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Buying a Home
Refinancing Guide
FHA Refund Guide
Discuss it: Real Estate forum
Resources & Contacts
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• Get a copy of your credit reports four to six months before you start home shopping and pre-quaify for a mortgage before you start looking.
• If you're buying a house strictly for financial reasons, look at each house you're considering as you would evaluate a purchase of stocks or bonds.
• Don't buy one of the first houses in a subdivision. The developer may go bust and be unable to complete the development.
• Make any offer on a home contingent on its passing an inspection. The purchase also should be contingent on your ability to get financing at or below a set interest rate.
• Get an owner's title insurance policy that covers you, not the lender, if your ownership is successfully challenged.
• Hire a real estate attorney to review the closing papers and, if you're buying a house still under construction, to draft or review the purchase contract.
• Before you buy a house, try your commute to work during rush hour.
• Learn about the area surrounding a potential purchase, including the potential for new roads or new development.
• Look at a property while it's raining to see how water flows across it. Look for signs of poor drainage and danger of flooding.
• Buy a house that's fundamentally sound in construction and materials, even if it doesn't have the latest, greatest design features.
Save big money on your mortgage
Looking for the sweet spot of the mortgage market? Shorter-term mortgage loans are growing in popularity. 10-year mortgages are getting some real mojo in the marketplace. They now represent one fifth of the entire mortgage market. The key demographic for 10-year mortgages are the Baby Boomers who are refinancing into ...
Micro-housing lets you cut housing costs in half
For people just starting out in life, it's becoming more difficult to afford a place to live. Bunking up with several roommates is becoming more common around the country. Some time ago, I talked to flight attendant who had two children recently. When her home flight base was closed, she ...
Georgia Natural Gas Guide
May 2012: Gas rates are still very low thanks to an overabundance of this clean-burning, domestically sourced fuel. For May, the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) reports the lowest-cost provider for a fixed rate is True Natural Gas (formerly Coweta-Fayette EMC). True is advertising a rate of .63 cents per ...
Unmarrieds buying homes together
The way we form households is changing. That begs the question, what comes first: Marriage or buying a house? It's a fact of life that many younger people in their 20s will first co-habitat before they're married. A study from the Centers for Disease Control shows that 48% of American ...
Bubble markets seeing rising home values
Home values are up in a number of bubble markets and we’re back to a situation where all real estate is local. According to the latest Case-Shiller home price indices, Phoenix home values are up 23% from a year ago. Yet even with that great gain, the market is still ...
Home buying and selling mistakes
We're coming up one of the housing market’s peak buying and selling times. With that in mind, what are the biggest mistakes made by both sellers and buyers? For sellers, I find the number one mistake they make is in selecting an agent. If you're interviewing agents, don’t list with ...
Real estate investing in a post-bubble market
When most others are afraid to act...economics show that's when you should seize the opportunity. Clark discusses the "get rich slow" tack of real estate investing.
House flipping makes a comeback
One of the most egregious practices that fueled the housing meltdown -- flipping houses -- is roaring back in a number of cities around the country. You remember flipping, right? It entails buying a home that is so sad no one else is interested in it, typically from the bank, ...
Furniture industry poised for big-time comeback
The furniture industry is ready to roar back after years of enduring a recession that was a spin-off effect of the real estate bust. Last week, the furniture industry had its big trade show. By one account, nearly 100,000 people crowded into High Point, N.C. for what's being billed as ...
Real estate investing in a post-bubble world
When people are most afraid to move, economics shows that's when you should. Think about housing. If you go back seven years ago, hotel ballrooms and arenas were filled with Dare To Be Rich seminars on "can't lose" real estate investment strategies with no money down. Today, you could do ...
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