Basic Home Loan Terms Explained
The wonderful world of home buying can sometimes overwhelm the first time homebuyer. They are inundated with information riddled with terms of art. ARMS, points, interest rates, good faith estimates, pay-downs, lock-in dates, so on and so forth. Though some or all of these terms may seem ... more...

How Can I Be A Millionaire?
Steve Martin once delivered an opening monologue for Saturday Night Live in which he answered the age-old question “How can I be a millionaire?” His answer was fairly simple and straightforward, “First… get a million dollars.” If at this point you can’t help but ... more...

How to Prequalify a Buyer When You Sell Your Home "By Owner"
One questions many "for sale by owner" sellers ask is "how can I determine if a potential buyer can afford to buy my house?" In the real estate industry this is referred to as "pre-qualifying" a buyer. You might think this is a complex process but in reality it is actually quite simple and only ... more...

Home Loans for Credit Challenged Borrowers
Just because you have negative items on your credit report doesn't mean you can't obtain a home mortgage loan. There are options for you. Bad credit is not the end of the world. It's true that getting a bad credit mortgage loan is not always the easiest or fastest mortgage loan out there, but you ... more...

Home Sellers Warning for Young Families
If you're thinking about selling your home and moving up, do your homework before offering your home for sale. Read the following story to see what can happen to home sellers who don't do their math.A young family sold their home in California, before they determined how to buy their next house. ... more...

WARNING: Many Home Owners May Be Living Above Their Means!
San Ramon, CA -- Federal Reserve Board Chairman, Alan Greenspan, commented best when he stated "Homeowners might have saved tens of thousands of dollars had they held Adjustable-Rate mortgages rather than Fixed rate mortgages during the past decade". If you own a 30year fixed mortgage, the first ... more...

Investment Real Estate Secret: Buy a House Today, With No Money Down
If youve read my article Purchasing Property With No Money Down. . . todays article may seem a bit conflicting. Bear with me, though, and youll see that it is not. In Purchasing Property With No Money Down. . ., I explain how buying up property at inflated values at a break-neck pace is no way to ... more...

VA Loans, A Gift from Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam has a gift for the men and women who serve our country. It is the VA loan. The VA loan, short for Department of Veterans Affairs home loans, is available to veterans, active service members, reservists, and members of the Public Health Service. These loans are so popular, that in the past ... more...

Reduce Your Debt With These 5 Tips
It's never pleasant to realize that you're in financial hot water, but pretending the situation doesn't exist is NEVER the way to deal with the problem. If you're having trouble meeting monthly payments, find yourself borrowing or using credit cards to meet daily expenses, or have one or more of ... more...

What is the PayOption ARM?
Imagine an adjustable rate mortgage that allows you to pick one of four payment options on your monthly mortgage bill. It is an ARM on which the interest rate adjusts monthly and the payment adjusts annually, with borrowers offered options on how large a payment they will make. The options include ... more...

Refinance Benefits - Refinancing Could Save You Money
The most common reason most people refinance is to save money, but many people refinance for various other reasons.1. Refinancing to Lower Your Monthly Payment for an Existing Loan.You can refinance your existing loan at a lower interest rate thus reducing your monthly loan payments. With interest ... more...

Home Loans and Mortgages The Selection Can Be Bewildering
For years, when someone wanted to purchase or refinance a home, the choices were simple. The buyer chose either a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage or a 30 year fixed-rate mortgage. That was it. Of course, those were also the days of twenty percent down payments, which seriously hindered the ability ... more...

Expense List for Buying a Home
There are many expenses that come with buying a home. The following list is a good example of what to expect:Down payment - A minimum of 20% of the homes purchase price is usually required for the best loan terms and to avoid paying private mortgage insurance (see below), but its entirely possible ... more...

Getting Pre-approved For a Loan
For a first time home buyer, you are taking on a monumental task, undoubtedly the largest task you will ever venture upon, financially speaking that is. Unfortunately, most of us dont have huge sums of money sitting around in our bank accounts to go out and pay for a house in cash. We must find a ... more...

Real Estate Margin Calls
Have you ever heard of a real estate margin call? You know about stock market margin calls. Thats when you have bought more stock than you have money and borrowed from your broker to buy extra shares. You bought $10,000 of stock, but only have $5,000 in your account.It is great as long as the ... more...