Buying Points When Buying A Home

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Buying Points
Buying Points When Buying a Home

As millennials and other first time home buyers begin their quest of buying a home, they face ever increasing costs of home-ownership. To help combat these increasing costs, lenders may provide some options to consider such as buying points.  A caveat we have to mention (almost by law) – we are not financial advisers or mortgage experts. Any information we provide derives from personal experience and working with families buying a home.  Please obtain counsel from a professional financial adviser to help you determine what option suits you and your family best.

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Home Loans for Students

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Home Loans for Students
Home Loans for Students

So you and your spouse have completed your undergraduate degrees. You both have decided that you will continue your graduate degrees while working. Each of you has an annual income of roughly $50,000. You both have good credit, and you have put aside money for a down-payment for your first home. You both decide to begin your search for home loans for students so you can buy your first home! Happy day!

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New Home Construction – A Client’s Story (Part 2)

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New Home Construction
New Home Construction – Model Exterior

Welcome back! In our last article, we discussed wanting to provide as much information as we could about new home construction. In doing so, we decided that while the information coming from our perspective could certainly help many families, we wanted to make sure we obtained our potential customer’s perspective as well. So we contacted our past client’s, many of whom we now call friends if we did not prior to this shared experience.

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New Home Construction – A Client’s Story (Part 1)

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New Home Construction
New Home Construction – Courtesy of one awesome client and friend

As we truck along in the new year, families have started to file their tax returns.  This leads many to contemplate the option of home ownership using their tax refunds.  A number of factors have gone into the prediction that the housing market may see an extended “sellers market”.  Those looking at buying their first home, or their first home since the Great Recession may feel the effect most. This extended sellers market may lead many families to look at new home construction.   With that in mind, we wanted to share some insight from one of our past clients, and build on that experience with some (hopefully) helpful guidance.

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How A Home Appraisal Kills The Deal

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Home Appraisal Kills Deal
Home Appraisal Kills Deal

For those thinking about getting into home ownership, one issue that many forget to consider until too late includes the home appraisal. Forgive me for my marketing blurb here, this issue also points to a great reason to utilize the assistance of a real estate agent.  This article will talk about a few ways a home appraisal can kill a real estate transaction using a few personal experiences. We will also note some options to help prevent this situation.

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Learn About Your Down Payment Gift

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Down Payment Gift
Down Payment Gift

So, you have contemplated thinking about maybe possibly looking into the option of considering potentially purchasing a house, sorta kinda…. Maybe. Usually in instances such as this, the potential home buyer delays for one major reason – the down payment. We have written a few articles speaking about different options for programs available to many families. One about general programs available, and another about programs specific to Central Florida. However, we wanted to discuss one option that does not originate with your lender or the government – receiving a down payment gift. Some families may not have this option available to them, but for those that do, this article is for you!

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Houses for Rent – Can You Afford Another Year?

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Houses for Rent 2017
Houses for Rent 2017

As a follow up to our article at the beginning of last year here, we want to look at the pros and cons of renting for another year. Some families want to explore home-ownership, others prefer the flexibility of renting, while some have no choice at this time. Our goal – to cover some reasonable expectations looking forward to 2017. If you have considered houses for rent in 2017, this article may provide you some information to weigh in.

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Down Payment Assistance Program

Down Payment Assistance Program
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As an update to a previous article about different down payment assistance programs available to home buyers here, we wanted to share one specific to Central Florida. This particular program is called the “Florida Hardest Hit Fund Down Payment Assistance Program” and may provide up to $15,000 to homebuyers in the Central Florida area.

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Down Payment Assistance Programs

Down Payment Assistance
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“Do I qualify for down payment assistance?”

We hear this question about down payment assistance quite often, and while we would love to provide a straight answer, one does not exist.  So we want to focus on shedding a little light on this extremely common question.  Since the question itself does not have a direct answer, we will point you in the direction of the right questions to ask, and the right people to ask.

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