Questions about buying homes...?

When my hubby and i bought our car, the car dealer found a bank to finance us. is buying a home the same way? Or do we have to hire someone else to help find someone to finance us? Its a manufactured home were talking about getting. And can the land and home be financed together? another question is, do you always have to put a down payment down? we didnt on the car.Questions about buying homes...?
If you go to a bank they may only have 1 or 2 lenders to chose from. A mortgage broker should have multiple lenders to work with if that mortgage broker is good. This can give you an advantage in getting an approval as lenders all have different programs and criteria for loan approvals. I suggest you stay away from any phone or internet companies and see a broker face-to-face. You are about to make the biggest purchase of your life (probably), so you need someone to answer your questions honestly.





Land and home can be financed together - in fact, the lender will almost certainly require it.





No you don't always needs a down payment but without one your interest rate will be higher and your loan may be more difficult to obtain. Factors such as: employment history, assets, income, credit, and debt ratios all contribute to an approval. Lenders approach each loan as a level of risk. Higher risk means tougher approval. Obviously 100% loan-to-value (LTV) is the highest level of risk.





Manufactured homes - and I speak of single, double, triple wide mobile homes - are difficult to get financed. Few lenders will touch a single wide. Few lenders will go 100% LTV on a mobile home purchase. The reason for this is that mobile homes depreciate over time while stick built/modular homes appreciate. This is not an absolute 100% fact but it does hold true the large majority of the time. So lenders do not want to invest in something from which they may not be able to get their $$$ back. I am not saying mobiles do not have high quality - some do. But be careful and make sure the lender knows prior to approval that you are buying a mobile home - if indeed you are looking at that type of housing.Questions about buying homes...?
Not all lenders will finance manufactured homes. Those that do, will generally finance land and home together. Do look around, don't just take first one you find, or the one the manufactured home seller works with. Unless you get a grant or a special program (Veteran, Nehemiah) you have to make a down payment, and you have to pay PMI if you don't have a large enough down payment.


If you buy a condo, townhome, house, then tend to appreciate in value--not a certainty, particularly in this market. If you buy a manufactured home (a trailer), they depreciate in value. It's more like buying a car than like buying a house. So you're NOT building up equity as you would in a starter home, that can then be used to buy a bigger/better home later.
In your case, I suggest trying a mortgage broker because they can look at more options. As a couple of others have stated, you will have a tough time getting financing because your home will not appreciate, thus the financer must take on your loan knowing that next year, you might owe $70K on a home only worth $50K.
don't apply on lendingtree.com
You'll almost always have to put a down payment in today's market. On a regular home it's typically 25%, I'm not sure about Manufactured homes.





You don't need to hire someone to get you a loan, you can go to various banks and apply yourself. You engage a mortgage broker, but it's not necessary by any means.





A couple of helpful hints:


Apply to multiple banks. You didn't buy the first car you saw on the lot did you? You might even have bought one from the first lot you went to...


When the first bank runs your credit scores, ask them for the score. When you got to subsequent banks, just tell them your score. When you get your credit checked, you get a temporary 3-7 point reduction in your credit score


(90 days). Rather than have 5 banks run it, reducing you score 15-35 pts, just have the first one run it.


Try to get a preapproval letter from a bank before you go shopping.