Lawrence's Blog

Closing costs: Closing costs may not be used to help meet the minimum 3.5% downpayment requirement. Closing costs are not considered in the mortgage amount/downpayment calculation for purchase money mortgages. LTV: For purchase money mortgages, the LTV is 96.5 percent, i.e., the reciprocal of the...

The Down Payment The amount you have available for a down payment will affect what types of loans for which you can qualify. Down payments typically range from 3 to 20 percent of the sales price for the property. Tips for Accumulating a Down Payment SaveLook for ways to reduce your monthly expend...

Scoring your Credit - How's your FICO? In today's increasingly automated society, it should come as no surprise that when you apply for a mortgage, your ability to pay can be reduced to a single number. All the years you've been paying your mortgage, car payments, and credit card bills can be ana...

You've finally found the home of your dreams. There's just one thing standing between you and your new house: The down payment and/or closing cost.  In most cases your realtor can generally negitiate for the seller to pay a portion (up to 6% of the sales price) or all of your closing cost.  That ...

Lower mortgage rates, is that the answer? The government is weighing plans to drive rates as low as 4.5%. But experts say that won't be enough to stabilize the housing market. Reducing mortgage rates to a historically low 4.5% may entice some homebuyers out of the shadows, but it won't be enough ...

  FHA-Loans The subprime mortgage crisis continues to send shockwaves through Wall Street, as well as foreign markets abroad. Investors and other stakeholders are begging the new Fed chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, to cut interest rates to stave off the downturn. If a bail out comes, the influx of cas...

1. Commit to the Process · Buying a home is the largest and most important purchase in the lives of most people. However, far too many want to treat it like shopping for new clothes - drop by the mall on your lunch hour, get excited about the suit in the window, put it on your credit card. What ...

Excelent Content from one of our own Active Rain members. Are You Connecting with Gen Y-ers? Do you Tweet?  Do you use Facebook?  What about using a Blackberry?  Do you text?  If you're not doing all of the above and you want to tap into one of the most important generations that will be buying i...

A friend of mine that lives in the UK sent me a very interesting email.  He makes a very valid point, please read this and pass it on.  Exact same can be said for the US. The Urine testTHIS GUY MAKES A GOOD POINTThis was written by a rig worker in North Sea - he makes a lot of sense!I work, they ...