Category: Mortgage
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How to Take Someone Off the Mortgage
What’s the plan when your spouse or co-borrower needs to come off the mortgage? Will you refinance, keep a modified version of the loan, or sell the home to pay the loan off? Here’s a quick Q&A to explore the possibilities.
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After You’re Gone, Does Your Mortgage Live On?
You might be wondering about that house or condo you’ve left in your will. Often, after a homeowner passes on, the real property is sold from the estate to pay off debts. But maybe you have a relative who would like to have and keep your home. For the sake of exploring the question, say…
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Buying or Refinancing? Mortgage Servicing Matters.
Be sure you’re dealing with a company that takes service seriously. Various companies are involved in one mortgage. The home buyer’s journey might begin with a local mortgage expert. Then, the mortgage expert helps the buyer find a lender. Once the loan is approved, a borrower gets a mortgage servicer, too. Some lenders service their…
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Interest Rates on the Rise? Assumable Mortgages Never Looked Better.
Congrats to the 2020 and early 2021 buyers who locked in fabulously low rates! As the economy gradually pulls itself out from under the pandemic, people are talking about interest rates rising in 2021 and beyond. While rates will fluctuate, the overall trajectory is on an upward climb. Yet some new mortgage holders will keep…
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How a Sudden Disaster Impacts Your Mortgage Loan
As co-insured parties, you and your mortgage lender both have a stake in the value and condition of your home. Your stake in your property value is obvious. But the lender also has a vested interest. Your home’s value is the collateral for the loan. So, catastrophic damage raises serious questions about the status of…
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Mortgage Approvals: The New Landscape for Post-Pandemic Home Buyers
It’s now obvious: the mortgage lending industry is forever changed. Here’s what happened — and what’s likely to come next. The Year of Minimum-Risk Lending Back in April 2020, we noted that mortgage lenders were getting tougher on loan applicants. Perversely, the borrowers who stood to benefit most from the low interest rates that led…
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The Partial Release of Mortgage: When You’re Only Selling Part of Your Property
What if a potential buyer is interested in acquiring a part of your property, and you’re willing to sell? If you’re a land owner with full rights in a piece of property, you may legally sell any part of it — unless bound by an agreement to the contrary. If a parcel is mortgaged, an…
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Two Properties, One Mortgage?
The Pros and Cons of Consolidating Your Home Loans Can money be lent for multiple houses through one mortgage? It can. A number of scenarios could count as multiple properties and one mortgage. Here, we look at a few examples.
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On Stage and Behind the Scenes in a Mortgage
The Key Financial Roles and How They’re Played Especially for first-time buyers, getting to know who’s who in the loan process can be complicated — even surprising! First you meet the mortgage broker. Soon, other actors emerge. As your broker interacts with them, the drama unfolds.
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Applying for a Mortgage? Get the Facts on Credit Scores—and How to Improve Yours
A credit score is part of each home buyer’s whole debt and income picture. Lenders consider it a key factor when deciding to approve a loan application. To put the score in context, a lender’s top questions are: Whether the borrower can repay the loan, and Whether past credit history suggests that the borrower will…
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The Benefits of Refinancing Your Home — Strategically
Throughout the years of your mortgage, you’ll likely ask the question more than once: Is now the right time to refinance? First, note that refinancing may be no easier than getting that existing loan. Moreover, from 2020 on, expect lenders to have stringent requirements for mortgage approvals. The answer will depend, too, on varied factors…
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I Can’t Pay My Mortgage Any More. What’s Next?
”In these uncertain times…” Difficulties arise in life, sometimes out of the blue. Mortgage obligations that suited us just fine at first can become unmanageable when circumstances swerve out of control. At that point, a homeowner might approach the mortgage lender and ask for a few months of forbearance. Or perhaps it’s possible to work…
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What Happens If the Mortgage on Your Home Outlives You?
Mortgages can span decades. Naturally, not all homeowners outlive these long-term loans. Here, we discuss what happens when a homeowner passes away with a loan still on the home. This can be a tough topic to confront, but reviewing the potential scenarios will help you prepare for the possibility.
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Gig Economy: The Impact on Mortgages and Real Estate Ownership
Many people hope to buy homes, but struggle to qualify for loans. And this means millions of first-time buyers are deferring their dreams of homeownership until they are in a stronger position to qualify for a mortgage loan. Today’s renters are renting longer—often not by choice. Half of renters now in their mid 50s and older don’t anticipate buying a home any…
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How Getting a Mortgage With a Co-Borrower Affects the Deed
Loan underwriters are hard to please. When a mortgage loan approval eludes the hopeful homebuyer, another signature on the papers might be the only way to move forward.