We often get questions about prepayment penalties and whether the penalty period will apply if a homeowner sells the home rather than just prepays the mortgage. Q: I just signed a contract on my house with a closing at the end of next month. I also bought a new house with same closing date. I [...]
What can you do if your lender backs out of the mortgage commitment? A lot of buyers might want to sue the lender because it is difficult to close if, at the last minute, you're scrambling to find a new lender. There are advantages to working with recommended lenders (such as in incentives other lenders [...]
In this email we received last week, an abusive mother is fighting with her disabled daughter, threatening to throw her out of the home they both own. The daughter wants to know if she can legally be thrown out of a home when she is on title and has helped maintain it and pay for [...]
When you live in a home owned by a family member, transferring the home title from owner to tenant can be complicated. Just because you've been living in a home for an extended period of time and paying the expenses (as in this case), that doesn't make you the homeowner. Q: How do we get the [...]
Resolving a title conflict between joint homeowners can be difficult and often emotional. This is especially true when one homeowner relies on the other for support. Q: My mother and I are both on the title to our house. The house is paid off. My mother is also abusive and I am disabled. She has [...]
Seller disclosure issues often cause headaches for buyers. In this case, a homeowner (who purchased a home with a sunroom addition three years ago) feels that the seller of the property didn't disclose problems with the addition. The lack of seller disclosure means the homeowner could be facing a huge bill to fix the problem. Q: [...]
There are better and worse states to buy a home, much of which has to do with price. First-time homebuyers have a hard time competing in the real estate market, but looking in the right state can make buying your first home much easier. According to a recent study from Bankrate, first-time homebuyers looking for [...]
My father died and had a mortgage. Can I keep it? This reader wants to know if they can assume an existing mortgage loan after a parent's death. Q: My father and I were joint tenants with right of survivorship on our home. He recently died and I would like to stay in my house. [...]
Should you refinance your home with HARP? Although the housing crisis and Great Recession is nearly 10 years old, we still receive questions from homeowners who don't qualify (or think they don't qualify) for a conventional refinance. While the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) has some specific qualifications, it may still help some borrowers who [...]
How much home can you afford to buy? Not as much as last year, it turns out, as existing home sales fall due to affordability and lack of inventory. The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales declined 3.7 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.48 million units. Economists polled [...]
