First-Time Home Buyers – Know Your Costs

First time home buyers can get educated

Many first time home buyers are faced with the fact that they may not be able to afford a newly constructed home, so they look at resales.
Although many resale homes are immaculately maintained, some resale homes are not maintained properly and need immediate attention.
Whether it is a new roof, new [...]

Amazing Rates?

Crown Financial in Gainesville is offering loans at 4.375% for a 30 year conventional fixed mortgage… if you are looking for a loan you might want to check them out.

Does Paying Points on Your Loan Make Sense?

There are a LOT of choices to make when you shop for a home loan. one of the more complicated ones is whether it is worth it to pay points to “buy down” your loan. All your loan decisions are about paying as little as you can for the loan that fits your needs best. That it the case with paying for discount points too.

Holiday Shopping Could Affect Your Credit Score

If you are buying real estate in the next 6 months and you want to get a loan you should watch this video because you can hurt your credit scores if you aren’t careful.

Toss Your Credit Score a Lifeline!

FICO has a new website where you can get advise about how to improve your scores and how they affect the quality and types of loans you are offered.
The website has a great tool to show you how your APR is affected by your credit scores, how your credit cards offers change, and calculators for loan costs.

Changes to Condo Financing

FHA is now introducing a new program for qualifying condos for FHA loans called DELRAP. This could reduce the hassles condo owners are experiencing when trying to sell by making it easier for buyers to get a loan.

DELRAP stands for Direct Endorsement Lender Review and Approval Process. As of October first DELRAP will be the (primary) way that condominiums will be approved for FHA. It may no longer take months for the FHA to review paperwork on a condo association in order to establish it on the “FHA Approved” list for lending.

Getting a condo loan: FHA Approved Condos

Finding out which condos are on the FHA approved list is important, so you know what kind of financing is available if you are buying or selling a condo.
Approved by FHA
To get approved by the FHA the condo association has to submit paperwork showing that the association is managed by the owners, not the developer, [...]

Facing Foreclosure? Tips to Avoid Getting Scammed

I have been hearing more and more about scams where people or companies take advantage of people’s housing woes.  A sad reality that the scam artists have had time to catch up to the rest of the world, but take heart – we can stay one step ahead of them!
Tips to avoid a scam
A friend [...]

6 Steps: Get Your Finances Ready to Buy a House

A great first step toward buying a house is getting a firm handle on your finances. Understanding what your income and expenses actually are right now will help you decide how much home you can afford, how much you can expect to save for a down payment, and what extra monthly expenses you can [...]

FHA Allows use of $8k Tax Credit

There has been a lot of confusing news about using your $8k tax credit to buy our home. Since the announcement was made by FHA that people will be allowed to apply the money to their purchase we have been waiting for real details of the plan to come out.
The Latest News
From the Florida [...]