Ready to buy your forever home? Looking to score a cheaper mortgage deal? Have you simply grown out of your current home? ? You’ll be looking to find a mortgage lender and get the best rate you qualify for. Get moving with our recommended lender with Rocket Mortgage to make this process fast and simple.
Financing Your First Home
The employment scene looks much different today than it did a few years ago. Between ongoing pandemic-related disruptions, the Great Resignation and the rise of gig work, more people than ever are wondering if they can get a mortgage or refinance their home loan without a full-time job. Yes, getting a mortgage or refinancing your
During your home buying process, you might have heard the term cash to close. While cash to close might evoke images of showing up to closing with a duffle bag full of cash, that idea can be misleading since virtually no one uses paper money for cash to close. Though your down payment and mortgage
Buying a home is often the most significant purchase you’ll make and one of the tenets of the American Dream. Though some people might assume that a disability can make it difficult or impossible to get a home loan, individuals with disabilities have plenty of options for getting a mortgage. Even if your sole source
Like snowflakes, no two home buyers are alike. And there are different types of mortgage loans to accommodate different types of buyers and home refinances. But every mortgage option has its benefits and drawbacks. That’s why it’s important to find the best home loan for your unique situation. To begin our journey through mortgage options,
Buying a home is a big decision. It may be the most expensive purchase you’ll ever make. Because the stakes are so high, you should learn as much as you can about the home buying process before you take the proverbial plunge. One way to do that is by taking a first-time home buyers class.
When it comes to investing, it seems like there are endless options available today. Among the most popular investment options are real estate, stocks and bonds. And to keep things interesting, within each of these investment categories, you’ll find a variety of investment options to consider. We’re going to focus on one investment category: bonds.
When a deal is signed in real estate, it usually means everything has been agreed to and completed. That’s the rule – but every rule has its exception. In the case of closing on a home, the exception is a dry closing. A dry closing happens when the seller and buyer agree to complete a
If you’re not familiar with Regulation Z, the name might sound ominous (images of a plotting Dr. Evil or Filch tacking magical decrees to the wall), but it’s one of the most successful consumer protection laws in the U.S. Regulation Z, also referred to as the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), established a series of
If you’re shopping for a home loan, you’re probably familiar with the concept of mortgage rates. You probably also know that even a small change to that number can change the amount you pay in interest over the life of a loan by tens of thousands of dollars. But you may not have heard of
Real estate transactions are often chock full of complex terms, complex jargon and complex concepts. Even a question as simple as whether you or not you own your home after closing can result in a not-so-simple answer. (Hint: It depends on which state you live in.) The answer to the question of ownership may rest
If you’re like most people, you may not fully understand the purpose of an impound account. In short, an “impound account,” also known as an “escrow account,” is a way for your lender to ensure your property taxes and homeowners insurance are paid on time. The lender is responsible for managing the account, but it’s
If you’re wondering how the government and other people will know your house is actually yours, then you’ll want to understand how deeds work. There are several types of deeds, but the ones you’ll want to seek out are known as warranty deeds because they can help protect you and your rights as a homeowner.
You’ve probably seen advertisements promoting 0% APR (annual percentage rate) credit cards or adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) with interest rates well below the going rates. These are two examples of teaser rates. A teaser rate (or introductory rate) is a low, temporary credit card or loan interest rate companies use to market their financial products to
The internet has given us countless innovations over the last several years. And these days, you can buy just about anything online, including your next home. With an eMortgage (also known as an electronic mortgage), borrowers can potentially move through the entire home buying process, including closing, without ever getting off their couch. Given the
Mortgage delinquency is a term used to describe the state of a mortgage when the borrower falls behind on their payments. This can happen for a variety of reasons, and it can lead to plenty of consequences and stress. Left unaddressed, mortgage delinquency can lead to foreclosure proceedings. If you’ve begun to fall behind on
Buying a home is more than a major life milestone. It’s a major financial investment. And with so much at stake, it’s important to work with real estate professionals, including mortgage lenders, that can offer accurate information and help you make smart decisions. Our guide will help you recognize the different types of mortgage lenders
When you think of theft, you probably think of someone stealing your wallet, your phone or maybe even your car. The idea of home theft may never have occurred to you – after all, how could anyone walk away with your home in their back pocket? Home theft can happen, though. It happens when a
You know you’re ready to become a homeowner. But when you apply for a conventional loan with a bank, credit union or online lender, you’re getting turned down. Maybe it’s because you’re a first-time buyer and your credit score isn’t high enough or you haven’t built up enough of a credit history. Or maybe you’ve
To thank veterans for their service, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) helps to guarantee VA home loans made by lenders like banks, credit unions and online lenders. When you start shopping for a home with a VA loan, you may find several lenders in your area that offer VA loans. If the program seems
After years of paying rent, wrangling roommates and asking your landlord permission to do anything besides put up temporary wallpaper in your apartment, it’s finally time to buy your own home. Unless you plan to pay for the home with cash, you’ll need to get approved for a mortgage. Before you check out any real
Once you start considering buying a home, the obvious next step is researching and creating a plan. And you quickly find one phrase that seems to proliferate in your search results like a financial-jargon bacteria: interest rate. Interest rates are one of the most important aspects of the mortgage process. They can have a huge
You got your finances in order to help you buy your dream home, and you organized a tall stack of paperwork to get a mortgage preapproval. You did everything right. But with home prices on the rise, you might discover that the price tag on your dream home is higher than the amount you’ve been
You cleaned up your credit history, saved a large down payment and applied for a mortgage. Now your lender has given you that coveted preapproval letter, and you’re ready to shop the real estate market. That’s great news! But home buyers must be aware that it’s possible to have a mortgage application denied even if
Understanding the difference between title insurance and title endorsement is part of buying a home. And whether you’re ready to buy your first home or you’ve done the whole home buying thing before, you’ll need to either learn or refresh your memory of the title insurance and endorsement lingo used by real estate professionals. Humblebrag:
Going to college and buying a home are both important milestones, but student loan debt might make them feel like conflicting goals. Luckily, you can pursue both higher education and homeownership by understanding how loan debt might affect your mortgage. Read on to learn how student loans factor into getting a mortgage and get some
Sometimes everything happens at once. Let’s say you’re a passionate entrepreneur with a small business that’s finally ready to scale up with the right financing when you learn that your family is about to grow, and you need a bigger house. Applying for a mortgage and a business loan at the same time is a
When you start the home buying process, it’s a good idea to get preapproved for a mortgage. After finding a lender you trust – and finding a mortgage with the right terms – you’ll go through the preapproval process. Once you’re preapproved, the lender will hand you a mortgage preapproval letter. You can add the
Imagine this: Your search for a home is over, and you’re ready to embark on your home buying adventure. You’re preapproved (or approved) for a mortgage loan, and you’ve got a purchase agreement in your eager hands. You put the contract down long enough to calculate the final cost of buying the home – and
You’re settled in your job, you’ve saved for a down payment and you’re ready to kiss paying rent goodbye. But before you start your search for the perfect pad, you’re told that it would be in your best interest to get a mortgage preapproval. To start the process of a mortgage preapproval, a lender will