Christee Buy or Rent Quick Start

Many people struggle with the decision as to whether they should ‘Rent’ or ‘Purchase’ a home. Christee will provide information which will allow for an informed and intelligent decision.

You may want to run two other Christee Modules for greater insight into purchasing a home:

-Christee’s ‘Buyer PreQual’ module to ascertain important data regarding purchasing a home.

-Christee’s ‘Buy or Wait’ module for additional detail for making a decision to purchase a home.

Below is a brief explanation for the required and optional inputs. Additionally, in the browser input form, there is a brief description for each input.

There are 16 Required Input Fields

  • 1. Select State. One of 50 States or District of Columbia.
  • 2. Select Area. Select county or city within the selected State.
  • 3. Enter Zip Code. Enter the zip code you wish to purchase in.
  • 4. Sales Price. Enter the purchase price of a property to be used as comparison to renting.
  • 5. Monthly Rent. Enter the monthly rent to be used as a comparison to potential mortgage payment.
  • 6. Annual Rent Increase. Enter number for anticipated annual rent increases. An entry of 2 represents a 2% annual rent increase for report period.
  • 7. Loan Type. Select one mortgage type for the report. Conventional, FHA, VA, or USDA.
  • 8. Change Rate. You will see suggested interest rates. Click the pencil inside the box to change the interest rate for analysis.

    Tip: A rate of three and one eighth is entered as 3.125.

  • 9. Loan Term. Select from dropdown menu. Default setting is 30 Years.
  • 10. Personal Income. This information is used to determine Federal Tax Bracket.

    Tip: Christee ‘Buy or Rent’ does NOT develop affordability ratios. Please use the ‘Buyer PreQual’ or ‘Buyer Choice’ Program for qualifying features.

  • 11. Years for Report. Enter a whole number between 1 and 5.
  • 12. Return on Investment. Enter rate of return reasonably expected for cash, either invested or saved, assuming you continued to rent.

    Tip: The rate could be reflective of Bank Saving Account Rate, Mutual Fund Rate, etc.

    Tip: If this field is blank, then Christee will assign the mortgage interest rate as the rate.

  • 13. Annual Appreciation. Enter amount of appreciation or depreciation you anticipate in the real estate market. Enter ‘0’ (zero) if you anticipate market values remaining static for report period.

    Tip: An entry 4 would representing 4% annual appreciation. An entry of -4 would represent depreciation of 4% annually during report period.

  • 14. Credit Score. The scored is used in certain calculations, thus is required. Enter lowest middle score for all parties.
  • 15. Married. (Yes or No). If there are 2 borrowers, select ‘Yes’. This data is used to determine the applicable Federal Tax Bracket.
  • 16. First Time Buyer. (Yes or No). Used to more accurately estimate closing cost or minimum down payment on a conventional loan.

There are 10 Optional inputs available to customize your report.

  • 1. Property Taxes. Enter the taxes for a specific property. If blank, Christee will estimate the taxes based upon the location of the property.
  • 2. Seller Credit. Enter the percentage amount of the purchase price you wish the seller to pay toward your closing cost.

    Tip. An entry of 2, represents a 2% seller credit or contribution toward closing cost.

    Tip. This amount will reduce the amount of cash required to buy.

    Tip. Christee will make adjustments to the allowable seller credit based upon loan type and actual closing cost.

  • 3. Down Payment Percent.  Enter minimum downpayment you wish to utilize. A 10% down payment will result in a 90% loan-to-value. Christee will adjust the minimum down payment when amount entered is less than minimum down payment required on a specific loan type.
  • 4. Limit Loan. You can enter the maximum loan amount and this amount will be used provided the loan amount does not exceed maximum LTV allowed for selected mortgage program.

    Tip. In the event there is a conflict between a capped LTV and loan amount entered, the loan amount will be used, provided it does not create a greater LTV.

  • 5. Condo. Enter amount of monthly condominium, or homeowners’ association fee (if any). This amount will be factored into your total monthly payment.

  • Next two optional inputs applicable to VA Loans Only.

    • 6.VA Exempt. If a Veteran is exempt from the ‘Funding Fee’ associated with a VA loan, then select ‘yes’.
    • 7. First VA Loan. This entry will affect the calculation of the VA funding fee. The funding fee is increased on 2nd VA loan.
    • 8. Name. If name is entered, then PDF file will include name.
    • 9. Phone. Enter your phone number to have a Christee Certified Agent to contact you.
    • 10. Email Address.  By entering a valid email address, you have the option to have the PDF report emailed to yourself or another person.

      Tip. If this field is blank, then you may download the PDF report.

      Tip. Make sure you hit the ‘submit’ button after entering an email address.

We hope you enjoy your AskChristee experience!

Results will be displayed in your browser. Additional detail is available in the PDF file. Please review results with a recommended AskChristee Agent and Lender.

See the Resources tab for more Information. Visit Video tab for demonstration and greater insight.