Buying Your First Home
Buying your first home can be exciting but there is a lot to know. Buying a home will depend on real estate laws and customs where you are located but there are basic steps that every first homebuyer needs to accomplish.Step 1- Your FinancesEstablishing credit is very important especially when you ... more...

Homeowner Loans - What's Available?
It isnt difficult to get a homeowner loan if you own your own home, hundreds of UK lenders will lend up to 95% Loan to Value of your property and some as much as 125% Loan to Value if you find you have little or no equity at all.Homeowner loans are available to those that own or pay a mortgage on ... more...

Real Estate Terms From Appraisals to Comps
When youre selling your home or other real property on your own, you dont have to know everything about the process. It does help to have a practical knowledge of the terms that come up during the process.Keep in mind, these arent intended as be all, end all, penultimate definitions. Theyre ... more...

What is a Federal Tax Lien?
A Federal Tax Lien (FTL) is a legal instrument that secures the claim of the United States in the right, title, and interest of a debtor taxpayer's assets. It is a public document and is recorded at the County Clerk's office or the Secretary of State, depending on local law. This is done to serve ... more...

What is the Difference Between Unsecured and Secured Debt?
A secured debt is a debt in which the creditor maintains a security interest in an item or piece of personal property such as a house or an automobile. With secured debts, if you fall behind on payments, the lender can repossess the property that originally secured the debt. An additional drawback ... more...

Taxation of Forgiven Debt: The 1099C & You
Often people fall on hard times and stop paying on credit cards. After a while the account may go to an outside debt collector who might offer a settlement of the debt for 30-40% of theoriginal sum. Once this is paid, the debtor often thinks the matter is closed, but it is not! It is very likely ... more...

Title Insurance Examples of Problems and Advice
What is title insurance and why should any buyer get it when purchasing a home (single family, townhouse, condo, apartment, or whatever format your home purchase takes)? Doesnt the attorney or settlement company handling the closing see to it that you have a clear title? Isnt this just another ... more...

Bankruptcy - Your Fresh Start
Most American consumers are living too close to the edge. They are carrying too much credit card and mortgage debt and have too little in the way of savings. When the inevitable unexpected crisis comes along, they have little left to handle it and quickly slip into a critical financial state ... more...

Home Equity Loans in Texas
A few notes of importance: This only applies to a homestead property, that is the customers primary residence LTV refers to Loan to Value, meaning the loan amount as compared to the value of the home. As an example, a loan of $75,000 on a home valued at $100,000 would be a loan at 75% LTV. These ... more...

Escrow Accounts Are You Paying Too Much?
Money in escrow is "dead money". It doesnt earn interest for you and it doesnt reduce your mortgage interest payments. Therefore every cent in your escrow account is costing you money. Make sure there is no more tied up in escrow than there needs to be!Here is a brief summary of what lenders can ... more...

How to Finance and Build Your Dream Home
If you have always dreamed of building and living in the home youve helped design, its time to seriously consider putting your dream into action. In todays mortgage market, a specially designed loan for just such a homeowner, the construction to perm loan, includes the construction loan to ... more...