If you’re relocating to a new city and are unable to travel for showings, you may need to consider buying a home without first seeing it in person. Online images provided by real estate agents can sometimes hide crucial details, so this is a base where caveat emptor, or “buyer beware,” applies. As with any [...]
When buying or selling a home, you may find that you are sharing more sensitive personal information than at any other time in your life. Aside from Social Security numbers and addresses, which are key pieces of information that an identity thief needs, you’re also handing out detailed financial statements, work history, tax information, a [...]
You’ve may have read that you should prepay your mortgage early to save on your total interest payments. But if you have refinanced or purchased a home recently, you may be one of the millions of homeowners whose mortgage is at historic or near-historic low interest rates. Odds are possible that rates won’t be this [...]
For some potential homeowners, renting a home for a time before buying is an attractive option. It allows time to save money or otherwise get financially prepared before buying a home, and it also offers a way to get to know the property before committing to it. Regardless of your situation, a rent-to-own model could [...]
Following the housing bubble burst in 2007, when home values fell by 60 percent or more in some areas, approximately 23 percent of homeowners owed more on their mortgages than their houses were worth by the end of the third quarter of 2009. The lack of equity froze these homeowners in place for years, leaving [...]
Being a first-time homebuyer also means being a first-time buyer of homeowner’s insurance. Just like every other part of the home-buying process, this decision requires research, comparison shopping, and careful consideration. Your homeowner’s insurance provides broad coverage for damage to your house (unless specifically excluded in your policy), as well as coverage for personal liability [...]
Getting turned down for a mortgage can be disappointing and leave a person wondering what to do next. And while it may feel like an isolated, personal experience, it’s actually more common than you might think. According to the Federal Reserve, in 2013, approximately 14.5 percent of applications for home mortgages were denied, down from [...]
Homeownership might feel out of reach, but you may be interested to learn that you can still find properties for around $100,000 across the country. Nationally, home prices have risen 4.9 percent year-over-year, according to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. While home values are predicted to continue to rise in the months ahead—albeit more [...]
