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Where do you live? If you live in an area where they are building houses by the hundreds (Indianapolis and many other metro areas) I strongly advise you to not build one of those homes, unless

1. You are putting AT LEAST 20% of your own money down, no "Nehimiah Programs" & the like (in case it's called something different in your area, basically, you get "gifted" your down payment, and you only have to repay it if you sell with in a certain number of years you're also only eligible for it once)

2. The builder doesn't have say, more than 5 of these "communities" with in 50 miles of each other.

3. There aren't more than 2 builders in your area.

4. You KNOW your family size wont increase, and you're cool with buying a house that WILL NOT appreciate the way existing real estate does. (You may be thinking, but why wouldn't it?!?!?! It's brand new!!!! If any of the above are true, your house wont "appreciate" appreciatevly for around 10-15 years, and even then, it will be modest at best)

The reason I say this is because I used to work in the mortgage industry, and ppl with great credit, plenty of income, upwardly mobile in all categories were stuck with houses they couldn't get rid of, because the builder could build SOMEONE ELSE *your house* for exactly the same money, but maybe they want different carpeting than what you chose, or different shower heads, etc ad nauseum and BLAM! They have it, they dont have to buy yours, shit, they'll have their own built! It will be just the way THEY want it it! It will be great!!! Until they wake up one day and realize that their dream home has now become the only thing holding them back.

I really hope you consider this info, before you've gone past the 3 day recision right that you may or may not have.

Look around, find a real estate agent that you LIKE, use a Mortgage Broker ( I know that you might have heard that they are a scam, but they can get you the best deal, period. Many times mortgage brokers can get a better interest rate for you than the actual LENDER that they assign your loan to would EVER give you, the consumer. It's simply because they deal in such a large volume of loans with those lenders (ie Well Fargo, Washington Mutual etc etc) that they can talk their Account Reps into cutting them some slack. And dont freak out if you have to pay a little bit higher than normal "origination fee/processing fee/closing costs" if you're getting an excellent interest rate, do some math and figure out your "break even point" if your broker says you need to bring 3000 to closing for a "buy down" on the rate, and in say, 3 years, the interest savings "break even" with what you put down, it's a good deal. Yes, alot of that 3000 is going to go towards the brokers commission, he's still saving you money in the long run, dont "cut off your nose, to spite your face"

Also, if you're at all financially stressed right now and you're "buying" because "renting" sucks, and it wont even cost you "that much more" to own, everything I've said so far, especially about buying existing 25+ year old real estate (that you can find for a decent price especially) goes double.

Hope this helps! If you decide to build anyway, make sure you bring a marriage counselor!!!! Making all the decisions about all the countertops and floors, outlet placement, appliances, fireplace placement, linoleum choices, etc etc etc will strain even the best of relationships. Dont think you're gonna pick it all out at one time, you need to go SEVERAL times, over several weeks, I would say that you should visit 3x minimum, and best case, 7x. Good Luck!!!

P.S.

DO NOT USE INTEREST ONLY LOANS, THEY ARE GARBAGE AND THE SUICIDE RATE IS GOING TO SKYROCKET BECAUSE OF THEM