I'm looking for a loan on an approved condo with 10% or less down. This will be a vacation home about 300 miles away from our per

Hello Alli, I am a loan officer in Salt Lake City and could help you with a loan. Our guidelines are 10% down for a second home (or vacation home). Give me a call at 801.550.1222 and I will be happy to help you with a pre-approval. I am available anytime you are. Linda Miller

As long as this condo is truly a warrantable condo (meets all of Fannie and Freddie's guidelines), then you should be ok to purchase this as a 2nd home. However (and this is a HUGE however) if you put less than 25% down you will be required to do a FULL condo certification that is very detailed and if there is anything that isn't squeaky clean with the association of units, this unit will not be approved for financing. So while the agent or others might tell you this unit is approved, I would be very wary and have a LOT of outs in the contract based on that. If you look up the Fannie Mae approved condo project list for the state of Utah you will find ONE complex in the state. All the others will have to go through very strict scrutiny for financing. I have gone through this 3 or 4 times in the last few months so can tell you that it's not a cut and dry process at all. It can be done - we did them - but it takes a while and can be sketchy. Let me know if you have any questions or need any help.

Jason nailed it on the answer. Condo financing has a long list of extra financing. Be sure to work with an experienced and licensed loan officer - not just some application clerk - so everything goes well for you. 80% of Loan officers are simply registered, and only 20% are licensed. In MN and WI, visit www.MInneapolis-Mortgage.net

Hi Alli, I'm Mark Hammond, owner of Legend Financial Services in Draper Utah. 801-808-MARK (6275). 10% down works. We'll get the condo questionnaire filled out first thing to rule out any potential problems. I have 20 years in the business and there's no greater advantage than working with an owner/broker like me. My website is www.legendfinancialservices.com. You can check me out there, or just give me a call. You might wind up with a shark if you don't call 808-MARK. :)

Remember that there will be no income generated by the vacation home, so your debt ratio will have to cover mortgage and HOA payments, as well as property taxes.

First of all I would ask where is the condo located? The good thing is as long you are 50 miles away from your primary residence, and purchasing another property you will be able to get the same kind of financing as your primary residence.You may go FHA, IF the condo development is already approved, if not, it can take up to 6 months to get the project approved. If they are not, then conventional is good way to go. If you are going to get conventional financing you will want to ask the question of how many of the condo's in the project are rented. IF 30% or less are rentals, this is good since we are in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lending guidelines. So any number above 30% rentals, then it will not work.Another question you may want to ask is does anyone own more than 10% of the condo units in the project. This could be another problem also. As a couple of of people have mentioned, there is a Condo Questionnaire to which will address these issues, but asking upfront will make less of a headache and your Realtor should know the answers, if not then they should be at least to find out from the Home Owners Association. Other things that can make or break getting approved for the loan is making sure the HOA has enough reserves in the bank to cover cost, they need at least 10 percent and they need to have enough insurance coverage for the whole complex in case of fire or disaster. Their policy will only cover the buildings and that is it. Anything from the studs inward are your responsibility and would strongly suggest getting some kind of coverage for the inside. Most lenders would require this anyway.As far as financing goes, if the complex does satisfy these and some other criteria, then depending on credit score, we can do a first and second to avoid Private Mortgage Insurance, this being an insurance policy for the bank you would get the privileged to pay as part of your mortgage.Hopefully this doesn't sound to daunting of a task, and that is why you hire me to do the leg work for you on these things. Of course, it would be advantageous to get all the paperwork needed upfront to make the loan go faster. Hopefully this information helps with your decision making on your vacation or second home. Please call me if you have any questions at my office 801.737.6330 or 435.764,8709, my mobile phone. I work for Supreme Lending and we Service most of our Loans and Table Fund all our loans.I do appreciate the opportunity to respond to your question. my website is http://timothyhoward,supremelending.com Sincerely, Timothy Howard "Your Mortgage Guy" Getting it done right and on time!"

HI Alli, Condo's aren't that hard get done but as the others have stated there are guideines that must be followed. I can help you with this and I am the Number #1 rated loan officer with Lender411 and my company is the largest purchase money lender on the Wasatch front. We achieved this mostly because we get out loans done in less than 10 days and there is still time to get it closed this year if you are looking to get it done right away. Call me on my cell at anytime at 801-971-6901 or go to my website www.UtahLendingPro.com and you can also contact me via facebook under Utah Lending Pro. Thank you Carlo

Hi Alli, Most pertinent points are covered already. a few items to add: 1) FHA is not likely an option. 2) The distance from your primary residence is a factor in considering this a 2nd home, but SOME lenders will also require that the property is in a resort or vaction area. Condo specifics as well as above are all reasons to make sure you use an experienced lender! I am always happy to assist whether I work on your financing or not; So if you need more information, a pre-qualification, or a competing rate quote you can go to my web page and use my live support button to discuss or get advice on anything at all with me. Web Address is: http://www.loansfromrob.com/quote/ Email is rhanson@gladewaternational.com and direct phone is 240-752-7549. Good Luck -- Rob Hanson

Yes, but I would suggest you make sure the condo is warrantable first and have your loan officer get a condo questionnaire up front. Best wishes, Sean

It might be approve, but if your putting less than 20%-25% down, the lender will require a full condo review.. they will look at vacancy ratio, investor vs owner occupied ratio, reserves, pending litigation, etc.. if the complex falls short on any of these areas, it will be denied.. I'm a Broker here in Scottsdale AZ and I only lend in Arizona. If you or someone you know is looking for financing options, feel free to contact me or pass along my information. William J. Acres, Lender411's number ONE lender in Arizona. 480-287-5714 WilliamAcres.com