Real Estate/Mortgage Question

[mini]

Got it in one And the economic report I read today for '11 and '12 here was certainly not optimistic re: inflation.

I'm not actually sure I would even be able to get one but I will look into it - if I hear anything, I will report back.

My landlady's son got a mortgage. When she told me that I was quite surprised because, well, because of all that I've read in this thread. Of course, I don't plan on buying here so I didn't press her for details. If you are interested, I could either press her for details and/or find a way to talk to the son.

 

[Silvi]

If you don't want to take out a loan, another alternative would be to buy a Fideicomiso (Trust) where you buy a property almost at cost and you pay 30-50% upfront, and the rest is made in monthly payments that can range from 12-24 months depending on how long it takes to build the property. If you are interested, send me a PM and I will be happy to explain it in more depth. Good Luck!

 

[Flainaz]

Here is a basic rule of thumb.
20% interest is always bad!!!!

 

[Davidglen77]

Anybody taking out a mortgage here MUST be extremely careful and take all possible measures NOT TO ACCEPT an adjustable rate mortgage. I was a mortgage banker for years in New York city and know what a great disadvantage this can be in the USA, however here (if you know how mortgages work in general), you will know what I mean. For example, if you take out an adjustable rate mortgage in the USA and the introductory rate is 5%, that rate stays at 5% for 2 years and then can adjust up or down every 6 months thereafter (never seen it go down) according to several market factors. However BY LAW there is a "rate cap" of 6%. In other words the starter rate can never go higher than 6% over the starter rate combined. The highest that rate can ever go is a total of 11%. Here in Argentina, there are few fixed rate mortgages available and the adjustable rate loans that most banks offer on their mortgage products is tied to the BCRA rate (banco central) and adjustable rate mortages have NO RATE CAP. So if the banco central decides between today and tomorrow to raise the BCRA to 500%, well then guess what just happened to your monthly payment that was calculated with a coefficient of BCRA @ 15%. Your payment would go up 485% and guess what happens to your property when you can't make the monthly payment.......PRESTO!! The bank now owns your house. BE CAREFUL with financial products of ANY kind here. Everything I have analyzed puts the consumer at a disadvantage in some way or another. If you know what you are doing with money you can survive the banks and actually use banks to your advantage, but if you are not experienced in financial matters keep things simple like a savings account, ATM card and maybe even a credit card. GOOD LUCK!!

 

[citygirl]

Thank you all for your caution. As I mentioned, I would never consider an adjustable rate nor would I consider a mortgage tied to the dollar. There are financial reasons that I think it may be beneficial to not everything pay in cash up front. It truly depends however on a) a fixed rate and b) in pesos.