| 2008 Madison Home Buyers Fair It’s a buyers market |
By Jonathan Gramling While the national housing market may be in a swoon with the credit crunch caused by the dramatic increase in housing foreclosures and the resulting weakening of some national banking institutions and the slump in housing sales, the Madison market may be able to offer interested home buyers some good deals. With housing prices in flux and recent moves by the Federal Reserve Board to lower the prime interest rate, now may be the best time for families — particularly first time home buyers — to enter the housing market. On May 3, over 32 lending institutions, home builders, and real estate agencies came together through the Home Buyers Round Table of Dane County to provide vital home buying information at the 10th annual Home Buyers Fair at the Villager Mall. And it appears that opportunities abound. For Enrique Gundara, a loan officer at M&I Bank, the market has shown little slowdown. “I’ve been having a successful year,” Gundara explained. “You have to realize that I work with first-time home buyers. I also have a niche in the Latino community and have been successful in doing a lot of loans and putting a lot of families in a house and helping them realize the American Dream.” Gundara has had particular success in the Latino community and with first time home buyers. “Sometimes if you buy and pay less than when you were renting, I think it is a wise decision,” Gundara explained. Right now, Gundara is offering a special 30-year mortgage program for first time buyers with a fixed rate for the first year with variable rates after that. “There is no private mortgage insurance,” Gundara said. “And we have 97 percent financing. So people only have to come up with three percent. If you are buying a house for $100,000, you only have to come up with $3,000. We don’t require reserves in an account. And we are very proud to be equal opportunity lenders.” Over at the WHEDA (Wisconsin Housing & Economic Development Authority), exhibit, Jeff McAlister |
| Clockwise fromabovet: M&I Bank’s Jim Brandi (l-r), Enrique Gandara and Chuck Endress; Summit Credit Union’s Oliver Silva (l-r), Laura Stanfield, Chad Johnson and Debbie Olson; Dane County Vteran Affairs’ Michael Jackson (l-r) and Wis. Dept. of Veterans Affairs John Adams; WHEDA’s Jeff McAlister; MDC’s LeeAnne Banks (left and Jennifer Derr (in pink) with home seekers David and Pam Soward |
| said that WHEDA has been relatively unaffected by the recent credit crunch and under two percent of their loans have been affected by foreclosures. Currently WHEDA is offering their basic 30-year, single-family loan at a fixed rate in the neighborhood of 5.9-6 percent, which would make many homes affordable for first time home buyers. And if the family has a less than stellar credit history, WHEDA offers some hope. “We also have our other product called Gateway to Homeownership, McAlister said. “Through Gateway, if they qualify, potential homeowners can work with a home credit counselor, get their credit repaired and get prepared to move into a WHEDA loan. So we have something for everybody.” Veterans also have a nice inducement to enter the home buying market. According to Michael Jackson of the Dane County Veterans Office, there are state and federal programs available just for veterans. “One of the advantages of the Wisconsin Veterans Affair Loan Program is there is a low interest rate of 5.65 percent,” Jackson said. “It’s a 30 year mortgage. There’s no primary mortgage insurance. The veteran must have a minimum of 5 percent down. They could purchase an existing property, a new property or construct a house. Then there is the Federal Home Loan Guarantee Program. An advantage of that is that an eligible veteran could apply for a loan without a down payment. But the interest rate is not fixed because it’s private money and the applicant must shop around for the best interest rate. And the role of the county veterans service office is to help them get their eligibility certificates.” And for others, the “small town” feel of non-profit credit unions may be the way to go. “It allows us to give you a little bit better rate at a lot less cost,” said Oscar Silva, a loan officer with Summit Credit Union. “Our closing costs tend to be a little lower. We don’t typically charge points unless you want to pay them to buy down a rate. I think the best part about a credit union is the level of service that you receive. It’s personal; it’s small and it’s local. You have to be a member of a credit union before you apply for a loan. In order to become a member, though, all you have to do is open a savings account. We treat all members the same, whether you’ve been with us for 30 years or you just started yesterday. Once you are a member, you have full access to all of our services.” So if you can afford it, now is probably the best time to maximize your investment in purchasing that first home or buying up to the next home level. But you had better get while the market is in your favor. It won’t last forever. |