[Tom52]

DW and I will be coming to TV for the 3rd time this coming January. We hope to find us a home this trip for either snow-birding or maybe full time living. We are not very familiar with the intricacies of obtaining a mortgage in Florida. Is it necessary to be pre-approved for a mortgage ahead of a serious house search? If so can you recommend someone locally to contact?

We checked with our local small town bank and they would not make a 30 year fixed mortgage on a Florida property.

[B-flat]

We recently purchased a home in the Villages and used Citizens First here in the Villages. It was a painless process and Will mentioned we probably could have got a better rate shopping around since we’ve done business with 2 other banks in Central Florida but loan app, purchase and closing couldn’t have been any easier.

[tophcfa]

Everything else being equal, a cash offer with proof of funds is the strongest offer, an offer from a buyer pre-qualified for a mortgage is second, and an offer from a buyer that subsequently need to obtain financing is the weakest. It would certainly help to get pre-qualified and then limit your home search to houses within your qualified price range.

[Fredman]

You should get preapproved if you are seriously looking for a home. There are many mortgage lenders in the villages. We used citizens first and it was a smooth closing

[asianthree]

We didn’t, down payment and closing cost and then some in hand. We used our local bank on house #1, and citizens for #2 and #3. On preowned you can take your time closing. New home 30 days or there are extensive penalties

[birdiebill]

It is a good idea to be pre-approved if you are going to use a mortgage. If you buy a new home or villa here in the Villages, your closing must occur within a short period of time. I don't remember if it is 30 or40 days from the agreement to purchase. The developer sets the rules on new construction; no negotiation. While my only experience was with Citizens First Wholesale Mortgage here in the Villages, I know if you are approved by them, you will meet the closing deadline. This financial institution is "owned" by the developer for whatever that is worth.

If you buy pre-owned, you may be better able to negotiate a closing date and other terms. To each his/her own as to new or pre-owned.

[Arubagirl33]

Citizens bank is in The Villages. You could start there. Get ready to compete with all the cash buyers out here. 5 years ago we were told it was over 60% and it’s even higher today. Makes No difference what price range either.... I know of many properties $650 - $900,000 cash, gone in days!

[Cobh521]

It is best to be prequalified or preapproved. Your sales representative can set up a meeting with Citizens bank for you. You do not have to use them, however if you purchase a new home you must close in 30 days. Citizens can do that. Some other places cannot

[JoMar]

As I remember, you have 30 days to close after signing a contract. Citizens bank can usually meet The Villages requirements. If you are using another bank...it will be a tight schedule.

[Tom52]

OP here again, should have mentioned we will only be looking at existing homes. Does Citizens First also handle mortgages on existing homes since they are owned by the developer?

[kathyspear]

We have bought and sold many homes and we often arranged our loans through online mortgage companies and over the phone.

If you go to Bankrate.com and put in some numbers you will get a list of mortgage companies and their lowest rates. (Most brick and mortar banks will have slightly higher rates, but if you feel more comfortable doing things in person it might be worth it to you to pay a tad more.)

The cheapest rate/fee combination we found with the online mortgage companies was a company in NY called "Better". We are actually going a different route for complicated reasons but if we had gone with one of the online companies I would have applied with Better.

Good luck and happy house hunting!

kathy

[manaboutown]

Mortgage money is a commodity. It pays to shop around. I have successfully used this site to get the best deal I could find. LendingTree - 1-800-675-5153

[Dan9871]

Originally Posted by Tom52

OP here again, should have mentioned we will only be looking at existing homes. Does Citizens First also handle mortgages on existing homes since they are owned by the developer?

By existing home do you mean a pre-owned home, i.e. not a new home sold by the developer?

Citizens is just a bank an will make loans on both new homes and pre-existing homes.

As far as being pre-approved I don't think that matters much on a new home... but keep in mind once you sign on the dotted line you will have to close in 30 days an pay some pretty big penalties. If you cancel you won't get your earnest money back but might be able to apply it to another new home.

When we came down to buy we did not get pre-approved and all the we need to do was give a check with the earnest money for a new home to seal the deal.

For a resale, that is not a new home, being pre-approved will probably give you a better chance of having your offer accepted so if you are looking for a resale getting pre-approved is a good idea but not necessary.

Citizens bank is one of the few banks around here that you can depend on closing in 30 days. By the way Citizens Bank is owned by The Villages.

[Joeg180]

OP, be prepared have your documents with you when you are here on your visit.
Be prepared that if you decide to build your design phase can take up to a week.

We looked at existing (both pre-owned and developer spec) homes. If you decide to build you have several days of going over every detail of your build, then review and contracting. Also you aren’t the only ones going through process with the designer. We were able to pick out our selections quickly, but the process still takes time.

Our closing date was assigned when we signed off on the contract.

[Fredman]

Originally Posted by Tom52

OP here again, should have mentioned we will only be looking at existing homes. Does Citizens First also handle mortgages on existing homes since they are owned by the developer?

Yes