You’re on your way to buying a house, you’ve run a check of your FICO score, got pre-approved for a mortgage, and also deposited some earnest money (usually held in escrow, typically by the company that will conduct the closing). Now is the time for a general inspection of … [Read more...]
Why You Need a Radon Inspection if You Want to Sell Your Home
If you’re looking to buy a home, or to sell the one you own, it’s important to be aware of the existence of a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas called radon. The (very) bad news about radon is that it’s radioactive and causes thousands of lung cancer deaths in the U.S. … [Read more...]
The Short Guide to Buying a Fixer-Upper
You don’t even have to be a fan of old homes. You needn’t even be on the lookout for buying residential real estate. The appeal of fixer upper homes has transcended such limited niches in the past few years. They owe their popularity to runaway reality TV shows like HGTV’s … [Read more...]
The Naked Truth about the Short Sale Process
Is the short sale process really more advantageous for the seller, or is foreclosing the safest route to take? What criteria should a homeowner meet, in order to qualify for a short sale? How do short sales really match up to foreclosures?—and, after all is said and done, … [Read more...]
Is It a Good Idea to Pay Mortgage with Credit Card?
You’ve got a mortgage and a credit card—join the club. That makes you very similar to roughly two thirds of the wage earning American population. Now, if you’re a member of that extended category, you’ve probably already asked yourself a common question: ‘can I pay my … [Read more...]
The 2 Main Options for Selling your House When You Can’t Make Mortgage Payments
It’s unpleasant and potentially dramatic, yet the recession and its aftermath saw quite a lot of it: borrowers failing to meet mortgage payments and being forced into a foreclosure. When a property is foreclosed, the lender takes over ownership of it and the borrower gets … [Read more...]
The Lowdown on CFPB Mortgage Rules and Reforms Applied to Them
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB, in brief), watches over just about all the segments of the US economy, in order to make sure that the consumers’ best interests are protected in all areas related to financial services and involving transactions. The mortgage … [Read more...]
How to Find and Use a Mortgage Payment Calculator
When you’re trying to finally buy a new home for yourself or your whole family, or when you’re simply tight on cash for any reason and you need to place a second mortgage on your home, one of the most common issues is determining a correct rate to expect. The hassles and … [Read more...]
Is Now a Good Time to Refinance Your Student Loan?
A simple question: is now a good time to refinance student loans? The answer is a resolute yes. The student debt crisis in the U.S. is so serious that even Congress took note of it and tried to make amends by passing a relevant bill. Best known as REFI (Refinancing Education … [Read more...]
What to Expect from First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Programs in 2015
If you’re interested in first time home buyer tax credit, 2015 is definitely an interesting year to be experiencing. That’s because this year, the bulk of first-time home buyer programs will be state and locally funded. This year’s 1st time home buyer should know better than … [Read more...]