can also try etrade.. their rates aren't bad

 

thanks! they do have good rates!
so I went to check out some places this weekend and have a better idea on what I am looking for now.
- An area with mostly home owners
- Community park would be nice
- Certain type of building I don't like and alot of the condos are like that.
- I like areas along Camden/San Thomas and South SJ.

I also got a hold of a real estate agent. She is my friend's mother, so I hope she doesn't rip me too bad. She suggested me to talk to a few loan brokers and I told her to forward my contact info to a few. I just found out a co-worker of mine is also a loan broker.

Now the question is, does it really matter who I go with? I feel more comfortable to go with my co-worker because I know her. But because this is not her full-time job, she might not be the best of it. Should I give all of them the same info and have them do a prequalification (no credit pulling) for me and see who could do the best then decide? Should I just tell them up front that I am talking to few others and see who has a better rate (competition to my advantage?)?

Thanks again guys! (and girl! )

 

you can submit all your info and have them do prequalification workups without committing so you can decide on who has a better rate.. but i really wouldn't go about telling each of them about the other
as for who to eventually go with, i would go with the person who has the best rate because over time that could save you quite a substantial amount of money

 

so when I interview the broker, what are some of the questions I should ask?
- special program for first time home buyer
- how many lender will the broker be checking with
- how long is the prequalification/preapproval good for
- ?? any other suggestions??

Thanks!

 

leo, those are good questions. #2 is a BS question b/c you will get a BS answer.

ask about points, fees (basically total cost out of your pocket).
ask for all different terms, 30yr fixed, 10 year fix, 5 year fixed, 3yr fixed, adjustable or interest only.

I can tell you that I will take 5yr fixed @ 4.5, then a 30yr@ 6. do the math and you can see why.

 

I am still not too clear about the whole points thing. I should read up more on it before I ask the question.

Yeah, I know, everyone told me no one takes the 30 yr. I am considering 5 ARM, 5/1 ARM, 7 ARM, or 7/1 ARM. And I am sure I am just scratching the surface on this number game.

 

I used to live near 26&27 when I was working at Intel in 1996 and 1997. I went in to work at 5am so my commute was like 15 minutes using 87 to 101 to Montague. Coming home was a different story. If I left anytime after 3:30pm, the freeway was an utter mess and it took me 1 hour to get home. I ended up taking back streets: Montague to Scott to 82 to Almaden Expy to Capitol Expy and it was 15 minutes less (go figure).

Of course, some of that may have changed with the slowdown. When you get close to picking a couple of areas you should do "test" commutes from work to see what the traffic is really like.

As far as pricing goes, I bought my townhome on Snell & Capitol for $156,000 in 1996 and then sold it 11 months later for $185,000. I thought that was a hell of a deal at the time. I moved to Sacramento and when my company re-assigned me to the Bay Area (temporarily - if that's what you call the last 2 years) I checked on the price of a similar townhome in the same complex - $360,000. That was only 4 years later (2001). Talk about kicking yourself...

The point I am trying to make is that even being 12 miles from Intel in South San Jose prices are going to be high. My townhome was 3/1.5 and 1300 sqft with a 2 car garage and no connecting walls. Great place in a nice neighborhood.

 

wrXrated. Thanks for the review! Yeah, I know the price around here is pretty high. That's why I was only looking at condos. But now, the more I look at it, maybe it wouldn't hurt to go a little further away. But there is also gas and insurance I have think about too. I've done commute from SF, Santa Cruz, and Fremont before. I have to say, SF was the worst. Thanks again!