Why a Veterans Affairs (VA) Loan? Among other things, a VA home loan can be used to:

• Buy a home or a condominium unit
• Build a home
• Simultaneously purchase and improve a home
• Buy a manufactured home and/or lot.

Currently, banks are requiring large down payments for many types of loans, putting home ownership out of reach for many prospective buyers.  A VA loan still allows the borrower to buy a home, up to a loan amount of $417,000, or even higher in designated high-cost areas, with no money down.

Some Ways You Can Tell Your Information May Have Been Stolen

• You receive calls about debts that aren’t yours
• You receive bills that you know you did not incur
• Bills or statements you normally receive don't show up
• You see withdrawals from your bank account that you didn't make
• Your checks don't clear when there should be sufficient funds to cover them
• Your checks are refused by merchants
• Unfamiliar accounts or charges appear on your credit report
• You are notified by the IRS that more than one tax return was filed in your name, or that you have income from an unknown employer
• You receive medical bills for services you did not receive
• Your health plan rejects your legitimate medical claim because their records show you’ve reached your benefits limit
• A health plan won’t cover a claim because you are being billed for a condition your records don't show you have
• You get notice that your information was compromised by a data breach at a company where you do business or have an account.  When the organization that lost your information lets you know about the breach, they should explain your options.

The ATR has added another layer of responsibility on lenders above and beyond meeting guideline-specific program requirements. ATR has eight specific underwriting factors all lenders must consider on residential mortgage loans. That’s an important distinction, as it adds a layer of lender responsibility previously not there. For example, years ago Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were purchasing loans that contained very little income or asset documentation, these were often referred to as “liar loans.” If Fannie Mae and or Freddie Mac decided to loosen guidelines, lenders were still required to meet ATR rules. So regardless of any of the loan purchasers’ or guarantors’ documentation desires, the overarching federal rule dictates underwriting factors and subsequently the documentation necessary to meet the law’s requirements.

Most people mistakenly assume that the company to which they make their monthly mortgage payments to actually owns their loan. This is rarely the case. To understand why the recipient of your payment is unlikely to be the owners too let us define a few items and roles.

Early in 2013, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced changes that would be made to the FHA mortgage insurance policy, beginning on April 1, 2013. Changes were made to both the mortgage insurance premium policy and the length of time those policies remain in effect.

In February, 2013, Americans bought existing homes at the fastest pace in three years, as mortgage interest rates, remaining near record lows, continued to drive a housing market revival.

The median forecast of 77 economists surveyed by Bloomberg for existing-home sales called for an increase to a 5 million pace.   This was supported by data from the National Association of Realtors, which showed that purchases increased 0.8 percent to a nearly five million annualized rate, the most since November 2009.

As most of us are already aware, homeowners get significant tax breaks that are not available to renters; however, tax laws are continually changing.  While accurate at the time of this writing, it is critical that the taxpayer verify the information provided herein with either the Internal Revenue Service or an accounting professional for advice on your particular tax situation.

Mortgage interest rates are still near record lows, and home prices are still well off the peak prices of just a few years ago, so if you do not currently own your own home, now is an excellent time to become a homeowner.  

Housing Starts
Housing starts rose to their highest rate in more than four years in October of 2012.  U.S. builders started construction last month on the most housing units since July of 2008.  The Commerce Department said that builders broke ground on homes in October at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 894,000. That's a 3.6 percent gain from September.  The median forecast of 82 economists expected groundbreaking to slow to an 840,000 pace.  Housing starts are 87 percent above the annual rate of 478,000 in April of 2009, which was the recession low, providing more evidence that the housing market has decisively turned around after an unprecedented collapse that landed the economy in its worst recession since the Great Depression.

The Federal Housing Administration, or FHA, was established during the Great Depression with the primary objective of making home ownership possible for more people.  FHA mortgages are backed by the Federal Housing Administration in case you default on the loan.  The FHA does not actually lend people the money to buy a home – the FHA guarantees the loan, so if a borrower defaults on his mortgage, the FHA will reimburse the lender.  Mortgages obtained on the private market without FHA help are known as "conventional" mortgages.  With a conventional mortgage, lenders do not have the same guarantee.

By purchasing a home, you are moving in the direction of increasing your financial security; you are actually taking part in an investment that can appreciate similar to stocks or bonds.  When you first purchase your home, your down payment is your only stake.  With adequate maintenance, a home will usually increase in value each year.  And, of course, improvements to make the home more comfortable for you, will typically also add to the equity.  Equity is the difference between the market value of the property and the amount of the mortgage.

Homeowners get significant tax breaks that are not available to renters; however, tax laws are continually changing.  While accurate at the time of this writing, it is critical that the borrower verify the information provided herein with either the Internal Revenue Service or an accounting professional for advice on your particular tax situation.

Current historically low interest rates have contributed to a significant improvement in the housing market over the past few months. It was good news for housing when
data for pending home sales showed an unexpected 5.9% jump in May, 2012 vs. April, 2012. Many have taken this as a signal that interest rates are nearing their bottom, and will likely begin to increase over the next several months. In addition, while some area markets are stabilizing, the S&P/Case-Shiller Index of Property Values showed that the decline in home prices during the month of April, 2012 was at its lowest since November, 2010, indicating that although home prices are starting to stabilize and are soon expected to increase, they are still down even as the housing market sees some improvement.

When it comes to making that move, either into buying a home for the first time, or moving up into another home, you'll need to establish a solid plan for yourself.

Determine Your Financial Situation
You need to determine whether you have enough money saved up to cover the down payment and the closing costs, and whether you'll have enough income to cover the new mortgage payment and all of your other bills. This will determine the price range of a home which you're capable of buying.

In a previous post, we suggested paying bills down by paying all bills on time, and by paying more than the minimum amount due on the bill with the highest interest rate.  While this is an excellent strategy, it is only one of many that can be used to pay down your debt.  In this post we will present several other good strategies for getting your debt paid down.

Making your money work is a very important aspect of saving money and building wealth. One way to facilitate this is by setting up an online savings account. For the most part, online savings accounts function in the same way as normal (brick-and-mortar) bank savings accounts. However, in the case of online savings accounts, you do not ever have to visit a bank physically in order to transact business. Online savings accounts offer a number of advantages -- in the past few years, millions of people have signed up for them. As you might expect, there are also disadvantages of online savings accounts.

A typical real estate purchase transaction varies somewhat with the various state laws and regional customs and is quite complicated, requiring high levels of understanding about the process.  Knowing what is involved can help both buyers and sellers by taking a lot of stress and guesswork out of the process.  The following steps are usually involved in such a transaction:

Your credit report contains information about where you live, how you pay your bills, and whether you’ve been sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy.  A good credit rating is very important.

For most people, buying a house is the largest purchase they will ever make.  But the potential payoff is huge -- a home of your own, a place for your children to grow up and, in the absence of another rare major market reversal, a good long-term investment.

You've decided that at some point in the future, you want to own your own home, but you're not yet ready to do so.  Saving for a down payment on a house is no simple thing but it is certainly possible, especially if you have a plan.  While saving for a down payment cannot be accomplished overnight, it can be done in less time than you may think; and the sooner you begin saving, the sooner you'll be able to reach your savings goal with less strain on your budget.