Mortgage Basics: How to get a loan

November 13th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

by Marc Roman

If this is your first house or your tenth, it’s always best to be prepared to get a mortgage. This guide attempts to instruct you on the proper steps needed to get a mortgage quickly and painlessly.

Everything is driven off of credit score these days. So, if you know where you stand with your credit you are better prepared to get your mortgage successfully. You can contact the credit bureaus directly by letter to ask for a free copy of your credit report. This is a new law designed to help consumers, and is a great help.

The free credit report should give you the information you need to assess where you stand. You should pay the most attention to any negative items, and remove them if at all possible before you apply for your mortgage.

It’s often possible to pay off judgments before you apply for a mortgage, and if it at all possible you should pay off as many of your negative items as possible. Also make sure you are current on all of your credit obligations. Lenders really frown on foreclosures, late payments, judgments, and bankruptcy is the big loan killer.

Now hold on to that credit file, and make copies if you can. Take your credit file with you when you interview any lenders. The mortgage officer should be able to give you an idea of what to expect in your mortgage just by looking at your credit report, and not pulling a new report. The problem is that you can actually bring your credit score down just by having too many lenders pull your credit score while you are shopping for a loan.

It’s also a good idea to compile all of your documentation that you can. If you can get together your last two years tax returns, and last two months of pay stubs and banking statements. You’re that much more ahead of the game.

With the tons of different choices in lenders it’s sometimes hard to make a decision who to work with. There are mortgage brokers, national banks, local banks, and credit unions. Each bring a different angle to the business. By talking to each one, you’ll have an idea of what they specialize in.

When you talk to a prospective lender you want to make sure that you connect personally with the lender’s representative. That’s the first step. And of course you want to make sure you’re not paying too much. You’ll need to get a Good Faith Estimate or GFE, which will give you a general idea of how much your new loan is going to cost you.

Price is only one part of the equation. But if you’ve done your homework you should be prepared to pick a lender who will be able to work with you to get your mortgage done as quickly and painlessly as possible.

About the Author:

Tags: ,


Do Home Improvements Make Good Tax Deductions?

November 7th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

by Linden Walhard

Homeowners often wonder if the cost of the improvements that they make on their homes can be deducted from their taxes. It is a good question, and a hard one to answer. The rules about home improvement deductions always seem to be changing, so it is not wise to spend a lot of money on remodeling with the expectation that you will be able to deduct that money from your taxes. You should spend money on improving your house because it is a wide investment for when it comes time to sell you house. Hopefully you will get that money back in your home?s final value. However, even this can sometimes be a gamble. At the very least, it will be a long time before you see a return on your remodeling investment because most people live in their homes for at least a few years before they turn around and sell them. There are a few cases in which you can expect legally to deduct the money you spent on home repair and improvements from your taxes. One instance is when you need to do the remodeling due to an injury or medical problem. Many people who suddenly find themselves in wheelchairs need to widen their hallways and doorways to accommodate their new transportation. If you get very sick and need a nurse to live with you full time, you could deduct the money it would cost you to add an extra bedroom onto your house as a caretaker?s quarters. Perhaps if you have an ill child and need a full time nanny, this deduction would also work. However no one wishes for illness, just for a tax break when it comes time to do remodeling. Tax deductions are nice, but not at the cost of one?s personal health.

Another way you might be able to deduct home improvement costs from what you owe in taxes is if you spend money improving your home for business purposes. For example, if you run an online auction business from your home, and need extra storage space, you could probably deduct the cost of building additional storage room onto your house when tax time rolls around. If you run a two-employee business from you garage, perhaps you can deduct the cost of adding a bathroom or a buying a new cnc router table. But again, do not spend this home improvement money blindly. It always pays to check with the tax authorities to make sure that they will deduct the costs that you expect. You can hire a tax specialist to discuss your options.

In conclusion, when you spend money on home improvements and remodeling, do not expect a return on your money in April when taxes are due. Instead, remodel your home because your lifestyle demands it, and you will probably see a return on your investment when it comes time to sell your house. Real estate is rarely a bad investment, and the same goes for home improvements, as long as you make changes that most buyers would like.

About the Author:

Tags: , ,


Home Loan Mortgage Rate Refinancing

November 4th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

by Andrew R. Huges

Let’s face it, home loan mortgage rate refinancing is a complicated subject and unless you are the bankers, chances are that you will only know the general part of this topic. Certainly not enough for you to optimise your financial consideration.

Fortunately, there are many mortgage refinancing companies that you can contact in order to understand everything and making sure that you opt for the best offer available on the market.

Buying a home is a happy thing. But the process of the purchase can be very daunting. The danger of not knowing which refinancing options and mortgage rates to choose can be bad for the buyer’s pocket.

On the other hand, the basis of home loan mortgage rate refinancing stands in two types of mortgage rates. We have fixed mortgage rates and adjustable mortgage rates.

You must consider the types of mortgage loan options if you are dealing with mortgages or home refinancing.

Fixed mortgage rates is the simpler one as the monthly payment is based on fixed interest with the principal remaining the same on the entire period of the loan.

This imply that the monthly payment is constant throughout your loan period. The borrower will be able to plan their budget easily with this type of home loan as there is no need to deal with the mortgage rates flutuation.

The main benefit of home loan mortgage that are pegged to fixed mortgage rates is that the monthly payment will always remain the same, not matter if the mortgage rate goes up.

About the Author: