LEARN THE LINGO| Term | Main definition |
|---|---|
| Debt-to-Income Ratio (DTI) | The maximum percentage of your gross monthly income that can be spent on the mortgage payment and all other debts. |
| Deed | A legal document that formally transfers ownership of property from the seller to you. |
| Down Payment | The amount you pay for your home which is not financed with the mortgage loan (20% or more to avoid PMI) |
With mortgage rates still falling to nearly historic lows, many people are buying homes, driving up demand.If you're satisfied with your current home, but want to take advantage of these incredibly low rates, you can refinance your mortgage. If you want to save even more money, you can buy points. Here's what you need to know.
When it comes time to refinancing, don't let these pitfalls set you back. Watch out for overly aggressive pricing and erroneous DTI evaluations. Is there a forbearance on your current loan? Once those obstacles have been taken care of, refinancing your home should be smooth sailing.
If you are serious about buying a house, getting pre-approved goes a long way to purchasing that dream home. A pre-approved loan tells the seller that you have financing to buy the home. If the seller has multiple offers, a buyer with a pre-approval looks better than a buyer who does not. Why waste time with a buyer who may or may not be approved?
Buying a home is exciting but it’s easy to get swept away so gain the knowledge you need to increase your chances of success!
If you’re a first time home buyer, you’ve probably heard the term closing costs, but you may have no idea what it actually means. For many homebuyers, closing costs is a vague term muddled among dozens of new legal details learned during the process.
When you are buying your first home, financing can be overwhelming. One point of confusion is whether you should get an FHA loan or a conventional loan. Understanding the differences can help you make an educated choice as to which will work best for your budget and situation.
Mortgage can be a very dry and mystified subject. If you have not done a ton of refinances or home purchase in your life, it can be a pretty intimidating process.
One of the best ways to do this is to improve your credit score. Start by pulling up a copy of all three of your credit reports. You can get 1 free credit report per year by going to www.annualcreditreport.com Look over each report and if there are errors, write dispute letters to the bureaus concerning them. Also, pull up your credit score. Here are additional ways to improve your credit score in 2020.
