There are numerous benefits to being self-employed, but being your own boss can sometimes make it more difficult for you to secure a mortgage. Lenders tend to see the self-employed as a larger risk because their income levels can be highly variable from year to year. Here are several important variables to consider for those…
Many of our customers ask us, “what do you look at to determine if I qualify for a mortgage?”. Well, we actually look at three things. 1) Your credit history – have you built sufficient credit and developed a habit of paying on-time every month. 2) Your income – do you have sufficient monthly income…
If an open house is the equivalent of a test drive when shopping for a home, then a home inspection is like taking a look under the hood. Once you’ve found a home you’d like to purchase, you will need to sit down at the negotiating table. In your agreement with the sellers, one of…
Saving for a down payment can be one of the biggest barriers to home ownership, and with lenders tightening credit over the past few years, a substantial down payment is even more crucial to securing a home loan. However, that’s not to say you cannot secure financing without a large upfront investment. Many mortgage lenders…
This will be a great year for first-time homebuyers. With so many houses on the market, and mortgage rates so low, buyers can find great deals. Here are a couple of tips for those looking to buy their first house: 1) Talk with a loan officer from a local mortgage company (such as Keystone Mortgage)…
I read a statistic the other day that nearly 75 percent of consumers research products and services online before making a purchase. That got me thinking about researching mortgages online. It’s a great way to “shop smart,” but I recommend you keep a couple things in mind as you go cyber sleuthing for a loan.…
Debt—nearly all of us have it, and we all want to get rid of it. The problem is lots of people don’t know they are paying too much for their debt when they could easily pay less. Here are a few tips that will help you not only pay less on what you owe, but…
Over the past few years, I’m sure you’ve heard about how mortgage rates are at historic lows, and truth is, they are. This chart, from the Federal Reserve Bank in St. Louis, clearly shows that the rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is the lowest (or at least near the lowest) it has been in…
It’s no secret that the current housing climate is beneficial to buyers. It’s been difficult over the past few years to not hear about how mortgage rates are historically low, while home prices have fallen significantly. However, another wrinkle in the housing market which hasn’t been getting quite as much ink is the increasing cost…
Our lives are controlled by our debts. What we owe controls how much of our hard-earned money we actually get to keep, limits our purchasing power, and can hinder us when we want to make large purchases by determining both the amount we can borrow and how much we have to pay to take out…