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Concrete Cutting: Shedding Light On Your Basement Remodel
Basements or cellars (depending on which part of the country you are from) are primarily seen as dark and dingy parts of a home. In most cases they are considered a useless area or are used as a "catch all" for family discards that haven't...
Home Styles In Real Estate Ads – The Meaning
Whether you’re buying or selling, reading real estate ads can be confusing. Here’s a primer on the styles mentioned in the ads.
Home Styles
What’s the difference between a Tudor and Colonial style? What about a Colonial and Dutch Colonial?...
How To Decide On Upgrades To Make Before You Sell Your Home
Making decisions about improvements to your home is pretty simple if those improvements are meant to improve the quality of life for yourself and your family. You simply invest your money in those things that will mean the most to you. However,...
Real Estate Marketing -- 10 Ways To Improve Your Marketing In 2006
New Year's. A time to reflect on the past while planning for the future.
In the spirit of New Year's, I've put together this guide to help you prepare for a new year of marketing. So without further ado, here are ten ways that you -- as a real...
The Wireless Home
It was only a few years ago that Real Estate agents and Builders were promoting the "Wired" feature as a must have when buying a new home. Wired meant that the home not only had cable running throughout it, but also Cat-5 wire. Cat-5 wire consists...
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First Time Home Buyers – Where To Start?
So you want to buy a home? Statistics show that more and more young single people are buying homes. With mortgage rates at an all time low, more programs to assist first time homebuyers, and lots of homes on the market to choose from; it doesn’t make sense to keep paying rent. So, what should your first move be on the path to becoming a homeowner?
How Much Home Can You Afford? The first step in the home-buying process is to determine how much home you can afford. You do this by contacting your bank, a mortgage lender, or looking online for a pre-approval. A pre-approval is a simple calculation that tells you the amount you'll be able to finance through a loan and what your monthly payment will be.
Why Should You Obtain a Pre-approval? There are three important reasons to obtain a pre-approval.
1. Pre-approval will determine the maximum you can spend on a house before you shop, so you know what price range to target. Many shoppers aim too high, bidding on a home that they later learn is beyond their means because of unforeseen debts or other financial factors, which leads to disappoint in your search for the perfect home.
2. If helps your real estate agent be more efficient. By knowing what your financial parameters are, your agent can spend more time looking for houses that "fit" and less time pursuing dead ends.
3. When it comes time to write an offer, you will strengthen your bargaining position if you have that pre-approval. Your offer will stand out in a case of multiple offers for the same house. Look at it from the seller's perspective. If you had two offers on the table for your house, one from a fully pre-qualified buyer and the other from an "I'll get around to that soon" buyer--to which offer
would you devote the most attention?
It is important to remember that the amount of mortgage you will qualify for is the maximum. It is the amount that the lender feels you can afford, but it is not necessarily the amount that you want to pay. It sometimes is advantageous to be conservative here. Too many buyers simply rush off to the maximum level and some find themselves strapped when it comes time to purchase necessary items (such as draperies, additional furniture, new appliances and lawn and garden tools, for example) or when they forget to factor in increases in monthly expenses (for example utilities, maintenance and repair costs).
A mortgage pre-approval is generally good for 60-90 days, after which the lender may require an update to the credit report and/or other exhibits within your application file. Further, although the lender has issued a credit decision in advance, nearly always it will reconfirm the data that led to the initial decision. If any part of your financial picture changes - be it credit, income, or asset related - it is critical to alert the lender of these changes so that your pre-approval can be reissued and/or adjusted.
About the Author: Joyce Boulan is a retired real estate agent who worked with many first time home buyers. If you are getting ready to purchase your first home or if you think you can't afford to purchase your first home, don't make another move until you have read this important information!
http://tinyurl.com/bpvrn
Source: www.isnare.com
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