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How much does credit score impact a mortgage payment?

Answer: Your credit score has a HUGE impact on your available mortgage rate. To put a dollar figure on that rate difference, a realistic number could be more than $7,000/yr. Let’s look at a likely home loan scenario. The actual cost difference between a buyer with excellent credit versus someone with fair to good credit […]

Knowing Your Finances Before Buying a Home

When preparing to buy a house, whether it is your first home or your tenth, it’s crucial to know the current state of your finances. This includes setting your budget, making good credit decisions and getting prequalified for a mortgage. Finance 101 – Set Your Budget Figure out your finances and determine what you can […]

What is a “Temporary Buydown” and why should I care?

Why should I care about a temporary buydown? You might be hearing a lot of chatter about “2-1 buydowns” which is a specific version of a temporary buydown. To all real estate agents, this loan product helps sell your listings without price reductions. Sellers, talk to your real estate agents. If you’re in the market […]

What Should Be In Your First Toolbox

Moving into a new home requires a toolbox to help install, build and fix a multitude of things. We see that Ikea desk sitting in the corner. If you’re an amateur at do-it-yourself repairs, you can be overwhelmed by the numbers and kinds of tools on sale in local hardware stores. But here are some […]

[Insert Sensational Headline] re: Housing Market Misinformation

The Real Headline is “Read More” to Arm Yourself with Accurate Information Misinformation riddles our society every day. We live in a world of soundbits and clips incentivizing the public to barely scratch the surface level of understanding issues. News outlets write many headlines and even some entire stories to communicate drama rather than impartial […]

Valuing your house

If you want to sell or refinance, it’s very important to understand the true value of your home. Many factors impact your home’s value, including: Market demand Recent sales in your immediate area (comps) The condition of your home Improvements you’ve made It’s no secret most homeowners go online to get a basic home value […]

Why Do I Need a Home Inspection?

Part of the E5 Homebuyers Guide reviews home inspections and why they are a good investment. Many first-time homebuyers are overwhelmed with the process, especially the challenge of identifying a house’s red flags to know what areas might lead to potential problems. Buyers should also understand the difference between the “appraisal” (an unbiased valuation of […]

Under Contract – What’s Next?

Once your house is under contract, the loan process gets going. It can be a stressful time to try and keep track of everything while packing up your things and preparing to move. As part of the E5 Homebuyers Guide, here are a few things to know and keep you organized throughout the process: Earnest […]

Mortgage Rates – A Historical Perspective

We’ve been getting a lot of questions about rates and where they’re going It’s a good time to reflect on where rates have been historically…not recently. A couple of weeks ago, we talked about the changing housing market and how sudden it is shifting. By sudden, I mean in the blink of an eye. Rates […]

How to Get Interior Design on a Budget

Whether you just bought a home or decided to stay in your existing home, some interior design is in order. You want to remodel; you want to repaint, but you could use some advice. We’ve got some tips and resources to get design help when you’re on a tight budget. It’s easy to get lost […]