Mortgage Wedding Registry Helps Newlyweds With Home Down Payment
April 7, 2008
The traditional wedding gifts help a young couple starting out furnish their home with china, crystal, and accessories that will become family heirlooms as they build their lives together. Now, with Feather Our Nest (www.featherournest.com), family and well-wishers can present the bride and groom with the ultimate wedding gift, their first home.
San Antonio Ranks In Top 10 Cities For Residential Real Estate Investing
April 3, 2008
HomeVestors® of America, Inc., the company famous for its “We Buy Ugly Houses”® billboards and America’s #1 Home Buyer, has named the top 10 markets for real estate investing in the first quarter of 2008. They are as follows:
1. Dallas, Texas
2. Houston, Texas
3. Atlanta, Georgia
4. Fort Worth, Texas
5. St. Louis, Missouri
6. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
7. San Antonio, Texas
8. Denver, Colorado
9. Minneapolis, Minnesota
10. Phoenix, Arizona
HomeVestors, which has bought more than 34,000 homes in the U.S. over the last 11 years, based the findings on the number of houses bought in each market by the franchise network in the first quarter of 2008.
Fannie Mae Raises Credit Standards
April 2, 2008
Fannie Mae has tightened standards for the home mortgages it guarantees or buys.
The government-sponsored provider of home loan funding told lenders Monday it will require a minimum credit score of 580 for most loans it buys on an individual basis. Credit scores range from 300 to 850. In the past, Fannie had no minimum score.
Fannie also told lenders it will increase the period needed for borrowers to re-establish credit history after a foreclosure from four years to five. Fannie said it would allow shorter recovery periods for borrowers with “documented extenuating circumstances” that caused the foreclosure.
10 Things New Homeowner’s Should Know
April 1, 2008
Act now, save later
1. Pull out the home-inspection report and reread it. Use the report as a handy maintenance checklist.
Most inspections take place during a stressful time when the buyer’s main concern is closing the deal, Davis says.
“A lot of small problems tend to be overlooked and dismissed,” he says. “But in time they grow to bigger problems that can max out your credit card.”
One of Davis’ real-estate clients watched for three months as a water stain crept across his ceiling. Then one night while the man was eating dinner, the entire ceiling collapsed. The lesson: Be proactive. Take care of issues as soon as or before they arise.
