One thing all home-buyers have in common is the desire to get the lowest possible interest rate on their mortgage, which is why many mortgage shoppers call dozens of lending institutions asking, “what is your rate?” The fundamental problem with this approach is that the rates given in response to this question often have nothing […]
Review of Yahoo! Finance Article “Alternatives to putting down 20%”
We wanted to post a couple of comments and corrections on an article that recently appeared in the finance section of Yahoo!. Our first small issue arises when the author claims that Mortgage Insurance (MI) can be cancelled at any moment once a borrower reaches 80% loan-to-value. Usually FHA-insured loans can never be canceled, and […]
Owning Two Homes
Here are some additional thoughts on a topic addressed by an article that recently appeared in US News. What are the specific steps you can take to make sure you do not get stuck owning 2 homes? To eliminate confusion, let’s first define a couple of terms. Buyers are the people who are buying your […]
Will Going to College Stop You From Getting a Home?
It is an indisputable fact that prices are constantly rising. Whether it be the price of gas, buying a home, having a baby, or getting an education, everything is constantly getting more and more expensive. Though we all feel the strain of constantly rising price tag, a much more unsettling situation is presenting itself. Loans […]
Shopping for a Mortgage Rate
We all want to find the lowest rate while shopping for a mortgage but the problem is, very often we look for the lowest quoted number not understanding the futility of this approach. This is a simplified example of what we’re discussing but lets see what you think of the following conversation: -Excuse me, is […]
A Roadmap for the First Time Home Buyer
This article is meant to give a first time buyer information on very specific steps on how to initiate the process of purchasing a home. There are a few people you will need in order to successfully purchase a home. They will help guide you on your journey towards home ownership and make sure you […]
ARMS (Adjustable Rate Mortgages)
With everything that happened with the economy in the past several years people are staying away from ARMs because of the perceived risk. In a recent article titled “Don’t take out a fixed-rate mortgage” that appeared in the Wall Street Journal the author makes a point that for a very large percent of cases the expense of […]
First Time Home Buyer Credit Score Information
While many prospective homebuyers would like to believe that they know all there is about their credit score, more than 15 years in the mortgage business has shown me otherwise. On the contrary, MOST knowledge the common buyer has regarding how to properly raise their credit score is incorrect. Therefore, the first thing I would […]