Hi all--we're gearing up to make our first real estate purchase which will be our primary residence. I have a few questions about the home loan process that I'd love to get your expertise on:
First, I've mainly ignored the concept of points since we intend to pay off this house as quickly as humanly possible. But, I ran the numbers on the Mortgage Professor website and after 3.5 years, it will have been cheaper for us to take the mortgage with points. And I have to admit, the tax break this year would be helpful. But I can't get over the idea that points just seem scammy and more trouble than they're worth--anybody have insight?
Secondly, we're putting 30-40% down--enough that we aren't required to do escrow if we don't want to. I figured it's easier to just do it though--until I got my pre-approval and the mortgage company is charging $1200 to initiate the account (not for the initial deposits mind you, just to set up the account). If I choose not to do escrow, it's an additional $400 on the closing costs. I feel like for $800 (the 1200-400) plus the opportunity to earn interest on the money, avoiding escrow might be worth it. Insight on this?
Finally, I'm hoping to find a bank or credit union that keeps their own mortgages rather than sells them off--anyone have success doing this? Not many places do it anymore...