So just how easy was it to buy a home back in the good ole days?

[JackBondLove]

I figure that folks here at the Foreclosure forum had bought a house near the peak, so I am asking it here.

I keep reading about NINJA (No Income, No Job or Assets) loans being given out like candy. Doe this mean that some homeless guy (after taking a proper shower and putting on some decent clothes) could walk into a bank and buy a home without putting *any* money own, and only attesting to an income statement with no documentation? Was it really that easy?

Shoot, if I had been virtually zeroed out such that I had little to lose (i.e., judgement proof), why wouldn't I have speculated? If the homes had gone up in value, I would have gotten get free cash with no risk. If they had gone down in value, I could have just declared Chapter 7 and incur no loss.

[LoadedGuns]

I bought my home in 2004 with NINA with just 5% down and a 682 FICO.

[enuffznuff]

a friend of mine bought a home with a 615 FICO, no assets, stated income (no paper to prove) with an 80/20 loan (no cash down) in 2006.
It was that easy, they just said what they made (which bore no relationship to reality) and had no money down. Seller paid closing costs.
They just short sold it. They paid 323,000 it sold for 165,000.

[JackBondLove]

a friend of mine bought a home with a 615 FICO, no assets, stated income (no paper to prove) with an 80/20 loan (no cash down) in 2006.
It was that easy, they just said what they made (which bore no relationship to reality) and had no money down. Seller paid closing costs.
They just short sold it. They paid 323,000 it sold for 165,000.

Didn't your friend have to put down 20%? How was it no cash down?

Not bad to get a whole house with no money down! But how in the world did a house get down to 50% value by 2006? I thought the peak was 2007.

[LoadedGuns]

But how in the world did a house get down to 50% value by 2006? I thought the peak was 2007.

He bought the house in 2006.

[enuffznuff]

he bought in 06. just sold in 2010.

No money down, no. 80/20 loan, the 20 serves as the 'down' for the 80. Pretty common financing option in the boom.

[ryan]

In 2004, I would have needed more documentation to rent an apartment than to buy a house. I bought NoDoc then and put 20% down payment...they did they whole thing off my credit score. Year before, when I rented, I needed tax return and other verifications.

[Beachlover2]

Bought in 2007-$0 down, had previous house to sell even no bridge loan (short sale in 2009). Credit score 700's -showed income.

[markdel16]

I obtained a 100% loan in 2004. Had to show income (check stubs), had to show debt (CC statements, etc.). Home was purchased for $132k, currently "owe" $124k, home is now worth about $115k.

[ccsjoe]

Friends of our who already owned a home and still owed mortgage plus HELOC to the tune of 2700/month purchased a new home for 530K no down, stated income, stated assets.

[SweetGeorgia]

In 1996 I bought a little condo ($50K) by myself; the mortgage was a little above market rate and I put maybe 5% down. And I went through a 6-week cavity search that did not stop until the day of closing. I had income but a relatively high debt load.

In 1998 my husband and I bought a house ($200K) together; nothing down and 80/25 mortgages. Another cavity search that went on forever and extortionate interest rates. We had income and a medium debt load.

In 2000 we bought a house ($400K) together; we thought we'd have a down payment but the stock value evaporated in the recession. We put very little or nothing down, 80/20, loan shark interest rates. We both had income, but only used my husband's name because he had no other debt at that point.

In 2005 we finally bought a house ($250K) with a decent interest rate! We put $50K down and again only used husband's name. By then we both had very good credit, very decent income.

So from my perspective, I've been told my entire adult life that "interest rates are so low! Buy now!" but I have only once gotten a good interest rate (and it wasn't even ME). If bankruptcy takes "prime loans" away from me, how would I ever notice? I wasn't getting those offers before.

Interestingly, my husband trained to be a mortgage broker in about 2004. There was very little about underwriting, as you'd expect. There was a whole lot about keeping abreast of the incentives offered by various banks, which rewarded the broker for closing particular kinds of loans (subprime, or adjustable-rate, or jumbo, etc.) with particular lenders by such-and-such date. There was no need to tell the client about this, and it seemed like a huge conflict of interest even then. The client thought the broker was on his side and researching the best options for the client, when really the broker was presenting the best options for himself. So glad we didn't go into that business.

[tobee43]

we just did it the old fashion way.....purchased our house with 20% down it was a whopping 39,990 brand new and the interest rates were approx 8% in those days...refin...to a lower rate...increased the mortgage....30 years later the results was as follows....

mortgage was up TO: $440,000 @ 4.1% with perfect credit but was charged like 30k in closing cost at the last minute...the bastards...AT THE CLOSING.....
present value...maybe $180k........
gave the house back....with including the black mold....huge yard, new fence needed...new roof....new pipes....cracked foundation....flooded too many times to remember....

hope they are enjoying the house