real estate: The Difference Between Direct Lenders and Mortgage Brokers - 03/28/18 05:42 PM
When you're shopping around for a mortgage, you have two options when it comes to choosing where you're going to get financed: a direct lender or a mortgage broker. Within these two pools, you'll find a wide variety of each who can offer you different loan terms and interest rates. However, choosing which one to swim through can be a challenge in itself.
 
Direct Lenders
The main benefit of working with a direct lender, like your banking institution, is that everything will be under one roof. This means your direct lender will take care of everything related to the loan process. They'll sit … (2 comments)

real estate: Demystifying the mortgage process - 03/28/18 05:38 PM
Buying a new home can be exciting for first-time and seasoned homebuyers alike, but the mortgage process can often take away from some of the fun. In addition to having to bring in mountains of paperwork to verify your income and assets, the process of shopping around at various lenders and trying to keep your credit in tip-top shape to get the best interest rate can make the entire thing into a stressful headache.
 
Add to that the jargon that's being thrown around by your real estate agent, seller, and lender, and you can feel ready to throw in the towel before … (0 comments)

real estate: Americas Best Communities for Active Seniors - 02/17/17 12:43 AM
As you get older you may not want that giant houseThere are plenty of reasons why many retirees decide to pack up, sell the family house and move to other areas. Some do not want to climb all those stairs anymore. Others don't want to hassle with the lawn or maintenance. Most simply realize, they do not need all that house just for themselves.
 
Here are our top destinations for those ready to retire1. The Samarkand - CaliforniaLocated in beautiful Santa Barbara California, the Samarkand is more like Heaven than a retirement community. Surrounded by Old California Spanish-style architecture, this community has all the … (0 comments)

real estate: Buy now before the houses are all gone... - 02/10/17 04:17 PM
There are plenty of reasons to buy a home now.
Interest rates, rising home rates, and a shrinking inventory are all reasons why 2017 is so crucial to home buyers. We all know by now that those record low-interest rates cannot last forever. With two more interest rate hikes on the horizon, this is a good sign for our economy, even though it means goodbye to very low-interest rates. If you have not told potential buyers that the feds plan on increasing the interest rates by at least June, tell them now!
 
Home inventory is getting thin.The past two years of declining unemployment … (2 comments)

real estate: Mortgage Rates Drop after a wild week - 02/09/17 02:42 PM
As new administration sets in, fiscal policies take notice. As the weekly jobs reports come in,  economists are uncertain of several aspects of the current market. This has caused the 30-year fixed rate mortgage to dropped to 4.17%. This is slightly lower than last weeks 4.19% but still higher than the 52-week rate of 3.65% from last year. 
The 15-year Fixed-rate mortgage has also lowered a bit from last week's rate of 3.23%. With the new rates in, Home buyers are urged to lock into a loan as they are still at historic lows. The current administration is set to make huge changes to Dodd-Frank and the … (0 comments)

real estate: Homebuyers: Fed to hike interest rates starting next week! - 12/09/16 04:56 PM
Now is the time to purchase or refinance your house!
With uncertainty on how the Presidential election will affect the economy, the Fed will move forward with increasing interest rates for the first time in 2016.
The move comes with little connection to the outcome of the wildly dramatic election that the United States faced this year and the Fed will definitely try and keep its distance from appearing to be influenced by policy. 
An increase has been expected for quite some time and Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen does not want to make the same national politics mistake that Bank of England Governor … (1 comments)