BUILDING WEALTH When I was 24 and a single guy I bought a four-bedroom house in Bloomington. It wasn’t because I needed four bedrooms for myself, it was because I had three other college roommates that were all looking for a place to live. I thought to myself “what an opportunity – I could charge […]
Several options are available for construction financing. The first option is a new first mortgage intended for rehabilitation finance – the programs are called HomeStyle and 203k, are offered by Fannie Mae and FHA, respectively, and allow up to 97% of the as-completed value of your home in total financing. The benefits to these programs […]
Frozen credit should be “unfrozen” before you submit a loan application. This can be done easily by calling the three credit repositories here: Experian: 888-397-3742 Equifax: 888-298-0045 Transunion: 888-909-8872 Equifax also has an online system on their website at www.trustedid.com, as does Transunion at freeze.transunion.com.
What is an escrow account? Wikipedia defines it this way: Escrow generally refers to money held by a third-party on behalf of transacting parties. It is best known in the United States in the context of real estate (specifically in mortgages where the mortgage company establishes an escrow account to pay property tax and insurance […]
Selling your home is a major step in life. The reasons for selling are as varied as real estate itself. The reason(s) for selling generally outweighs the cost, but how does one evaluate all the costs? We immediately think of the tax consequences, the Realtor fees and the price for a new home, but let’s […]
TO REFINANCE OR NOT TO REFINANCE? That is the question, but how to find the right answer? First things first – have your goals together. Mortgage Lenders are great at putting together loan options, but they are often times basing those options on what you tell them. If you are asking for the lowest rate, […]
Mortgage programs are becoming more flexible for different scenarios. Although guidelines are strict and offer little variance from the rules, at least we are starting to see rule changes. Some of these may help you get approved for a loan when you couldn’t before. Others might present obstacles. Let’s take a look at a few […]
These days it seems offers are everywhere online to get an approval and complete a loan. Many of these offers seem great and easy to complete. And in some cases they are. What is important to know is how it works, what the risks are, and how to go about determining which offers are legitimate and […]
Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reintroduced conventional 3% down programs this year. A few key differences to note: Fannie Mae requires at least one of the borrowers to be a first time home buyer. Freddie Mac Home Possible has income limits you can look up by clicking here. The Home Possible program also has […]
