Monday, February 28, 2011

First Time Home Buyer

Being a first time homebuyer can be a scary yet exciting time for a family. Along with the freedom and pleasure of owning your own home come many responsibilities. You will now have to pay property taxes, homeowners insurance, maintain the upkeep you your lawn, landscaping and exterior of your house, be prepared for inside home maintenance and take care of old worn out appliances in your home. When you furnace goes in the middle of winter there will be no landlord to call to come over immediately and have it fixed or replaced. However the rewards of owning your own home tremendously overshadow these minor responsibilities. Being a homeowner allows you to have the freedom you have always desired to have with YOUR OWN HOME. This home will belong to you and is yours to do with as you please. No more rules from parents or family members, no more landlord restrictions, no more neighbors that live above you and below you as in the apartment you just moved out of and no more having to be quiet as a mouse so that you will not disturb your neighbors through the paper thin walls in your apartment building. You make your own rules now. Being a homeowner gives you tax advantages during income tax time, it provides you with an investment of your money, and it provides you with a place to grow memories for yourself and your family. A good mortgage professional can help you understand what to expect during your first years of homeownership and will walk you through step by step of the mortgage process so that you understand what is going on throughout the processing of your home loan application. Find a mortgage professional that comes highly recommended from a family member or friend, or make sure you find someone you can TRUST when you are looking to buy your first home. This will truly make a big difference.
There are many programs for purchasing a new home with no money down. Perfect credit is not required and in most cases closing cost up to 6% of the loan amount can be financed into the loan.
Not only can you acquire 100% purchase which entails no down payment money, but a good real estate professional can also get the seller to pay closing cost. Which means no money out of pocket at all.
Find a good loan professional in your area to give you an overview of the process and also get pre-approved so that you know what price of home you can purchase.
Using a real estate broker is a very good idea. All the details involved in home buying, particularly the financial ones, can be mind-boggling. A good real estate professional can guide you through the entire process and make the experience much easier. A real estate broker will be well-acquainted with all the important things you'll want to know about a neighborhood you may be considering...the quality of schools, the number of children in the area, the safety of the neighborhood, traffic volume, and more.
VA entitlements are an excellent way for certain borrowers to get into their first home with little to no money down, and a great helping hand from the government.

We will be posting information from Local Lenders to help with What type of Mortgage do you qualify for and what programs are available...also we will have informatin about the closing process as well.  Hopefully you will find the information helpful and if I can help you with your Real Estate Needs Please let me know.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Mortgage rates are at rock bottom and won't stay there forever...

The national average on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 4.36 percent in Aug 2010 – lower
than it’s been in the past half century.
percent, representing a difference of $90 in the monthly payment on a $200,000 home with 10
percent down, as well as a savings of $32,460 over the life of the loan.

Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s
chief economist, notes that
the current market is highly
favorable for home buyers.
“Interest rates are at historic
lows. It’s hard to imagine rates
going any lower than they are
now. House prices have come
down considerably, and if your
credit is good, there’s lots of
money available.”
Interest rates for the same time last year averaged 5.19

Monday, February 7, 2011

Homes have never been more affordable...

For individual home buyers, there are only a few facts that really matter:
Can I afford this home?
Is it a good investment?
So it’s a bit surprising that the most important housing
statistic has gone largely unreported:
been more affordable
median mortgage payment on the current medianpriced
home ($182,400) as a percentage of the median
household income ($64,400), is lower than it’s been in
a generation. The chart below, which tracks housing
affordability for the past 10 years, shows incredible
improvements in affordability since the height of the
real estate boom in 2006.
Does it meet my family’s needs?homes have never. Affordability, measured by the
1.
Median mortgage payment as a percentage of median household income
“Home buyers over the past
year got a great deal, and
buyers for the balance of this
year have an edge over sellers.
Affordability could reach a
generational high in the second
half of this year because of
rock-bottom mortgage interest
rates, helped partly by the Fed’s
very accommodative monetary
policy.”
-Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist
The National Association of REALTORS®