I got a call yesterday from a prospective buyer, a first time home buyer who had just found his dream house. It was a referral and this was the first time I had talked with him.We went over all the normal mortgage pre-qualification questions, and things were looking good. He was buying in the rig
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11/26/2007
In the first installment of this series, How to Understand and Improve Your Credit Score - Part 1, I gave an overview of how credit is looked at when applying for a mortgage. In the second installment I covered what makes up your Fico scores, one of the biggest factors in qualifying for a loan. I
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11/24/2007
These are some of the business headlines for the day:U.S. Stocks Tumble, Wiping Out S&P 500's Gain for Year Freddie Mac May Need to Raise $6 Billion to Boost Capital As Assets Drop U.S. Leading Economic Indicators Index Fell More Than Forecast in October Home Prices Fall in a Third of U.S. Citi
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11/21/2007
With all the changes in the mortgage market, having good credit is more important than ever. In the first installment of this series, How to Understand and Improve Your Credit Score - Part 1, I gave an overview of the credit market. This installment we will go over Fico scores, one of the bigges
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11/20/2007
The Chicago Tribune had an article today which said that in a survey commissioned by Bankrate.com, 34% of the people did not know if their mortgage was a fixed rate or an adjustable. In a separate survey commissioned by the AFL-CIO, 49% of consumers with adjustable rate mortgages did not know wh
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11/18/2007
Hold on to your hats, interest rates are about to get a whole lot better. The past 2 weeks have been a back and forth battle for direction in both the stock and bond markets. It seems that one day stocks would be flying high and bonds were tanking, and the next it would be the exact opposite. It
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11/15/2007
Are you looking to buy or refinance a house? How is your credit? Credit has always been a big factor in qualifying for a loan, but with recent changes in the mortgage industry, the underwriting is stricter and a good credit score is now more important than ever. This is a big topic, so I'm going
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11/15/2007
I bought my first home back in 1982 in the middle of a severe recession. Unemployment and inflation were rampant. Mortgage interest rates had come down from an all time high of over 20%, but the going rate at the time was still in the high teens - if you could find a bank that would lend to you.A
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11/12/2007
I've been reading a lot lately about House Bill HR3915, the bill designed to clean up abuses in the mortgage industry. There have been problems in the industry, but I'm afraid that if enacted, this bill will trigger the law of unintended consequences and make it harder to buy a home and more expe
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11/10/2007
If you are a first time homebuyer, buying real estate and owning your own home may be the best financial decision you will ever make. In the first installment of this series we talked about how you gradually build equity in your home as you pay down your mortgage. In the second installment we dis
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11/08/2007
