Tag: Home Buying
-
What Makes a Good Real Estate Agent and How Do I Find One?
Industry pros think home prices could easily rise 2%-5% this year, judging by the Spring 2024 home buying rush already underway. If you want to take the best advantage of a promising market, you might be thinking of hiring an agent. Anyone selling or buying a home can benefit from a good agent’s support. The right…
-
Can We Use AI Instead of Real Estate Agents Yet?
Real estate sites use AI to offer cutting-edge listing searches. And lenders use artificial intelligence when sizing up an applicant’s financial strength. Tech-focused online lenders employ AI to help them approve or reject loan applications right away. Additionally, AI can automate various business tasks, thereby reducing the risk of fraud. But can AI manage a…
-
Buy a Flipped Home, Get an FHA Loan. Like Oil and Water—Or Do They Mix?
Once upon a time, way back in 2003, the Federal Housing Administration instituted a 90-day wait for sales of homes by flippers. And to this day, only those who’ve owned for more than three months may sell to buyers who get FHA loans. Clearly, flippers need to keep this in mind. FHA-backed mortgages, of course,…
-
Buying Without Your Spouse? What to Know About a Purchase Money Mortgage
Sometimes a homebuyer who’s married wants to buy property as an individual. They want to be the sole buyer, with no other name on the closing papers. How can it work? Consider the purchase money mortgage. As Cleveland’s CrossCountry Mortgage® company explains, “if a married person wants to purchase a property without their spouse being…
-
Fannie Mae Was Going to Save Mortgage Borrowers Thousands by Dropping Its Title Insurance Requirement. Never Mind.
The Biden administration was working with loan backers to delete title insurance charges from closing costs. The move would have saved quite a few home buyers hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Noting that the plan had been silently scuttled, the Wall Street Journal said pressure against it came from “an obscure industry.” The obscure…
-
Bargain and Sale vs. Quitclaim Deeds: A Concise Guide
Are you looking to buy a home though a bargain and sale deed? Perhaps you’re buying after a foreclosure, or from an estate or a court-ordered sale. If so, the entity granting the deed to you might lack knowledge of the property’s history. Basically, the deed means a buyer is expected to accept the house…
-
What is a Special Warranty Deed?
If you’re like most people planning to make a real estate purchase, you want to know that the property you’re purchasing is actually owned by the seller, that it’s in reasonably good shape, and that the title is free of defects. Real estate transactions aren’t always as seamless or clean as buyers might like, though.…
