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MORTGAGES & CREDIT


A Friend, A Home, A Mortgage

There comes a time over the course of any renter’s time in a particular piece of real estate where it seems that the payments are providing a great stream of income for a landlord but little for you. Indeed, as incomes begin to creep up and the ability to handle at least a portion of a mortgage becomes a possibility, more and more renters are beginning to feel that way and enlist a friend to make their home ownership dreams happen...


Find The Lowest Rate

So you’ve got your new home picked out and you’re ready to embark upon the long process of securing a home loan and ultimately taking ownership of your dream home. Armed with that excitement, you take to the Internet in hopes of uncovering a hidden interest rate nugget, that low rate that other people have overlooked and that you have found through persistence and effort...


Prepayment Penalties Erode Your Worth

When a home buyer gets involved with buying a home, thoughts usually tend to center on staying in that home for a lengthy period of time, building both a family and equity. However, as we all know, your life can change in an instant and you never know when the next great job offer or life change will be presented, prompting you to leave town and seek a new beginning...


Seller Financing the Safe Way

Before getting too far into some of the ways to protect yourself when pursuing seller financing as a way to get a higher price for your home and a nice return on some investment money, let me make it clear that a real estate lawyer or accountant should be consulted at all times when pursuing something like seller financing...


Release Your Equity: Home Owner Loans

Home owner loans attract all types of consumers with all types of reasons to free up some of the equity they have built up in their home for other uses. Perhaps you’re looking at taking at that once-in-a-lifetime European vacation or just need the cash to pay off the rest of a credit card or other debt...


The Financing Road Less Traveled

Over time, the availability of credit in the United States has grown and more and more people nowadays are able to take out lines of credit with little or no effort. There are certainly some ramifications to that, but one of the positive results of the country’s credit explosion has been the proliferation of financing options for prospective home buyers that stray from the traditional 80 percent financed, 20 percent down framework...


The Lease Option Option

The world of real estate investing is filled with mechanisms investors use to get into properties and turn a profit. As a new real estate investor, that avalanche of information can often seem insurmountable. Financing options alone on a real estate investment could take days to fully understand...


Stay Out Of Financing Trouble

After graduating from college and entering the workforce, the attention for many recent graduates turns to saving money and planning for that very first home. Certainly, planning for a first new home is an exciting prospect, but it can be a daunting one as well. Workings towards a home right out of college should actually involve staying out of financial trouble before ever thinking about a down payment or interest rate...


Bad Credit Isn’t A Death Sentence

Many potential new home buyers have been discouraged from purchasing real estate by the perception that those with bad credit have no ability to do so. While it can be difficult to purchase a home with a bad credit rating, it is certainly not impossible. What is true is that it higher fees and interest rates are the price potential home buyers pay for a less-than-stellar credit rating...


Are Foreclosures Worth The Risk?

Many home buyers and real estate investors have been prompted by steadily increasing interest rates to be more aggressive in their hunt for bargain homes. Competition for the best-priced and most attractive homes has only increased in most real estate markets and because of that intensity, foreclosures are drawing more and more interest from prospective home buyers and investors...


The Validity Of Non-Traditional Mortgages

As interest rates have begun to creep back up after such a long period of low interest rates and the tantalizing mortgages that correspond to any kind of low interest period, interest has increased in mortgages touting low down payments or low monthly payments. These mortgages often have wrinkles to them that work creatively to appear attractive to prospective home buyers and have spawned continued growth in many real estate markets around the country...


Securing The Right Title Insurance

Title insurance has become an accepted part of most real estate transactions, giving lenders some security in regards to claims against a particular property that they may be insuring. Title insurance companies offer that security and your realtor may have a favorite entity that she or he tries to steer you towards during your real estate transaction...


Pump Up Your Credit Score

Though the exact breakdowns of what credit score garners what interest rate vary from lender to lender, all will tell you that credit score does indeed play a role in the kind of financing you can receive. If you are interested in buying a home and taking out a mortgage to do so, your credit score must be something you spend some time thinking about and possibly investigating in order to make it better. The difference between two interest rate brackets can mean thousands of dollars of savings, so just how do you go about raising that score...


The Pitfalls Of Predatory Lending

Predatory lending is a term used to capture a whole slew of techniques used by lenders to ensure the most beneficial terms for the financing institution at the expense of borrowers. While there may be a preconceived notion of these practices affecting particular subsections of the population, predatory lending is something for everyone to watch out for when buying or selling at home...


Is Refinancing A Smart Idea?

With the various fluctuations in interest rates over the past few years, you have no doubt thought about whether or not refinancing your home is a good idea. Countless consumers have done so in the face of favorable interest rates over the past few years, but does that mean that it is always a good idea when interest rates dip? There are some key questions you need to ask yourself when contemplating a refinancing move for your piece of real estate...


Are Bridge Loans Coming Back?

Bridge loans have been a bit of a dirty word in real estate circles amid what has been an excellent real estate decade. However, if the slow down that has taken hold in other parts of the country should make its way to your town, discussion about the viability of bridge loans will no doubt increase...


The Non-Mortgage Mortgage Calculator

There are a variety of mortgage calculators widely available on the Internet and through other sources that can tell a consumer everything from the type of house that can be purchased or the size of payments that can be expected. However, these mortgage calculators do not have to strictly come into play when a home is the large purchase being wrapped into a mortgage...


The Right Mortgage Insurance For You

Taking out a mortgage can be an expensive prospect. Over the course of your payment schedule, you will be tasked with paying back both the principal loan amount and the interest on top of that. Add to that the fact that you are designed to do so for 30 years, typically, and the cost adds up to a sum you’d probably not want to think about...


When Your Finances Get Stretched Too Thin

Foreclosure is a four letter word for most home owners. As times get tighter and finances get stretched thinner and thinner, the high price tag of a mortgage payment can quickly seem like an untenable cost that is only dragging down you or your family. In that instance, while foreclosure may have a slew of negative connotations, it should be one of the options looked at, no matter how painful...


Pre-Qualified vs. Pre-Approved

It is becoming more and more common amongst potential home buyers to pursue the most efficient route possible to a brand new home. Instead of going through the process of scouting out a neighborhood or collecting flyers, intelligent buyers are instead making a lender their first stop...


The Fortifying Financial Nature of Home Ownership

Home ownership can be one of the most meaningful aspects of any person’s life. With a house and plot of land to call home, a family can feel secure, safe and comfortable. After a long day at work, a man or woman can relax in the solitude and quietness of their very own home...


Three Loans, Three Separate Reasons

Securing a loan off of the backing of your home’s equity is one way to get money for whatever you need it for. However, using a home’s equity is only one way to land a loan and should you decide that you need a loan for any reason, it is a good idea to be well read in the various types of loans available and the requirements to land each one...


Credit Care For Real Estate Buyers and Sellers

In modern America it is agreed that home buying is always a better idea than renting. If everyone understands that, why are so many people still renting or stuck renting? That is answerable in one word. Credit...