Let me tell you all a little story about mortgages. Long, long ago interest rates were extremely high, reaching nearly 19 percent in the early 1980s. At the same time, there were also assumable mortgages: a loan product that allowed a buyer to take over the loan on a home with the terms remaining intact.… Continue Reading
Shopping for a mortgage should be your first step before you even begin to ponder your housing options. Whether you choose to go with an FHA, VA, USDA, Conventional or exotic mortgage is a very personal decision that you’ll have to make on your own, but I thought it might help if I made some… Continue Reading
It’s inevitable that as spring approaches an increasing hoard of buyers will be flocking to the real estate market. The biggest question everybody’s got in the front of their mind, way ahead of whether or not they’ll find the right house or can get into the best school districts, is how much they should spend… Continue Reading
First time homebuyers, more than any class of homeowners, tend to be cash poor. That’s not a judgement statement — we all start somewhere. However, compared to other loans, FHA is much more forgiving of your liquidity-related woes. Because of FHA’s low down payments and small reserve requirements, along with options to roll your up-front… Continue Reading
No matter if you’re dreaming of a white picket fence or a condo on the seventh floor, there’s a good chance you’re going to need a mortgage like 64 percent of homeowners in America. Getting a mortgage means somebody is going to peek at your credit score while they’re trying to determine how big of… Continue Reading
Interest rates are constantly in the news: they’re rising, they’re falling, they’re flat — whatever they’re doing, they keep the thought of refinancing in the forefront of the minds of many homeowners. These folks wonder if they should refinance now, or if they’d be better off to wait a little while longer. Choosing to refinance… Continue Reading
The glut of homes repossessed during the housing market crash have mostly been reabsorbed into the system, leaving lots of new home buyers wondering how they’ll ever find a house they can afford. If you’re looking for a bargain in the housing market, don’t despair — there’s always a good deal to be found if… Continue Reading
When you finally decided it was time to buy a home of your own, you probably had visions of flower-filled window boxes, freshly mown grass, custom painted rooms and neat little touches that made it truly your own. You probably didn’t give a thought to things like interest rates and mortgage insurance premiums, but today’s… Continue Reading
We’ve written a lot about getting your first mortgage: what to expect, how to go about it and all the fees and different costs along the way, but there’s a significant portion of the market that we’ve been passing over made up of future boomerang buyers. Those of you who have lost your homes due… Continue Reading
There’s a certain fantasy that penetrates the American psyche, we like to call it The American Dream. It varies slightly between regions, but basically, it involves the triad of homeownership, stable employment and a marriage with 2.3 kids. Maybe that white picket fence was ideal in 1950, but times have changed dramatically since the American… Continue Reading