What Does the New Tax Law Mean for First-Time Buyers? With significant changes to the tax code taking effect this year, homeowners and prospective buyers are revising their plans to take advantage of its...
Do Low Down Payments Make Mortgages More or Less Affordable? File this question under “it depends.” It’s true that loans with down payments of 20 percent or more cost borrowers less over time than...
Report Recommends Raising Consumer Awareness of Down Payment Assistance A new report on credit access and affordability by the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center commissioned by Down Payment Resource and Freddie Mac...
How Low Should You Go? Pros and Cons of a Low Down Payment When it comes to a down payment on your home, are you aiming high or low? The down payment is the number one reason...
Buying a home? Here’s what the Equifax breach could mean for you. We should all be paying attention to the recent Equifax data breach, estimated to potentially impact the personal data of 143 million U.S. consumers....
How Long Will it Take to Save Your Down Payment? When you’re saving to buy a home, you want it to go as quickly as possible. Right? But, based on your current salary, how...
Is Mortgage Insurance Really Worth It? If you’re considering a low down payment mortgage—less than 20%–you may have heard you’ll need to pay mortgage insurance (also known as MI, private...
New Changes to Low Down Payment Mortgages: What You Need to Know Recently, mortgage investor Freddie Mac clarified that it would not purchase certain low down payment loans that include lender contributions to the buyers’ down payment if they...
How to Start Saving for a Home When You’re Still Renting by Beth Kotz If you’re used to living in a cramped apartment and paying rent to a landlord who never fixes anything, then you’ve...
Agents: Serve first-time homebuyers well and everyone wins Kris Rosser Schmitt, Illinois based agent and managing broker at the Barbier Agency, has fueled her business with first-time homebuyers since 2001. Why? “As...
