Finance Options for Your New Home Purchase - Money Tip Tuesday

You’re pre-approved for your new home purchase and just found your dream home, now what do you do? In this tip, we talk about your next step on how to find the best mortgage for your new home purchase. 

• Learn more about the different mortgage options at https://trianglecu.mymortgage-online.com/
• Contact one of our Triangle Mortgage Originators: https://trianglecu.mymortgage-online.com/OurOriginators.html
• View current mortgage rates: https://trianglecu.mymortgage-online.com/MortageRates.html

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NMLS# 528721 - Equal Housing Opportunity - Federally insured by NCUA - Certain restrictions may apply. See website for details.

Transcript:

I’m Ryan from Triangle Credit Union’s Mortgage Advantage Team and you’re listening to Money Tip Tuesday from the Making Money Personal podcast. 

If you’re already pre-approved or pre-qualified for your new home purchase, you’re most likely working with a mortgage representative from your local credit union. That’s perfect! Finding and connecting with a mortgage originator is a smart move. Like local realtors who know their markets, mortgage originators are experts in their home lending programs and can help guide you into the best lending product for you. 

If you’re looking at purchasing your first home, you may qualify for our First Time Homebuyer program which means you can purchase with as little as 3% down.  

Too often new homeowners just look at rates when determining which bank, credit union or mortgage company to use, but there ARE many finance options for your new home purchase and the one you select should be the one that fits best with your budget, your financial goals, and your future. Conversations about where you want to be in 5, 10, or 30 years helps the lending team identify a mortgage that is most aligned with you and where you see yourself today, tomorrow and in the years to come. 

For example, if you’re a new homeowner, you may be purchasing a starter home. Traditionally, this is a smaller home located on a smaller lot size. You’re probably in your thirties and your experiencing success in your career, but you know you’ll be in a much better position financially in another 5-7 years. If this is a scenario that resonates with you, then you may want to consider an Adjustable Rate Mortgage, which is also referred to as an ARM (capital A R M). An ARM offers historically lower rates and lenders usually offer options to choose from. As a Mortgage Originator from Triangle Credit Union, I can explain about one of our favorite products, which is the 5/5 ARM. In a nutshell, when you see a rate like this, there is a number, then a slash or diagonal line, and then another number. The first number represents how long the mortgage is fixed for—in this case, the 5/5 ARM has a fixed rate for the first five years; after that period, the mortgage rate becomes variable and adjusts every five years, which is what the second five represents. There are factors to consider when looking at an ARM as a mortgage option, but a good lender will explain everything to you. You should never walk away confused about your mortgage rate and terms.  

Most lenders offer adjustable rate and fixed rate mortgages. Fixed rate mortgages are commonly referred to as CONVENTIONAL fixed. Again, most lenders have CONVENTIONAL fixed options. These options are tied to the term of the loan with common fixed rate terms at 10-, 15- and 30-year loans. 

The term of your loan can be extremely important in high real estate markets where home prices are over the national norm. For example, Triangle Credit Union serves the southern NH housing market and home prices are considered high in our service area. One of our ARM products offers a 40-year term, which means the loan dollars are amortized or extended over 40 years, rather than the traditional 30 years; this extended period of 10 years reduces the monthly mortgage payment and makes purchasing a new home affordable for many homebuyers. 

Lending rates can fluctuate daily, sometimes hourly so it’s good to work with a local lending expert to lock in a rate. A lock-in or rate lock on a mortgage loan means that your interest rate won't change between the time you make an offer on a house and the time you close on your new home loan—providing you close within the specified time frame and there are no changes to your application.  

Whether an Adjustable Rate or CONVENTIONAL Fixed Mortgage is best for you and your situation is a decision you can work through with your local lender.  

Visit trianglecu.org, select Mortgages at the top of the website. Triangle’s dedicated Mortgage web portal gives you the information you need, whether you’re ready to apply for pre-approval, search our lending programs and rates, or connect with our team. If you’re ready to step into homeownership, our Mortgage team is here to help you with your journey. 

If you found this episode helpful, be sure to listen to our other episodes in this Homebuyer Series: How Do I Get Pre-Approved for My New Home, and the Benefits of Buying Local and Borrowing Local. As always, we’d like to hear from you about thoughts on this show or maybe you have some ideas on other topics we should cover, email us at tcupodcast@trianglecu.org. Be sure to subscribe to the Making Money Personal podcast for our full episodes and weekly Money Tips wherever you listen to podcasts and follow us on Facebook for more great content. 

On behalf of the podcast team, thank you to our sponsor, Triangle Credit Union, and thank you, as always, for listening. 

Have a great day everyone!