The Myths and Truths about your Mortgage

Mortgages are tricky and often hard to understand. Because most people only purchase a home every five to seven years, prospective home buyers understandably don’t spend a lot of time in the interim educating Read more

VA Loans: Are you eligible?

The $417,000 VA Loan Benefit can be used to BUY or REFINANCE your home and is available to Active Duty, National Guard or Reservists, Retirees, Veterans, and Military Spouses. Read more

All About FHA Loans

When it comes time to buy a home you’ll be faced with an important decision. How will you be financing this purchase? Read more

How Your FICO Score Affects Your Ability to Get a Mortgage

It’s not uncommon for borrowers to ask: “Why can’t I get the interest rates I see advertised on the Internet?”

One of the most important characteristics of securing a mortgage is your FICO score. Simply put, the lower the credit score, the higher the interest rate. Read more

5 Reasons to Sell Now

Many sellers feel that the Spring is the best time to place their home on the market as buyer demand increases at that time of year. However, the Fall and Winter have their own advantages. Here are five reasons to to sell now.

Only Serious Buyers Are Out Read more

Low on Down Payment Cash? FHA Not Only Option

With interest rates at historical lows and home prices being more affordable than they have been in decades, many people know that now is a great time to buy a home, but they may be worried about large down payment requirements.

When looking to finance a home, two of the most common questions asked include:

• What loan options require a low (or no) down payment?
• Is down payment assistance available?

Traditional loan options

While it is true that a 20 percent down payment is still required to avoid mortgage insurance for conventional loans, there certainly are mortgage options that require a low or no down payment. Almost all mortgage lenders offer at least these options: Read more

3 Things to Know About Appraisals

If you haven’t had your home appraised in a while, here are three important things you need to know because the process has changed — dramatically. And while appraisal qualifications haven’t changed over the past few years, the process has says Ken Chitester, the Appraisal Institute’s spokesperson.

1. Relationship between lenders and appraisers removed

The biggest change is that lenders and appraisers no longer work together — a method that many say was a breeding ground for appraisal fraud. “Lenders used to put all this pressure on the appraiser to inflate home values to hit certain numbers so that it was a win-win for all,” says Chitester. At its core, the HVCC (Home Valuation Code of Conduct), which took effect May 1, 2009, was designed to prohibit mortgage professionals from hand-picking appraisers in lieu of using appraisal management companies (AMCs). And while fraudulent activity is down as a result of the HVCC, says Tim Coyle, a senior director at Real Estate & Mortgage Solutions, new problems have arisen (See next item). Read more

How to Help Boost Your Appraisal

 

According to the National Association of Realtors, a whopping 33% of all contracts were cancelled in January, 2012. This is up from just 9% in January 2011. NAR says one of the primary reasons for these elevated levels of cancellations is due to low appraisals.

Looking to sell your home or do a refi? Then you may need to boost your appraisal.

Here’s how:

Check Comps

While it’s technically the appraiser’s job is to derive a base for your home’s value based on the recent sales prices of homes that are comparable to yours — comparable in terms of location, size, condition, and age (in this order) — you need to do your due diligence as well. Get about 6 comps ahead of time. Start your research on Zillow. Read more

Know Your Expenses Before You Buy

For many, homeownership is still a dream. Moving from renting can seem like it’s an impossible mission.
But if you plan ahead and carefully budget, the goal of homeownership can be yours.

When budgeting how much home you can afford, it’s important to understand and anticipate the costs of owning and maintaining a home. Here are a few things that some first-time buyers forget to include. Read more

Housing Crisis to End in 2012 as Banks Loosen Credit Standards

Capital Economics expects the housing crisis to end this year, according to a report released Tuesday. One of the reasons: loosening credit. Read more

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