Some mortgage questions are more subjective than they appear. Can doesn’t always mean should. Here you’ll need to consider home values, how much you make, what your other monthly liabilities are, what you’ve got in your savings account. And what your down payment will be in order to come up with your loan amount. From […]

Speaking of credit scores, FHA loans have very accommodative credit score requirements. We’re talking scores as low as 580 that require just a 3.5% down payment. That’s pretty flexible. Of course, conventional mortgages can be had with just a 3% down payment, though a 620 credit score is needed. FHA stands for Federal Housing Administration, a government […]

As the name implies, refinancing simply means obtaining new financing for something you already own (or partially own, like real estate). It’s kind of like a balance transfer where you move your existing loan from one lender to another to get better terms, except it’s a mortgage payoff, not a credit card. If you currently have a […]

As the name implies, refinancing simply means obtaining new financing for something you already own (or partially own, like real estate). It’s kind of like a balance transfer where you move your existing loan from one lender to another to get better terms, except it’s a mortgage payoff, not a credit card. If you currently have a […]

If you’re not asking that question, you should be because rates aren’t set in stone unless you specifically ask them to be. By that, I mean locking in the mortgage rate you negotiate or agree upon with the bank/lender so even if rates change from one day to the next, your rate won’t. Otherwise, you’re merely floating your […]

1. What will my mortgage rate be? We’ll begin with what always seems to be everyone’s number one concern, saving money. Similar to any other monthly payments you’re attempting to negotiate, it depends on a lot of factors. But I can at least clear up a few items to give you an idea of how […]

Appraisal: A written estimate used to determine the value of your property based on information on recent sales of similar properties.

PMI is a type of insurance required on conventional loans where the loan amount is greater than 80% of the purchase price or property value. Once a minimum of 20% equity has been established, PMI may be eliminated

You only pay when you use it. When you get a HELOC, you’re not taking a lump sum of cash out of your home. You’re setting it up as a maximum drawable balance, and if you always left the balance at zero, your payment would be zero. This makes a HELOC a flexible tool to have […]