by Edward Zolotarevsky
When it came time for me to get a condo, I went to Somerset County Coalition on Affordable Housing (SCCOAH) in New Jersey. The coalition enrolled me in Step by Step (a first-time home buyer preparation class) conducted by SCCOAH. The class turned out to be free, with a special surprise. After speakers gave their talks, each student received a manual which guided a first- time home buyer through the whole home-buying process. Additionally, each student received a class certificate which entitled us to discounts on the mortgage and lawyer's services. I have figured out that three hours of class time saved me around at least $100,000.
First I contacted all the mortgage lenders (banks) listed in the manual. In addition, I contacted Fannie Mae and requested material on mortgage lenders. Eventually, I narrowed the selection to only two banks: Fleet and Commerce. Fleet offered the lowest interest rate of 5.125 percent with 5 percent down required. Commerce, on the other hand, offered 3 percent down at 5.375 percent interest. Finally, I chose Commerce, because they required less money up front than Fleet. I worked with Rosa Hernandez of Commerce Bank in Mount Laurel, N.J. The class certificate gave me a break on the mortgage as well.
Next, I found an affordable housing lawyer with experience in Bedminster, N.J. After going through the list, I selected Albert Trabilsy of Somerset. He suggested buying a condo to me. With the class certificate, I got a $250 discount on his services.
Finally, Sharon DeCicco of Bedminster Hills Housing helped me to find a wonderful two-bedroom condo in Bedminster. Sharon had two condos on the waiting list. I selected the more expensive condo, because it looked very well maintained. After selecting the condo, Sharon prepared the sales contract for both the buyer and seller. Since the condo cost only $116,000, my down payment came to only $3,480. The market price of comparable condos in the neighborhood was $200,000.
For the closing, we had to get friends to drive us. The title company agent reviewed the documents which we had to sign. We had to sign 25 documents altogether. After signing them, I teased them by saying that I really shouldn't be signing anything which I cannot read. This made everybody in the room laugh.
Originally, the closing date was supposed to fall on February 28. But the bank postponed the mortgage commitment, and our closing date became March 7 instead. Therefore, we had to pay for two months in advance. This surprised both me and my wife, and we asked for help from family to cover the additional unanticipated expenses. Our family loaned us the money for the additional cost, and when my paychecks arrived later during the month, I was able to pay them back.
The condo purchase of $116,000 set the property tax at $96.10 per month, since it is based on the property's purchase price. The private mortgage insurance comes to $85.31 per month. Principle and interest for the mortgage equals $629.97 per month. The total equals $811.38 per month. The mortgage is a 30-year fixed mortgage. The monthly mortgage payments will change slightly as we approach the end of the term. After the first 10 years, our monthly mortgage payments will fall by nearly $100, and our payment will decrease by nearly another $100 for the last 10 years.
During the weekend, Angelo Movers of Somerset moved our belongings to our new condo. It took around six hours to move everything. My wife's friend Lenny Begata moved boxes in the morning before the movers got to the condo. Don Wilson of Angelo Movers asked me about using the bathroom in the new condo. I told him, "Go ahead. But I don't know where it is!"
We reside in a two-bedroom condo unit behind King's Plaza in Bedminster. Two supermarkets provide groceries for the neighborhood. The plaza contains a few restaurants: pizza joint, sandwich shop, and Chinese restaurant. You can find other shops there like a video store and drug store. In addition, a recreation center is located right next to our condo building. For a reasonable fee of nearly $160 per month, the condo association takes care of the exterior. They shovel the snow and provide lawn care services. In addition, we have access to the recreation center for free.
On the weekend our upstairs neighbor Lucille told us that she would move her car for the moving van. Lucille also gave us a spare key for our condo. Our three-year-old son facilitated my wife's first meeting with our downstairs neighbor. She was trying to catch a few winks of extra sleep before work, but my son just kept bouncing on the floor above her bedroom. Our neighbor suggested that we encourage our son to bounce in our living room instead!
When I lived at 32 Kensington Road in Bedminster, the Verizon Wireless company shuttle bus came to get me for work. Now, I moved even closer to work. So the shuttle bus has no problem at all with driving me to and from work. This door-to-door service makes getting to work very convenient.
We are enjoying owning our very first home and recommend the process and the experience to everyone!