We help people buy houses so they can create a home. Here we share more than mortgage finance tips (although we do that too). We aim to help you make your house a home through DIY projects, pet care, hosting tips, yard maintenance, and much more!
Realtor.com, Zillow, Redfin, Trulia. These are all sites that allow you to enter search criteria and look through home listings in your area. You may find yourself asking, “with so many out there why would we consider adding another?” I could see why you might question the need for this but what if I told you, this site pays you for using it?
This seems like a tricky question, doesn’t it? And no, we aren’t working some sort of shady mortgage angle. There is a loan product that allows the borrower (person getting the mortgage) to qualify as an owner/occupant without actually living in the property. While this product has been out there for many years, it is often forgotten about.
Relationships are tricky. All of them. But the relationship of landlord and tenant can particularly be a tough one to navigate. A landlord is concerned for their property, their investment, and rightly so. However, at the same time, this property is where the tenant calls home and they spend hard earned money to be there. So, when issues arise between a landlord and tenant, there can be a lot of emotion tied to what is essentially a business relationship.
While it’s true that there isn’t a “first time home buyer” mortgage out there, there are mortgages that have less strict credit score requirements and a lower minimum down payment, making them great options for a first-time buyer.
I was recently asked the question, “how does one go about cancelling their mortgage when they sell their home?” It got me thinking this is probably a question that many people have and just haven’t asked it. Being immersed in the mortgage industry over the last couple of years, I’ve come a long way in understanding how it all works to get people into homes. But most people are only around this information when they are buying their home which, for most, happens only a handful of times in one’s life.
Resolve to Become a Homeowner As we approach the end of the year and move into the next, most people take this opportunity to do more than just swap out their cat meme calendar for one featuring the bird of the month. Many are looking back over what happened this past year and setting goals for themselves for 2019. If you are considering becoming a homeowner anytime soon, why not take steps to make that goal a reality? There are some things to consider and steps to take to be a confident first-time home buyer, lets look at a few:
Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) lowers the risk to the lender, should you default on your mortgage payments. Please note that PMI does not benefit you, the borrower, but instead protects the lender with whom you are getting the mortgage. PMI is often required with loans that carry a lower down payment. In fact, because of this, it is quite common for people, particularly first-time home owners, to have to pay for PMI.
Shelter, it’s one of our necessities. We all learned that in elementary school, right? Air, water, food, and shelter; our basic needs as humans but we are far from the days of living in caves or chopping down trees to build our own home. Today, we have an option to build (using a licensed contractor), buy, or rent our home/ shelter. If you are considering entering a lease agreement there are a few items that you will want to do before you sign a lease.
If you are thinking about buying a home in Ohio, you are in the right place. I recently had a conversation with our Market Manager in Ohio and he made the statement, “so few people know about the special programs for home buyers, if they did, it might make the prospect of homeownership less daunting.” That’s exactly what I’m striking out to do, share with you just a few of the programs that are available to you as a future homeowner in Ohio!
Did you know that 68% of US households have a pet? However, only 55% of landlords, according to Avail, allow pets. This can drastically decrease the number of rentals available to pet owners. Think about it, you are searching for a rental property and in the search criteria, you indicate you have a pet. This cuts your search options in half, then you find out many of those are unavailable because other renters with pets are desperate for a rental property as well.