My wife and I are considering buying a new house in Central CA. The
builder offers a $70k off the price of a $239,000 home (3bd/2ba, 1271
sq ft) as an incentive for using their preferred lender. We make $62K
before taxes; our FICO scores are 770 and 734. The lender offers
6.125% 30yr fx for an FHA loan where the builder will also pay the 3%
down ($5,000) through the Nehemiah non-profit program. I guess I don't
understand why a "preferred" lender. So far I looked at rates in
Bankrate and it looked about right for the type of loan in this
zipcode.

We have the first-time homebuyers jitters and can't decide whether
this is a good deal or not. This is for an inventory house, but we can
also have a new one built in 4 months when we are expecting a salary
increase. Should we take it or should we wait? Any input would be
greatly appreciated :-)