Everybody’s heard of the 30-year home mortgage, and probably the 15-year mortgage, too. But did you know that there is a 10-year, fixed-rate mortgage? And for some, it can offer big advantages. Read more here.
Financing
Buying a home can be both exciting and overwhelming for the first-time homebuyer. If you’ve decided to take the plunge into homeownership and have already started the search process, make sure you’re not making some common first-time homebuyer mistakes. Your upcoming investment could end up being a bad decision if you overlook some important facts about homeownership and sign that contract before you’re really ready. Read more here.
To successfully purchase a home today, you will need a down payment of at least 3.5 percent of the purchase price. Gone are the days of no down payment alternatives, down payment assistance and seller-offered programs to come up with the money needed to buy a home. Instead, let’s look at the five ways you can come up with a down payment to seal the deal. Read more here.
The housing market is heating up, yet many house hunters are not prepared to take on the biggest purchases of their lives.
When it comes to mortgages, homebuyers answered basic questions about terms, how to choose a lender and financing wrong nearly one-third of the time, according to an April survey of more than 1,000 current and prospective homeowners by real estate website Zillow. Read more here.
Home appraisals can make or break a sale or refinancing. In particular, low appraisals are a big problem for many would-be buyers and refinancers as home values have started to stabilize and rise in most markets. Click here to read what you can do.
Befor you jump into a 30 year mortgage, check out whether you can afford a shorter term loan – it could save you thousands of dollars in interest of you do. Read more here.
Taxes are due April 15, which means it’s time to start gathering your W2s, 1099s, child care receipts and bank statements. But before you sit down with your accountant, it’s important for you to know that merely owning a home could mean you qualify for tax breaks. In most cases, you need to itemize your taxes in order to take advantage of these deductions. Yes, it makes the tax-filing process seem impenetrable, but the benefits may outweigh the complications.
Here are a few of the tax breaks you’ll want to investigate:
A low appraisal can torpedo a sale or mortgage application. With a strategy and a little effort, make the appraisal work for you. Here’s how.
Rates are LOW but are hard to get: New Rules of Refinancing
Livingston Johnson 