Buying a House

Closing cost credit can be reduced by a closing agent depending on the amount the lender allows. Understand what counts as a closing cost. Q:   It is a second home for us and was considered an investment property although the truth is we bought the condo for our son. At the closing table we [...]

It’s been nearly a decade since inventories of homes for sale were so low. Typically, inventories are seasonal, rising in the spring when the home-buying season begins and declining through the fall months as real estate markets quiet down over the holidays. This has not been true in recent memory, however. Inventories have fallen during the spring [...]

Ups and downs continue to dominate the housing market. According to recent data from the United States Census Bureau, the average sales price of new single-family homes sold in 2011 was $267,900—a significant decrease from average prices of $272,900 in 2010, $270,900 in 2009, and $292,600 in 2008. Yet even though many people are pinching pennies [...]

Part of the blame for the real estate crash has been placed on consumers looking to get more “bang for their buck” by using creative mortgage financing methods to afford bigger houses. While there is plenty of blame to go around for the financial crisis of 2008, the fact of the matter is that before [...]

Buying a HUD home is a great opportunity for those who may not otherwise have the chance to become homeowners. Today’s market is full of HUD homes, and the HUD home-buying process is tailor-made for first-time home buyers and buyers without a large down payment. However, buying a HUD home is very different process from [...]

In a real estate market plagued with foreclosures, tight lending restrictions, stalled mortgage applications and houses sitting on the market for months, it can feel like the system is rigged against the average American who just wants to own a home. Good news, the Federal Housing Agency (FHA) and the Department of Housing and Urban [...]

If you’re thinking about buying a house and you haven’t applied for a mortgage since 2006, you’re in for an unpleasant surprise. The lax standards of the real estate boom era—like “no doc” loans, approved without supporting documentation, and “stated income” mortgages, where no proof of income was required—are history. If you want a mortgage [...]