Buying a House

Part of the blame for the real estate crash has been placed on consumers looking to get more “bang for their buck” by using creative mortgage financing methods to afford bigger houses. While there is plenty of blame to go around for the financial crisis of 2008, the fact of the matter is that before [...]

Buying a HUD home is a great opportunity for those who may not otherwise have the chance to become homeowners. Today’s market is full of HUD homes, and the HUD home-buying process is tailor-made for first-time home buyers and buyers without a large down payment. However, buying a HUD home is very different process from [...]

In a real estate market plagued with foreclosures, tight lending restrictions, stalled mortgage applications and houses sitting on the market for months, it can feel like the system is rigged against the average American who just wants to own a home. Good news, the Federal Housing Agency (FHA) and the Department of Housing and Urban [...]

If you’re thinking about buying a house and you haven’t applied for a mortgage since 2006, you’re in for an unpleasant surprise. The lax standards of the real estate boom era—like “no doc” loans, approved without supporting documentation, and “stated income” mortgages, where no proof of income was required—are history. If you want a mortgage [...]

With spring just around the corner, millions of families will be surfing the real estate sites, looking for their dream home. They’ll educate themselves about local price trends, and they’ll review their financial situation to try to answer one question: “Is this the year to be buying a home?” However, they may be asking the [...]