It’s common advice for buyers to obtain a mortgage preapproval letter from a lender before going out with a real estate agent to look at homes. The rationale is that preapproval puts in writing the loan amount a buyer is qualified to receive, all but guaranteeing the price range the buyer can afford. Agents can then be reassured they are not wasting time on a client whose financing is likely to fall through.Well, that’s flawed thinking.A prea
Twitter is warning its 336 million users that it has discovered a glitch in the system that stores users’ passwords. The social media giant is urging users to change their passwords immediately, as well as to change their passwords on any other service where they may have used the same one to login.“We have fixed the bug, and our investigation shows no indication of breach or misuse by anyone,” Parag Agrawal, Twitter’s chief technology of
Mortgage financing giant Freddie Mac has announced it will offer low-cost loans to multifamily property owners who keep their buildings affordable to middle-class families. Landlords will receive lower interest rates if they agree to make the majority of their units affordable for tenants who earn 80 percent or less of the area’s median income. The units also must remain affordable for the term of the loan, which typically spans about a decade.
Many buyers are offering more than the asking price on properties undergoing bidding wars, but when the appraisal reveals the true market value of the home, they may find they’ve agreed to pay too much. Home sales commonly fall through when a property appraises for less than the price the buyer offers; the seller may be unwilling to accept a lower offer, and the buyer may decide the deal isn’t worth it.Appraisal issues are still one of the mo
After mortgage rates rose for most of April, they dropped slightly in the kickoff to May. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped three basis points to average 4.55 percent.“While mortgage rates have increased by one-half of a percentage point so far this year, it has not impacted home purchase demand, which continues to grow this spring,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “The observed buyer resiliency in the face of higher
“White-boxing,” where homeowners strip out all of their property’s finishes and amenities—including high-end kitchens and bathrooms—is a growing trend in hot luxury markets. Much like neutralizing paint color, the move is believed to make homes more appealing to a wider audience of buyers. “White-boxing is really just having a blank canvas,” Jade Mills, a sales associate with Coldwell Banker in Beverly Hills, Calif., told CNBC. “S
The number of equity-rich properties in the U.S. may have reached a tipping point, according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ First Quarter 2018 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report. Equity-rich properties in the U.S. in the second quarter are down from their peak in the second quarter of 2017. ATTOM Data Solutions defines “equity rich” as borrowers who have at least 50 percent equity in their property.“We’ve reached a tipping point in this
Homeownership is still considered vital to the American dream. But for many Americans, joining that dream also means living in a place of economic opportunity and diverse communities.SmartAsset, a personal finance resource, ranked the best places for living the American dream by looking at five key metrics: homeownership rates, diversity rates, upward mobility rates, median home values, and unemployment rates.According to the study’s finding
T-Mobile US and Sprint Corp. are making plans for a $26.5 billion merger. If approved, it could create a wireless company that would be close in size to rivals AT&T and Verizon. The merger could also reshuffle thousands of square feet of real estate in the retail space.The merged firms would operate under the T-Mobile name with two headquarters in Bellevue, Wash., and Overland Park, Kan.In the retail space, there will be some initial closure
May marks a golden opportunity for homeowners to assess their home and ensure everything is in tip-top shape before the summer months begin. HouseLogic recently provided a checklist that you can use to save both time and money.For smart homeowners, these four tasks are essential for the month of May: A new refrigerator. If your current fridge is leaky, not cooling enough, or tight on storage space, consider buying a new model this month. May is
This website includes images sourced from third party websites including Adobe, Getty Images, and as otherwise noted.
