What is in buying a house for you? Our basic needs are housing, food and transportation. Notice, housing is number 1. Under housing, we have rentals, owning and other forms of providing housing such as sleeping in your car or the street. The last two have some severe obstacles.

Renting is a great alternative to buying except in our current economy environment. Once you pay your rent, the money is gone, spent! As a general rule, personal privacy falls to the wayside when renting. Your rent will probably not buy as much as your mortgage payments will.  Read more... (268 words, 8 images, estimated 1:04 mins reading time)

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Should you replace it? In today’s times, everything is energy efficient. So let’s take a look at options.

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The first time you fulfill the “American Dream” in buying your first house is a real adventure. Terms like title, title company, escrow, mortgage, fha requirements, inspection all seem pretty foreign. In this case, “learn from experience” is not the best way to go. You can buy smart with a little training.

Your investment is too large to just “learn by experience”. For example, you will have to decide which type mortgage suits your needs the best. Your investment meaning downpayment. If you are considering purchasing a home priced at $100,000, then you would need $10,000 to $20,000 as a downpayment. Would you just hand that kind of money over to someone you didn’t know and have yet to trust? I am sure you would not without considering many things prior to doing it. A “learning curve” would not be the best approach.  Read more... (251 words, 7 images, estimated 1:00 mins reading time)

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What is mortgage escrow?  The amount you must pay each month to cover your property tax liability and property insurance annually.

Not many people are aware that your mortgage lender may allow you to control your own escrow account.  This has certain advantages.

A self-managed escrow account can be located at the financial institution of your choice.  You can shop for the best deal. If it is interest bearing, you will make a little money as the balance increases.  It may not be a lot but “something is better than nothing.”  Read more... (288 words, 7 images, estimated 1:09 mins reading time)

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Your new house is waiting for you.  Waiting for what, you ask?  Waiting for you to make the changes that will give the house character and make it “Your House”.

A house has style and character. The style will be pretty well set and dictated by when the house was built. Some people have remodeled their homes so that the style is almost invisible.  This is a choice every new owner will make.  Older homes generally have a volume of history, not only style history but, also, owner history. If the style is not acceptable to you, you have purchased the wrong house.  In otherwards, go with the flow!  Read more... (202 words, 7 images, estimated 48 secs reading time)

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If I were looking to buy my first house, I would do it NOW!

1. House prices have decreased considerably making a purchase for a buyer a bargain. 

2. Interest rates are low, low and, if the buyer thinks the offered rate is too high, can probably negotiate for a lower rate. This is true particularly if the buyer is looking at foreclosed property and has excellent credit plus a more than ample down payment.

3. Sellers who are looking to unload their expensive properties will be willing to negotiate with the buyer so as to shorten the sellers market time. Currently, inventories are extremely high (in otherwards, existing housing sales are almost standing still).  Read more... (182 words, 7 images, estimated 44 secs reading time)

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There is a lot of free information in respect to buying your first house available on the internet. The problem with the “Free” is that a lot of the information is slanted, someone has their best interests in mind. Where can you get the best information to assist you when you are looking for your first house? Since information providers have profit in mind when they provide information, the best place is from a neutral source which is not involved in real estate at all. This information would only be available from a buyer’s perspective. A person who has previously, but recently, purchased their first home has the experience needed for the prospective first time home buyer.  Read more... (221 words, 7 images, estimated 53 secs reading time)

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Your palace has to fit your family and your budget.  The location of your first house will be contingent on a number of factors.  Do you want to live in the city or town where you now live?  Or do you want to move to someplace “out of town” or even out of state?  Originally, I selected a rural area. That changed after finding my house.  I now live in a quiet area of the city I grew up in.  Read more... (260 words, 7 images, estimated 1:02 mins reading time)

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Where do you go for your downpayment? Retirement funds are one source but only if you are very young, let’s say 20′s to 30′s. From my experience, I personally feel it is a mistake to take retirement funds to make a downpayment. Much better to use an inheritance, save yourself or win a lottery (laugh!). Some borrowers have taken a second mortgage to fund their downpayment. This can really put a lot of stress on your budget. However, if you are serious about owning, you may be willing to struggle for a while. Providing you have a fixed rate mortgage, as your income grows, your monthly mortgage payments become more affordable since they are fixed.  Read more... (216 words, 7 images, estimated 52 secs reading time)

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According to my source, real estate is not moving. My contention is that it is a buyer’s market. This post is particularly targeted at young people paying too much rent.

How much rent do you pay? I will use $700.00/month as an example. In 10 years, you will have paid out $84,000 for rent and when you walk away, you will have nothing. Wouldn’t it be nice to walk away with some money?

The housing market has so much current opportunity. By opportunity, I mean a surplus of available for purchase homes, available money and great interest rates. This is a buyer’s market!  Read more... (216 words, 7 images, estimated 52 secs reading time)

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