Kay Osman's Q&A

In Hawaii, the maximum loan amount for Jumbo FHA is $793,000.  Only 3.5% down payment required plus closing cost.  Do you know of any with no down payment?

Congratulations on finding your dream home, I usually counsel my client to start the process by getting educated about the home buying process.  However, since you found the home first, you need to find and to work with a seasoned Buyer's agent.  To start with, understand what the agent will do for you:1. Help you determine how much house you can afford. You can, during the pre-qualifying interview, be prepared to give the agent a ballpark estimate of your income, assets and debts; the agent can determine an approximate price range.   This is when you will find out if you qualify for this home or not.  Your agent can also refer you to 3 or more loan officers to qualify you, provide you with a price range, information about interest rate &cost of loan you can get, depending on your credit score.2. Your Buyer's Agent and also the loan officer will provide you with estimated closing cost, total cash needed. This varies depending on your financial goals, available cash, & the interest rate.3. Once the loan officer decide you are qualified to purchase this home, the agent has to check out the details about this property in the public records and through the listing agent, verify the Seller's time frame, recent sales and assist you in making a strategy and coming up with offering price range.4. Armed with this information, you are now prepared to instruct your agent to prepare an offer that you believe is appropriate. This offer will be presented to Seller's agent to present to the Seller. Your agent will need to have earnest money deposit check, the amount is negotiable, with a minimum of $1000.00.I recently wrote a blog post with 18 more steps and things an agent should be doing to help you secure this home.  You can find the complete list on my blog, Hawaii Real Estate Information. Good luck!