housing

Financial & Investment Tips

Reverse Mortgage FAQs

As more and more people are choosing reverse mortgages, there are several questions which come up.  While many of these questions will be specific to your case, there are others which apply to almost every reverse mortgage application out there.  With that in mind, here are the more important reverse mortgage faqs you should ask. Reverse Mortgage Faqs 1) What a Reverse Mortgage? Reverse mortgages are loans for seniors which allow them to tap into the equity they have built up in their homes.  Unlike traditional mortgages or home equity lines, the borrower does not need to make a monthly payment.  Instead, all they need to do is to pay the property taxes, insurance, and utility costs for the home. Another condition of a reverse mortgage is

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Financial & Investment Tips

10 Tips for First-Time Home Buyers

In the summer of 2007, my wife and I purchased our first home. As a first-time home buyer, I knew we needed to spend a considerable amount of time researching our purchase. So that’s exactly what we did – we read as much as we could, educated ourselves on the local real estate market, and explored every aspect of the home buying process. But even then, we still made a few rookie mistakes. Of course, it’s easy to see that now – after the fact. You know how the saying goes: “Hindsight is 20/20.” Although we are still happy with our purchase overall, there are definitely a few things I wish we would have done differently. Valuable Lessons for First-Time Home Buyers But you live

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New Jobs, Extra Income & Making Money

Why Real Estate Is the Perfect Side Gig

Despite the doom and gloom that always seems to swirl around the real estate market, the fact remains that people are always going to want to buy, sell, and lease property. And while it seems like it should be a straightforward exercise — Party A has a home to sell, Party B wants to buy it — as anyone who has ever been involved in the sale or purchase of real estate can attest, the process of transferring ownership of real estate is actually far more complex. And for those who understand the intricacies of real estate and enjoy attending to all of the necessary details, it can be a lucrative enterprise. The average real estate agent earns about $53,000 per year, but according to some experts,

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New Jobs, Extra Income & Making Money

Mortgage Regulation Helps Lenders Learn from the Past

The mortgage industry has undergone a unique series of changes over the last decade. New regulations, for example, have been set in place following a serious default crisis, which brought lending to its knees. Risky practices, it seems, came around on the industry, creating a domino effect that has taken years to reverse. And while high levels of oversight are designed to protect borrowers, the changing landscape of mortgage lending actually hinders buyers, at times. As the mortgage industry continues to evolve, home buyers and remortgagers must adapt to new conditions. What worked a decade ago may not be an option any longer. Conventional wisdom about the best mortgage approach has changed, so if you are in the market for funding, your expectations may also require adjustment.

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