a notary public over several days before the actual closing date.
Step 5: Do your due diligence
While you’re in escrow, you have a chance to complete any research on the property that can’t be done before the offer. In a hot market, you may not have had much time to research the property before putting in an offer. As soon as you have a chance, make sure the property meets your needs relative to size and value as outlined in this chapter. If you have concerns about the land, such as building restrictions or guidelines, you may want to add contingencies to the offer that allow you to pull out of the transaction if your research results are unfavorable.
Step 6: Execute the paperwork and bring in the money
As soon as your loan is approved, you need to bring your cash to escrow and sign the loan documents. You can wire money into escrow or bring it in the form of a cashier’s check. Bring your pen because you’ll have as many as 100 documents to sign for the escrow and the loan.
Step 7: Close escrow and take title
The title insurance company provides you with a deed to the land and a policy insuring that it’s yours. The title company pays the seller the money due and records any documents and deeds related to the transfer and new loan.
Using the bank
Most people finance their lot purchase through a local bank or private lender. A good mortgage broker can help you determine who has the best programs to meet your needs. Local banks generally have more conservative criteria for loaning on land because they’re heavily regulated. Large, publicly held lenders have the ability to offer creative and flexible loan programs because they mix the risk with other loans in their portfolio.
Not all mortgage brokers have experience with land and construction loans, so be picky. Don’t trust a random online pick for this one; ask around to find the experts. Try to find a loan officer who has 100 or more loans of these types under their belt. The best way to test loan officers is to see if they ask you more questions than you ask them. If they simply try to sell you on one type of loan without inquiring about your needs, then look for someone else to help with your loan needs.
Qualifying
The first thing a lender will ask is whether you intend to buy the land for your own personal use. The lot-financing rates and terms for owner-occupied properties are much better than for investment properties. The lender looks to see if it makes sense for you to move to this property. If you’re claiming it to be a second home, the lender will expect it to be in a resort type area or a city other than your primary residence. Buying the lot in a cheaper neighborhood on the other side of town from where you currently live will raise eyebrows.
The lender next assesses your qualification on the basis of your credit report, liquid assets (cash, stock, or other easily accessible forms of money), and your debt-to-income ratio (the amount of debt you carry in the form of loans and credit card balances versus your income). Your lender’s approach to these issues is very similar to how it will underwrite your construction loan (see Chapter 10 for the specifics). To make its decision, the lender wants to see, at minimum, the following documentation:
Appraisal
Credit report
Three months’ bank statements
Two years’ W-2s and recent pay stub
Two years’ tax returns, if self-employed
Lenders may loan you a higher percentage of the purchase price based upon the quality of your other qualifications. Being able to show good credit and sufficient income might get you a loan for up to 80 percent of the purchase price.
Picking a loan
The most important criterion for your loan is the loan’s length of time. (We talk more about timing of lot loans in the section “Making sure the loan period is long enough,” later in this chapter.) Generally, your lot loan picks you based upon your qualifications. You may, however, need to choose between a fixed-rate loan or an adjustable-rate loan. Some lenders offer only fixed-rate loans where the interest rate stays the same for the loan’s life. These rates are generally higher than adjustable-rate mortgages, which have interest rates that move with a particular monetary index such as government treasury bills.
Some people believe a fixed rate can save you money because it protects you from rising interest rates. But if you plan on building in the next few years, you’ll be taking a construction loan that pays off the land loan (see Chapter 9 for details). Because you’ll likely pay off the land loan soon with the construction loan, using a fixed-rate loan isn’t likely to save you much money. Ultimately, you need to do the math and compare the various loan payment options over the length of time you anticipate before you start building.
