Most mortgages financed in the last 10 years include something called escrow. And all that escrow is, is a monthly payment to cover the taxes and insurance on your home. Instead of paying your insurance twice a year when the payments are due, or having to worry about a large tax bill at the end […]

Ultimately, the most important factor in getting any mortgage closed is the applicant. And by this, I don’t mean the credit worthiness, income, or anything else; I mean the willingness to collect documents, the willingness to provide information, and the openness at the beginning of the process. When I submit an application and it is […]

The Pay it Forward Promise is a program which I started in January of this year as a way to give back to the community. I made a resolution to help people more, and this has been a great way to do that. It is something I am proud to offer, and something which makes […]

When shopping for your first house, there are many things to consider – where do you want to live, what type of house do you want, what architectural design do you want, how many bedrooms and bathrooms do you need, do you want a big yard or a small yard; the list is as long […]

As we discussed earlier this week, there are both short and long-term factors to consider when deciding to buy a new home. But at the heart of most of these factors is a simple question: is buying this house cheaper than renting? And to answer that question, you need to ask yourself if your concern […]

The decision to buy a house should not be taken lightly. If you own it, you are responsible for it. Now, that’s not to say you shouldn’t go for it, but it is to say that you need to look at both the short and long term effects of home ownership. Most of the benefits […]

While less tangible than building equity or saving money through tax incentives, the benefits of a stable home are still an important consideration, especially for families with children or which are planning to have children. Home ownership creates confidence in where your family will live into the foreseeable future; should you decide to move, it […]

As we covered last week, one of the biggest benefits of home ownership is building equity. But besides the equity aspect, the next most important benefit of owning a home for many Americans is the tax write off. Now, I’m not an accountant, and I can’t guarantee that everything I say will apply to everyone […]

There are, of course, many benefits to home ownership. These benefits are the reason why people buy a house. But over the weekend, I read an article which stated the benefits of renting, and I realized that the true benefits of home ownership may need to be explained. So, I’m going to be posting a […]

Preapproval letters, also called prequalification letters, are an important part of the modern home buying process. Many of my clients who have been down the home buying path before get upset when asked for a preapproval letter by a realtor before the realtor will even take them to see houses. I have been told by […]