Saving for a down payment is tough. After all, you're likely going to need to bring thousands of dollars with you to the closing table. That goal is made even tougher when you have an irregular income. That said, it's nowhere near impossible to achieve. Even those of us who have an income that [...]
Life insurance doesn’t just give you and your family peace of mind in case tragedy strikes. It can also help you put down roots and buy that dream home, too. Do you already have a life insurance policy in place? Are you thinking of investing in one? Here’s what to know about using it [...]
Myths run rampant in the mortgage industry, and too often, they keep well-qualified buyers from purchasing their dream homes. The 20% down rule? A myth. The W-2 requirement? Another myth. The no foreclosures or bankruptcies thing? That’s a myth, too. The truth is a lot of what you hear about the mortgage process is [...]
Buying a home is probably the single largest purchase you’ll ever make in your life, and unless you are independently wealthy, you’ll need to take out a mortgage to help finance the cost to purchase one. For many, the biggest question then boils down to, “What are my monthly payments going to be?” Unfortunately, the [...]
The need to save for a down payment has become one of the biggest hurdles for today’s home buyers. Faced with rising home prices (meaning a larger down payment is required), plus surging student loan debt, many buyers can barely save at all — let alone enough to buy their dream house. So what do they [...]
As fun as it is to go through home listings and picture ourselves living in the properties, eventually we need to face the question of affordability. While it’s temptingly easy to do mental gymnastics about how we can possibly afford a certain house if we only got a second job, applying for a mortgage and [...]
You've decided to buy a home! Now it's time to save up. Buying a home is the single most expensive purchase most people will ever make. As you're dreaming about your new home, you're likely saving for the down payment. It actually may not be as difficult as you think. There are many programs and [...]
It’s an age-old myth that buyers need to put 20 percent down in order to own a home. In fact, many of today’s most popular lending programs require only a mere 3 to 3.5 percent up front. Some programs even waive down payments altogether. Are you worried you don’t have enough saved up to make [...]
When it comes to buying a home, there’s not just the mortgage rate and listing price to worry about. You also have to cover the home down payment---and if you don’t have much (or any) in savings, this could be the trickiest part of your purchase altogether. Though you certainly don’t need to put 20 percent [...]