the pace of these purchases in order to promote a smooth transition."
That means that eventually rates are going up. We don't know when, as it depends on how fast the Fed decides to stop buying the MBS. Last year in an effort to stimulate housing, the Fed began purchasing the oversupply of debt. Without this help from the Fed, rates would have moved higher already.…
2 ways to buy Hawaii real estate with zero down
Thursday, September 10th, 2009 at 7:11pm. 371 Views, 0 Comments.
While most people know that VA loans allow military buyers to get into Hawaii real estate with zero down, most don't know that there is a similar loan backed by the USDA (yes, the beef people) that also allows zero down purchases for regular civilians.
The USDA home loan will allow any buyers who make less than $109k/ year to buy a house with no money down. Similar to the VA loan, there is a funding fee of 2%, but other than that, it's quite simple.
If you have more than 5 people in your family, you can actually make a lot more money and still be eiligible. There is no loan amount limit as long as your debt ratios still qualify.
Just doing the math, a family of 4 with no other debt making $109,000 a year could buy a house of around $500k with zero…
You don't want to buy a foreclosure.
Monday, July 13th, 2009 at 5:32pm. 445 Views, 1 Comments.
Unless you have oodles of cash, months to wait, and are willing to risk 10% of the purchase price being taken away without any recourse, buying a foreclosure in Hawaii is not for you. That's because the process in Hawaii is an expensive process that can often result in failure when the court decides the home owner gets to keep his house. You can lose your 10% deposit faster than you can count it.
The better way to go is to buy a short sale. Let me give you some tips for short sales.
1 - look for a seller who already has lender approval at their list price. This will cut months off your wait time.
2 - get your loan approved, fully approved, before you even make your offer. Again, this will cut down the time it will take to get an approval from the seller's…
Single Story Homes are Bigger Than Two Story Homes
Monday, June 15th, 2009 at 5:54pm. 353 Views, 0 Comments.
When you're searching for a home, one of the first things you'll decide is how big a home should be for you. In Hawaii homes are smaller than on the mainland overall.
One way to get more home for your money is to look at single story homes. A two story home has around 15-20 steps, each of which take up square footage. There is usually also a landing area and some hallway that is not really usable space.
Last week I was looking at homes around 2000 sqft, and we found that the 1800 sqft single level homes felt larger, and had more usuable space in the living room and bedrooms.
We saw a little 1400sqft house that seemed bigger than all the 1900ft two story homes we looked at. It had a larger living room and kitchen, and even the master bedroom was quite…
The re-refi boom in Hawaii
Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 at 7:12pm. 231 Views, 0 Comments.
Appraisers are swamped, lenders are working long hours, and home owners are rejoicing at lower payments. Refinancing helps the real estate market as home owners have an easier time owning their property, and some that might have defaulted or needed to sell can now stay in their home.
There will also be owners of rental properties who might have had to sell, who now can afford to keep their property and continue to rent it out.I've spoken to several lenders and heard they are now suddenly backlogged with new loans, and appraisers are going crazy too. All of this is great news for home prices, because lower payments means less homes for sale, which means prices can hold better. It also might mean some sellers who were going into foreclosure might be able…
How to win when there are multiple offers (buyer tips)
Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 at 2:11pm. 298 Views, 0 Comments.
What if there are multiple offers and I want to make sure I get the property? Sometimes you're not as concerned with getting a good price as you are about just getting the property. Sometimes you want to make sure you're the highest bidder.
When there are multiple offers on a property, I want to be the last offer in. I'll ask the seller how many offers they're getting, and when they will present the offers to the seller. A lot of times the sellers of Hawaii real estaste are off island which makes it difficult for the agent to meet with the seller. So it's important ask very clearly, "What is the latest I can get you the offer?"
Then before I send my offer in, I'll bluntly explain to the what our offer is, and ask "Is this offer going to be the best…
Don't forget to check the wind. It's a big factor in the value of your Oahu Real Estate
Friday, May 8th, 2009 at 1:33pm. 317 Views, 0 Comments.
Wind in Oahu is more important than any other weather factor. Too little of it and your nice new home in Kailua will feel like a steam beath. Too much of it and your hilltop home on Hawaii Lao Ridge could feel like a constant tornado.
The temperature in Hawaii only fluctuates about 25 degrees all year. In the summer it might get 90 degrees on the hottest day, and in the winter it might be 65 on the coldest day. Also, it doesn't fluctuate much between day and night either. On an average summer day it might be 75 at night and 85 in the day.
But the problem is not the temperature so much as the wind. Even on a real hot day of 90 degrees in Oahu, if the wind is blowing about 20mph, you won't feel hot at all. But if the wind is not blowing, it feels hot even…
You're planning to move to Hawaii, but when should you start looking at houses?
Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 6:41pm. 250 Views, 0 Comments.
Most of my blog posts are prompted by questions that people ask me by email or phone. This week someone emailed me and said they are planning to move in about 8 months, wondering if they are looking at houses too soon.
You should be looking online as soon as possible, and in person about 2-4 months before you move.
As soon as you even the thought of moving to Hawaii, even if your plans are not definite, you should start looking at homes online on a regular basis, keeping track of what the market is doing in the area you like. The more time you have to look at homes, the more you'll understand our little micro markets. You'll see that homes in nice condition tend to sell quickly in most areas, and you'll be able to see the sales prices very close the list…
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