Our Guide to Buying a Home

Everyone realizes that home ownership is a big financial step. If you need to borrow money to buy a home, then you should also understand the serious financial commitment you've made to your mortgage company. But to really appreciate the total cost of owning a home, you need to look beyond your mortgage.

Do you know how many people buy a home each year? A lot of people, about 42 million in the U.S. alone.  If you're thinking about moving, then the more information you have at your disposal, the better.  That's one of the reasons we've put together this information on home buying tips.  They can come in pretty handy..

When the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or simply HUD, was created back in 1968, the focus was to help manage federally-subsidized housing and the development of new communities in urban areas.  Today, HUD has taken on a lot more responsibility in the housing market, and that has increased consumer interest in buying HUD homes.

Work hard, play hard - we've all heard that expression.  But the real estate market is telling us that people are putting their money where their mouth is.  More than ever, people are rushing out and buying a second home along coastal towns and resort communities.

Picture this - you're working with your real estate agent, and you find the perfect home at the perfect price in the perfect location.  You're determined to close on the deal, but there is one obstacle standing in your way - the home inspection.  After all, a good inspector is liable to figure out that the perfect house you just found is not so perfect.

Before you buy a home, it's always a good idea to have the home inspected by a professional.  In fact, if you're planning to borrow money to help pay for this home, it is very likely that your mortgage company, or lender, will require a home inspection.

You've finally found a dream home in your price range, and you'd like to make an offer to buy the home.  Your about to start one of the most tension-filled parts of the entire home buying process - negotiating with sellers!

If you've never closed on a home before, then you should understand exactly what's expected when you conduct your final walk through home inspection.  These inspections are typically conducted on the day you're scheduled to close on the home - which is an already stressful day.

Buying a new home is not exactly an everyday event.  It's one of those financial milestones that many of us look forward too.  Unfortunately, most of us are not prepared for all of the closing on a home jargon we encounter.  And we usually only get one bit of insight from friends and relatives - closings are expensive.

If you've ever purchase a home, or are thinking about buying a home for the first time, then someone's probably already whispered in your ear that closings are expensive.  While there is no doubt that buying a home is pretty commonplace, it is in no way a simple financial transaction.  You're going to realize this as we explain to you some of the most common closing costs you'll encounter when buying a home.

If you're thinking about buying a home then you should be familiar with the concept of escrow.  In fact, when buying a new home, the money placed in an escrow account is oftentimes the largest expense associated with a home's closing cost.

Sometimes they're called triple N leases, net net net leases and even NNN leases, but we're going to use the more descriptive term of triple net lease.  Admittedly, this kind of arrangement is more common when discussing commercial real estate, but if you're looking to lease a home, you might also encounter the term.  That said, what exactly is a triple net lease?

So you're a first time home buyer looking for some advice.  The fact that you're looking around for home buying advice is a good sign.  That means you already know how important this decision is going to be.  After all, you only buy a home for the first time once, and buying a home is a big investment.

In our first article in this series, First Time Home Buyer Part I, we walked you through a process that should be able to help you estimate how much you can afford to pay for a new home.  The next step in the home buying process is to figure out exactly where you might want to live.

In the first two additions of this First Time Home Buyer series, we explained how you can go about calculating the monthly payment you can afford, and how to narrow down the townships that you would like to live in.  In this part of the first time home buying series, we are going to discuss how to work with real estate agents, as well as house hunting techniques.

In the first three articles in this First Time Home Buyer series, we explained how to calculate how large a mortgage you can afford, and how to figure out which townships you might want to live in.  We also explained how to work effectively with a real estate agent to find your new home.

This first time home buyer assistance article will be the last of the first time home buyer series.  To date, we've published eight articles that address the needs of this segment of the real estate marketplace.  We've covered just about every topic we could think of in this area.  In this publication, we are going to bring it all together in one place.

Information concerning low cost first time home buyer loans is available through state and federal agencies in cooperation with private lenders.  The exact relationship between the government and the agencies offering home loans is actually pretty simple.  The government has lenders that they've approved to work with the home buyers to speed up the process.

First time home buyer grants can be an important source of funding for that new home.  Unlike a loan or mortgage, a grant does not have to be repaid.  That means these programs are targeted to areas where the government wants to invest in the revitalization of a community.  That makes these grants important to both the home buyer and the community.

First time home buyer programs can be an important source of information for anyone thinking about taking the plunge, and buying a home.  There are many things we do for the first time... take a step, fall in love.  But with today's home prices, it would be nice to make an informed purchase decision that we can look back on with no regrets.

If the forces of supply and demand are heating up the local real estate market, then you can't expect sellers to offer you much in the way of incentives.  But if the market has been cooling off, or homes are not selling quickly, then you can expect sellers and builders alike to offer what are seemingly generous incentives to home buyers.

If you are buying a home, or even a new car, then one thing you might be interested in seeing is an amortization schedule for the loan.  Amortization schedules allow you to calculate, or visualize, what happens to the loan as time progresses.

Interest rates have been bouncing around a bit lately, so you might be tempted to figure out if it's time to refinance your home mortgage.  Maybe your coworkers are talking about the great refinancing deal they obtained.  It's great if they're happy, but just keep in mind that not everyone is in the same situation.

If you've ever purchased a "used" home, then you can relate to this particular topic - financing home improvements.  When you bought that home, you may have decided to pass up that "fixer upper" for something that is in "move in" condition.

If you're thinking about starting a home remodeling project, then you're not alone.  According to the Census statistics on residential improvements and repairs, Americans will spend nearly $50 million on maintenance and repairs, and over $140 million more on improvements, alterations, and replacements.

When the real estate market is booming, we're left with home values that are far greater than the price we paid for them.  We've built up equity in our homes.  It is also safe to say that for the vast majority of Americans, your home is usually the single largest asset you own.

There are many reasons that people wind up with bad credit.  Individuals make mistakes.  They might stretch too far when it comes to financial commitments, or sometimes they simply experience an unfortunate run of bad luck such as losing a job.  Regardless of the reason, many of these same individuals often wonder to themselves - Is buying a home with bad credit possible?

If you're thinking about buying a new home, then you may have considered working with a mortgage broker.  Many borrowers believe mortgage brokers can lend a helping hand when it comes to finding the best deal on a mortgage.  But as we'll see, a mortgage broker may not always have the borrower's best interests in mind.

There is no doubt that filing for bankruptcy can have a devastating impact on your ability to borrow money.  This is especially true in the months and, sometimes years, immediately following a bankruptcy filing and settlement.  But buying a home after bankruptcy in as few as 18 to 24 months is possible if you know what steps to take to start rebuilding your creditworthiness.

There's a common misconception that adjustable rate mortgages are only for consumers that can't afford a fixed rate mortgage.  While that fact may seem true, it's not at all.  An adjustable rate mortgage, or ARM, can play an important role in the real estate market, especially to the savvy homeowner.

They're called pay option loans, pick a payment, and the somewhat less descriptive term Option ARMs.  Whatever the name, these innovative mortgages can save borrowers 30% or more on their monthly payments - but at what cost?

There are prime loans, subprime loans, and somewhere in between is the Alt-A loan.  This type of loan is a mortgage that is considered riskier than an A-paper loan (prime), but not quite as risky as a subprime loan; which is generally considered the riskiest type of mortgage a lender can write.

Financial hardships, such as the sudden loss of a job, can often force homeowners to delay payments on their monthly mortgage.  Unfortunately, when a homeowner starts to fall behind on their payments, they run the risk that their lender may try to foreclose on their home.

If you're interested in putting your home to work for you, then you might want to consider an equity release strategy.  This type of arrangement allows you to use the money you have invested in your home to provide a steady source of income.

These homes go by many names - manufactured homes, prefabricated homes as well as mobile homes.  Regardless of what they're called, these are state of the art homes.  The energy efficiency, structural soundness, and overall appearance of these homes get better every year.

We've talked about this earlier, but the prefabricated home market is large.  To put things in perspective, new home sales reached just over $5 billion in 2008.  With that many new manufactured homes being sold each year, it's quickly becoming an important and significant market for both new and used homes.  That being said, we'd like to outline some tips to follow when buying a manufactured home.

At one time, the only type of prefabricated home you could buy was a house trailer.  As the industry grew, so did the size of the homes.  They were called mobile homes starting in the 1950's, when buying a mobile home was extremely popular, and competition was fierce.  Today, the mobile home has evolved quite a bit from its humble beginnings, and the offerings are just as surprising.

They're referred to as trailer homes, mobile homes, manufactured housing, and modular homes.  The common thread is that these homes are prefabricated - meaning that all or a portion of the home is manufactured elsewhere and transported to the home site.

No matter how slow the housing market might seem, it's always possible to sell your home.  And if anyone ever tells you that they can't sell their home, then they're only telling you half the story.

When the number of unsold homes increases, that's a sure sign of a slow real estate market.  Buyers might have a wide selection from which to choose, but what if you're trying to sell your home in a slow market?  There's a lot of money at stake when you're selling your home, so it's important to understand just how much an unsold home can cost you.

The prospects of owning a home in 2011 looks to be more promising than 2010.  The United States economy finally appears to be recovering from the Great Recession.  The average price for a home remained relatively flat, with the 2010 value of $271,600 representing a 0.3% increase over the 2009 value of $270,900. 

Let's hope the prospects of owning a home in 2010 provides us with a better investment return than it did in 2009.  The United States economy continued to struggle last year, and the average price for a home decreased to $270,400 in 2009, a decline of 7.6% from the average home price of $292,600 in 2008.

Buying a home normally provides the homeowner with both a place to live as well as the prospects of earning a respectable return on their investment.  But with the downturn in the economy, the average price for a home decreased to $292,400 in 2008, a decline of 6.8% from the average home price of $313,600 in 2007.

Real estate has traditionally been a very good investment as demonstrated by the annual increase in average home prices throughout the United States.  In fact, in 2007 the average price of a new home rose to $313,600, an increase of 2.5% from the average home price in 2006 of $305,900.

There are many ways to make money in real estate.  In today's market we've literally turned the rules upside down with a new concept termed flipping houses.  Traditionally, investors would purchase a property, fix up the home, and find a renter.  While that might still be a profitable strategy, learning how to flip a house is one approach you can't afford to ignore.

If you're thinking about selling your house, then you have more to do than simply putting up a For Sale sign.  In the real estate market today, and especially in a slow market, you have to stage your home for sale.  By following some fundamental real estate home selling tips, you should be able to obtain the highest possible price for your home.

Home for Sale: there is no doubt that you've seen one of these signs in front of a house or pointing down a street.  Maybe you've even thought about putting up one of those signs in front of your house lately.  Well, here are a couple of tips that might come in handy before you put a "house for sale" sign on your front lawn.

For many people, buying a home and relocating your family can be an unsettling and bittersweet event.  A lot of planning goes into the move to make sure family members, cars, and furniture get to their new location in one piece.  In addition, moving the family pet can take just as much thought and planning as the other family members - sometimes more.

When we're talking about fire safety in a new home, consider this: according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 94 percent of the homes in North America has at least one smoke alarm.  However, the NFPA statistics also tell us that there are more homes with smoke alarms that are not working, than homes without alarms.

Buying a new home is always an exciting event.  But if you have children, there can be obvious, or even hidden, safety hazards in any new home.  A new home is a big investment, but the safety of your family is important too.

If you're thinking about buying a new home, then home alarm systems are a great way to protect your personal property, assets, and your loved ones.  And if you've lived in a home for any length of time, then we're sure you've seen plenty of offers from installers of home security systems.