Buying a home is thrilling. It's also a financial puzzle. One key piece? The home appraisal. It might not get as much attention as your credit score or interest rate. However, there are home appraisal impacts nevertheless, as they can make or break ...
Continue reading Home Appraisal Impacts on Your Mortgage: Tips for Budgeting
How Do I Get Prequalified for a Mortgage?
The difference between being prequalified or preapproved for a home loan can be a critical factor in determining whether or not you'll get the home of your dreams. In short, prequalified homebuyers are far less attractive to sellers than shoppers who ...
Continue reading How Do I Get Prequalified for a Mortgage?
How to Get Preapproved for a Mortgage
The difference between being prequalified or preapproved for a home loan can be a critical factor in determining whether or not you'll get the home of your dreams. In short, preapproved homebuyers are far more attractive to sellers than shoppers who ...
Continue reading How to Get Preapproved for a Mortgage
What Is a Subprime Mortgage?
What is a subprime mortgage? Well ... subprime mortgages are for homebuyers with poor or limited credit histories. Typically, this is anyone with a credit score under 620. They're also often the only type of loan available for people with good credit ...
Continue reading What Is a Subprime Mortgage?
Is Mortgage Interest Tax Deductible?
Is mortgage interest tax deductible? The short answer is "yes!" Homeowners who choose to itemize can deduct interest from their income taxes on as much as $750,000 in mortgage debt and up to the same amount of home equity loan debt on a primary ...
Continue reading Is Mortgage Interest Tax Deductible?
What Is a Mortgage Broker (and Is One Right for You)?
What is a mortgage broker? In short, a mortgage broker is an independent middleman who finds potential customers for mortgage lenders. The mortgage broker's job is to collect all of the loan documents from a prospective borrower; he then reviews and ...
Continue reading What Is a Mortgage Broker (and Is One Right for You)?
How to Get a Mortgage with Bad Credit
Are you searching for how to get a mortgage with bad credit? Well ... finding a mortgage when you have a bad credit score is not impossible. However, it usually requires the borrower to make a few concessions, such as paying a higher interest ...
Continue reading How to Get a Mortgage with Bad Credit
Should I Pay Off My Mortgage Early?
The decision to pay off the mortgage early is always a hotly debated topic. Unfortunately, the question of "should I pay off my mortgage early?" can't be answered easily because everybody's circumstances are different. In fact, there is no right ...
Continue reading Should I Pay Off My Mortgage Early?
How to Refinance a Mortgage In 7 Easy Steps
There is very little difference between getting a mortgage and refinancing it; in fact, the processes are virtually identical. If you've decided that refinancing is right for you, here is a brief overview explaining exactly how to refinance a ...
Continue reading How to Refinance a Mortgage In 7 Easy Steps
How Does the Home Buying Process Work?
Purchasing a house can seem like a daunting task -- especially if you're doing it for the first time. Thankfully, the home buying process can be boiled down to a series of relatively simple steps:
Make sure you're ready.
Deciding to own a home is a ...
Continue reading How Does the Home Buying Process Work?
Mortgage Refinancing Pros and Cons
There are both good and bad reasons why homeowners should - or should not - refinance their mortgage. With that in mind, let's discuss some of the biggest mortgage refinancing pros and cons.
Here are a few of the most common reasons why mortgage ...
Continue reading Mortgage Refinancing Pros and Cons
What Is Mortgage Refinancing and Why Should I Consider It?
When you refinance your mortgage, you typically pay off the existing loan and create a new one. However, if you have a primary and secondary mortgage, you can refinance by consolidating both of them into a new loan too. So what is mortgage ...
Continue reading What Is Mortgage Refinancing and Why Should I Consider It?
What’s the Lowest Mortgage Down Payment I Can Get Away With?
Many people mistakenly believe a 20% down payment is required for conventional home loans. However, the reality is that's only true for homebuyers who want to avoid private mortgage insurance charges. Read on to learn how to find the lowest mortgage ...
Continue reading What’s the Lowest Mortgage Down Payment I Can Get Away With?
Affordability: How to Find Your Maximum House Payment
When it comes to figuring out your maximum house payment, there are two basic methods for determining how much house you can reasonably afford:
Calculate Your Budget Using a Debt-to-Loan Ratio
Mortgage providers generally require your total debt to ...
Continue reading Affordability: How to Find Your Maximum House Payment
How to Get a Free Credit Score
Your credit score is a financial report card that tells lenders how risky it is to do business with you. Credit scores are especially important for homebuyers because a high score indicates that they are more likely to pay back a loan. And that means ...
Continue reading How to Get a Free Credit Score
How Much Can I Afford to Borrow for a New Home?
One of the biggest questions for first-time homeowners is this: How much can I afford to borrow? Although there are exceptions to every rule, mortgage providers generally require your total debt to be no more than 36% of your pre-tax income. Your ...
Continue reading How Much Can I Afford to Borrow for a New Home?
How Big Should a Mortgage Down Payment Be?
Although there are exceptions to every rule, mortgage providers generally require homebuyers to contribute a minimum down payment somewhere between 3.5% and 20% of the home's purchase price. So how big should a mortgage down payment be?
Of course, ...
Continue reading How Big Should a Mortgage Down Payment Be?
What Is a VA Loan?
What is a VA loan? Well ... VA loans are government-backed mortgages that are insured by the Veteran's Administration. VA loans are available from qualified lenders to homebuyers who have served in the US military including:
Soldiers and sailors ...
Continue reading What Is a VA Loan?
What Is an FHA Loan?
An FHA loan is a government-backed mortgage that is insured by the Federal Housing Administration. Although anyone can apply for an FHA loan, they were designed to help people with lower incomes qualify for a mortgage.
Because FHA loans protect ...
Continue reading What Is an FHA Loan?
Should I Get a Fixed-Rate Mortgage or an ARM?
One of the biggest decisions a homebuyer makes when purchasing a home is whether to get an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) or a fixed-rate mortgage. Of course, the big difference between the two types of home loans is the interest rate; unlike a ...
Continue reading Should I Get a Fixed-Rate Mortgage or an ARM?