To the homeowners out there... a question for you.

[BanginJimmy]

1. Make sure a lawyer looks over the mortgage contract. You can usually get a complete copy of it a few days before closing and then have a lawyer look it over for only a couple hundred dollars. If you cant afford that 1 time expense, you really need to wait on the house. When it comes time to close on the mortgage, bring the copy you got early with any notes you and the lawyer made, then re-read the official copy of the mortgage, question and throughly understand even slight differences.

2. Have at least 3 months, preferable 6 months, of mortgage payments stashed away. Dont touch that for any reason except dire emergencies in which you cannot pay your mortgage. Any other payment can wait, but always keep the mortgage up to date.

3. I dont believe it applies to a foreclosure, but make sure the house is inspected by a pro that knows what to look for. It costs a bit of money, but it could potentially save you ALOT more in the long run.

4. Best way to get payments down is to make extra principle payments. I read a while back that paying 10% principle extra every month can take 25% off the life of the loan, and as much as 10% off the total intrest paid. Your payments will be re-calculated yearly to account for changes in taxes and any extra principle payments you make, so while you have roomies, get your emergency money together, then drop as much extra cash as you can into principle.

5. If you havent secured financing yet, call around and really search for the best rates. Even a seemingly small difference in rates can save you several thousand over the life of a loan.

[0p7!mu5]

1. Make sure a lawyer looks over the mortgage contract. You can usually get a complete copy of it a few days before closing and then have a lawyer look it over for only a couple hundred dollars. If you cant afford that 1 time expense, you really need to wait on the house. When it comes time to close on the mortgage, bring the copy you got early with any notes you and the lawyer made, then re-read the official copy of the mortgage, question and throughly understand even slight differences.

2. Have at least 3 months, preferable 6 months, of mortgage payments stashed away. Dont touch that for any reason except dire emergencies in which you cannot pay your mortgage. Any other payment can wait, but always keep the mortgage up to date.

3. I dont believe it applies to a foreclosure, but make sure the house is inspected by a pro that knows what to look for. It costs a bit of money, but it could potentially save you ALOT more in the long run.

4. Best way to get payments down is to make extra principle payments. I read a while back that paying 10% principle extra every month can take 25% off the life of the loan, and as much as 10% off the total intrest paid. Your payments will be re-calculated yearly to account for changes in taxes and any extra principle payments you make, so while you have roomies, get your emergency money together, then drop as much extra cash as you can into principle.

5. If you havent secured financing yet, call around and really search for the best rates. Even a seemingly small difference in rates can save you several thousand over the life of a loan.

I already got 2 and 3 down already, 4 was the plan from the get go seein as my roomies arent going anywhere for a long time. So I definitely got the money and what i told them we all pay for rent should help with the principle all together. I told them 400 a piece and since ther is four of us I figure that could cover all the bills and the mortgage and i can take more and put it into the priciple directly since i dont usually buy much to begin with. I just kept hearing it would drop over time or that I would have to refinance for it to drop or something. the plan to pay the principle hasnt changed just wanted to make sure.
If it lowers the rate I can put more in and pay things off faster. that's the idea anyway.