Why You Need A Realtor!

A licensed real estate professional provides much more than the service of helping you find your ideal home.

Realtors® are expert negotiators with other agents, seasoned financial advisors with customers, and superb navigators around the local neighborhood. They are members of the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) and must abide by a Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice enforced by the NAR. A professional Realtor is your best resource when
buying your home.

For Home Buyers: 5 Best Websites for Credit Score Information

© 2011, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

If you’re planning to buy a home in the near future, you should know your FICO credit score. In fact, your credit score is one of the three most important factors considered by mortgage lenders (along with your debt and income levels). If your score is high, you’ll have a much better chance of getting approved for a loan. You’ll also qualify for a better interest rate, which could save you thousands of dollars over the life of the loan.

It’s important to check your FICO score early on in the home-buying process, because it takes time to improve a low score. While you’re entitled to a free credit report per year, you’ll have to pay a small fee for the credit score. They are two different things. You can purchase your score from MyFICO.com — this is the company that actually designed the FICO scoring model.

But what if you check your score and find out that it’s low? You could qualify for certain types of loans with a score in 600 range, but you’ll be much better off in the mid- to upper-700 range. The question now becomes: How do I Improve my score? And that brings us to the purpose of this article.

Home Equity Loans - 3 Common Scams to Avoid

© 2011, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

Home equity loans remain one of the most popular financing tools among homeowners. It can give you quick access to cash by leveraging the equity (or ownership) you have in your home. It can be an effective way to finance a home renovation, education costs, or even a second home.

But these loans also get a lot of homeowners into trouble each year, and in the worst-case scenarios they can even result in foreclosure and loss of the home. On top of that, there are some common scams associated with equity loans and lines of credit. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is constantly tracking the latest scams and warning homeowners about them. Here’s a summary of some of the more common scenarios you should watch out for…

5 Reasons to Save Money Before Buying a Home

© 2011, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

First-time home buyers are often surprised by the total costs associated with buying a home. Some buyers don’t even realize that a lack of cash reserves can hurt their chances of getting a loan. But it happens all the time. In fact, a lack of up-front cash is one of the most common reasons for mortgage rejection. That’s why it’s important for future home buyers to start saving money early on. The more you can save the better.

Why is this so important? Here are five good reasons to save up for your home-buying process:

Common Misconceptions About FHA Home Loans

© 2011, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

FHA home loans are a popular financing strategy for home buyers. They’re especially popular with first-time buyers who don’t have much of a down payment saved up. But FHA loans are also commonly misunderstood. Here are some of the biggest misconceptions about these loans.

Getting the Best Mortgage Rates in the New Economy

© 2011, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

All home buyers want the lowest mortgage rate possible when applying for a home loan, because it directly translates to a smaller payment each month. And who doesn’t want to shrink their monthly expenses?

But how does one obtain a low rate on a mortgage loan and, for that matter, why is it important in the first place? These are the subjects we will discuss in this tutorial for first-time home buyers.

The First Steps of the Home Buying Process

© 2011 Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

Establishing a budget. Checking your credit. Getting pre-approved for a mortgage loan. These are three of the most important steps during the first phase of the home buying process. Here’s how to navigate them.

For Sale by Owner- A Good Idea or Not

Many people who are ready to sell their homes think that For Sale By Owner (FSBO) is the way to go. After all, you get to cut out the real estate commission, so technically you can sell the home yourself cheaper and keep all the profits.

Many do not realize the headaches and costs of selling by owner. Certainly, you cut out the commission, but usually the realtor just adds this 5-6% to your asking price so that the buyer actually pays the commission.