Buying Your Home
Starting
- How Can I Determine My Housing Needs Before I Begin The Search?
- How Do I Begin The Process Of Buying A Home?
- How Do I Know If Im Ready To Buy A Home?
- How Do Lenders Decide The Maximum Loan Amount That Buyers Can Afford?
- How Does Purchasing A Home Compare With Renting?
- Do I Need A Lawyer To Buy A Home?
- Why Use a REALTOR®?
Finding
- What Should I Look For When Deciding On A Community?
- How Can I Find Out About Schools and Community Resources?
- What Should I Look For When Walking Through A Home?
- How Can I Keep Track Of All The Homes I See?
- What Questions Should I Ask When Looking At Homes?
- Is An Older Home A Better Value Than A New One?
- What Should I Do If Im Feeling Excluded From Certain Neighborhoods?
- How Can I Find Information On The Property Tax Liability?
- What Other Issues Should I Consider Before I Buy My Home?
Selecting
- How Do I Determine The Initial Offer?
- How Do I Make An Offer?
- What Is Earnest Money, And How Much Should I Set Aside?
- What Is An Inspection Clause?
- What Does A Home Inspector Do?
- Do I Need To Be There For The Inspection?
- Do I Really Need Homeowners Insurance?
- What Steps Could I Take To Lower My Homeowners Insurance Costs?
- Are Power Lines A Health Hazard?
- How Can I Protect My Family From Lead In The Home?
- What About A Home Located In A Flood Plain?
- What Are Home Warranties, And Should I Consider Them?
- What Should I Look For In The Final Walkthrough?
New Homes
- What Are Builders Incentives?
- What Is A Decorating Allowance?
- Is A Builders’ Preferred Lender The Best Choice?
- What Is The Punch List?
- What Is A Construction Perm Loan?
- What Is A Rate Lock?
- Production vs Custom Builders – What’s The Difference?
- Should I Have An Agent Or New-Home Cobroker For A New-Home Purchase?
- Should I Have A Attorney Review A New-Home Purchase Contract?
- How Can I Compare Builders?
Mortgages
- What Is A Mortgage?
- What Is A Qualified Mortgage?
- What Is Loan To Value (LTV) And How Does It Affect The Size Of My Loan?
- How Large A Down Payment Do I Need?
- What Does Ability To Repay Mean?
- Are There Special Mortgages For First-Time Homebuyers?
- What Types Of Mortgage Loans Are Available?
- When Do Adjustable Rate Mortgages Make Sense?
- How Does The Interest Rate Factor In Securing A Mortgage Loan?
- What Happens If Interest Rates Decrease And I Have A Fixed Rate Loan?
- What Are The Advantages Of 15- And 30-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgages?
- What Factors Affect Mortgage Payments?
- What Is Included In A Monthly Mortgage Payment?
- What Are Discount Points?
- What Is Mortgage Insurance?
- What Is PMI?
- What Is Prime
- What Is Equity
- Can I Pay Off My Loan Ahead Of Schedule?
- What Should I Do If I Fall Behind On A Conventional Loan?
Financing
- What Steps Need To Be Taken To Secure A Loan?
- What Is The Debt-To-Income Ratio (DTI)?
- How Are Pre-Qualifying And Pre-Approval Different?
- Are Any Lenders Exempt From Ability-To-Repay Rules?
- What Responsibilities Do I Have During The Lending Process?
- What Happens After I’ve Applied For My Loan?
- How Do I Choose The Right Lender For Me?
- How Do I Choose The Best Loan Program For Me?
- What Is The Best Way To Compare Loan Terms Between Lenders?
- What Are The Cost or Fees For Loan Origination?
- What Is A Good Faith Estimate?
- What Is RESPA?
- What’s An Appraisal?
- Can I Remove PMI From My Loan?
Credit
- What Is A Credit Bureau Score And How Do Lenders Use Them?
- How Can I Find Out Information About My Credit History?
- How Can I Improve My Credit Score?
- What If I Find A Mistake In My Credit History?
Title and Closing
- What Is An Escrow Account? Do I Need One?
- Closing Costs Explained Visually
- Title Insurance Explained Visually
- What Are Real Estate Commissions
- What Happens On Closing Day?
- What Do I Get At Closing?
- What Makes Up Closing Costs?
Federal Programs
- How Can The FHA Assist Me In Buying A Home?
- What Are The Steps In FHA Loans?
- How Does My Credit History Impact FHA Qualification?
- What Is The Debt-To-Income Ratio For FHA Loans?
- Are FHA Loans Assumable?
- How Can I Receive A Discount On The FHA Mortgage Insurance Premium?
- What Is The FHA Loan Limit?
- What Qualifies As Income For FHA?
- What Should I Do If I Fall Behind On An FHA Loan?
- What Are Closing Costs For FHA Loans?
- What are 203(b) and 203(k) FHA Loans?
- What Is HUD?
- How Does HUD Help Homebuyers?
VA Loans
- What Are VA Home Loans?
- What Are The Major Types Of VA Loans?
- What Is A Certificate of Eligibility?
- Who Is Exempt From The VA Funding Fee?
- What Are Joint VA Loans?
- Does My Military Discharge Affect VA Loan Eligibility?
- Can I Use My VA Eligibility More Than Once?
- Can I Buy A Rental Property With A VA Loan?
- Can I Buy A Farm With a VA Loan?
- How Does Divorce Affect VA Loan Re-Eligibility?
Selling Your Home
Sales Process
- How Can I Improve My Homes Value?
- How Do I Make A Home Ready To Sell?
- How Should I Prepare For Internet Showing?
- How Should I Prepare The Inside For An Open House?
- How Should I Prepare The Outside For An Open House?
- How Do I Evaluate An Offer?
- What Is A Counter-Offer?
- What Does The Closing Meeting Involve For The Seller?
- What Does The Closing Process Involve When I Sell?
- For Sale By Owner?