News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Home ownership is the West’s biggest economic-policy mistake. Parent comment

Re:Home ownership is the West’s biggest economic-policy mistake by pc86 on Tuesday April 20, 2021 @07:07AM (#26873059)
Buying a house for 10% down all in would be a dream in the majority of the US. Yes, FHA or FDA allow 3.5% or even 0% down in some circumstances but you're going to end up in an undesirable area (FDA) and be paying hundreds a month for mortgage insurance (both FHA and FDA). Which, while it sounds like something everyone should have, is you paying for the bank's insurance in case you default on the mortgage. To avoid this insurance you need 20% down after all fees so with realtors' commissions and all the pre-purchase expenses you're much closer to 30% down all in.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Home ownership is the West’s biggest economic-policy mistake by ihattendorf on Tuesday April 20, 2021 @01:06PM (#26877397)
We recently purchased in a large US metro area all-in for ~6% out of pocket. It didn't make sense for us to pay > 5% down on a conventional loan with interest rates below 3%. Depending on who you go with PMI rates can be as low as 0.25% of the loan value/year (~$20/month per 100k) if you have good credit.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Home ownership is the West’s biggest economic-policy mistake by bluGill on Tuesday April 20, 2021 @09:22AM (#26874254)
Realtors commissions? There are none, the seller pays those in almost all case. It is possible to hire a buyers agent who works for a fee from you, but that isn't common (and I'm not sure how it works) so I'll ignore it. There are closing costs, but they are not a percentage in general.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Home ownership is the West’s biggest economic-policy mistake by akomtu on Tuesday April 20, 2021 @03:22PM (#26880024)
Without a buyer agent, the buyer can get a 3% discount on the sale price.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Home ownership is the West’s biggest economic-policy mistake by ipaddr on Tuesday April 20, 2021 @09:46AM (#26874561)
If the seller pays the buyer is the actual one who pays.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Home ownership is the West’s biggest economic-policy mistake by bluGill on Tuesday April 20, 2021 @10:04AM (#26874832)
In this case that isn't true because the seller is paying out of the full value of the house. When realtors decide give a discount (ie when working for a friend, or other marketing), the seller gets more money and the buyer doesn't see any difference.

There are other ways of looking at it where you are correct.

[ Parent | on HN ]