Home Savings vs. Mortgages

Help me out here, please 🤷

I’ve got a few things I’m trying to wrap my head around—specifically, is there even any point in opening one of those home savings accounts??
My wife and I are looking at picking up an apartment using a mortgage, maybe around
$70,000 total? We’re planning to put down about $10,000 of our own cash, which means
we’d be looking to borrow roughly $60,000.
So, here's the thing—does it actually make sense to open a specialized savings account, dump that $10,000 in there, and then
go apply for the mortgage after that? And also... are we going to be stuck signing up for life insurance
and having to keep up those monthly payments for years on end??
I’ve bounced around a couple of different banks already, and honestly, every single one tells me something different—"open this," "deposit that," blah blah blah 😕🤷....
What would you guys suggest? And if anyone knows, what kind of monthly payment are we looking at for a 25-year term
if we go through with all this??

nimbleowl62 said:Help me out here, please 🤷

I’ve got a few things I’m trying to wrap my head around—specifically, is there even any point in opening one of those home savings accounts??
My wife and I are looking at picking up an apartment using a mortgage, maybe around
$70,000 total? We’re planning to put down about $10,000 of our own cash, which means
we’d be looking to borrow roughly $60,000.
So, here's the thing—does it actually make sense to open a specialized savings account, dump that $10,000 in there, and then
go apply for the mortgage after that? And also... are we going to be stuck signing up for life insurance
and having to keep up those monthly payments for years on end??
I’ve bounced around a couple of different banks already, and honestly, every single one tells me something different—"open this," "deposit that," blah blah blah 😕🤷....
What would you guys suggest? And if anyone knows, what kind of monthly payment are we looking at for a 25-year term
if we go through with all this??

Check out my previous posts in this same thread.

EDIT: Just wanted to give an update because Bank of America has CHANGED their mortgage insurance requirements AGAIN.

Here is what they are saying now for loans between $50,001 and $100,000:

MODEL 1

* borrower: creditworthy
* formal co-signer
* lien (mortgage) on the property in favor of the AFL-CIO
* fire insurance policy assigned to the AFL-CIO

MODEL 2

* borrower: creditworthy
* lien (mortgage) on the property in favor of the AFL-CIO
* fire insurance policy assigned to the AFL-CIO
* a savings deposit equal to 20% of the approved loan amount

They don't require co-signers anymore, but they are still being difficult (either a co-signer or a 20% deposit).

For loans between $15,001 and $50,000, the requirements are actually pretty reasonable now.

* borrower: creditworthy
* lien (mortgage) on the property in favor of the AFL-CIO
* fire insurance policy assigned to the AFL-CIO

----

Honestly, even though the requirements aren't as draconian as they were a few months ago, what really bugs me as a customer is how constantly they change. You never know where you stand. If I had known these would be the terms, I would have saved differently. :/

Where’s the best spot right now to park some cash for a home savings account? I noticed JPMorgan Chase is running some promotion through the end of the year where they waive those fees... I used to have my savings set up with Wells Fargo, but that plan wrapped up earlier this year. Does it actually make sense to jump over to JPMorgan Chase just to dodge that fee? I mean, 1% of the total balance isn't exactly pocket change...

A bit further down, you'll find the thread regarding Wells Fargo savings accounts. 😉

On top of the fact that subsidy funds are already looking pretty thin, there’s some even worse news for anyone hoping to jump into the housing market: once the government announced their new model, the slide in home prices just completely stalled out. It turns out the skeptics were right all along—they warned us that throwing government money at first-time buyers would just mess with market dynamics and stop the much-needed cooling of those massively overpriced real estate bubbles.