While the Internet abounds with open house ideas for sellers and realtors, prospective buyers are comparatively overlooked. That’s because they allegedly have it the easiest. It’s a buyers’ market, after all, and, as far as open houses go, all they have to do is show up and … [Read more...]
The 6 Steps to Buying a Home in 2015
Here are all the steps to buying your first home that you need to know about in this allegedly strong market. It’s apparently easier than ever to get a good mortgage, with low rates, but it’s still a sellers’ market out there—so come prepared! Step 1: Know your financial … [Read more...]
3 Tailored Tips for Millennials: Buying Your First Home in 2015
“How to buy your first home” is a loaded question in 2015, as millennials are starting their families, progressing up their respective career ladders, but still find themselves burdened by debt. The good news is that buying a first home is still totally feasible, even under … [Read more...]
How a Mortgage Credit Certificate Can Help First-Time Home Buyers
People who are looking into buying their first home have got their work cut out for them. It’s not easy to save for the down payment, research mortgages with good interest rates, and figure out what closing costs are. On the upside, first-time buyers can benefit from several … [Read more...]
2015 Alternatives for the Federal First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Program
It’s not easy being a 1st time home buyer in these post-recession times; luckily, though, there are several grants, both at state and at federal level available for such buyers. There are also several state-funded tax credit programs for first time buyers. Today, we’re going … [Read more...]
What Is a Good Faith Estimate?
If this is one of your first foray into the complex and often daunting world of applying for a mortgage, you probably have a list of questions lined up, including “what is a Good Faith Estimate?” Also known as a GFE in short, a Good Faith Estimate is essentially a form that … [Read more...]
Saving for a House: The First Time Buyer’s Tips & Tricks Cheat Sheet
Putting money aside in order to purchase a home is a complex issue, which takes several distinct factors into account. For one thing, it directly relates to the size of your household budget, as well as to your ability to save money for the downpayment. There’s no simple and … [Read more...]
Grants for First Time Home Buyers
Grants for FTHB are largely different from first time home buyer loans, mostly because, unlike loans or mortgages, grants for buying homes are non-refundable. Great, so, that means you can just walk into your local federal housing agency and ask for some money, for, say, … [Read more...]
Does Buying a Home Help on Taxes?
Today’s post tackles yet another seemingly straightforward question: does buying a home help on taxes? If you were to believe the hype, which you get plenty of, due to the competitive nature of the home lending industry, the answer would be a resolute ‘yes’. Yet, in reality, … [Read more...]
Are Closing Costs Tax Deductible?
Since tax deductions are an often touted benefit of home purchases for first time buyers, it’s just as reasonable to wonder about closing costs tax deductible perks as it to ask oneself ‘are property taxes deductible?’ The answer is affirmative on both counts, though … [Read more...]