Home Buying Process

How to Prepare to Buy Your First Home in 2022

In this post, I will cover everything you need to know about buying your first home including how to prepare to buy your first home in 2022. My book - My First Home was a #1 best-seller on Amazon.com and I have personally helped hundreds of First Time Home Buyers prepare to buy their first home. First Step - Choose the Right Loan Officer/Lender The first step of preparing to buy your first home in 2022 is to find the right loan officer and lending company. You should look for a Loan Officer…continue reading →

What are Mortgage Points and How Do They Work?

One of the most expensive and profitable things a person can do in life is to buy a house. There are some strategies that we can make use of to reduce the interest on a mortgage. This is the case with mortgage points. What are Mortgage Points? Mortgage points are a fee that a borrower pays to a lender to reduce the interest rate on the loan. They also be called discount points. For each point the borrower purchases, it costs 1% of the mortgage amount. Or, $1,000 for every $100,000. In short,…continue reading →

What Kind of Mortgage Can I Afford?

Buying a home is one of the most important steps in anyone's life. Determining what kind of mortgage you can afford is a key factor in making a smart decision. Taking care of your and your family's finances should be a priority. That's why in this post we share with you the key elements so you know what type of mortgage you can afford without putting your money at risk. Crunching the Numbers The first step to follow is to know your budget. Take into account all sources of income you have. From…continue reading →

Buying a Home: 3 Things That Will Assist You In The Process

Homeownership is one of the most ambitious things you can achieve in your life. The first time you buy a home is undoubtedly a really big event.  Maybe you are looking to leave an estate to pass on to your children, or you want to have a long-term investment to enjoy when you retire, or maybe you want to acquire a rental property. No matter what your goals are for buying a home, there are a few steps you need to take from the moment you decide to buy a home to the…continue reading →

What You Need to Know About Closing Costs

When you buy a home, you not only have to provide the down payment but, you must also take into consideration the amount you pay the lender for servicing the loan. Many buyers do not take into account all the expenses involved in buying a new home. One of these expenses is closing costs.     What are Closing Costs?  Closing costs are all those expenses that go beyond the cost of the property you are about to purchase. That is to say, they are the expenses paid to the lender for the services…continue reading →

What is Mortgage Insurance? How Does it Work?

Mortgage insurance is essentially financial protection for the lender. If the borrower defaults on payments or cannot make the payments outlined in their contract with the lender, then mortgage insurance can protect them.  How Does it Work?  Mortgage Insurance can function differently depending on the agreement you have in place. Either it functions as a regular premium payment, or a lump-sum payment made when the lender signs the mortgage agreement. Some borrowers do not have a choice and are made to purchase PMI if they have greater than an 80% loan-to-value ratio. However,…continue reading →

3 Things You Need to Know When Buying a Home

The process of buying a home for the first time can be a stressful experience. This decision comes with many responsibilities and often steps that we know little about.   If this is your first time buying a home, you need to know the important details to make the best decisions. Remember this is probably the most significant investment you will ever make in your life, so you must have the best information available to decide.    Buying a house for the first time should be an exciting and enjoyable process. Here are three things…continue reading →

How to Qualify for a Mortgage with an IRS Repayment Plan in 2021

  Whether you filed your completed taxes this April or an extension, you should already know your tax liability for the past year. If, despite your withholding or quarterly payments, you owe more than you can pay all at once, don’t panic. It’s not the end of the world even if you’re planning on applying for a mortgage right now. It’s always been possible to obtain a mortgage while you’re on a repayment plan for past tax liability by getting an FHA mortgage. FHA loans, insured by the Federal Government, require borrowers to…continue reading →

Digital Closing Helpful but Chinks Remain

Remote online notarization (RON) has been on a high since the pandemic hit the town. Digital closings have allowed the housing industry to operate in times of social distancing and lack of in-person contact. However, Kimberly Smathers, Snapdoc’s Head of Information Security and Compliance stated during National Mortgage News Digital Mortgage conference’s panel discussion that the growth in this new design could lead to resource-constrained new products. "Are there enough engineers to create the product?" she asked. "Is there a rigorous security process built into how that product is developed? I think that you…continue reading →

Pandemic Changes Homebuyers’ Preferences

TD Bank surveyed 380 borrowers from the South, 240 from the West, 210 from the Northeast, and 170 from the Midwest. To add, 6% of those surveyed were born in or before 1945. 39% were Millennials, and 27% from the Gen X, and 28% Baby Boomers. The 1000 borrowers, surveyed in June, provided revealing insights into how the pandemic was shifting homebuyers’ preferences. It was interesting that 7% of the respondents were keen to raise their housing expenses while 29% wished to bring down the housing payments. 64% of the respondents were just…continue reading →