5 Tips to Create a Safe and Happy Home for your Pet! Buying a house can be stressful enough but the real challenge comes when you actually move in. Giving your house that warm and inviting feel is most likely number one on your list, but what about making a happy home for your pet? I’ll be sharing my five best tips and tricks on how to keep your pet happy, comfortable and safe so you can focus on the important stuff
Expiring Soon: Down Payment Assistance in Christian County, Kentucky If you found out that you could receive $10,000 towards your down payment and closing costs would it be a game changer? For many first-time home buyers in Christian County, KY –271, to be exact—it was. These individuals and families were able to realize their goal of home ownership with the help of Kentucky Housing Corporation’s (KHC) down payment assistance program, Hardest Hit Funds (HHF-DAP). This program has been available since 2016 but is set to expire at the end of this year. If you are considering buying a home or know someone who is, now is the time to make the call and see how you can take advantage of this wonderful arrangement from KHC, just like Zirconia and Jon did—continue reading for their stories.
For Sale by Owner Wasn’t Worth the Hassel: A True Story In the world of social media, online marketplaces, and instant communication, we have become so accustomed to selling our own things to consumers. Speaking as someone who regularly sells their gently used clothes at a reasonable price *wink*, it is easy to adopt an attitude of “give me a platform that performs well, and I can sell anything!” But is this true for selling your own house? My co-worker, Bill thought so but quickly had his mind changed.
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.