Lawyer folks: when did you buy a house? (or when do you plan to?) Forum

[run26.2]

Above is the way to do it re the down payment. When I bought my house a while ago, a couple of banks were giving associates financing up to 1MM with only 10% down. I know some of the private banks will give loans to partners at 5% down. I'm not sure these types of deals are going to be around forever.

Pmi sucks though. Could consider an 80/10/10 when rates are lower like now. But yeah down payments are definitely the hard part for a lot of people.

*I'm anon from earlier with investment properties

No PMI on the loans I saw, or the one I got. Also, my rate is below 4 and low costs. It was a good deal. They're still out there, too.

[Anonymous User]

Above is the way to do it re the down payment. When I bought my house a while ago, a couple of banks were giving associates financing up to 1MM with only 10% down. I know some of the private banks will give loans to partners at 5% down. I'm not sure these types of deals are going to be around forever.

Pmi sucks though. Could consider an 80/10/10 when rates are lower like now. But yeah down payments are definitely the hard part for a lot of people.

*I'm anon from earlier with investment properties

No PMI on the loans I saw, or the one I got. Also, my rate is below 4 and low costs. It was a good deal. They're still out there, too.

Sounds like you found a good one! Nice shopping

[gaddockteeg]

Key to buying a house according to this thread: don't work in SF, LA, or NYC and when you do buy, have your parents help out.

edit: i shouldnt say LA "is not even close" because its a somewhat relative comparison. But I'd venture that it goes SF > NYC > SV > DC > > > LA

That's not right at all. LA is far more expensive on par than DC. The issue with comparing LA to anything else is that it is more expansive and has more micro-markets than its peer cities. Be that as it may, it's still more expensive than DC and likely on par with SV.

As someone who has lived in SF, SV, DC and LA; I dont think I agree with this. 700k will get you a great location and a brand new unit 2br/2ba in a luxury building in LA.

Absolutely no way 700k gets you even an OLD 2br anywhere in SV.

In DC, 700k can get you a new 2br/2ba unit in a gentrifying area but you'd still ahve deal with crazies at least weekly.

[Itwasluck]

Above is the way to do it re the down payment. When I bought my house a while ago, a couple of banks were giving associates financing up to 1MM with only 10% down. I know some of the private banks will give loans to partners at 5% down. I'm not sure these types of deals are going to be around forever.

Pmi sucks though. Could consider an 80/10/10 when rates are lower like now. But yeah down payments are definitely the hard part for a lot of people.

*I'm anon from earlier with investment properties

No PMI on the loans I saw, or the one I got. Also, my rate is below 4 and low costs. It was a good deal. They're still out there, too.

My spouse is a physician and some banks offer 0 down, no PMI loans to doctors (some even to residents!). We are under contract on a house near Manhattan using this type of loan. Rates are actually lower than a 90/10 no pmi loan we were quoted for and even with no downpayment the monthly mortgage payment is about 45 dollars different from the 90/10/10 loan. I know this is a very specific requirement, but if anyone is married to a physician and would like to discuss I am happy to do so

[nealric]

Above is the way to do it re the down payment. When I bought my house a while ago, a couple of banks were giving associates financing up to 1MM with only 10% down. I know some of the private banks will give loans to partners at 5% down. I'm not sure these types of deals are going to be around forever.

Pmi sucks though. Could consider an 80/10/10 when rates are lower like now. But yeah down payments are definitely the hard part for a lot of people.

*I'm anon from earlier with investment properties

80/10/10 is what I did. Even though you can theoretically get PMI removed, there's often a minimum period and it requires an appraisal. Easier to just pay off the second. Or, if you are lucky and have significant appreciation, just refinance once your equity hits 20%. I was fortunate enough to get there after owning my house for a year and just refinanced the second mortgage away.

[ATXBiglaw]

Above is the way to do it re the down payment. When I bought my house a while ago, a couple of banks were giving associates financing up to 1MM with only 10% down. I know some of the private banks will give loans to partners at 5% down. I'm not sure these types of deals are going to be around forever.

Pmi sucks though. Could consider an 80/10/10 when rates are lower like now. But yeah down payments are definitely the hard part for a lot of people.

*I'm anon from earlier with investment properties

80/10/10 is what I did. Even though you can theoretically get PMI removed, there's often a minimum period and it requires an appraisal. Easier to just pay off the second. Or, if you are lucky and have significant appreciation, just refinance once your equity hits 20%. I was fortunate enough to get there after owning my house for a year and just refinanced the second mortgage away.

I took a standard 30-year fixed at 3.3%, and essentially financed my PMI in the loan. So, even if I hit 20% equity in my home, PMI isn't going away. But the PMI is only $15/month, and I'm not staying in my home for more than 7 years, so it made sense for me.

[ggocat]

When I bought a house : 2 years out of law school (about 6 years ago)
Salary? $55k at the time
Student loan debt? none
Market/location? Houston suburb
Other factors (spouse, inheritance, etc)? Spouse worked part-time retail, mostly stay-at-home with kids. Parents loaned us $15K to make improvements after purchase.
(edit) Purchase price? $100k plus another $20K in immediate improvements (foreclosure, five bedroom, quarter acre lot, still could use some renovations though).

[run26.2]

Above is the way to do it re the down payment. When I bought my house a while ago, a couple of banks were giving associates financing up to 1MM with only 10% down. I know some of the private banks will give loans to partners at 5% down. I'm not sure these types of deals are going to be around forever.

Pmi sucks though. Could consider an 80/10/10 when rates are lower like now. But yeah down payments are definitely the hard part for a lot of people.

*I'm anon from earlier with investment properties

No PMI on the loans I saw, or the one I got. Also, my rate is below 4 and low costs. It was a good deal. They're still out there, too.

My spouse is a physician and some banks offer 0 down, no PMI loans to doctors (some even to residents!). We are under contract on a house near Manhattan using this type of loan. Rates are actually lower than a 90/10 no pmi loan we were quoted for and even with no downpayment the monthly mortgage payment is about 45 dollars different from the 90/10/10 loan. I know this is a very specific requirement, but if anyone is married to a physician and would like to discuss I am happy to do so

Because I was curious about what seemed unusually favorable terms, I asked about loans to doctors and partners at the time. I was actually going to mention it previously, but I thought I would start to sound like a salesperson. In any case, my main point is that people like doctors and lawyers (at least biglaw lawyers) seem like favorable financial risks to banks while interest rates are very low. I'm not sure they will stay this low for a long period of time. So if you're in biglaw but don't plan to stay forever, and you anticipate being able to get a job that will allow you to pay the mortgage, it might make sense to get a loan now when you seem highly attractive to the banks.