When it comes to figuring our whether you have enough money to buy a home, the down payment is normally the biggest stumbling block. Some buyers mistakenly think they have to have 20% down and this is true, if you want to avoid the Private Mortgage Insurance or PMI fee on your monthly payment, since most conventional loan lenders require it. You can still purchase a home for less than 20% down and many homes are purchased with as little as 3% to 5% down under FHA and VA loan programs. Even conventional loans can be found for as little as 5% down, based on your credit, but this isn’t as commonplace as in the past, since lenders are getting tougher on equity requirements. Part of the reason for the first time home-buyer tax credit is to help with these requirements because it is available for 10% of the down payment, up to $8,000, if you write a contract before April, 2010 and close by June, 2010, which makes now the best time to purchase. The larger your down payment, the better...

Investing in the real estate market is an incredibly popular and at the moment potentially risky endeavor in the United States. It is often a very positive and profitable investment however and many people who are in the right market areas are quite frequently able to make a good deal of money. It is important to absolutely account for all expenses and make sure that you can manage the entire project from purchase to resale in a timeframe that will also maximize your profits. To that end, recognizing from the beginning of the process exactly what work must be done, how much time it should realistically take, as well as what they will cost will allow you to make a much better starting budget. Beginning with a realistic budget will allow you to determine a more realistic profit projection, which will obviously help you decide if this is the right investment for you to make. First, it is easy and sometimes a lot of fun to look through many on line services on the Internet that list pr...

Do you know your home's worth? Well, you should. This important bit of information is essential, especially if you are planning to sell your home anytime in the near future. You will be the first one to put a tag price on your home. That would be quite difficult if you have no idea whatsoever on your property's value. Why Know Your Home's Value? A good selling price has so much to do with how soon you will be able to get your home off the real estate market . When we say 'good', we mean just right. An appropriate tag price that will give homebuyers an impression that you are not asking too much or too little is required. Certainly, you will not be able to do that if you yourself do not know the right value of your home. Understanding your Home's Worth There are so many wrong impressions regarding a home's value. First, your home's value is what it is worth when you acquired it. That's unless you just bought the property two weeks ago and you are s...

Not every troubled mortgage makes for a good Short Sale opportunity. There are things Investors must look for with regards to the homeowner, the house and the Lender to determine if a Short Sale is appropriate. Here are a few key factors. The Home Owner: Is the homeowner cooperative? It is much easier to get a homeowner who is eager to sell and willing to do anything to get out of a bad situation to actually fill out the Short Sale paperwork. Watch out for homeowners who are full of pent up rage or are depressed. They might damage the property on their way out the door. They must have a legitimate hardship. Most people don't stop paying the mortgage unless there is a genuine emergency. Job loss, divorce, health issues, market changes, and diminished retirement income are common hardships that Lenders accept. The homeowner must have exhausted every other option before deciding on a Short Sale in order for the Lender to seriously consider their case. The House: There is a balan...

The Sarasota real estate market remained hot in November 2009 with overall sales nearly 86 percent higher than November 2008. Total sales stood at 578 in November, mirroring last month’s total of 574 and much higher than the 311 sales reported in November 2008. The breakdown was 417 single family homes and 161 condos sold last month. The fall has proven to be a busy one for many local Realtors®, and the trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Pending sales stood at 793 in November, just below last month’s total of 839, and far higher than last November, when only 504 pendings were reported. The statistic is a strong indicator for the next two or three months of sales, as pending sales are an indicator of current buyer activity. Some experts had predicted pending sales might slow because of the uncertainty over the extension of the first-time homebuyer’s tax credit. But that fear has proven unfounded in the Sarasota market. The tax credit was extended and expanded to include many othe...

There's an old adage that says, "If you keep doing the same thing, you'll keep getting the same results.If you would like to make some small changes that can produce big results in your life, try any (or all) of the six strategies below. 1. Since the people around us are a "mirror" of who we are, surround yourself with people who are happy, well adjusted, and whose lives you admire. Make your decision not upon their physical possessions, but on what they have "on the inside" that is of value. Surrounding yourself with miserable, unhappy, complaining people only makes your life miserable as well. 2. Create more space in your life by eliminating at least one small thing each day that drains your energy. For example, sew on that missing button, throw out the old magazines you've been meaning to read, clean your closet, etc. Remember, before something better can come into your life, you have to create the space for it. Or putting it a little differently...

Evaluating the value of a piece of property is necessary for several reasons. It’s always nice to know where you stand with a piece of property. If you are considering purchasing a piece of property, you want to know that it is worth what you’re paying for it. If you own a piece of property, you might want to know how much you should sell it for. There are many reasons that could warrant you evaluating the value of a piece of property. When you need to value a property, there are three main methods for doing so: the cost approach, comparable approach, and income approach. All three methods can get you to the same value in some cases. Some properties are evaluated better with one method over the other. Here is a look at the three different methods and how they work. The cost approach is the most detailed of the three. With this method, you actually start from scratch and figure out how much it would cost to build the property again. You will go through the property and come up with a c...

With so many different and various types of mortgages exist, knowing how to choose the right one can be oftentimes challenging. To be able to understand the various options, we have provided a brief breakdown. Keep in mind that the country has been in a mess regarding mortgage lenders giving out money to people that could not afford to buy so be sure you are in a financial position to succeed as a homeowner. The first type of mortgage is a Fixed Rate Mortgage , which also referred to as an FRM, designed so the interest rate would never change throughout the life of the loan. The benefit is that every month, the amount of the mortgage payment would be consistent, making it much easier to create a monthly budget. Next is the Adjustable Rate Mortgage , or ARM, which differs from an FRM in that the approved interest rate would fluctuate depending on movement of the current market. Typically, mortgage lenders prefer to offer ARMs in that some of the risk would be eliminated. For instance...

It’s about to get more expensive to take out—and a bit harder to qualify for—a loan insured by the Federal Housing Administration . Faced with rising losses and falling reserves, the FHA is preparing a series of tweaks to its underwriting guidelines and increase in fees in order to stave off a taxpayer bailout of the traditionally self-funded agency, Shaun Donovan, the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, told Congress in testimony Wednesday afternoon. Among the changes under consideration: Raising the annual insurance premiums that borrowers must pay. This is the easiest place to start, but it would raise borrowing costs for home buyers. The FHA charges an upfront insurance premium of 1.75% of the total cost of the mortgage which most borrowers can roll into their loan, and then they pay additional annual premiums of either 0.5% or 0.55%, depending on their down payment. Setting a credit score floor for borrowers. The agency hasn’t decided what that minimum might be, b...

Most likely, buying a piece of real estate is going to be one of your biggest investment in your life. You will certainly want to have a team of professionals working with you throughout the buying process. After all, you wouldn’t want to cut your own hair or hire the cheapest doctor when you really need the best… Let’s see who needs to be on the bus. The Real Estate Agent Your Realtor will play the most important role in helping you to find the right home. His job is to be the quarterback in the game. Some of the main parts of his responsibilities are: •Discover what’s important to you. I.e.: price, location, size, upgrades, etc. •Help you to find the right home. •Draft up an offer that is favorable to you. •Negotiate on your behalf to get the best price and terms for you. •Provided you with important information about the community that may be imperative to your decision making. •Supervise the home inspection and to save you time where ever he can. Be sure to ask plenty of questions...