Home Financing
Prepay Your Mortgage and Own Your Home Sooner
Tweet A mortgage means that someone else has a stake in your home with you holding the remaining stake. You’re only a partial homeowner until that mortgage is paid off,
What You Need to Know About Zero Down Payment Loans
Tweet Prior to the Great Recession zero down payment home loans or mortgages were available, what helped many consumers attain homeownership, people who would might otherwise have been shut out
Renovation Loan? Fix Your Credit Score First.
Tweet That three-digit score is used by lenders to help determine whether you’ll qualify for a renovation loan and for what terms, namely at what interest rate. A low credit
Consumer Satisfaction With Mortgage Lenders Continues to Rise
Tweet A recently released J.D. Power 2013 U.S. Primary Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study reveals that first-time homeowners are increasingly satisfied with their experience. JD Power scored lenders based on a
Home Renovation Mortgage Considerations
Tweet HomePath Financing Qualifications To qualify for HomePath financing, you must shop for Fannie Mae-owned properties. If you qualify you’ll be entitled to a low down payment, avoid mortgage insurance,
How to Get Ready to Jump Back in to the Real Estate Market
Tweet Whether you plan to buy or sell a home, the following advice can help you to get ready. Review Your Credit If you plan to buy a home, your
How to Get Out of Home Refinancing Debt
Your home improvement project was a spectacular success, enabling you to complete your update with time and money to spare. Your modified home is a delight, promising to give you years of satisfaction.
Cautions About Taking a Reverse Mortgage
When it comes to reverse mortgages, reading the contract’s fine print is important.
Why Getting a Second Mortgage is More Difficult
You have owned your home for several years and have seen it appreciate in value. After five or more years of mortgage payments, you’ve also seen your mortgage pay off amount drop.
What is a Mortgage Hardship Program?
If you are finding it difficult to make your mortgage payments, you may qualify for a mortgage hardship program from your lender.
How to Shop for a Mortgage
The mortgage market is more complex than it was before the last recession hit, making it more difficult for consumers to obtain financing.
What Are My Mortgage Options?
If you are in the market for a home, your mortgage options go beyond the traditional 30-year mortgage. Fixed rate, variable interest rate and balloon mortgages are available today, with each one offering advantages and disadvantages that consumers should be aware of.
How to Refinance Your Home
Homeowners enticed by historically low interest rates are considering refinancing their homes. This may be an option for you as well, especially if you took out a mortgage several years ago and are paying an interest rate that is at least one point higher than your current rate.
What You Need to Know About a Home Equity Line of Credit
A home equity line of credit or HELOC is a popular borrowing option for homeowners, but is handled differently than a home equity loan or HEL. With a HEL, you receive your money up front.
Refinancing Considerations for Homeowners
With mortgage rates still flirting with historic lows, refinancing now can help you avoid higher rates later on when inflation inevitably becomes a factor. Interest rates have been held artificially low thanks to fed action, but few analysts believe that they’ll stay this low for years, perhaps for just months to come.
Will Mortgage Providers Ease Lending Standards?
The U.S. housing market is certainly not stellar, but it apparently has put its very worst years behind it. The S&P/Case-Shiller home index rose by 2.2 percent in May, with all 20 of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas posting average housing price gains over April.
Should You Buy Off Campus Housing?
Forget the costly home improvement project: you still have one or more children to put through college, an expense that will drain you of your available capital. A desired home renovation project can wait, with those plans perhaps shelved until after your youngest graduates from college.
A Second Mortgage and Your Home
A second mortgage is debt that along with your first mortgage must be paid back to satisfy the lien on your home.
Low Appraisals and Your Home’s Refi
Refinancing a home can yield tremendous savings for some homeowners, but getting it refinanced means having it appraised properly.
Is it Time for a Fresh Look at Adjustable Rate Mortgages?
Say “adjustable rate mortgage” to many consumers and you’ll hear a variety or responses, with not a few being quite negative. That’s because ARMs are associated with sub-prime lending, which was quite common and have been routinely blamed for our current mortgage crisis.
