| 331. | New 2002 Loan Limits Change the Scale, Not the Rules
How do you qualify for a $300,00 mortgage? Thanks to an increase in conventional loan limits set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a mortgage loan of this size is treated the same way as a $100,000 mortgage loan, or one for $250,000. The conventional loan limit for a single-family home broke the $300,000 barrier for the first time‹coming in at $300,700, to be exact...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, October 09, 2001 |
| | 332. | Find the Mistakes in Your Credit Report and Improve Your Credit Rating
A popular type of children`s puzzle is called: "What is wrong with this picture?" The puzzles feature pictures with mistakes; a bicycle with a square wheel, a glove with six fingers, a railroad train going down a road, and so forth. The puzzles are fun, satisfying, and help youngsters develop skills of observation...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, October 02, 2001 |
| | 333. | Jumbo Loans -- A Problem for Only a Fraction of Home Buyers
The vast majority of us will never need a jumbo loan, one that is bigger than the conventional loan limits set every year by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, federally chartered private corporations that buy conventional mortgages from mortgage lenders. They buy loans from lenders so that lenders can get money to make more loans...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, September 25, 2001 |
| | 334. | Predatory Lending: Do You Know What It Is, and How to Avoid It?
The Christmas credit card bills are waiting to be paid, unemployment is climbing, and the April 15th tax deadline is getting closer. No wonder so many lenders are advertising offers for home equity loans or lines of credit...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, September 18, 2001 |
| | 335. | It`s Tax Time! Mortgage Interest Payback Time!
We are fast approaching that time of year when your home actually pays you back for all those monthly mortgage payments you have been faithfully making. Yes, it`s tax time--time to take what is probably your biggest single debt and turn it into your biggest single tax deduction -- the interest on your mortgage loan...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, September 11, 2001 |
| | 336. | Private Mortgage Insurance Makes Home Ownership Possible for Many
If you try to buy a home without putting 20 percent down, you`ll run into a problem. The lender will want 20 percent down, or more depending on your credit history, in order to protect his/her investment...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, September 04, 2001 |
| | 337. | How to Clean Up Mistakes on Your Credit Report
At first glance, the idea of getting any of the big three credit reporting agencies to correct mistakes on your credit history can appear to be a daunting task. It isn`t...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, August 28, 2001 |
| | 338. | Loan Modification Program Helps Avoid Foreclosure
When faced with a difficult circumstance, it`s common for people to downplay the situation and hope that things will get better. It`s easier to avoid a problem than to admit there is one...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, August 21, 2001 |
| | 339. | More Women are Leading the Charge to Get VA Loans
The number of Veterans Administration (VA) home loans dropped from more than 485,000 in 1999 to less than 200,000 in 2000. That number is climbing back up, however, and women are leading the charge...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, August 14, 2001 |
| | 340. | Tax Deductions for Home Medical Remodeling and Home Offices
Most people know that the tax advantages of buying a home and being able to deduct your mortgage interest make it a wise investment. Fewer people realize that there are also tax advantages in using your home to make you healthy and wealthy, as well as wise...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, August 07, 2001 |
| | 341. | No Money for a Down Payment? Consider a Lease/Option
If you are strapped for cash for a down payment, but you want to buy a home, you might consider leasing a home with an option to buy. This arrangement allows you to rent a house with the opportunity to buy it later...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, July 31, 2001 |
| | 342. | How Big Should a Down Payment Be? Economically? Emotionally?
Nobody wants to pay more money for their home, or anything else, than is necessary. It`s the same when talking about a down payment...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, July 24, 2001 |
| | 343. | Finding the Right Mortgage after Bankruptcy
While a bankruptcy can be devastating, not only financially but also emotionally, it is important to know that you can recover from it. While many of the aftereffects of a bankruptcy can cause you credit headaches and problems for seven to ten years, they won`t necessarily prohibit you from getting a mortgage...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, July 17, 2001 |
| | 344. | Home Renovation Loans: Buying both the Home and Its Potential
Few of us ever buy a house that is "perfect." There are always things we want to do once we are settled into our new home...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, July 10, 2001 |
| | 345. | The Dream of Home Ownership is for All Americans
Home ownership is part of the American dream. Most of us were raised with the idea that someday we, too, would be able to own our own home...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, July 03, 2001 |
| | 346. | A, B, C or D Paper: Your Mortgage Rate Depends on Your Grade
For obvious reasons, mortgage companies advertise their lowest rates. They do so because when we shop for a mortgage we look for the lender whose rate translates into the lowest monthly payment...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, June 26, 2001 |
| | 347. | Build a Home with Just One Loan
Building a new home is enough trouble without also having to negotiate two or, in some cases three, completely different loans as part of the process. When people build a home, first they usually buy the property, which is often Loan #1...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, June 19, 2001 |
| | 348. | It`s Disaster Season! FHA Disaster Loans are Here to Help
The 2002 "Disaster Season" is officially in progress. Floods deluged Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee in April...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, June 12, 2001 |
| | 349. | Making Your House Your Own in 15 or 20 Years Instead of 30
Owning your own home is the American dream. In most cases, it is a shared dream...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, June 05, 2001 |
| | 350. | Closing Costs: Negotiating Step Three in the Home Buying Process
When you go shopping for a new home you are actually looking at three separate items: the price of the home, the price of the loan, and the price of closing the deal. Once you find the home, the price is whatever you and the seller agree on, and that usually comes after some bargaining...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, May 29, 2001 |
| | 351. | Bi-weekly Payments Reduce Interest Costs
According to lenders and companies that specialize in showing you how to turn your current mortgage into a bi-weekly mortgage plan, these types of mortgages are the answer to saving thousands of dollars in interest on your home loan. The theory behind the process is that by opting for the bi-weekly payment plan, as opposed to the traditional monthly mortgage payment, you will be paying off your loan balance more quickly, which will lead to lower interest charges in the future...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, May 22, 2001 |
| | 352. | Finding a Financially Gorgeous Home
Beautiful homes attract buyers. So, when you are house hunting, you will obviously spend more time looking at the gorgeous ones...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, May 15, 2001 |
| | 353. | Splitting a Mortgage with a Friend: A Contract Could Calm Nerves
It`s perfectly natural to lose a little sleep when you are getting ready to buy a house. After all, for most of us it is the most expensive purchase we will ever make, and it comes with the biggest loan we will ever take out...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, May 08, 2001 |
| | 354. | Prepayment Penalties: Know What the Rules Are
As the mortgage world gets more competitive, lenders are looking for different ways to give themselves an edge over their competition. Some of them have actually found a way to make prepayment penalties tempting, and if you are looking for a mortgage, you are looking for the best rate available...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, May 01, 2001 |
| | 355. | Seller Funded Down Payment and Closing Costs
When you look for a home and the loan with which to buy it, you automatically look for the best mortgage deal you can find. How would you like one in which someone gives you the down payment and closing costs? In some cases and in some markets, this type of loan is available, often -- but not always -- through what is called a 501(c)(3) mortgage...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, April 24, 2001 |
| | 356. | Choosing Between a Big and Small Lender for Your Home Loan
There`s no real difference between a $20 bill in my pocket and one in yours. Money is money...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, April 17, 2001 |
| | 357. | Specialty Mortgage Programs for People Who Don`t Fit the Mold
In the same way that automakers build a wide selection of vehicles for specific buyers, and movie studios make films aimed at different target audiences, the mortgage industry offers a variety of loans for different types of borrowers. These specialty loans are normally broken down according to income levels and credit history, but there are also loans designed for minorities, for people in specific jobs such as teachers and police officers, for people who live in rural areas, and for veterans...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, April 10, 2001 |
| | 358. | Owing More on Your House than its Worth is Risky
We all want to own our own home. What we don`t want is to have our home own us...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, April 03, 2001 |
| | 359. | To Buy Manufactured Housing You Need Good Credit
If you think you can get a great low-interest mortgage based only on your credit history, income, and the value of the home you are buying you are only partly right. The fact that the home and its ownership are inextricably tied to the land it is sitting on is more important than you think...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, March 27, 2001 |
| | 360. | Paying Points Does Affect Mortgage Rates
Figuring out the point of all the different points you have to deal with when buying a home and getting a mortgage can be frustrating. It can, however, help you better understand the mortgage process, and it can make getting a mortgage easier, which is the point of this column...
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| Article XML Feed | | - Tuesday, March 20, 2001 |
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