It’s easy to fall in love with the idea of buying a home. You’ve got it all planned out: a five-bedroom home in your favorite neighborhood with a manicured lawn and—why not?—a nice pool. Realtor.com has kicked off their 2016 Buyer's Guide, to show you the next step to prep your finances, save for [...]
You’ve gotta hand it to Sean Cooper: In a mere three years, this Toronto homeowner made epic sacrifices to pay off a $255,000 mortgage on his $425,000 house. His reason: “For a lot of people, their mortgage is like a life sentence,” the 30-year-old explained to the press. “I just wanted to not have a mortgage hanging over [...]
There’s a land of jobs and money where the weather is fine, the air is crisp and the views are well above average. It’s Denver, CO, and its recent discovery by millennials and retirees is starting to show in its housing prices. “Before everybody started moving here, 686 square feet would only be like $700 [...]
You? Buy a home? If that prospect sounds as unlikely as your becoming the next U.S. president—well, this campaign season has shown us that anything can happen. Sure, amassing the funds and slogging through the necessary paperwork for your own piece of the real estate pie can be daunting, especially if you’re a less-than-stellar loan [...]
Studies have shown that many of the obstacles to homeownership are perceived, not real. A recent study by Fannie Mae, What Do Consumers Know About The Mortgage Qualification Criteria?, revealed that many consumers are either unsure or misinformed regarding the minimum requirements necessary to obtain a mortgage. Let’s break down three such challenges. [...]
You can make 2016 the year of the down payment. Really. By cutting a few things from your budget this year, you can speed up your progress toward having a down payment by the time those holiday decorations come back out of the closet. You probably knew these were splurges eating up your discretionary [...]
If you’re shopping for a home, odds are you should be shopping for a home loan as well—and these days, it’s by no means a one-mortgage-fits-all model. Where you live, how long you plan to stay put, and other variables can make certain home loans better suited to your circumstances, and choosing wisely could [...]
Is it really 2016 already? For those of you who happen to be planning on buying a home in the new year—or even just trying to—there’s a whole lot to celebrate. Why? A variety of financial vectors have dovetailed to make this the perfect storm for home buyers to get out there and make an (winning) [...]
