Thinking about buying a first home or a second? You have many loan options, and each one varies as far as their down payment requirements. Use this quick guide to get an idea of the amount you'll need to put down on your next purchase.

Is 20% Down Always Necessary to Buy a Home?

The down payment refers to the monies you'll put down during the mortgage closing, and it's often expressed as a percentage of the property price. For example, 20% down on a $200,000 home means paying $40,000 at closing.

20% down can make homeownership feel too out of reach. But take heart, very few loan programs are firm about needing 20% at closing. You can even get a conventional mortgage with as little as 3% down! Read on to learn more.

**Make better

With rates at incredible lows, Americans across the country are refinancing their mortgage. But if you have poor credit, you may be wondering if it's possible. 

Refinancing with a low credit score isn't the ideal position, but it is possible. Here's everything you need to know about refinancing into a lower rate mortgage while having bad credit. 

But first, why bother refinancing in the first place? 

Refinancing saves you money because you end up paying less interest over the life of the loan. That can also translate to lower monthly payment, but if nothing else, it means that more of your payment will go to the principal than the lender. 

A handsome prospect for anyone! But for those with less-than-ideal credit, refinancing at a fair

The idea of your home getting foreclosed on can send a chill up your spine. It's understandable. Thinking that a bank shuts you out of your home with ruined credit is an awful thought. 

But here's the reality check: Not everything that you've heard about foreclosing is true. Here are the most common misconceptions about the process.

Myth 1: Banks want to foreclose on your home

Not true. While the lender has a legal obligation to get back the money still owed, foreclosure is always the last resort. 

Remember that banks get revenue from collecting interest, not owning real estate. 

Myth 2: You can't refinance with another lender

Refinancing is one of the ways that many try to avoid foreclosure. But what you may not know

For real estate investors, waiting for the market to stabilize is usually the way to go. But considering the current pandemic, stabilizing could take some time. And with so much real estate opportunity on the horizon (and currently), waiting may not be something you want to do. 

If this sounds like you, here are four principles to help guide you through real estate investing during a crisis.

1. Be Patient

It's an unfortunate expectation, but with the recent spike in unemployment, it won't be lone before we see homeowners foreclose. As an investor, you need to be patient and be more selective. 

Wait for a property with a large profit margin and can withstand a possible hit in resale value (more on that below). There are still many

Your credit plays a key role in financial opportunities, today and in the future. Understandably, the current pandemic environment is making it more challenging. But still, there are actions you can take to protect your credit. 

Here are tips that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau suggested for protecting your credit during these trying times.

Request A Free Copy of Your Credit

Did you know that you're entitled to a free credit report every year? Unlike the hard credit inquiries that creditors do when you apply for credit, this free annual report does not negatively affect your score. 

Additionally, Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian (the three nationwide credit reporting agencies), also provide you with a free credit report

Whether you are buying a home or are refinancing, there are fees required to finalize the loan. We lump all these together and call them closing costs. With refinance loans, the closing costs are a bit less because certain elements are missing (such as title fees, home appraisal fees, and other sale-related fees).

This article will focus on the closing costs that you can expect to pay when you buy a property.

How much can you expect to pay in closing costs? 

Closing costs are about 2% to 5% of your loan amount. So if your loan is for $250k, you can expect to pay about $5,000 and $12,500 in closing costs. Admittedly, this is a fairly large range but we’ll break down the costs so you can have a better understanding of why it varies so much. 

When you first took out your school loan, you did it to open more opportunities. Unfortunately, having a significant amount of school debt can challenge those opportunities. If you have a considerable amount of school debt and are left wondering how you can still qualify for a home loan, this article is for you!

The insights we’re about to share with you will help you get a better idea of how to manage your school loan as well as show how it’s possible to be a homeowner despite having student debt. 

How Student Loans Affect Your Home Loan Approval

The first thing to clarify is that student loans themselves don’t prevent you from getting a home loan. However, the debt of student loans can affect your debt-to-income ratio, and a poor DTI can

If you have bad credit, it may seem like buying a house is out of reach - or at least a couple of years away. But, in reality, struggling credit may not be as much of a roadblock as you may think! 

If you have less than ideal credit and have the goal of buying a home, then this blog is for you! Read on to find out more about loan programs for low-credit home buyers as well as how you can improve your score to qualify for a lower interest rate.

The Truth About Bad Credit and Mortgages

Technically, there isn’t a specific minimum credit score to qualify for a conventional loan. Lenders will set their own requirements since they are the ones that are loaning the funds. As you can imagine, they prefer higher scores as that means less risk.

Tax season isn’t always met with positivity. But when you’re a homeowner, you tend to view tax season differently because of the tax benefits. With tax season soon upon us, we wanted to share some of the lesser-known tax benefits of owning a home. 

Did you miss out on the tax breaks for 2019? Not to worry! You can still benefit in the coming year! Come to think of it, the sooner you purchase a home, the longer you can rake in those benefits! 

Interest Paid on Your mortgage is Deductible (in most cases)

Generally speaking, if your mortgage is not greater than $750,000, then you can deduct the interest paid on the loan. This is the most significant benefit of owning a home and claiming it is relatively simple. At the end of the year, your

Foreclosed homes are some of the best home purchase deals you can find but that doesn’t mean that you should through caution to the wind when considering purchasing a foreclosed home. 

In fact, some foreclosed homes can end up costing you more money (or headaches) than they’re worth. Here’s what you need to know about purchasing a foreclosed home. 

Foreclosed Homes are a Diamond in the Rough 

The first thing to understand is that foreclosed homes are often in a rough state. This may be partly due to the fact that the previous owner was unable to make their mortgage payments, and therefore, couldn’t afford the upkeep either.

Or it could be that the previous owner was imbittered about their home being foreclosed on and abandoned the home,