Mortgage Affordability

Buying a home can be overwhelming, especially for first-time buyers. That’s where we come in. We’ve broken down the process into five straightforward steps, including resources to help you complete each one.  As the adage goes, “How do you climb Mt. Everest? One step at a time.” 1. Organize Your Finances Your first order of...

Saving enough money to buy a house is a challenge. But there’s strength in numbers, and if you’ve found yourself wondering if you can buy a house with a friend, you certainly aren’t alone. The short answer is yes, you can buy a house with a friend. In fact, more and more Americans are doing...

Fewer than 10% of new U.S. home purchases are paid for in cash. The vast majority of Americans pay for their homes through a mortgage. This means that in addition to the overall cost of the home, you’ll also need to consider how much you can afford in a monthly mortgage payment. Your income is...

With the rising cost of homeownership, it can seem impossible to save enough money for a down payment. Luckily, there are a few programs that provide legitimate down payment assistance.  With the overall goal of making mortgages more affordable, Freddie Mac’s BorrowSmart℠ program offers credit toward qualifying home purchases for very low- to low-income home...

Buying a home is expensive – period. And while borrowers with lower incomes will likely find the home buying process far more challenging – they aren’t necessarily locked out of the housing market.  Lower-income borrowers can take advantage of private mortgage loans and public home buyer programs to help purchase a home.  It’s all about...

There’s a transition most young adults must face at some point in their lives: moving out of their parents’ home. And while you may end up back there for a stretch – if you fall on hard times or for another reason – it’s still generally not a great long-term arrangement. You may be wondering...

Maybe circumstances beyond your control have made it hard to meet all your financial obligations. Maybe you’ve defaulted on your mortgage payments and because of an underwater mortgage, you can’t sell your home or secure a standard refinance. If you’re in this situation, you may feel like your options for avoiding foreclosure are severely limited....

Buying a home is often the most significant purchase you’ll make and one of the tenets of the American Dream. Though some people might assume that a disability can make it difficult or impossible to get a home loan, individuals with disabilities have plenty of options for getting a mortgage.  Even if your sole source...

When a deal is signed in real estate, it usually means everything has been agreed to and completed. That’s the rule – but every rule has its exception. In the case of closing on a home, the exception is a dry closing. A dry closing happens when the seller and buyer agree to complete a...

If tapping into your home’s equity is in your future, so is a whole lot of paperwork. And whether you’re taking out a home equity loan or a home equity line of credit (HELOC) (both are types of second mortgages or junior liens), you may be presented with a subordination agreement to sign at closing....

For most first-time home buyers, coming up with the money for a down payment is a major hurdle to homeownership. Sometimes you need to get creative while you’re trying to figure out how to cobble together enough cash for a down payment that’s 10% or 20% of a home’s purchase price.  There are lots of...

You’ve probably seen advertisements promoting 0% APR (annual percentage rate) credit cards or adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) with interest rates well below the going rates. These are two examples of teaser rates.  A teaser rate, or introductory rate, is a temporarily low interest rate on loans or credit cards that companies use to market their products....